The pains taken by abolitionists, and suffragettes, and civil rights marchers, and marriage equality advocates brought America's core truth to light: that all people are created equal.
Despite these slights, Rustin maintained his focus, and on the day of the march, he delivered the marchers' demands in a speech directed at President John F. Kennedy.
Back in this country, a Milwaukee man pleaded not guilty today to driving into Christmas parade marchers in Waukesha, Wisconsin, killing six and injuring scores more.
Instead of concentrating their attention on the court, the marchers vowed to push for action from the building directly across the street: the U.S. Capitol.
The marchers are also mourning three people killed outside a Kurdish cultural center in Paris two weeks ago in what prosecutors called a racist attack.