March, Rally In Newark For Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2024

NEWARK, NJ — A march and rally in the name of late civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. will take place in Newark for 2024.

According to a statement from organizers, the “Martin Luther King March And Rally For Black Liberation” will take place at 2 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 15. It will start at the Martin Luther King Statue at 495 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

The event is sponsored by the People’s Organization For Progress (POP), which has held a march observing King’s birthday for nearly 36 years.

Organizations that wish to endorse the march and people who need more information can contact the People’s Organizations For Progress at (973) 801-0001.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day takes place on Jan. 15 this year.

“Everything Dr. King fought for is being eradicated right before our very eyes,” POP founder and U.S. Senate candidate Lawrence Hamm said.

“With regards to racial equality and justice this country is going backwards,” Hamm said.

Hamm continued:

“We are marching to draw attention to the plight of African Americans in the United States which we believe is deteriorating. Racial segregation, racial inequality, racial discrimination and racial violence against Black people are still glaring features of Black life in America as they were during Dr. King’s lifetime. The great achievement of the Civil Rights Movement was the destruction of the Jim Crow racial apartheid legal structure in the United States. However, while legalized segregation was outlawed de facto segregation still exists. In fact, in some ways America is more segregated today, in the 21st century, than it was when Dr. King was assassinated in the 20th century.”

Hamm added:

“The racial disparity in wealth and income between blacks and whites is obscene. Black people still suffer a disproportionately higher rate of poverty. And we still face discrimination in housing and employment. African Americans are still among the foremost victims of racially motivated violence and murder in this country. The police continue to brutalize and kill us in ever increasing numbers. And we are the victims of mass incarceration, wrongful arrest and conviction by the racist criminal justice system.”

“The right-wing forces of racism, fascism, and white supremacy are growing in power and threaten to openly take over the government,” Hamm said.

“The Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, crown jewels of the Civil Rights Movement, have been gutted. Affirmative action is being eliminated. Hundreds of bills have been introduced to interfere with our right to vote,” Hamm said. “Even the teaching Black history is being prohibited and repressed in schools and colleges.”

“Dr. King’s work is far from finished,” Hamm concluded. “This year’s march is a clarion call to action. We must fight back. We ask everyone opposed to racism and injustice to join the march. The struggle for Black liberation must continue.”

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