12 years old in August 1963, black, grew up in South Baltimore, Congressman for Maryland’s 7th district. Rep. Cummings wasn't at The March On Washington, but his father was.
The March on Washington and Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech gave me a sense of hope that I could achieve something great. Growing up in a low-income family - just one generation removed from sharecropping in the south - it was hard to see any kind of true hope in a dream. But I saw how the words and conviction of Dr. King empowered and encouraged my parents, my neighbors and my community members. The epiphany that there could be more even for a poor, black boy from Baltimore, buoyed me through childhood and equipped me to strive for a future of which generations before me could never even dream.