Washington, DC, USA

Here's the context, you write the dialog: Americans are commemorating the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and the "I Have a Dream" speech. Tens of thousands flock to the National Mall. Some pause to have a conversation with Dr. King himself. What do they tell him about the past half century? What advice does he give for the next? [2013]

THE BACKSTORY ~ Posted on the 10^th Anniversary of Geographically Yours, 4 August 2020: In 1983, I attended the 20^th anniversary of MLK’s march for Jobs and Freedom on the National Mall. The opportunity presented itself because I was in Washington on business. I was with a friend and colleague, an African-American geographer with whom I had done much research on evacuation from nuclear power plant accidents. We were consulting with a law firm representing Suffolk County, NY, in its attempt to prevent the opening of the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant. Being in DC gave the two of us the opportunity to join the crowds in our nation’s capital. Twenty years had passed since 1963, but the simple demands for equality and justice still had not been met: The march in 1983 was as necessary as the original march. I missed the 30^th anniversary march but did attend the one on the 40^th anniversary. In 2013, on the occasion of the 50^th anniversary, I was uber-busy with my life as a geographer, but I still hopped in the car on Saturday morning, drove four hours to DC, spent the day there, and drove back that night. I envisioned myself as a documentarian, someone who had photographed the marches in 1983 and 2003, and who was going to do the same thing in 2013. On the mall, pride was palpable. Progress was still lagging, but a memorial statue of MLK Jr. had taken a place of honor, and something I thought I would never see was right around the corner: An African-American President and his family were living in the White House. It was a quick trip, but well worth the effort, and I had achieved my goal. With my camera, I had time-frozen the real people who make American great. And, I had come home with new stuff to think about, including my red-shirted friend (with whom I did not talk, but a friend nonetheless!). I watched him stare down Martin Luther King; then I did the same thing with a new set of eyes. D.J.Z.