'We have all had a knee on our neck': Activists are calling for police reform, voting rights at March on Washington

WASHINGTON – Thousands converged on the nation's capital Friday demanding long-lasting change to end systemic racism as the country reels from police killings of Black people this year that have fueled nationwide protests.Marchers, speakers and organizers spoke out about reforms to law enforcement, expansions of voting rights and the power of voting in November to bring about the change they sought.Many expressed sorrow and frustration over the many deaths of Black Americans at the hands of police, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, as well as the shooting last weekend of Jacob Blake. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died on Memorial Day when a white police officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.The march comes as new protests erupted across the country this week after graphic video surfaced on social media showing a police officer shooting Blake, a Black man, in the back several times as he was walking to a car in Kenosha, Wisconsin.Many of those in the crowd Friday donned T-shirts with the faces of the late Rep. John Lewis and Floyd on them.The marchers skewed young and Black but included a diverse range of protesters, all exuding a sense of unity.The crowd swelled despite the heat. The Black system ain’t doing so well."Families members of Eric Garner, Botham Jean, Joel Acevedo, Oscar Grant, Dontre Hamilton and many more also spoke at the rally, many encouraging people to go to the polls in November.Several civil rights and social justice activists delivered impassioned speeches that echoed from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, calling for an end to systemic racism and for the U.S. Senate to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The House has passed both bills, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refuses to bring them up for a vote.“The reason why George Floyd laying there with that knee on his neck resonated with so many African-Americans is because we have all had a knee on our neck,” Sharpton told USA TODAY in the days leading up to Friday's march. "We have to continue this march on every platform we have, in the streets, in the halls of Congress and in the corporate board rooms and with our vote so we can finally achieve social and economic justice," Clunie said.Kentucky Rep. Charles Booker, the state’s youngest Black lawmaker who recently ran for the Senate, invoked Taylor’s name and called on America to "wake up" during his address.“The cries we’re hearing across the country right now – from Kenosha to Kentucky, from the hood where I’m from to the hollers in Appalachia, to everywhere in between – those cries let us know that we have more marching to do,” Booker said. It’s a horrible situation to have to explain to a 15-year-old who did not learn (Black history) in high school."As a Black parent, I want to show them that they not only have to learn, but have to practice what they preach."'People are not going to stop':57 years later, thousands to gather for another March on Washington on FridayButler and Gray said they’re organizing their family to vote early together, to show the younger family members it’s important.Gray, 56, of Washington, D.C., said he wasn’t alive for the original March on Washington, so he wanted to come out Friday.