Leonard Freed’s photographs of The March on Washington

From the ever excellent Denver Post blog we find this selection of images by the great Leonard Freed

On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech and 250,000 people participated in the largest peaceful demonstration for civil rights ever witnessed in America. Magnum photographer Leonard Freed documented The March on Washington and his images endure as a testament to the historic importance of that day. The demonstration ultimately led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Freed’s powerful images of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom will be featured in two group exhibitions in Washington, DC, one at the Library of Congress and the other at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the march this month. From the hundreds of images that Freed made of the march, fifty-seven photographs were chosen for the recently published book, “This Is the Day: The March on Washington photographs by Leonard Freed,” published by Getty.

Leonard Freed (American, 1929-2006) began making photographs in 1954 and joined Magnum Photos as a full-time member in 1972. Freed’s photographs are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

August 28, 1963. On that historic day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his ÒI Have a DreamÓ speech at the Lincoln Memorial and 250,000 people participated in the largest peaceful demonstration for civil rights ever witnessed in America. Freed Photo Credit: All photographs © Estate of Leonard Freed Ð Magnum Photos (Brigitte Freed).

 

 

See all of the images here

Gil Scott-Heron: The Last Holiday – audio slideshow

From the Guardian Newspaper

“Published to coincide with Martin Luther King Day, the late Gil Scott-Heron’s memoir looks back at his 1981 tour with Stevie Wonder, a crucial turning point in the campaign to create a national holiday in the US to honour the great civil rights campaigner. Scott-Heron’s friend and publisher Jamie Byng tells the story”....see the pictures here

Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King

Gil Scott-Heron

Bob Marley

Martin Luther King Day

Martin Luther King