More than 100 organizations have endorsed The Martin Luther King March Of Resistance that will take place on Saturday, January 18, 2025, 12:00 noon, starting at the Martin Luther King Statue, 495 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Newark, New Jersey.
The march is sponsored by the People’s Organization For Progress (POP). It has been endorsed by 128 grassroots, civic, community, labor, student, religious, racial and social justice organizations.
“We are having this march to honor the achievements of Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement, to recommit ourselves to ideals and objectives for which they stood, and to demonstrate our determination to resist the efforts of the incoming Trump administration to continue to turn back the clock on the past eighty years of racial and social progress,” Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization For Progress stated.
“Two weeks ago we announced that 28 organizations had endorsed the march. Two weeks later one hundred more have joined as endorsers. This is a positive development which shows that many people understand the gravity of the times in which we are living and that they are ready to resist,” Hamm said.
“The presidency of Donald Trump demands vigilance and response. This country was built by working people, particularly the slave labor of African Americans. We will not go back to slave labor that produces a minuscule rich class on the backs of the masses living in deprivation,” declared Deborah Smith Gregory, President of NAACP Newark whose chapter has endorsed the march.
“Over 100 organizations have endorsed this March of Resistance because we understand the collective power of organized people,” Smith Gregory stated.
“This march on January 18, 2025, will show that we, the activists, civil rights organizations, labor, clergy, community groups, elders, and next generation of leaders are united over core issues and will not idly stand by while hard fought civil and human rights get eliminated. The concerns of working families and the poor must be heard and addressed,” Charles Hall, President, Local 108 Retail Wholesale Department Store Union UFCW stated, whose labor group has also endorsed the march.
“As a labor leader, I am confident the march will show the labor movement’s alliance with other groups, and that unions are committed to staying the course and lifting people up. We will send a signal to those in power that we are united and organized. We will not go down the road of hate and division,” Hall stated.
“This march is about communities, working families, and those who have the least not losing more ground. It is also about the country our children live in,” Hall noted.
“We can see from Trump’s nominations for cabinet positions and other offices that this will be an administration for the billionaires. The incoming Trump administration is already planning another round of trillion dollar tax breaks for the rich and draconian budget cuts in social programs and government downsizing that will hurt the poor, working people, and the struggling middle class who make up the majority of Americans. We have no choice but to fight back. Our lives are at stake,” Hamm said.
“Although we are glad to have 128 endorsing organizations we are not going to stop there. We are going to continue to seek more endorsements in the days and weeks ahead. Other organizations that wish to endorse should contact POP right away,” Hamm said.
The 128 endorsing organizations include: Local 108 Retail Wholesale Department Store Union UFCW AFL-CIO, Salvation and Social Justice, NAACP – New Jersey State Conference, NAACP New Brunswick Area Chapter, Showing Up for Racial Justice – New Jersey (SURJ-NJ), Newark Branch NAACP, Man Village Men’s Support Group, Latino Action Network, Bethany Baptist Church, Good Neighbor Baptist Church, Newark Interfaith Alliance, Make The Road New Jersey, International Black Women’s Congress, Justice For Bernard Placide Jr Foundation, Unifying Mothers & Men Initiative, Martin Luther King Commemoration Committee of Elizabeth, New Jersey, 350 NJ-Rockland, Seton Hall University Martin Luther King Scholarship Association, Integrated Justice Alliance, Muslim League of Voters of New Jersey, African-American Commission of Camden, Returning Citizens Support Group, West Orange for Humanity, Bergen County Black Caucus, United Parks As One, Cease Fire Now NJ, The Radical Elders, Irvington NAACP, American Friends Service Committee Prison Watch, PAL-Awda NY/NJ, Go Pro Radio, Occupy Bergen County, Solidarity Singers of the New Jersey Industrial Union Council, North New Jersey Democratic Socialists of America, New Jersey Poor People’s Campaign, Newark North Jersey Black Churchmen, Not On My Watch, New Jersey National Action Network (NJ NAN), Jumpstart, Wisdom Shapes Minds Community Development Corporation, Community All Unite TV, WSM Associates LLC, CHS Construction Company, RiverSand Development LLC, Metamorphosis Development Enterprise LLC, CS2 Development LLC, Street To Street Mentorship, Corey Lewis Teague, National Black Political Convention, All Politics Are Local, Lazos America Unida, New Jersey Black Issues Convention, Food and Water Watch, Let’s Save Paterson, Metropolitan Baptist Church, University Hospital HPAE local 5089, South Ward Environmental Alliance, Jewish Voice For Peace-Northern NJ, New Jersey Coalition for Justice, Nesbitt Funeral Home, Friends of NJ Legacy Foundation, Mt Teman AME Church, Foremost Productions, Pax Christ NJ, Newark Civilian Complaint Review Board, Ironbound Community Corporation, Newark Anti-Violence Coalition, NJ Communities for Accountable Policing, NJ Alliance for Immigration Justice, African Diaspora for Justice, Elizabeth Vulcans, Urban League of Essex County, National United Youth Council, African American Alliance USA, New Jersey Peace Action, Greater Newark Chapter NAN, Journey To Justice, NAN South Jersey Chapter, Justice for Drew JC, Young Professionals for Justice, Black Lives Matter Paterson, Elombe Brath Coalition, Newark’s Impact, American Civil Liberties Union of NJ, Faith In New Jersey, Clean Water Action, NJ ACTION 21, Greater Unity Faith Tabernacle, Holy Renaissance Ministries United Church of God, First Bethel Baptist Church Rev Grady James III & Rev Grady James IV, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, MAPSO Freedom School, The Phillip Pannell Foundation, UMAA Network: Urban Matters Advocacy & Action, Keur Soutoura, Family of Jesus Crucified Ministry Incorporated, Daughters Friends & Sisters in The Lord for Africa, Miss Africa Tri State Pageant, African Views Organization, Newwave African World, Benloren Nigerian Enterprises, Sterling Funding Inc, Institute for Peace and Leadership USA, Community Safe Zone, Hear My Cries, Inspired By You, Frontiers International Plainfield Area Club, Justice And Unity Campaign, New Jersey Working Families Party, New Jersey Blind Veterans Association, Amazon Labor Union-IBT Local 1, Our Revolution NJ, REFAL, International Action Center, Workers World Party, United National Antiwar Coalition, Resistencia en Accion NJ, Mt. Airy United Fellowship of Philadelphia, Gregory Thomas Foundation, South Ward District Police Association, Heard AME Church, Essex West Hudson Labor Council, Montclair State Adjunct Faculty Union AFT Local 6025, Unity Freedom Baptist Church, Nigerian American Public Affairs Committee New Jersey, NAACP: Oranges & Maplewood Branch, A. Philip Randolph Institute Essex & Union County Chapters, and Build More Unity.
For more information contact the People’s Organizations For Progress at (973) 801-0001.
