Planning began in June after the funeral of George Floyd. Organizers said they wanted to highlight the civil rights issues of today and bring well-known speakers to address the crowd while also mitigating the spread of the novel coronavirus with strict safety protocols, the Washington Post reported.
The march — dubbed the “Get Your Knee Off Our Necks” Commitment March on Washington — began with speeches from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, which was followed by a coordinated march to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in West Potomac Park.
Friday’s march shaped up to be the largest political gathering in Washington since the pandemic began.
Many attendees wore T-shirts of the late representative John Lewis who, until his death last month, was the last living speaker at the original March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
That march went on to become one of the most famous political rallies in American history, and one of the largest gatherings, with more than 200,000 people in attendance.
Organisers said they intended to show the urgency for federal policing reforms, to decry racial violence, and to demand voting rights protections ahead of the November general election. A handful of satellite marches were held in South Carolina, Florida, Nevada, Utah and Colorado.