As the crowd marched toward the Lincoln Memorial, swelling to the length of the Reflecting Pool and then beyond, it reflected a mix of those born after the historic 1963 March on Washington, those who were too unaware at that time to have participated and veterans of the civil rights movement who were mesmerized by the speeches of King and others that long-ago August Wednesday.
"We weren't alive 50 years ago when it happened," said Brianna Patterson, 20, who lives in Prince George's County. "Fifty years from now, we can look back and tell our children we were at the 50th anniversary March on Washington. . . . We are keeping the dream alive."
Clarence Ellington was born three years after the 1963 march and grew up hearing about how his father struggled living in segregated South Carolina.
"I'm here for my kids, so they can step up and know how my father, my grandfather and my great-grandmother struggled," said Ellington, who brought his two children.
Fred Jackson was a teenager when he took part in the March on Washington.
"It was a sense of togetherness," he recalled as he surveyed Saturday's growing crowd. "Now, it's this group here, that group there. We're all here for the same purpose. But it's a different feeling."
Charles Randolph-Wright remembered listening to King's speech in the basement of his cousin's house in York, South Carolina.
"That was the center of activity, not just for our family, but all the budding activists in town," Randolph-Wright recalled. "I was young, and did not realize a movement was starting, but I knew something changed from that day.
"Hearing that speech opened the door for us to fight, crawl, push and do whatever we had to do to make it through," he said. "I cannot help but imagine the disappointment King would have in seeing how polarized this nation has become. In many ways, I feel we have regressed, but then I see someone who looks like me in the White House, and I talk to children whose only image of a president is a man of color, and I am so very grateful."
Patricia Bent and Sonya Ransom arrived at the Lincoln Memorial at 4:45 a.m. Saturday and set out their folding chairs next to the Reflecting Pool.
The two friends from Charlotte, N.C., were among a few dozen marchers who were in place as the sun lit up the memorial's facade and the stage where a prayer service would be held.
Bent remembered watching the original march on television.
"We can't take steps back," she said. "People fought too long for voting rights. People died. We can't sit back and let their work have no meaning."
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