While Hupert Johnson jokingly refers to himself as “a true drum major for civil rights,” he can say so in complete honesty. As a young teen-age boy, he played the drums in a band that participated in the Aug. 28, 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
“I look back on it as a proud moment,” he said. “Even though people were against us marching for civil rights, we still held our ground.”
Johnson, who is now 75, was part of a Knights of St. John band that escorted the Rev. Ralph Abernathy’s contingent from Mount Rainier, Maryland to the National Mall for the march. Rev. Abernathy, who died in 1990, was a Baptist minister, Southern Christian Leadership Conference official and civil rights leader who was a close friend, collaborator and advisor to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. King was among the leaders who organized the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The march included a rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that was opened with an invocation by then-Archbishop Patrick O’Boyle of Washington. It was there that Dr. King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.
In 1964, one year after the March on Washington, Dr. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end racial discrimination and segregation through nonviolent means. He was, at that time, the youngest ever recipient of that prestigious honor. He was assassinated four years later.
“We marched Rev. Abernathy’s group right down Rhode Island Avenue,” Johnson said. “People were saying, ‘Blacks go home.’ But, they didn’t say ‘Blacks’ then – they said the ‘N’ word.’’’
Johnson was not the only member of his family to march then. His older sister, Katherine, was a majorette and his older brother, Paul, played the trumpet. Their mother, Francenia Lilly, was one of the escorts, walking along with the band.
“She heard what people were saying and was really concerned about it,” Johnson said of his mother. “She didn’t know what was going to happen or how things would turn out, but we marched on through.”
Johnson and his bandmates safely delivered their marchers to the National Mall where they joined an estimated 250,000 others – including Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman, Mahalia Jackson, Sammy Davis Jr., Sidney Poitier, Charlton Heston, Marlon Brando and many other celebrities – demanding justice and equal rights for all Americans.
“When we got down there, there were so many people, a huge mass of people. It was a big event, so we were happy to get back home,” he said. “We watched (Dr. King’s speech) on TV. We were kids and we didn’t know the historical significance of it then.”
Johnson’s siblings Katherine and Paul have since died. He and his mother, who is now 95 years old, are members of Immaculate Conception Parish in Washington, D.C.
“The Catholic faith has been very prominent and very important to my family and me. The faith has held strong and true for us for years and years and years,” Johnson said. He added that his grandmother was an orphan who was raised in a convent run by Mother (now Saint) Katharine Drexel.
Of his desire to “continue to fight for all people to be treated equally because you can’t give up,” Johnson said that “I’ve been Catholic all my life, and the Bible says all people are created equal and so we have to continue to strive for the equality of all people.”
“If you believe in God and love God, then you have to believe that God made us all and loves us all,” he said. “God did not make some people better than others or pick and choose and say, ‘I like you, but not you.’”
Johnson, the father of three and the grandfather of six, worked in a variety of posts for IBM for 30 years. After he retired, he worked an additional 20 years in security.
“It (the March on Washington) was a special moment in my life – I was involved in history,” Johnson said. “I guess I can say I was a true drum major for civil rights. It’s a time period that I look back and I share with my children and grandchildren.”
