WASHINGTON ‒ Hundreds of people packed pews at the Metropolitan AME Church Monday, lifted their right hand and pledged to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., Day by defending equality for all, immigration rights and diversity initiatives.
“I take this oath that I will not become like those I’m fighting,” they repeated aloud. “I will peacefully stand against those that want to bring us down.”
The rally at the historic Black church was intended in part to celebrate the civil rights legend and unite to protect those rights under the Trump administration.
At the same time across town at the U.S. Capitol, President Donald Trump delivered his inauguration speech. At one point, he thanked Black and brown voters who supported him and invoked the name of King by recognizing that Monday was the federal holiday named after him.
“In his honor we will strive together to make his dream a reality, we will make his dream come true,” Trump said to a standing ovation.
At the church after the rally, Rev. Al Sharpton blasted Trump’s pledge.
“You can’t keep the dream alive and say that you are going to end DEI by the end of the week,” said Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, a civil rights organization that hosted the rally. “You can’t say you want to keep the dream alive and pardon people that violently” attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. King condemned violence, Sharpton said.
“He needs to read Dr. King’s book before he talks about it or read some of his works.”
Sharpton said he has yet to see Trump at events celebrating King’s legacy.
“The fact that he mentioned it today, in and of itself, is a new discovery,” he said.
‘Don’t want to just sit back’
Hosiah Huggins, Jr., was among the participants packed into the church, which has been the site of many civil rights programs.
“It’s less about the protest and more about a rally and us continuing to let people know that we have a voice,’’ said Huggins, a longtime church member, adding that there are people “who are not going to accept what’s currently going on.”
Huggins said he’s concerned about the “carnage that could be caused by someone who is reckless and not responsible.”
“We don’t want to just sit back,” he said. “We at least want to be in a proactive position.”
Speakers at the rally called on participants to remember King’s legacy of nonviolence. They urged people to speak out against injustices and to defend programs that support more diversity in businesses and education.
Sharpton said the National Action Network made it a point to hold the rally in Washington, D.C.
“We’re right here. We’re not going back!” he said to a standing ovation.
The crowd chanted, “We’re not going back! We’re not going back!”
Looking beyond the next four years
Julia Easterlin, 86, of Brooklyn, New York, was disappointed more than 60 years ago when her mother wouldn’t let her attend the March on Washington where King gave his iconic, “I Have a Dream” speech.
In the decades since, Easterlin, a lifetime member of the National Action Network, said she has regularly attended events celebrating King’s work.
“I make it my business to go somewhere on his day. He stood for justice,” Easterlin said. She said she had to support Monday’s cause to continue the fight for justice. “This was very important to me.”
Tayon Williams Dancy and her husband, Bennett Jacoby Dancy, booked a hotel in Washington months ago hoping to attend the inauguration of Kamala Harris. Harris lost her bid for president, but the couple from Apex, North Carolina, still decided to make the trip and while here attended the National Action Network rally.
‘‘We wanted to stand for women everywhere and still come,” said Tayon Williams Dancy, 48, who had helped coordinate a weekend of MLK events in Apex, including an oratorical contest and a march. “No matter who is in office, we know that God is in control.”
The couple visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture and also planned to stop by the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial after the rally.
“We just can’t let an election dictate where we are at this point,” said her husband, 51. “We’re going to continue marching and continue moving forward regardless of everything going on. We are looking forward to the future. It’s only four years.”
