‘March For Justice’ In Newark Set For Anniversary Of MLK Assassination

NEWARK, NJ — The People’s Organization for Progress (POP) will lead a “March for Justice, Equality and Peace” in Newark on the 55th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination.

The march is scheduled to take place at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 4 at the statue at 495 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Marchers will head to the nearby federal building and return to the Martin Luther King statue for a rally.

Participants are being asked to wear masks and practice social distancing, organizers said. For more information, call the People’s Organizations For Progress at (973) 801-0001.

POP chair Lawrence Hamm, a former U.S. Senate candidate, outlined the reasons why the group and its supporters will be hitting the streets:

“In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd police brutality continues unabated. In fact, the numbers of police shooting deaths per year has actually increased since then. Very few police accountability and reform measures that were introduced have become law. Racism, white supremacy, and fascism plague the nation. Racist violence and bias related crimes are increasing. Racial inequality, discrimination, and segregation are growing. Attacks on voting rights, women’s rights, and workers rights continue. Voter suppression, racist gerrymandering, and attempts to impede and even ban the teaching of black history intensify. Income inequality, obscene concentration of wealth, poverty, environmental catastrophe and the threat of a nuclear world war are on the rise. Democracy in the U.S. is threatened and under attack.”

Hamm said that specific demands of the march will include the passage of state laws in the New Jersey Legislature that would establish police review boards with subpoena powers and other police reform measures, a task force on reparations to African Americans for slavery, and same-day voter registration and other voting rights protections.

“Marchers will demand the full implementation of the state’s Amistad Law which requires the teaching of African American history in all public schools,” Hamm said. “They will also demand a halt to all attempts to ban books and the lifting of existing bans in school districts.”

Hamm said the group’s members are also demanding the re-inclusion of material on Amiri Baraka and other Black writers that have been removed from the College Boards AP African American curriculum, and the strengthening and expansion of Black studies departments and programs on college and university campuses.

Meanwhile, on the federal level, protesters will be marching for the passage of voting rights legislation including the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, police accountability bills including the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and the Breathe Act, and stronger civil rights laws to protect against racial discrimination, he said.

But that’s not all, Hamm added. The federal demands also include doubling the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 per hour, free college and elimination of all student debt, the establishment of a Medicare For All system of free universal health care in the U.S., and an end to war including the conflict in Ukraine through de-escalation, diplomacy and a negotiated peace settlement.

“Now is the time to stand up, speak out, and protest,” the longtime Newark activist urged. “Everyone who wants justice, equality, and peace is urged to march with us on April 4.”

• See Related: Martin Luther King Also Fought For Economic Justice, Newark Activists Say
• See Related: Newark Group Says NJ Should Have Done More After George Floyd's Death
• See Related: Newark Activists Gather To 'Protest Ban On Black History'

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