king had brought to our attention. >> woodruff: that was edith lee payne of detroit. can find her story, and other firsthand accounts recorded for the web series, "memories of the march," produced by public television stations around the country, on the pbs website, "black culture connection." we turn now to our own series of conversations on the march. gwen ifill spoke recently with peniel joseph, founding director of the center for the study of race and democracy, and a professor of history at tufts university and bonnie boswell hamilton, executive producer of the pbs documentary: "the power broker: whitney young's fight for civil rights." >> bonnie hamilton, peniel joseph, thank you both for joining us. i want to start by asking you to look back over the five decades, joas, and tell us what's your sense of how much has changed? >> well, i think that the esthetics of our democracy changed after the march on washington. barack obama is probably the biggest example of that change. 50 summers ago we couldn't have imagined an african american president commander in chie

. >>> edith lee payne only learned of the existence of the picture five years ago when a cousin recognizeder in a catalog. this is her story in her own words. >> i was 12 years old when that picture was taken of me at the march at war on august 28, 1963. when my cousin called and told me that that picture was on a black history calendar 2009 i couldn't believe it i wouldn't imagine why a picture of me would be i in a calendar of historic people. i understood that there were injustices happy to go people that looked like me and to families like mean. it was sorrowful to me to see that and know that, but i still had hope. i believe that what i do now in my life today is largely due to the august 28, 196 1963, march d the times of the civil rights movement. it's just not right for people to suffer up justices. >> we're going stay together. >> a community activist is somebody that goes on the front lines to try to make the wrongs right and make life better, the quality of life better for other people. >> the top wires are the higher voltage, and it's a ten-foot clearance. you don't want vegeta

edith lee payne captured in this iconic photo reunited with photographer roland sherman. lori brenner and dwight flowers who later married both marched. >> it gave me a tremendous amount of hope. >> reporter: in 1963, gordon gunderson was a park ranger on the podium with dr. king. >> it was the most beautiful poetry you would ever want to hear. ♪ it's about justice, it's about freedom ♪ >> reporter: peter, paul and mary 50 years ago, and today without mary, but with the parents of trayvon martin and newtown father mark barden. 23-year-old activist john lewis -- >> we must wake up america. >> reporter: -- now a congressman and elder statesman. >> we must keep the faith and keep our eyes on the prize. >> reporter: the day was a celebration and call to action, without the fears that shadowed the 1963 march. civil rights leader medgar evers had been assassinated just weeks before. the birmingham church bombing killed four young girls just weeks later. today evers' widow spoke. >> freedom is not free. >> reporter: and the bell onstage, it was rescued from that birmingham churc

edith lee payne turned 12 on that day.y five years ago her cousin discovering this photo of her in the back of a calendar. >> i was in disbelief, that my picture would be on a comed with martin luther king. >> reporter: 50 years latary company need by her grandchildren carrying the same banner, and her memories. that little girl's face now recreated on the wall at ben's chili bowl restaurant in washington d.c. the words on the signs are different today. but the dream lives on. president obama said he's a testament to the enormous strides made since the 1963 march. he would deliver a speech right here at the lincoln memorial on wednesday. david. >> great to see kathleen and edith and so many returning. thank you. >>> from south africa, new word on another human rights champion, nelson mandela, the government saying the former president remaining in critical but stable condition in the hospital, though quote, medical interventions are required from time to time, they say. adding that doctors are still working hard for a turn

. >> reporter: edith lee payne walked as a 12-year-old. here she is that august day, barely tall enough to see through the crowds. >> i'm honored to be here standing for those that were here before and aren't here today. >> reporter: but this is not just a commemoration. it's a call to action. martin luther king iii told the crowd he believes his father's dream has not yet been realized. >> far too frequently, the color of one's skin remains a license to profile, to arrest, and to even murder with no regard for the content of one's character. >> reporter: half a century later, while many here are celebrating progress, 81-year-old clifford lee says the march continues. >> we haven't come far enough. we've still got a long ways to go. >> reporter: today was the march. wednesday is the anniversary of dr. king's "i have a dream" speech. president barack obama will be here to deliver a speech of his own. looking out at the washington monument, just as dr. king did 50 years ago. jim. >> axelrod: jeff, thank you. and later in the broadcast, we wi

edith lee payne was only 12 years old when that photo was taken. also with her is the photograph who are took that picture, roland sherman. thank you both for being here. edith, first to you, it's a pleasure to see you, meet you electronically, what are your recollections of that day, this day, 50 years ago? >> well, it's a pleasure to meet you, thank you for having me on. my recollections 50 years ago are that first and foremost i was there. with the most important person in my life, my mother, who is not with us now, but we were there because she knew the injusts happening in the south were not fair. they weren't right, and she wanted to be one to stand among the many to say she opposedded what was happening, and she wanted me to share that with her. today was a very good reminder of where we came from 50 years ago, but also where we still have to go. >> what are your thoughts on the work still to be done? >> well, 50 years ago people were committed to making the necessary change on a daily basis. we need to do that now if those changes are going

