In August 1963, people traveled far and wide to Washington DC to advocate for civil rights. They took planes, trains, and automobiles. However, one man traveled there in a different way. To commemorate the 59th anniversary of the March on Washington For Jobs and Freedom, we lace up our skates to tell the story of Ledger "Roller Man" Smith and his almost 700-mile journey to Washington DC. In this episode, you will hear: Why Ledger Smith went to the March On Washington on roller skates Why Dr. King thought it was essential for Civil Rights to desegregate places of leisure Ledger Smith route from Chicago to Washington DC Why media was essential to the Civil Rights movement More about an unlikely ally in the Civil Rights movement The Children's March and Kelly Ingram park Notable figures mentioned in this episode: Martin Luther King Jr. John Lewis Mamie Chalmers Bayard Rustin A.G. Gaston A. Phillip Randolph President John F. Kennedy Attorney General Robert Kennedy President Barack Obama The Black Is America podcast, a presentation of OWLS Education, was created and is written, researched, and produced by me, Dominic Lawson. Executive Producer Kenda Lawson Cover art was created by Alexandria Eddings of Art Life Connections. Credit for this episode's cover art: The Baltimore Afro American Sources to create this episode come from The National Civil Rights Museum, History.com, The New York Times, The Baltimore Afro American, The National Museum of African American History & Culture, WAMU National Public Radio in DC Scenes from United Skates are courtesy of Vice and HBO Documentary Films, a Warner Brothers Discovery Company. Mamie Chalmers audio courtesy of Comcast NBCUniversal's Voices of the Civil Rights Movement David Vann and A.G. Gaston audio courtesy of the Youtube Channel curated by Geoff Hiron (Note: The host could not locate the original source of audio) "Beat It" is written and performed by Michael Jackson and produced by Michael Jackson & Quincy Jones for Epic Records. "I'm On My Way" performed by Mamie Brown & Choir from "Lest We Forget, Vol. 2: Birmingham, Alabama, 1963 - Mass Meeting" from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Audio of Martin Luther King Jr. courtesy of Martin Luther King Jr Research and Education Institute at Stanford University Audio of John Lewis courtesy of the National Archives Audio of President Barack Obama courtesy of BBC News Be sure to Like, review and subscribe to the Black Is America Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, where ever you like to listen to podcasts. Also, let people know about the podcast. We would appreciate that very much. For a full transcript of this episode and other resources, go to www.blackisamericapodcast.com. You can read our blog, leave us a review, or leave a voicemail where you can ask a question or let us know what you think about the show we may play in an episode. You can also hit the donation button if you like what you heard, which helps us to create more educational content like this.