August 28, 2013

Women and the historic March on Washington, 1963

This week is the 50th anniversary of the largest demonstration "for jobs and freedom" of its time. But where were the women? Democracy Now! features Gloria Richardson, a leading grassroots activist of the time who knows the answers.

Civil Rights Pioneer Gloria Richardson, 91, on How Women Were Silenced at 1963 March on Washington

"Fifty years ago this week, Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, A Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin and other civil rights leaders spoke at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. But where were the female civil rights activists? At the historic march, only one woman spoke for just more than a minute — Daisy Bates of the NAACP. Today we are joined by civil rights pioneer Gloria Richardson, the co-founder of the Cambridge Nonviolent Action Committee in Maryland, which fought to desegregate public institutions like schools and hospitals. While Richardson was on the program for the March on Washington, when she stood to speak she only had a chance to say hello before the microphone was seized. Richardson is the subject of a pending biography by Joseph R. Fitzgerald, "The Struggle is Eternal: Gloria Richardson and Black Liberation." Richardson, 91, joins us to discuss the 1963 March on Washington and the censorship of women speakers; the Cambridge Movement to desegregate Maryland; her friendship with Malcolm X; and her assessment of President Obama and the civil rights struggle today."

See video and transcript of the interview here:

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/8/27/civil_rights_pioneer_gloria_richardson_91