The Rev. Jesse Jackson, iconic civil rights leader, said today that the rally at the Lincoln Memorial provides “a bottom-up” approach to change still desperately needed: “We’ve stimulated the leaves,” he said of the economy, “but the roots have become too dry.”

Jackson talks with the Observer before his speech. Photo by Kyoko Takenaka

“What’s impressing me today is the youth participation,” he said of the rally of thousands representing unions, school groups, veterans, the unemployed and employed. “When young America comes alive it always has generative power to change the course,” he added.

Jackson repeatedly said, “Change comes from the bottom up,” and that marches such as the Oct. 2^nd one — one month from the midterm elections — was the only way to have a significant impact.  “Mass marches set the agenda,” he said. Moving to the from of the bus wasn’t on the agenda, but the bus boycott put it on the agenda.” “Mass marches can set the agenda.”

Though he said, when asked,  that “Civil disobedience is a tactic that has value,” he said he did not think the time was right for that. But he did say, “Unemployment in America is an emergency,” that needs to be dealt with now, in order for people around the country to again feel as sense of hope.

“We should target jobs in zones of pain,” he said, and referring to such cities as Detroit where foreclosures are high and blocks stand empty. “We need to figure out how to go from dawn to daylight,” he said. “We need not wallow in hopelessness. … people want help.”

Jackson shared his views on change in an interview with American Observer reporters and others at the One Nation rally. Video by Kyoko Takenaka.

Rally attendee Saul Almanza, a member of the Social Employees International Union who was visiting Washington for the first time, talked about the impact of the recession on his family and community.  He said he thinks events like this “spark” Americans into action.

“You came and asked us, the taxpayers, for help,” Almanza said, when asked what he would say if he could speak directly to the President and members of Congress. “We’re asking for help now.”

Photo by Kyoko Takenaka

Tom Woods of Kansas carried a fistful of homemade bumper stickers and a giant American flag.

Before Woods injured his back, he worked in power plants, nuclear power stations, paper mills and refineries. He said he came the the One Nation rally, ” to stand up, because for evil to survive all it takes is good men to do nothing.”

He waved an unusual American flag as he spoke, and here, he explains its significance:

Saturday’s One Nation Working Together Rally saw a steady stream of labor unions gather near the Lincoln Memorial.  Members of Northern California’s Service Employees International Union 1021, which represents more than 50,000 public workers, made the trip not only to rally for jobs, but also to spread the message of Oscar Grant, an unarmed civilian fatally shot by a San Francisco transit officer on New Year’s Day 2009.

Jack Bryson, a member of the California union, said Grant was the son of his best friend, and Bryson used Saturday’s rally as an opportunity to share Grant’s story.  ”I’m here to let people know that the police officer was charged with involuntary manslaughter, and that’s not acceptable,” Bryson said.

Other union members also shared messages of economic troubles.  ”We’re facing layoffs,” said Gary Jimenez, another union member.  ”Many of our members’ families are losing their homes.”

Jimenez said he believes the lack of money flowing into communities and job creation is part of the problem.  ”It’s a vicious cycle,” he said.  ”The more people you lay off, the less your tax base is, the less your tax base is, the more people you lay off.”

Watch Jimenez give his message to the President and Congress, if he were given the chance.

Claudia Hanes and Sam Alessi, two retired school teachers, joined protesters on the mall. Photo by Kady Buchanan

Claudia Hanes, 59, Bowling Green, Ky:

Claudia is a retired teacher who says she’s been lucky and hasn’t peronally experienced any severe economic difficulties in the last few years, “but that doesn’t make me any less concerned. I’m not one of those people that believes I take care of myself and that’s it … Call it socialism if you want, I think it’s a good thing … Our fire department is socialist, the police department is socialist … Government doesn’t have to be the enemy; it has to be competent government.”

“It seems to be ‘I’m gonna get mine and the hell with you’ ” she said of the attitude she encounters frequently in discussing economic policies.

