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John Lewis March On Washington Speech: Country Has 'A Great Distance To Go'

John Lewis Delivers Impassioned Speech At March On Washington Anniversary

Fifty years after serving as the youngest speaker at the 1963 March On Washington, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) had the honor to speak again.

Lewis conducted his Wednesday 50th anniversary speech from the same spot where Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his legendary "I Have A Dream" speech. He stressed that while the country has made progress, the country has "a great distance to go" before fulfilling King's dream.

"Sometime I hear people saying nothing has changed, but for someone to grow up the way I grew up in the cotton fields of Alabama to now be serving in the United States Congress makes we want to tell them come and walk in my shoes," Lewis said.

For the full transcript of Lewis' speech, click here.

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Before You Go

The 1963 March On Washington
(01 of08)
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U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther KIng (C) waves to supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963 on the Mall in Washington D.C. (Washington Monument in background) during the 'March on Washington'. (/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(02 of08)
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More than 200,000 civil rights militants gather on Aug. 28, 1963 on the National Mall in Washington D.C. during the 'March on Washington'. (AFP/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(03 of08)
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In this Aug. 28, 1963 file photo, President John F. Kennedy stands with a group of leaders of the March on Washington at the White House. From second left are Whitney Young, National Urban League; Dr. Martin Luther King, Christian Leadership Conference; John Lewis, Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee, partially obscured; Rabbi Joachim Prinz, American Jewish Congress; Dr. Eugene P. Donnaly, National Council of Churches; A. Philip Randolph, AFL-CIO vice president; Kennedy; Walter Reuther, United Auto Workers; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, partially obscured, and Roy Wilkins, NAACP. (AP Photo/File) (credit:AP)
(04 of08)
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This August 28, 1963 publicity photo provided by PBS shows activists during The March on Washington in Washington, D.C. -- from the film,"Makers: Women Who Make America."(AP Photo/PBS, Courtesy Leonard Freed, Magnum Photos) (credit:AP)
(05 of08)
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FILE - In this Aug. 28, 1963 file photo, the top of the Washington Monument and part of a U.S. flag are reflected in the sunglasses of Austin Clinton Brown, 9, of Gainesville, Ga., as he poses at the Capitol where he joined others in the March on Washington. (AP Photo/File) (credit:AP)
(06 of08)
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U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther KIng (3rd from L) walks with supporters during the Aug. 28, 1963 "March on Washington." (AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(07 of08)
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In this Aug. 28, 1963 file photo, The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. waves to the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial for his "I Have a Dream" speech during the March on Washington. The march was organized to support proposed civil rights legislation and end segregation. (AP Photo/File) (credit:AP)
(08 of08)
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In this Aug. 28, 1963 file photo, Dorothy Height, right, National President of the National Council of Negro Women and Director of the center for Racial Justice of the national YWCA, listens as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., gestures during his "I Have a Dream" speech (AP Photo, File) (credit:AP)
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