BEIJING, Aug. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Next Wednesday marks the 50th anniversary of the civil rights march featuring the renowned "I have a Dream" speech by Doctor Martin Luther King.

Thousands of people converged on Saturday in Washington to commemorate the forthcoming event. Crowds gathered on the National Mall and listened to speeches in a flashback to the original "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom".

At the end of the speeches, participants walked half a mile from the Lincoln Memorial to the two-year-old Martin Luther King Junior Memorial. Organisers hope the event will inspire people to educate themselves about issues they see as making up the modern civil rights struggle.

Participants believe that despite much positive change, there’s still much to fight for.

Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist, said, "We need to revive the war on poverty, we need to engage in student loan debt, and some plan for urban reconstruction. Today we need not so much motivation as we need legislation and appropriation. That must be the watchword for those presidents and congress people to speak. We need legislation and appropriation that address those that are locked out of the economy."

Kevin Powell, New York resident, said, "I’m here because I want to see people of all different backgrounds, black, white, Latino, Asian, come together and understand that the only way our country can be a great, great democracy is if we work together as sisters and brothers."

(Source: CNTV.cn)