On August 28, 1963, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and several other luminaries led the March On Washington For Jobs and Freedom that drew an estimated crowd of over 250,000 attendees. Regarded as one of the touchstones of the Civil Rights Movement, the march was a catalyst for the passage of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Almost 60 years later, several of the legislative gains from the Civil Rights Movement have been eradicated over the last several years by a conservative Supreme Court

In the words of Dr. King, “Where do we go from here?’

Reflecting on the ongoing fight for equality, BET.com spoke with the leaders of the Drum Major Institute Martin Luther King III, who serves as board chairman and his wife Arndrea Waters King, who is president, about commemorating the 60th anniversary of the March On Washington with its partner, the National Action Network on Aug. 26,  the Trump indictments in Georgia, and why Black votes still matter.

BET.com: What was your vision behind working with the National Action Network to honor the 60th anniversary of the March On Washington?

Martin Luther King III: A couple of years ago, on January 6,  we saw an insurrection. On August 26th of this year, we want to see a resurrection. A resurrection of continuing the work of fighting for freedom, We have no time to sit on our laurels and act like everything is alright. It might be alright for some individuals  But the question is, “What is happening with the masses of people?

Arndrea Waters King: We decided to come together for the 60th anniversary because we couldn't just sit by with all of these things happening. We wanted to use this moment to call the nation back to rededicating herself to democracy for everyone.  And that's why we also have been intentional with this march with the inclusion of women because it was Mamie Till-Mobley, a Black woman and the mother of Emmett Till whose courage helped to spark the movement.

We've been intentional to make sure that the march will be interfaith with over 200 partners. We have the Latino community, the Indigenous American community, the Asian community, the Islamic community, the Jewish community, the LGBTQ community, women's groups, and labor groups.  We want to send a strong message and cast a  strong vision, to the nation and to come together, to see this as a beginning, not an end.

BET.com: We recently celebrated the 58th anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Decades later, what is your view on the legislative attempts to weaken the Voting Rights Act?

Martin Luther King III: I think we have to understand that there’s been a blatant attempt to weaken the Voting Rights Bill for the last several years. Certain states have passed laws that make voting more difficult such as ending early voting and mail-in voting. In a democracy, we should make voting easier and not harder. We see this with Congress not being able to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act which would have strengthened voting rights and responded to voter suppression that we see happening in so many states.

That’s why we have to always be engaged in the voting process because it’s about putting the right people in office who are interested in serving the community, not lining their own pockets and doing things that are against what the community wants. 58 years later, we’re still fighting to keep our right to vote which is essential in a democracy. So the march will focus on the importance of the Voting Rights Act and how we can use our voice at the ballot box.

BET.com: In early August, former President Donald Trump was indicted for the fourth time in your home state of Georgia. What were your thoughts when the news broke about the latest indictment?

Martin Luther King III: So the first thing I would say is that this is a continuous sad saga for our nation that a head of state would be accused of several crimes around the issue of democracy. In a nation that purports to be a democratic nation, none of us are above the law, including the president. If the president has done something wrong, the system is working as it is structured, and like anyone who's accused of doing a crime, you're entitled to a fair trial. It’s sad because we have so many real issues that we as a society need to be dealing with such as hunger, homelessness, homicides, the drug trade, and in Atlanta,  we have a huge child trafficking issue. There are zillions of issues that we need to be focused on and were not because of this particular issue.

Arndrea Waters King: With all that’s going on with the former president, we cannot forget that the most important thing is that the right to vote is being taken away. Before Martin Luther King Jr.,  told us about his dream, he told us “Give us the ballot.”

What we have seen happen in 2020 is that there was a great racial awakening for some in this country but we also witnessed since that time, a very real backlash, that started, at the January 6 Insurrection. After the physical attack on democracy, there was a structural attack on democracy. That’s when you start seeing almost 40 states trying to pass some type of law making it harder to vote. That is what we should be talking about, no matter who it is.

BET.com: To you Arndrea, last year we witnessed the eradication of women's reproductive rights by the Supreme Court. Why is this current moment so critical for the future of women’s rights?

Arndrea Waters King: Our daughter, who's 15 years old, happens to be the only grandchild of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King. Her name is Yolanda and she’s named after Martin's sister. She was born in 2008. Five years later in 2013, the Voting Rights Act, the crowning achievement of the Civil Rights Movement was gutted. Then in 2020, Georgia was one of the states that passed numerous draconian laws to make it harder to vote. Then, there was legislation passed that limits the teaching of Black history in public schools in Georgia, which did not exist when she was born. Then in 2022, our reproductive freedom was taken away.

So a female child born in this country, within the last two years, was born with fewer rights than her mother, grandmother, her great-grandmother which has not happened since the end of Reconstruction and the beginning of the passage of the Black Codes.

BET.com: Lastly, what would you say to those voters who are frustrated with the current political process and believe that their voice and vote don’t matter?

Martin Luther King III: Dad used to say that, “A ballotless people are a powerless people.” What is probably the greater issue is that we're not holding our elected officials accountable. Until you can hold someone accountable, they won't totally realize what your lack of voting means. All of these rights would not have been taken If we had another Supreme Court by voting differently in 2016. Hillary Clinton would have won and not Trump. The court would not have wiped out women's rights, all wiped out affirmative action or the Voting Rights Act. When we couldn’t get equality locally, we had a hope that we could get it at the United States Supreme Court.

That is closed for now with six out of the nine members on the court being conservative and they've already shown what they're willing to do. So my point is that elections have consequences. The only way we change that is we got to be engaged and then we have to all figure out how we hold the folks that are there accountable.

Arndrea Waters King: What I will remind people of is the very last sermon that Martin Luther King Jr., delivered at the National National Cathedral in Washington was titled, “Remaining Awake During a Great Revolution.”

None of us know what was the last thing on his mind but we do know what his last message to us was and he talked about remaining awake. It's so interesting that being “woke” has been taken and used as a dog whistle by conservatives. Martin Luther King Jr.’s last sermon told us to remain awake and I would say now more than ever, that we need to be thinking about that.

BET is observing the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington with live coverage through the day via Facebook on Aug. 26, and with a special edition of America In Black on Aug. 28 at 8 p.m. EDT. Follow on social media at # AmericaInBlackBET.