What To Know: The Big Story

Evolution of activism: “The March on Washington of 1963 is remembered most for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech — and thus as a crowning moment for the long-term civil rights activism of what is sometimes referred to as the “Black Church.”

That’s the lede from The Associated Press’ David Crary, who adds important context:

At the march, King indeed represented numerous other Black clergy who were his colleagues in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. But the march was the product of sustained activism by a broader coalition. Black and white labor leaders, as well as white clergy, played pivotal roles over many months ahead of the event.

Moreover, the Black Church was not monolithic then — nor is it now. Many Black pastors and their congregations steered clear of civil disobedience and other nonviolent confrontational tactics in the civil rights era, just as some now steer clear of the Black Lives Matter movement and shun progressive Black pastors’ engagement on behalf of abortion rights and LGBTQ+ rights.

An oral history: An estimated 250,000 Americans came by bus, train and foot to participate in the March on Washington, and a Washington Post team led by Clarence Williams spent the summer interviewing participants.

“The role of the faith groups was well represented on the dais,” Raymond Kemp, then a 22-year-old seminary graduate, tells the Post. “The Black church and the White churches didn’t really know each other until that march. The amazing thing for me was that they all got together.”