Faith leaders from major African-American churches around the nation met with President Obama Monday morning to discuss the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Obama sat down with eleven senior church leaders and held a conversation on civil rights and equality as they apply to voting rights and various issues affecting African-Americans such as unemployment and access to health care.
Attorney General Eric Holder and Senior Advisor Valeria Jarrett also attended the meeting, along with other administration officials.
The group discussed the progress the nation has made in the last 50 years since the march and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision for equality – but acknowledged that work still remains to “ensure that our country is more fair, more free, and more than it was 50 years ago,” reads a White House statement.
“The President noted that his Administration is continuing to fight to ensure that the right to vote is protected, and he also discussed the upcoming start of open enrollment in the Health Insurance Marketplace, and that the difficult but critical work of enrolling millions of Americans in health exchanges around the country continues,” it says.
The meeting concluded in prayer and with promises from faith leaders to continue to educate and inform their congregations about the Marketplace and beyond.