Listen to the entire program

Conservative radio talk-show host and Fox News commentator Glenn Beck has announced his plan to host a national rally at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC on August 28. The rally, titled “Restoring Honor 8/28” will coincide with the 47th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, at which Martin Luther King Jr. made his legendary “I have a dream” speech. The rally has been advertised as “non-political,” and Beck has specifically stated that it won’t be a Tea Party rally. However, keynote speakers include Sarah Palin and Ted Nugent, and sponsors include the National Rifle Association. Civil rights activists and leaders have criticized the event. Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, referred to Beck’s record of racially insensitive comments when he denounced the Honor rally as "an effort to embarrass and poke a finger in the eye of the civil rights community." Reverend Al Sharpton has planned a march for the same day to commemorate King’s legacy, but he has also confirmed that his march will not interact with or confront Beck’s Honor Rally. August 28 will also mark the release date of Charles Euchner’s book “Nobody Turn Me Around, A People’s History of the 1963 March on Washington.” Building on extensive interviews, archives, FBI files, and private recordings, the account reveals the complex struggles of march organizers and civil rights leaders in 1963, while also weaving in stories of ordinary people who traveled across the country to participate in the movement. In bringing to life this critical day in US history, Euchner’s book serves as a powerful reminder of the arduous and on-going struggle for equality.

GUEST: Charles Euchner, author of Nobody Turn Me Around: A People’s History of the 1963 March on Washington. And creator of The Writing Code.