Education Secretary’s office hangs up on TheDC over Duncan’s plans to speak at Sharpton promoted event to counter Glenn Beck ‘Restoring Honor’ rally

“On the anniversary of the March on Washington, Glenn Beck is going to talk about the dream of Martin Luther King and how he was with them – not us,” Sharpton said in the blackvoicenews.com article. “So, we’ve been traveling all over this country because there is no way in the world that I am going to allow him to have more people there than us. I hope every Black person in the country will help us to challenge this.”

For Sharpton’s rally, the NAN is bussing in black people from around the country to see Sharpton and other speakers the NAN booked, including NAACP President Ben Jealous and Duncan.
In an e-mail to TheDC, Jealous said the NAACP expects “tens of thousands of people from all across the country, of all races and faiths” to attend a march on Oct. 2.*

Sharpton and the NAN plan to march from Dunbar High School to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial on Aug. 28.

On its website, the National Urban League said it plans to join Sharpton and the NAN on their march as well.

Sharpton’s march isn’t the only “counter-rally” anti-Tea Party demonstrators have scheduled for the day. Several liberal groups and artists plan to unveil Celebrate The Dream, a sculptural presentation of four murals representing King’s message, on the Washington Mall, where the Beck rally is taking place.

Clarification: The original article said Jealous was referring to Sharpton’s Aug. 28 NAN march.

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