March on Washington Film Festival

06/19/2026

Tomorrow. Don't miss this.

Toni x2 — film screening, book signing, panel discussion — is happening this Saturday, June 20 at 3PM.

Seats are limited. Get your ticket now.

🔗 tonix2.marchonfest.org
📍 Metropolitan AME Church, Douglas Hall · 1518 M Street NW, Washington DC
💜 Sliding scale · Give what moves you

06/17/2026

This is Day 17 of the 50-day Countdown to July 4: The Unfinished Story — exploring aspects of freedom often overlooked in our history books. Today's post asks a question that is as relevant today as it was 172 years ago.

𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝟏𝟕: 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐎𝐅 𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐘?

Before you read on — tell us in the comments: what does July 4th mean to you personally?

On July 5, 1852 — deliberately not the 4th — Frederick Douglass asked one of the most important questions in American history:
"What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"

He was speaking in a nation that celebrated liberty while millions of Black people remained enslaved. And he chose July 5th on purpose — because he refused to pretend the celebration included him.

We have ended slavery.

But we have not fully realized freedom.

As America marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, Douglass's question still echoes — because freedom in America has always been incomplete, and many of the rights generations fought, marched, bled, and died to secure are now being contested in plain sight.

At March On!, this is exactly why we exist. We believe in the power of film, storytelling, and the arts to keep truth alive — and to build the kind of understanding that makes real freedom possible for everyone.

This short NPR video of Douglass's descendants reading and reflecting on his words is extraordinary. It is only 7 minutes long and worth watching in full.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBe5qbnkqoM

As we approach July 4th, we're sitting with a modern version of Douglass's question:

What to the oppressed is the Fourth of July?

And maybe the deeper question is:
What would it take for America's celebration of freedom to feel true for everyone?

Drop your answer in the comments — and if this post makes you think, share it with someone who needs to see it. These are the conversations America needs to be having as we mark 250 years of democracy.

In the summer of 2020, the U.S. commemorated Independence Day amid ...

06/16/2026

Everything you need to know about Toni x2.

🎥 FILM SCREENING
TBC: The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing — a documentary by Louis J. Massiah & Monica Heniquez

📖 BOOK SIGNING
Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer's Legendary Editorship by Dana A. Williams

💬 PANEL DISCUSSION + MINI WORKSHOP
Louis J. Massiah · Dana A. Williams · Marita Golden (Moderator)

📅 Saturday, June 20 · Doors open 2:30PM · Program begins 3PM
📍 Metropolitan AME Church, Douglas Hall · 1518 M Street NW, Washington DC 20005
🏟 Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/toni-x2-how-bambara-and-morrison-reshaped-the-literary-landscape-tickets-1988981158186?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true&blm_aid=1979628
💜 Sliding scale · Give what moves you

Bring a friend. Bring your love for Black literature. We'll see you there.

06/16/2026

This is Day 18 of the 50-day Countdown to July 4: The Unfinished Story — exploring aspects of freedom often overlooked in our history books. Today's post is about two women who didn't just write about change — they built the infrastructure for it.

𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝟏𝟖: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄

What is your favorite Toni Morrison book — or the one that changed how you saw the world? Drop your answer in the comments before reading on.

Most people know Toni Morrison as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century — Nobel Prize winner, Pulitzer Prize winner, author of Beloved, Song of Solomon, and The Bluest Eye.

Fewer people know that before she was a celebrated novelist, she spent years as an editor at Random House specifically seeking out and championing Black writers who would otherwise have been ignored by mainstream publishing.

And fewer still know about her extraordinary creative partnership with Toni Cade Bambara — writer, filmmaker, and cultural strategist — whose work inspired generations to use storytelling as a tool for community empowerment.

Together, these two women didn't just write about change. They built the infrastructure for it.

This Saturday, March On! is bringing their story to life.

🎬 𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐈 𝐱 𝟐: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐁𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞
📅 Saturday, June 20 · 3PM (doors open 2:30PM)
📍 Metropolitan AME Church · 1518 M Street NW · Washington DC
Register here: https://marchonfest.org/event/toni-x2-how-bambara-and-morrison-reshaped-the-literary-landscape/

The afternoon includes a screening of TBC: The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing, followed by a panel conversation and mini publishing workshop with filmmaker Louis J. Massiah, author Dana A. Williams, and moderated by acclaimed author and Hurston/Wright Foundation founder Marita Golden.

