March on Washington: 50th anniversary celebrations – in pictures

Stanley Samuels and Rita Samuels, from Atlanta, Georgia, and Sammie Whiting-Ellis, right, from Washington DC, who attended the original 1963 March on Washington, wait for the service to begin Photograph: Charles Dharapak/AP

President Barack Obama, former president Jimmy Carter, first lady Michelle Obama and former president Bill Clinton wave from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters

Listeners applaud Barack Obama during his speech Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Martin Luther King's sister, Christine King Farris, speaks at the podium Photograph: Getty Images

Spectators line the reflecting pool to watch the commemoration service Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Workers watch from the windows of a nearby building Photograph: Leigh Vogel/Corbis

Antoinette Thompson of Rochester, New York, watches the event on a giant screen in Times Square, New York City Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

Forest Whitaker waves to the crowd as he steps forward to make his speech Photograph: Ron Sachs/Corbis

Connie Kornegay watches the Let Freedom Ring commemoration Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Barack Obama delivers his speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA

Members of a Maori group from New Zealand perform during the commemoration service Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters

Barack Obama meets Yolanda Renee King, granddaughter of Martin Luther King Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

The commemorative march makes its way down Pennsylvania Avenue Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

People take shelter from the rain Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Former US president Bill Clinton walks past the 16th Street Baptist Church Bell in Birmingham, Alabama Photograph: Shawn Thew/EPA

John Mbugua and his son Giovanni Mbugua, six, of San Jose, California, and Lavon Johnson and his son Mason Johnson, two, of Fort Meade, Maryland, march with thousands of other people from Capitol Hill to the Lincoln Memorial Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images