YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – Monday, the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation hosted speakers in remembrance of the March on Washington.
It’s the 60th anniversary of the march.
Peter Geffen, founder and executive director of KIVUNIM and founder of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School in New York City, was one of the speakers at the event, held at the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown. He served as a civil rights worker for Dr. Martin Luther King in 1965. He spoke on the march and King’s subsequent assassination.
Pastor Kenneth L. Simon, of New Bethel Baptist Church, also spoke, recalling his memories as a teenager in Youngstown during King’s assassination.
“I remember the riots that broke out here on these streets of the South Side of Youngstown and how my dad was instrumental in helping to quell the violence that could have been much worse if he had not intervened,” Simon said.
Both speakers also addressed how far America has come but what still needs to be done when it comes to racism in the country.
