Bernice King, MLK’s Daughter, Reflects on the Legacy of the March on Washington

And that strategy involved fighting for more than just the notable Civil Rights Act, which prohibited racial segregation in many areas of American life. According to the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University, access to public accommodations, such as housing and education, as well as voter protections, a federal works program and fair employment practices were also part of the fight. While the march and the civil rights movement may seem to belong to the distant past, the foundation of activism still rings relevant. 

“As part of [the civil rights groups’] demands, they were asking for a $2 minimum wage. If you hear today people saying $15, well $2 at that time translated to today is $17, so we’re far behind,” King says. (The federal minimum wage was last raised in 2009 and remains at $7.25 per hour, but 26 states and Washington, D.C., have minimum wages higher than the federal rate.) ​

She hopes that through the study of nonviolence and the positive changes that came from it during the peak of the civil rights movement, “people can begin to see similar things happen in our nation today for the causes that we need to make changes around.” ​

Continuing the work of her parents, King says she’s motivated by her faith, friendships and the past. ​

“I’m inspired by history. There are those who came before us, our ancestors … they had to face some dark and difficult times,” King says. “We as a humanity have made it through some real difficult challenges. ... But we are a part of who they were, and so it’s in us and we shall overcome too.”