2013 IN REVIEW: Civil Rights Movement Turns 50
By Cherri Gregg
WASHINGTON, D.C. (CBS) -- This year marked the 50th anniversary for several watershed events in US civil rights history.
But even today, US Supreme Court rulings and a spike in black-on-black crime underscore that there's more work to be done.
The tipping point in the fight for African-American equality came in 1963. In June of that year, President John F. Kennedy called for an end to segregation.
The very next day, civil rights leader Medgar Evers was gunned down at his home in Mississippi.
And then, the culmination of that eventful year: the March on Washington, and Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech.
Then, in November 1963, the assassination of President Kennedy.
Fast forward 50 years, Martin Luther King III, son of the slain leader, visited Philadelphia (see related story), calling for more action to 'redeem the dream.'
"There are probably people who though the civil rights struggle was done," the younger King said at a City Hall event on August 7th. He cited the killing of Trayvon Martin, the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, and an uptick in black-on-black crime as evidence that more work needs to be done.
"If my father were alive, he would be on the forefront of this struggle," King said.
To mark the golden anniversary of the Civil Rights March, hundreds of thousands of people, including hundreds from Philadelphia, traveled by bus to Washington, DC on August 24th (see related story).
An official celebration, featuring a speech by President Obama, was held a few days later.
The president and other leaders say more change -- focused on jobs, education, and equality for all -- should be the focus for the future.
More 2013 Year in Review stories
