March on Washington Infographic: Black America 50 Years Later

We reveal whether African Americans have made significant progress 50 years after the March on Washington As thousands travel to the nation’s capital to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , we continue to grapple with the question of whether African Americans collectively has made significant progress worthy of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s epic “I Have A Dream” Speech. It’s true African Americans no longer suffer the injustices of Jim Crow and that we have made significant political achievement – most notably, the election of America’s first African American president, Barack Obama, for two terms – but we still confront the nagging problems of poverty, unemployment and racism.

And the fact that such challenges continue to persist has never been more evident than the failure of a jury to hold George Zimmerman accountable for slaying Trayvon Martin as well as the Supreme Court’s decision in June to dismantle the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Revealing data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau as well as information from the Pew Research center’s recent report on the economic, political and social status of African Americans, Black Enterprise – using the design talents of our Creative Director Terence Saulsby – provides a graphic snapshot of where we stand as a people today compared to that historic day in 1963. Have we realized the dream? You decide.