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Freedom was contagious.

By the summer of 1963, an estimated one million Americans held their own protests in cities across the country.

A man named A. Philip Randolph suggested a massive march.

If we march together peacefully, they won't be able to ignore us.

Together, we can convince Congress and the President to pass laws so that no one in America can treat people differently based on their skin color.

I like the idea.

Where should we have it?

There's only one place.

Old people, young people, black people, white people, even children like you, they all came to Washington, D.C., gathering in a righteous army.

Why?

Because they wanted a change, and they knew the surest way to change the world is to stand together.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

On August 28, 1963, I stood at the podium and spoke what some later called my biggest words of all.

March on, Washington, for jobs and freedom.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

I have a dream that one day little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

After the March on Washington, the President and Congress passed new laws for civil rights.

But that didn't mean our work was done.

Indeed, our greatest battle was still to come.

It began with 600 activists as they tried to walk 54 miles from Selma, Alabama to the state capital of Montgomery.