The March on Washington was actually called the Great March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Lots of people forget this and go with the short name, and that is a mistake. A big mistake.

What the organizers understood (and that too many of us have forgotten) is that civil rights and economic rights are two halves of the same whole: you cannot have one without the other. If you have all sorts of civil rights, but are living in a box under a bridge, are you really free? Of course not. You are trapped.

If you are stuck working at a Wal-Mart and are still needing food stamps to feed your kids and cannot organize to get better wages, are you free? Of course not. You are in a trap.

Millions of Americans are chained in these traps of low-wage and no-wage lives. They are told that they are free, but often have few if any choices. And if you have no choices, you have no freedom.

When we think about the speeches, the images, and the stories of the marchers during the anniversary of the March, let us also remember that Jobs and Freedom were the purpose of the event. And that both are always at risk, and must always be defended against those who would take them away.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky