Support Grows For MLK ‘March Of Resistance’ In Newark, Organizers Say

NEWARK, NJ — More than 200 social justice organizations are backing a “Martin Luther King March Of Resistance” that will take place in Newark, organizers say.

The march will take place on Monday, Jan. 19. It will begin with a rally at noon at the Martin Luther King Statue, 495 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Newark. Following the rally, protesters will march to the federal building at 970 Broad Street, and then back to the King statue, where there will be a closing rally.

The march is sponsored by People’s Organization For Progress (POP), the group that led a massive protest for George Floyd in 2020. It has been endorsed by 218 grassroots, civic, community, labor, religious, racial and social justice organizations so far, the POP reported Tuesday (see a current list here).

Here’s why demonstrators are rallying on Jan. 19, organizers said:

“The march will highlight a broad range of issues including racial and economic injustice, attacks on voting rights, killings and brutality committed by ICE agents, the Trump administration’s war on Venezuela, genocide in Gaza, U.S. bombing of Nigeria, and other foreign policy issues.”

“The purpose of the march is to demonstrate our commitment to the goals and ideals of Dr. King and the civil rights movement, and our opposition to the racist, fascist, unjust and undemocratic policies of the Trump administration at home and abroad,” POP chair Lawrence Hamm said.

Deborah Smith Gregory, president of the NAACP Newark, said the group stands with other organizers of the upcoming rally.

“By marching, we are taking a stand,” Gregory said.

Amanda Birnbaum, a member of the march planning committee, said that the diverse endorsements show that a wide range of people are supporting the rally.

“Few things are as powerful as a multitude of different types of bodies all coming together in common purpose,” she said.

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