Capping a week long celebration of King’s historic call for racial and economic justice, President Barack Obama will speak at the Lincoln Memorial, site of King’s address on August 28, 1963.
The “Let Freedom Ring and Call to Action” ceremony comes as almost half of Americans say much more needs to be done before the color-blind society King envisioned is realized.
Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton also will address the crowd at the ceremony, which includes bell-ringing at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT), 50 years to the minute after King ended his clarion call of the civil rights movement with the words “let freedom ring.”