edith lee payne celebrated her birthday on august 29th, 1963.he young people fighting to make this country a better place. joining me now is that little girl all grown up now. also with us is michael grunko who was just seven years old when he went to the march on washington. thank you both for being here. edith, your picture has become a famous picture of the march, but you first saw that photo just a few years ago. how did you find out about it? >> well, my cousin marsha was browsing a catalog of calendars and she saw my picture on the back of this calendar and to my surprise and amazement, it was me. >> why were you here at the march on your 12th birthday? >> my mother dorothy lee had experienced some of the problems in the south in her travels as an entertainer. she wanted to stand up with everyone else for the injustices that people were experiencing and she of course wanted me to be with her to do that. >> now, michael, you grew up in maine far away from the problems. and obviously you were not an african-american. why was it so important

edith lee payne celebrated her birthday on august 29th, 1963.nic image of the march and the young people fighting to make this country a better place. joining me now is that little girl all grown up now. also with us is michael grunko who was just seven years old when he went to the march on washington. thank you both for being here. edith, your picture has become a famous picture of the march, but you first saw that photo just a few years ago. how did you find out about it? >> well, my cousin marsha was browsing a catalog of calendars and she saw my picture on the back of this calendar and to my surprise and amazement, it was me. >> why were you here at the march on your 12th birthday? >> my mother dorothy lee had experienced some of the problems in the south in her travels as an entertainer. she wanted to stand up with everyone else for the injustices that people were experiencing and she of course wanted me to be with her to do that. >> now, michael, you grew up in maine far away from the problems. and obviously you were not an african-americ

. >> reporter: among the thousands in washington was edith lee payne who was there 50 years ago as wellas a child seen in this iconic 1963 photo reflected on both events. >> why was it important to be here? >> because my mother brought me. and if we're going to continue to make change and make this world better, we have to be a part of that change. >> reporter: the thousands that showed up battled rain, humidity and long security lines, but they stayed to honor the freedom marchers of 50 years ago. john and diana? >> tahman, thank you. >> tough to navigate. president obama opening his mouth and getting some people annoyed. other people saying great. he really had to please a lot of people with the speech. a tough one. >> yeah, some say he went too political. other people said he didn't go political enough. such a great platform for him to become more political. one of the things he said that i thought was interesting, he said america still has unfinished business and has to do with the doors of opportunity not just being cracked open for a few but being completely open for everyone, bla

edith lee payne attended the march on her 12th birthday 50 years ago with her mother. this iconic photo of her as a young girl will dprfr be part of our history. and eugene robinson, a pulitzer prize-winning columnist for "the washington post." thank you all for joining us this afternoon. stan, i want to start with you. one of the things we keep hearing about in the history is you were part of the security teams. and we keep hearing about all of the concerns is that whether a group of negroes this size could actually peacefully come together. how do you train your security people? >> first, some of the background, we in core, congress in racial equality in washington had been demonstrating and pickets around jobs and job security for months before this. we were getting arrested, we were going to be thrown in paddy wagons, we were getting beaten on by the washington police. so we didn't see the washington police as a real protective force for the march. and we had to come up with alternatives. and that's part of the genius of ruston. he went to the new york police depar

edith lee payne says the anniversary is a reminder there is more work to be done. >> we've not come as growing up in a nation where equality and justice for all was something that did not apply to - black americans. but dr. martin luther king's speech that day spoke of a dream the civil rights leader hoped would come true. >> i have a dream that one day this nation will rise up live out the true meaning of its creed. we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. >> on saturday the crowds packed around the reflecting pool celebrated those words and the progress that has been made but martin luther king iii warned against complacency. >> federal anti-must be -- >> the most controversial came from al sharpton that scolded a younger generation that glorifies guns and violence. >> don't you ever think that men like medgar evers died to give you the right to be a hoodlum. don't disrespect your women, no matter what they promise you, make it clear that you know that rosa parks wasn't no ho. >>> jimmy carter and bill clinton will be the speakers president barack obama

edith lee-payne. earnest green. please, please. [applause] >> you want to be important? wonderful. to be recognized. if you want to be great, wonderful. but recognize that he who is great among you shall be your servant, and that is the new definition of greatness. this afternoon, the thing that i like about it is that by giving that definition, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. you do not have to have a college degree to serve. you do not have to make your own subject to serve. you do not have to know about plato and aristotle to serve. you do not know einstein's theory of relativity to serve. you do not know have to know the secretary of thermodynamics in physics to serve. you only need a heart full of grace, and a soul generated by love, and you can be that servant. i just want to talk about a man for a moment. maybe you will discover who i am talking about as i go down the way. he was a great one. he just went about serving. he was born in an obscure village, a child of a poor peasant woman, and yet he grew up in another obscure village where he

edith lee-payne. earnest green. please, please.copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] important? to be wonderful. if you want to be recognized. if you want to be great, wonderful. he who is ae that great is among you shall be your servant, and that is the new definition of greatness. this afternoon, the thing that i like about it is that by giving that definition, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. you do not have to have a college degree to serve. you do not have to make your own subject and your firm agree to serve. you do not have to know about plato and aristotle to serve. you do not know einstein's theory of relativity to serve. you do not know have to know the secretary of verbal dynamics in physics to serve. you only need a heart full of soul generated by love, and you can be that servant. i just want to talk about a man for a moment. maybe you will discover who i am talking about as i go down the way. he was a great one. he just