This is a rare opportunity to explore how two women used writing, editing, and storytelling to shape American culture — and what that means for the stories we are still fighting to tell today.
Register at tonix2.marchonfest.org

Now back to where we started — what Toni Morrison book changed how you saw the world? And if you know Toni Cade Bambara's work, tell us about that too. Drop your thoughts in the comments and share this if you believe in the power of storytelling to change the world.

n partnership with Metropolitan AME Church, March On! presents Toni x 2 — an afternoon exploring the powerful creative connection between two of the most influential figures in American literary history: Toni Cade Bambara and Toni Morrison.

06/15/2026

This is Day 19 of March On! Executive Director Kim Callinan's 50-day Countdown to July 4: The Unfinished Story — exploring aspects of freedom often overlooked in our history books. Today's post is about a woman whose story March On! has made it our mission to keep alive.

DAY 19: SHE WALKED THROUGH THE HATE -- AND OPENED DOORS FOR OTHERS

Who is a contemporary woman alive today who demonstrates extraordinary courage in the fight for racial justice? Drop your answer in the comments before reading on.

One of March On!'s greatest honors is presenting the Vivian Malone Courage Award — given every other year in partnership with Dr. Sharon Malone, Vivian's sister. The award honors contemporary women who demonstrate extraordinary courage in the fight for racial justice.

Past honorees include The Joy Reid Show, Michelle Browder, and Nikole Hannah-Jones -- women whose courage in the fight for racial justice embodies the spirit of Vivian Malone.

But who was Vivian Malone? And why does her story still matter?

On June 11, 1963, Vivian Malone walked toward Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama.

Governor George Wallace was standing in the doorway, trying to block her and James Hood from enrolling. He wanted the image. The defiance. The performance of power.

But Vivian Malone gave the country a different image: a young Black woman walking forward anyway.

She did not shout. She did not posture. She simply kept moving.

By the end of that day, she and James Hood had registered for classes. Two years later, Vivian Malone Jones became the first Black student to graduate from the University of Alabama.

That is what courage can look like. Not always loud. Not always dramatic. Sometimes courage is walking toward a door that was never meant to open for you — and entering anyway.
Here is a short clip about Vivian Malone's legacy narrated by March On! Festival Director Leigh Davis.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_GkUlp5h_ME

Now back to where we started — who came to mind when you read Vivian's story?

Tell us in the comments. And share this if it's history worth remembering.

06/12/2026

Pride is not a detour from democracy — it's proof of it.

For 250 years, this country has been shaped by people who demanded to be seen, counted, and free. That work continues. This month, we honor every voice that has marched, organized, and refused to be erased.

March On! 🏳️‍🌈

06/10/2026

"What happens when two of the greatest writers in Black literary history become each other's champions? ✨

Dana A. Williams — author of Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer's Legendary Editorship — calls the chapter on Morrison and Bambara's friendship her favorite to write. And we think you'll understand why when you hear her speak.

Come experience Toni × 2 on June 20 at Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, DC. Sliding scale tickets available — because this story belongs to everyone.
🎟️ tonix2.marchonfest.org

"

06/08/2026

Every great conversation needs a great guide.

Marita Golden — award-winning author and literary legend — will moderate the panel discussion at Toni x2 on June 20.

With over a dozen books and decades spent championing Black writers and storytellers, there's no one better to lead this conversation about Bambara, Morrison, and the literary landscape they built.

📅 June 20 · 3PM · Metropolitan AME Church
🔗 Tickets: tonix2.marchonfest.org

06/08/2026

Did you know?

The 19th Amendment — women's right to vote — passed by a single vote.

That vote was cast by a 24-year-old Tennessee legislator named Harry Burn.
He planned to vote against it. Then he read a note from his mother.
She wrote: "Don't forget to be a good boy."
One note. One vote. 50 million women.

But the full story is more complicated. Black women like Sojourner Truth, Mary Church Terrell, and Ida B. Wells fought for that amendment — and were still denied the vote for another 45 years.

Democracy is made by people who show up and keep showing up.

March On! marchonfest.org