Holder: I wouldn't be Attorney General without 1963 marchers

photo Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at a rally to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2013, in Washington. Tens of thousands of people marched to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and down the National Mall on Saturday, to commemorate King's famous ""I Have a Dream" speech, made Aug. 28, 1963, during the March on Washington, and pledging that his dream includes equality for gays, Latinos, the poor and the disabled.

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Eric Holder says the spirit of the 1963 March on Washington now demands equal rights for gays, Latinos, women and people with disabilities.

Speaking before tens of thousands of people on the National Mall, the nation's first black attorney general praised those who faced repression and brutality to march a half century ago. He thanked them for standing up to "racist governments and governors."

Without them, he said, he'd never be the attorney general and Barack Obama would not be president.

The anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech is Wednesday but anniversary events began Saturday morning. Organizers expected about 100,000 people.

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