Rev. Al Sharpton invited the family members of young black men who died at the hands of police officers to address the more than 10,000 protesters in Washington, D.C., early Saturday afternoon.

Sharpton, whose National Action Network organized the Justice for All March, told the demonstrators gathered outside the U.S. Capitol that God gave him a light to shine on these deaths.

“You thought you’d sweep it under the rug. You thought there’d be no limelight,” he said. “We are going to keep the light on Michael Brown, on Eric Garner, on Tamir Rice, on all of these victims because the only way — I’m sorry, I come out of the 'hood — the only way you make roaches run, you got to cut the light on."

First, Sharpton introduced Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr., the parents of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., in August.

“Man, you all kept this alive for all of the families. We love you all. We really do. We love you all so much,” Brown Sr. said.

“What a sea of people,” McSpadden said, looking at the enormous crowd. “If they don’t see this and make a change, then I don’t know what we got to do. Thank you for having my back.”

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Rev. Al Sharpton (2nd from right) leads the national Justice for All March against police violence a …

The family of Eric Garner, 43, addressed the crowd next. In July, a police officer choked the father of six to death.

“It’s just so overwhelming to see all of you have come to stand with us today,” Garner’s mom Gwen Carr told the protesters. “Look at the masses: black, white, all races, all religions. This is just a great moment. This is a history-making moment.”

Carr said that their deceased sons may not be here in body, but they are here in spirit in every person in the crowd.

“You brought them here today and I thank you. I thank you so much,” she said, “because without you we would have an empty podium.”

Her son’s widow, Esaw Garner, took the microphone next. She said that her husband was a quiet man but he is making a lot of noise right now — and his voice will be heard.

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A lone marcher at the front of the national Justice for All March against police violence holds his …

“We are all fighting for everybody, not just for him. For everybody’s future, for everybody’s past, for everybody’s present,” she said, before asking everyone to say, “I can’t breathe,” in unison.

A video of Garner’s death shows that he told police he could not breathe many times while New York Police Department officers wrestled him to the ground. “I can’t breathe” has become a slogan in the recent demonstrations.

One of Garner’s children said that he was a family man who would do anything for his kids and did not resemble his portrayal in the media.

Samaria Rice, the mother of Tamir Rice, spoke the same day his autopsy was released — ruling his death a homicide.

Cleveland police killed her 12-year-old son in November while he was holding an airsoft replica gun.

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Lou Phillips holds up his signs before Justice for All March and rally on Pennsylvania Avenue in Was …

“Let that officer get arrested and bring him in front of a criminal jury so he can get the opportunity to prove his innocence and we can prove our justice,” she said. “My son was 12 years old, just a baby, a baby, my baby, the youngest out of four.”

She thanked the nation and the world for its support because that’s “the only way I’m standing up right now.”

Rice said that boys of all colors like playing with toy guns but that is no reason for her son to have been robbed of a promising future.

She was followed by John Crawford Jr., the father of John Crawford III, who was killed in a Walmart in August after picking up a pump air rifle that the store was selling.

“I’m here today to support the rest of these families in this wall of shame,” he said. “I’m here today to let everyone know that my son’s name along with the rest of these families will be vindicated.”

He said the United States has prosecutors that are not doing their job and that the biggest injustice of all is that people in office are not doing their jobs.

Kimberly Ballinger also thanked the protesters for speaking out. A police officer killed her domestic partner, Akai Gurley, with whom she has a baby, at a public housing complex in Brooklyn, N.Y.

“Akai was killed by a police officer for no reason, walking down the stairs on his way home,” she said. “All I really need right now is justice. How do I explain to his 2-year-old that Daddy is not coming home?”

Sharpton vowed to come back in the nation’s capital “over and over again” until legislative action is taken so there is "justice for all."

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When OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, imposed an oil embargo on the West for its support of Israel in the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war, the French came out with a series of public service announcements on how to save oil. The 30-second ads gave consumers advice on various ways to economize gas and oil consumption. And the announcements would end with a voice saying: “In France we don’t have oil, but we have ideas.”

Today, much the same can be said about Jordan. The country is the only one in the region not producing oil. Its neighbors – Iraq, Syria, Israel and Saudi Arabia, all produce oil to varying degrees, except for Jordan and Palestine.

And in the turbulent world that is the Middle East today, Jordan’s lack of oil may well be a blessing in disguise, rendering it financially uninteresting to groups such as the so-called Islamic State that has occupied large swaths of land from Syria and Iraq, where incidentally, oil is found. But that does not mean that Jordan is altogether off the Islamist’s radar. The country counts large numbers of sympathizers of the Islamic State and its “lighter” version, the Muslim Brotherhood. Many among them would very much like to see the Hashemite kingdom replaced by an Islamic state.

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During his visit to Washington last week the King of Jordan said that the events unfolding in the region today were nothing less than the start of World War III.

“We have to stand up and say, ‘This is the line that is drawn in the sand,’” the king said in an interview that was broadcast on CBS’s This Morning.

“It’s clearly a fight between good and evil.”

Coming from one of the rare voices of reason in the Arab world this is certainly cause for concern.

“This is a Muslim problem,” said the king. The importance of this statement cannot be stressed enough. Until now, many in the Middle East saw the conflict as one opposing the United States and its Western allies to Islamist groups. The king’s statement in Washington sheds a whole new light on the problem and how to approach it.

“We need to take ownership of this. We need to stand up and say what is right and what is wrong,” Abdullah told CBS News’ Charlie Rose.

This is probably the most important declaration by an Arab leader; admitting that there is indeed a problem within the House of Islam.

Although the Western countries today are far less dependent on Arab oil than they were in the 1970s, nevertheless a serious disruption to oil markets from the Middle East – Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait – would be greatly felt in the West, despite the fact that other sources today are available, such as Russia, the Central Asia republics and Azerbaijan amongst others.

Abdullah II of Jordan, much like his late father King Hussein, is well placed to know what’s going on in his corner of the world, situated in what is today the most volatile piece of real estate on the planet. Jordan is wedged between Syria, Iraq and a hard place; the hard place being his own home-grown jihadi movements in Jordan who would like to see the establishment of an Islamist state in place of the Hashemite Kingdom. Jordan has a considerable number of Muslim Brotherhood adherents, and the intelligence service is doing a pretty decent job of keeping a very close eye on them.

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Jordan may not have oil but as its king pointed out, it does have a number of very good ideas, such as the ones mentioned by Abdullah in Washington. Those and others were discussed with President Barack Obama, who could certainly use the Jordanian monarch’s wise council.

Jordan’ s lack of oil does not make it any less important strategically. It is one of the staunchest pro-American countries in the Middle East. And recent history shows that being an ally of the United States in this part of the world comes with certain risks.

In the past some Arab leaders tended to be more discreet in their relationship with Washington, often holding a two-tone dialogue. One for internal consumption, and the other for the benefit of the West. That, as we have just seen by Abdullah’s declarations is changing. Leaders in the Arab world have now come to realize that they can no longer continue to sit on the fence, or continue to appear undecided. This is a time of grave concern, and part of the danger lies in failing to recognize it as such. Now that would be a bad idea.

By Claude Salhani of Oilprice.com