Thousands of people gathered on Washington’s National Mall on Wednesday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. NAACP President Benjamin Jealous told the crowd that the quest for Dr. King’s call for economic justice continues.

Benjamin Jealous: “As we stand here 50 years after the March on Washington, let us remember that Dr. King’s last march was never finished. The Poor People’s Campaign was never finished. Some 50 years after the March on Washington, while fewer people as a percentage in our country are poor, more as a number in our country are poor. And while the ladder of opportunity extends to the heavens for our people today, more are tethered at the bottom and falling off every day.”

Also addressing the 50th anniversary march, President Obama said a proper commemoration should honor the civil rights movement’s gains while also acknowledging lingering injustice.

President Obama: “But we would dishonor those heroes, as well, to suggest that the work of this nation is somehow complete. The arc of the moral universe may bend towards justice, but it doesn’t bend on its own. To secure the gains this country has made requires constant vigilance, not complacency. Whether by challenging those who erect new barriers to the vote or ensuring that the scales of justice work equally for all and the criminal justice system is not simply a pipeline from underfunded schools to overcrowded jails, it requires vigilance.”