Sam Alessi, 65, Buffalo, N.Y.:

“We’ve slowly watched the subversion and decimation of the middle class and poorer classes,” he said when asked why he came to the One Nation rally.

The retired teaher said, “I was very fortunate and lucky to become a teacher as well … My family came from hard laborers, blue collar, steel plant workers.”

He added, “I’ve seen friends lose their homes, have no health care … Socialism with a small ‘s” is a very worthwhile cause.”

Sisters from the Northern Virginia Alumni chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, Social Action Committee, Gloria Roseboro, Alexandria, Va.:

She was in the military but knows plenty of people who have been affected. ”We voted for change, and that’s what I want to see,” she said. ”President Obama can’t do it alone; the people have to get involved.”

“I’d like to see a decrease in the bleeding of the jobs … I’d like to see the economy go back and look like it did 10 years ago … I think we need to decrease some of the war effort,” she added, echoing the sentiment of many of the speakers.

Bernice Parson, 54, Alexandria, Va.

Her 401k “took a big dip,” she said. “I feel badly for people like my brother who’s working really hard but can’t seem to make ends meet.” She’s here in support of these people. “Praise God, I’m holding my own.”

Pam Gipson, 59, Alexandria, Va.

Gipson says she is one of the lucky ones because she has retired but has sorority sisters who are out of work.

Juanita Green, 58, Wooster, Ohio:

“In Wooster, Rubbermaid outsourced, left Wooster, put a hurt on our community,” said Green. “They laid people off, then hired them back as temps, with half the pay, no health insurance.”

He added, “We’re trying to help the poor and compensate for the rich and it’s killing us.”

About her work with a youth council doing voter registration drives, she spoke of “hopelessness.” She said, “Hopeless people don’t vote and that’s a problem.”

Speaking about recently passed health care legislation, she said health care was her No. 1 concern.  She said the rich were going to have to pay more, but “I don’t know anyone who makes $250,000. I guess I’m selfish, it doesn’t affect me.”

Amber Marcus, 27, Wooster, Ohio:

“I have three kids and I’m married and I’ve supported them for two years on my own because my husband can’t find a job,” she said, though her husband has recently gone back to work as a steelworker. She works in health care, for a private group home.

She wants to see “more jobs. Better jobs.” What does that mean? “Better wages.”

When asked if her family or friends were having a hard time, she said, “Some good friends built a house five years ago and they just walked away from it about three months ago.”

“There’s four of them in a one-bedroom apartment. And this was a $250,000 home.”

Daniel Kennedy, left, Kenny Vanderneut, center, and Steve Bello, right, traveled from New York to the rally. Photo by Kyoko Takenaka

Daniel Kennedy, 42, Staten Island, N.Y.:

He’s quick to offer up his reason for being here,  “Health care.”

“We work for Verizon and have excellent benefits. Starting in 1989, we went on strike for 17 weeks total, just to maintain the level [of those benefits],” he said. He said they struck again in 1998 and 2000 as well.

“Its not because Verizon feels they should take them [the benefits] away, but because they’re being squeezed by the insurance companies.”

Steve Bello, 44, Staten Island, N.Y.:

His frustration with the economy? “Overtime,” he said.

“I never have money. I haven’t had money in 20 years,” he added, laughing, “but I have less money now. They’ve taken away our Sundays,” he said, referring to the double-time pay available for working on a Sunday. “Tomorrow I’m working my first Sunday in two years.”

Kenny Vanderneut, 35, Staten Island, N.Y.:

He said he can’t get something healthy without paying  more. “The environment, GMOs [genetically modified organisms],” are one of his principle concerns. “I have to buy organic food, which costs twice as much money.”

Referring to new products, such as the genetically modified salmon that is on its way to being introduced to the market: “They can release a product and leave it to the sick and the dying to prove it hurts them. But they don’t have to prove it’s safe.”

“Half my salary goes to my food budget … I got kids now and I’m not givin’ them that crap.”

