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D.C. Mayor Hosts 'Virtual March' For Voting Rights

By: Patrick Madden // August 23, 2011
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D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray was arrested for an actual march in Washington to protest D.C.'s lack of autonomy earlier this year. Now, he's asking D.C. voting rights supporters to participate in a 'virtual march' on Washington.
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D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray was arrested for an actual march in Washington to protest D.C.'s lack of autonomy earlier this year. Now, he's asking D.C. voting rights supporters to participate in a 'virtual march' on Washington.

As the District welcomes tens of thousands of visitors this week for the upcoming Martin Luther King Memorial dedication, city officials are hoping to use Dr. King's legacy to highlight D.C.'s own struggle for autonomy.

Nearly 50 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the march on Washington for jobs and freedom. As one way to commemorate that day and draw attention to D.C.'s lack of political representation, this morning at 8:28 a.m., Mayor Vincent Gray is launching the "virtual march on Washington."

Gray is asking supporters of D.C. voting rights to post on their Twitter feeds and Facebook walls a passage from King's "I have a dream" speech.

"This is a way of quickly and massively reaching large numbers of people that we hope will weigh in on this," he says.

The goal is for the message to go viral. Gray says King himself was interested in the District's lack of voting rights and budget autonomy.

"And frankly if you go back and look at Dr. King's speeches from 1965, Dr. King weighed in on the lack of democracy here in the District of Columbia," Gray says.

For those looking for more tangible events, city leaders are holding a "D.C. Full Democracy" rally and march this Saturday.

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