Kansas NAACP Joins March On Washington

WICHITA, KS - More than 80,000 people from all backgrounds and beliefs are expected to rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on October 2 to refocus our national priorities on greater investments in the wellbeing of all Americans.

The One Nation March and Rally represents a coming together of Human and Civil Rights organizations, Labor Unions, environmental, ethnic, peace, youth, student, and faith-based organizations, all calling for America's Legislative and Policy priorities to be focused and directed on Job creation, the expansion of Human and Civil Rights protections, and reforming the Nation's Education system.

We are marching because we are now in the 9th year of our longest war, with no end in sight, EVEN as our schools are laying off teachers, growing class sizes, and consolidating buildings due to the lack of funds.

We are marching because the victory in Brown vs the Board of Education which stated that separate was inherently unequal and had no place in public education, is routinely and ubiquitously undermined by those seeking to withdraw children into racially homogeneous enclaves, aided by State and District Courts...

We are marching because after the bailouts, and the loans, and the stimulus funds, OUR wealth has been redistributed to the rich, while THEIR pain and loss was redistributed to US.

We are marching because 5 years after Katrina, many from the lower 9th STILL are without their homes.

We are marching because a study released in March of this year showed that the average median wealth for a single Black Female was only $5.00

We are marching because according to a report recently released by the Schott foundation, the National graduation rate for Black males is only 47%, and in some States like New York, it is as low as 25%.

We are marching because in cases like Ricci vs DeStepano, Gross vs FBL Financial Services, Iqbal vs Ashcroft, Phillips vs Ford Motor Company, and Citizens United vs the FCC, the courts have attacked and deliberately weakened existing Civil Rights law making it increasingly difficult to hold corporations and institutions accountable for violations against common citizens.

"One Nation Working Together happens at a historic moment in this country," says Ben Jealous, president of the NAACP, and national One Nation Working Together co-chairperson. "We have sparked a coalition that is truly representative and united - conservatives and progressives, immigrants and native born people, college students and senior citizens, veterans and peace activists, believers and non-believers, unemployed and CEOs. Our commonality is our love for this country and the conviction that we must replace divisive politics and hate with a shared vision for our children and grandchildren's futures. "

"We are serving notice to all elected officials," says George Gresham, president of Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union and ONWT national co-chairperson. "We will march on October 2 and we will march again on November 2 into the voting booths. The true majority in this country is people like us and we will be heard."

Founded Feb. 12. 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest, largest and most widely recognized grassroots-based civil rights organization. Its more than half-million members and supporters throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.