NEW YORK, NY.- In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and the seminal I Have a Dream speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., digital marketing agency Organic and the National Park Foundation, the official charity of Americas national parks, today released a first-of-its-kind web and mobile destination,
WeAreStillMarching.com.
Part of a comprehensive initiative to help people experience one of the largest, most poignant demonstrations ever seen in the U.S., WeAreStillMarching.com harnesses pioneering technology supported in Google Chrome to tell the story of the March on Washington through photographs, original video and audio interviews, and archival footage of the day. WeAreStillMarching.com features HTML5 and JavaScript APIs to deliver a modern web experience across a wide range of devices.
At the centerpiece of the experience is a feature encouraging users to record themselves speaking MLKs pivotal I Have a Dream, refrain. After recording their own version of the speech, users can then submit it to an audio mosaic of other user-generated recordings, uniting many voices around the same tenants that Americans united around 50 years ago: Freedom for all. Prominent national figures including Hawaii high school teacher and sister of President Obama, Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng, and influential hip-hop poet and Grammy-winning artist, J Ivy, have recorded and submitted personal recordings of the speech.
We are honored to team with Organic and Google to engage people in a meaningful way with the historic March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s I Have a Dream speech, said Neil Mulholland, President and CEO of the National Park Foundation. Through this initiative, people will better understand how Americas national parks preserve and protect our shared history.
Fifty years ago, on August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered arguably the greatest speech in American history, centered around four simple words I have a dream, said Organic Chief Creative Officer David Bryant. This experience gives everyone a chance to speak those universal words and celebrates the quarter of a million people who marched on Washington that day.
Other elements of WeAreStillMarching.com include:
Over 200 images of the March on Washington, some never before published, and a gallery of civil rights milestones, curated by Organic
NPS conducted contemporary video interviews with Congressman John Lewis, the last surviving formal speaker and Representative Eleanor Norton
Archival video interview with the late Dorothy Height
Ten contemporary audio interviews with March attendees including three photographers who covered the event
Archival footage of many of the major speakers during the formal program as well as newsreel coverage
Audio excerpts from day-of news radio coverage
30 march images geo-located on a Google map showing the exact area of the Mall where they were taken
Then and Now" composites overlaying select March images on top contemporary photos of the location
Organic and National Park Foundation will present WeAreStillMarching.com at the March on Washington Memorial Youth Mentoring Summit today and will host an exhibit on the National Mall on the day of the actual anniversary of the March and speech, August 28th. The Summit is being hosted by the African American Experience Fund of the National Park Foundation, the National Park Service and the National Alliance of Faith and Justice and will provide youth and college students with hands-on learning experiences about Americas Civil Rights Movement with the goal of inspiring future youth leaders and park stewards. On both occasions, the public will have the opportunity to experience the web and mobile destination, and record their voices live on the spot.