“I spend all my money on food. I gotta buy my meat from Montana, grass-fed cattle from Montana, ‘cause I see what they’re doing to the meat here.”

He also complained of subsidies that go to big agribusiness: “I don’t want my [tax] money ending up in Monsanto’s pocket.”

People gathered well before the noon kickoff of the One Nation rally. Photo by Jeremiah Patterson

Glenn Beck voices his opinion on Saturday’s One Nation rally in the District.

AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka talks jobs and politics with GRITtv’s Laura Flanders.

Tourists brave the rain on Thursday, amid set-up for the One Nation rally on Saturday, held rain or shine. Photo by Jeremiah Patterson.

Thousands of people from around the country are expected to convene at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday for the latest in a series of ongoing politically charged rallies in the nation’s capital. With November elections approaching, such Washington events provide forums for those seeking to voice their opinions on various social issues.

Just over a month after the highly publicized “Restoring Honor” rally, organized by Glenn Beck, and the “Reclaim the Dream” rally, organized by Al Sharpton, the “One Nation Working Together” march will call for “jobs, justice and education for all,” according to the movement’s website.

Sponsored by more than 500 liberal groups from all 50 states, the movement aims to refocus national priorities and investment on working-class Americans, said Denise Gray-Felder, communications director for the District’s One Nation Working Together office, in a phone interview.

“We’re often the majority in this country, not the minority,” Gray-Felder said of average working people in America. “Though it’s not always painted that way.”

Supporters of the social movement will gather at the Lincoln Memorial as part of a larger plan to “chart a bold, pragmatic path toward a more unified, sustainable, prosperous future,” according to the movement’s website.

One Nation Working Together, which has been endorsed by the Green Party of the United States, is a self-proclaimed progressive alliance of human and civil rights organizations, union and trade associations, and environmental, peace, education, religious, non-profit and student groups across the U.S. Endorsing organizations include the United States Student Association, the NAACP, the  Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Council of La Raza and the National Baptist Convention.

The movement’s platform emphasizes providing support for the unemployed, ensuring quality and affordable public education, reforming fiscal priorities and criminal justice processes, investing in sustainable energy and fixing a “broken” immigration system, among other initiatives.

Gray-Felder said the march organizers hope to engage supporters in the civic engagement process, and to encourage them to vote for – and hold accountable – candidates who “really care about jobs, justice and education.”

“To get involved and stay involved – that’s the only way we’re going to change this country,” Gray-Felder said.

Equipment sits ready for Saturday's One Nation rally, which is the final destination for the One Nation Blogmobile, a 32-foot RV carrying bloggers from Los Angeles to the rally. Photo by Jeremiah Patterson.

In a video clip on the One Nation Working Together website, former Vermont governor Howard Dean said, “Now it’s time we pull America back together and put America back to work.” He discusses the movement’s philosophy that all people deserve a fair shot at fulfilling the “American Dream.”

Following a pre-rally, non-denominational program beginning at 11 a.m., marchers will gather on the National Mall from noon to 4 p.m. Speakers, entertainers and personalities expected to attend the event have yet to be announced, Gray-Felder said.

Several “feeder marches” and other events – including the AIDS Walk Washington, a D.C. Social Forum and Peace Table feeder march, a local immigrant and workers’ feeder march and a youth feeder march – are also scheduled prior to the main event, which the Washington Peace Center website said, “will be one of the largest progressive rallies D.C. has seen in awhile.”

According to the One Nation Working Together website, union workers and other supporters will be going door to door elsewhere in the country on Saturday to spread the movement’s message and encourage people to vote in the upcoming November elections.

For more information visit the One Nation Working Together website.

Be sure to follow us at http://observerononenation.wordpress.com for American Observer’s background and coverage of the day’s events.

Check out this map for event locations and information:

View Larger Map

Article by Kate Musselwhite and Jeremiah Patterson. Photos by Jeremiah Patterson.