Marches in Washington: Families of Jacob Blake, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor to speak

Happening now in Washington, thousands of activists and demonstrators are gathering at the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate the civil rights “March on Washington” to demand police reform.

This coming on the heels of yet another shooting by a white police officer of a Black man – this time, 29-year-old Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last Sunday – sparking days of protests and violence that left two dead.

To underscore the urgency, speakers today include an ever-expanding roll call of families of the victims: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, and Eric Garner, Blake, among others.

Yolanda Renee King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s 12-year-old granddaughter, delivered an impassioned speech at the March on Washington about racial equality, environmental justice and police brutality.

“We stand and march for love, and we will fulfill my grandfather's dream,” Yolanda Renee King, granddaughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., says during the March on Washington. https://t.co/S58qRg2xjv pic.twitter.com/9HKWOrmKk8

— CNN (@CNN) August 28, 2020

Friday’s march, which will head to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, comes 57 years since crowds packed the National Mall to demand civil rights and economic opportunity in 1963.

Following the commemorative rally that will include remarks from civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents several of the victims’ families, participants will march to the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial in West Potomac Park, next to the National Mall, and then disperse.

Turnout in Washington will be lighter than initially intended due to city-imposed coronavirus pandemic restrictions that limit out-of-state visitors to the nation’s capital. To that end, the National Action Network organized a handful of satellite march events in South Carolina, Florida and Nevada, among others.