A little while ago, Sarah MacLeod alerted me to the fact that ARSA had not highlighted today is the 50^th Anniversary of the March on Washington. While this is an obviously historical date in American history, I did not recognize its importance to ARSA. Sadly, nor did I know as much as I thought I did about this date in history.

This afternoon, a crowd of over 50,000 people is expected to listen to President Obama, as well as former U.S. Presidents Clinton and Carter, commemorate Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech made on this day in 1963. King delivered the speech before more than a quarter million people from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It is widely acknowledged as one of the defining moments in the American Civil Rights Movement in the U.S.

The speech did much more than highlight eradicating racism; it focused on equality for everyone, regardless of skin color, sex, orientation or ethnicity. It spurred African-Americans, women, indeed all minorities and the disadvantaged to run for and succeed in politics (insert President Obama, Congressmen John Lewis and Barney Frank, and Senator Barbara Boxer), to become titans of business (insert Robert L. Johnson and Kenneth Chenault), to top the entertainment industry charts (insert Oprah, Jay-Z, Puff Daddy, and Russell Simmons), and to be sports icons (insert Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Michael Jordan, Alex Rodriguez and Tiger Woods).

It continues to move and create highly motivated, and somewhat outspoken, young professionals such as Sarah MacLeod to start an organization 25 years later with only $6,000 and a dream.

So, please take a moment to learn more about the march and its date in American history. You might learn a lot more than you thought you already knew.