Today we celebrate the life and legacy of one of America’s greatest heroes, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
As a young man, I was there on August 28, 1963, when more than 200,000 people gathered on the Mall here in Washington to protest racial inequality and to hear Dr. King give what would be his most remembered speech. I was an intern at the time for Congressman Gene Snyder of Kentucky, and so I went outside and stood on the Capitol steps.
I could see up the length of the entire Mall, and see the crowd that had gathered there. I supported Dr. King and his cause, and wanted to witness what I knew would be a pivotal point in history.
Dr. King drew from his past speeches and sermons, and in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial, he issued the greatest declaration of freedom since Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation a century earlier. His words moved a nation.