Southern Christian Leadership Conference

=== March on Washington ===
{{Main|March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom}}
[[File:March on washington Aug 28 1963.jpg|thumb|[[Martin Luther King Jr.]] at the March on Washington]]
After the Birmingham Campaign, SCLC called for massive protests in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington, DC]], to push for new civil rights legislation that would outlaw segregation nationwide. [[A. Philip Randolph]] and
[[Bayard Rustin]] issued similar calls for a March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. On July 2, 1963, King, Randolph, and Rustin met with [[James Farmer|James Farmer Jr.]] of the [[Congress of Racial Equality]], [[John Lewis]] of [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee|SNCC]], [[Roy Wilkins]] of the NAACP, and [[Whitney Young]] of the [[Urban League]] to plan a united march on August 28.

The media and political establishment viewed the march with great fear and trepidation over the possibility that protesters would run riot in the streets of the capital. But despite their fears, the March on Washington was a huge success, with no violence, and an estimated number of participants ranging from 200,000 to 300,000. It was also a logistical triumph—more than 2,000 buses, 21 special trains, 10 chartered aircraft, and uncounted autos converged on the city in the morning and departed without difficulty by nightfall.

The crowning moment of the march was King's famous "[[I Have a Dream]]" speech in which he articulated the hopes and aspirations of the [[Civil Rights Movement]] and rooted it in two cherished gospels—the Old Testament and the unfulfilled promise of the American creed.<ref>[http://www.crmvet.org/tim/tim63b.htm#1963mow March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom] ~ Civil Rights Movement Archive</ref>