John Lewis in "Walking with the Wind": "We were supposed to be the leaders of the march, but the march was all around us, already taking off, already gone."

The following is an excerpt from a statement made August 28, 2013 by Rashad Robinson of ColorOfChange.org:

In his autobiography "Walking with the Wind," Rep. John Lewis describes the morning of the 1963 March on Washington — 50 years ago today. Some of the most prominent civil rights leaders — Dr. King, Bayard Rustin, Lewis and others — were in meetings at the Capitol and realized that the march had started without them. They watched as tens of thousands of people poured into the streets, seemingly leaderless, before quickly rushing to meet the march in the middle.

"It was truly awesome, the most incredible thing I'd ever seen in my life," Lewis wrote. "I remember thinking, there goes America. We were supposed to be the leaders of the march, but the march was all around us, already taking off, already gone."

As I've been reflecting on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, this story remains my favorite, I think, because the people are leading the march — as they should be. Like the marchers that day, ColorOfChange.org members are the leaders of a modern grassroots march for racial justice.