Over the weekend, tens of thousands of people marched on Washington to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Rev Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. During the event, called the “Realize the Dream March and Rally," civil rights leaders ranging from Reverend Al Sharpton to Martin Luther King III spoke to the crowd about the continued fight for equality, and focused heavily on voting rights.

Representative John Lewis of Georgia – who was the youngest speaker at the original March on Washington 50 years ago – said, “You cannot stand by. You cannot sit down. You have to stand up, speak up, speak out and get in the way. Make some noise. The vote is precious. It is almost sacred. It's the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democratic society and we've got to use it.”

This coming Wednesday, on the August 28th anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King's original “I have a Dream” speech, President Obama will give a speech from the very spot at the Lincoln Memorial where those powerful words were originally spoken. The event will be called the "Let Freedom Ring Commemoration and Call to Action Ceremony." Just Obama's presence says something.

According to the NYT - The election of America's first black president is a testament to America's sometimes halting progress toward what Dr King that day envisioned as an "invigorating autumn of freedom and equality." We have come a long way towards real equality, but we still have a long fight ahead.