Washington, D.C

Mount Pilgrim to present drama on teens who traveled to D.C. in ’63 for civil rights march

Published

1 year ago

February 21, 2025

Mount Pilgrim to present drama on teens who traveled to D.C. in ’63 for civil rights march

The Rev. Roderick Thomas was struggling to find a topic for the return of Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church’s community-wide Black History Month program following a two-year hiatus.

Over the decade before the break in 2023 and 2024, while the church attempted a film project, the event had used such media as dance, music and poetry, typically with community participation, to explore and spotlight the people, places and events integral to the Black experience in the United States.

However, Thomas finally stopped close to home for the focus of the production that’s set for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 24 at the historic church at 408 N. Ninth St. in Gadsden.

It’s a drama called “The Three Boys from Gadsden, Alabama,” the story of three teenagers from the city who hitchhiked to Washington, D.C., to take part in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.

One of those young men was Robert Frank Thomas — the Rev. Thomas’ father. The others were Robert Avery and James Smith.

“This is telling their story,” the Rev. Thomas said, adding that the roughly 90-minute drama will tell “how they got to Washington, D.C., what they did when they were there and the reason for going. It’s going to be good.”

The trio — Thomas was 18 (and instigated the trip, Avery said in a 2013 Times retrospective), Smith 16 and Avery 15 at the time — left for Washington on Aug. 18, 1963. They walked up U.S. Highway 11, where a few months earlier William Lewis Moore, a white postal worker walking to protest segregation, had been killed in a crime that has never been solved.

They caught a Greyhound bus on the way, which dropped them off in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They walked the roughly 30 miles to Cleveland, Tennessee, then caught rides the rest of the way.

“They didn’t have any money … so they had to come up with a way to get there,” the Rev. Thomas said. “which is something that some young people would do. I call them ‘crazy but courageous.’ It’s crazy when you think about an 18-year-old, a 16-year-old and a 15-year-old hitchhiking to Washington, D.C., but to make it is courageous.”

He said their reason for going, for taking the risk, was they “wanted to be part of change.”

After arriving in Washington with 35 cents between them, they connected with civil rights leaders who found accommodations for them and hired them to make signs and buttons and stuff envelopes leading up to the march.

They carried signs to the Washington Monument on Aug. 28, 1963, the day of the march that drew a quarter of a million participants, and were present for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s immortal “I Have a Dream” speech. Organizers later provided them bus tickets home.

“I was contemplating on what to do for this year,” the Rev. Thomas said, “because it seemed like we’d been doing this for so long that we’d used up all the Black history ideas that might be good plays. But this is a great opportunity for us right now.”

Robert Frank Thomas died in 2004 and Smith died in 2022. (Smith’s son, Steve, currently serves on the Gadsden City Council.)

Avery, a longtime Gadsden City Council member, remains active in community affairs.

Doors open at 6 p.m. and there is no admission charge for the program, but seating is first come, first served.

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Washington, D.C

How the Supreme Court is reshaping the US midterm elections

Published

6 hours ago

May 31, 2026

Press Room

How the Supreme Court is reshaping the US midterm elections

The U.S. Supreme Court this year already has given a boost to President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans in the nationwide battle over redrawing electoral maps. In the coming weeks, it could rule in favor of the Republicans in two more significant cases related to elections ahead of the November elections that will decide control of Congress.

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Washington, D.C

Texas man indicted in shooting near Washington Monument that left bystander hurt

Published

16 hours ago

May 30, 2026

Press Room

Texas man indicted in shooting near Washington Monument that left bystander hurt

WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — A Texas man accused of shooting at a United States Secret Service agent near the Washington Monument earlier this month has been indicted on federal charges, the Justice Department announced Friday.

A federal grand jury indicted 45-year-old Michael Marx with “assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon” and “using, carrying, possessing, brandishing, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence,” in connection with the May 4 incident, in which a stray bullet struck a teenage bystander.

“Today’s indictment reflects the gravity of the defendant’s actions on one of the most heavily visited public spaces in the nation,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Friday, in part. “The evidence shows Marx not only carried an illegal firearm into DC, but he fired it at uniformed officers, wounding an innocent teenage bystander who was simply visiting the National Mall with his family on a spring afternoon.”

Authorities previously charged Marx with assaulting federal officers with a dangerous weapon, using and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

According to court documents, an undercover Secret Service agent initially noticed Marx trying to conceal a gun on the right side of his body near 15th Street and Madison Drive NW shortly after 3:30 p.m. on the afternoon of the shooting.

At the same time, the motorcade for Vice President J.D. Vance was leaving the White House, passing through the area just up the street.

Uniformed Secret Service officers arrived to provide backup, finding Marx along the path of Vance’s motorcade. The attorney’s office said officers began to give the Texas man verbal commands, but he started running through a crosswalk and eventually fired at one of the agents as he reached the sidewalk.

The bullet struck the teenage bystander, who was walking behind the agent, in the leg, according to the DOJ.

Agents quickly returned fire, striking Marx in the hand, left arm, and upper body, according to court documents.

Court documents state that agents used Marx’s Texas driver’s license, which he was carrying, to identify him as the gunman. Investigators also identified various aliases Marx allegedly went by, including Patrick Michael and Michael Zavici.

While in the hospital, he allegedly made statements to officers, including ”F— the White House,” and “kill me, kill me, kill me,” the DOJ noted in a release.

Police found a Sig Sauer P365 handgun loaded with 9mm ammunition from the street where Marx fell.

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Washington, D.C

Storm Team4 Forecast: May ends with sunshine and clear skies

Published

1 day ago

May 30, 2026

Press Room

Storm Team4 Forecast: May ends with sunshine and clear skies

4 things to know about the weather:

Abundant sunshine
Temps slightly cooler than average
No rain in sight — again
Mid-week warmup

May is drawing to a dry, comfortable close, in stunning contrast to the very soggy Memorial Day weather we saw last weekend.

That 10-day stretch of rain put a definite dent in our drought, according to the weekly national drought monitor, but it seems that was the end of the improvement for a while: There’s almost no clouds in sight for the DMV for several days.

Enjoy the many hours of sunshine on Saturday. The high pressure coming in from the Hudson Bay brings a stiff north wind, but the day will also be sunny and comfortable, with highs in the mid 70s.

Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to check the weather radar on the go.

The wind will die down after dark, and Sunday morning will be bordering on chilly. Expect widespread mid/upper 40s in most of the D.C. area, with urban centers and bayside communities staying just above 50°. Sunday afternoon will be just a bit warmer, in the mid 70s, but with far less of a breeze.

Highs will be back around 80° for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with overnight lows in the comfy 50s. It’ll be a perfect start to meteorological summer (June/July/August).