sharpton marches to honor mlk:
D.C. rally rips Prez while hailing King ’63 speech
WASHINGTON — Thousands marched to the Department of Justice’s headquarters Monday to mark the 54th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech with a demonstration against the Trump administration’s civil rights record.
The Rev. Al Sharpton led the rally in the nation’s capital, joined by Eric Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, as well as Corey Wise, one of the exonerated Central Park Five members.
“It’s immoral to try to take health care from your mama because you don’t like Obama,” Sharpton said. “It’s immoral to try to give a tax cut to the rich when we need infrastructure and jobs. It’s time to stand up together.”
The march began at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park, where activists carried signs reading “Black Lives Matter” and “Love Not Hate Makes America Great.”
Bishop Bernard Jordan, of Zoe Ministries in Brooklyn, led the crowd in a chant of “Love overcomes hate!”
The crowd also assailed Trump’s controversial Friday pardon of Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
“The President is really trying to pardon himself. Mr. President, there are no pardons without repentance,” said Jim Wallis, who served on President Obama’s White House Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
“So we are marching today to turn around,” he added. “It’s about white supremacy as a system. Racism is America’s original sin. What do you do when you sin? You repent.”
During the gathering, religious leaders decried Trump’s proposed health care cuts and ban on transgender people in the military.
“Hate is alive and thriving in this country,” said the Rev. Michael Walrond of First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem.
“Right now in the White House there is a man who is intoxicated by the aroma of his own arrogance and insanity .. . . The issue for all of us gathered here today: What will we do? We have to be proactive.”
“It’s fight-back time!” Sharpton yelled as the group began to march.
Sharpton and the marchers held a moment of silence outside the Trump Hotel in Washington for all the victims of his administration’s civil rights policies.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson also joined the chorus outside the Justice Department to mark the historical event.
“We need and deserve a better government,” he said. “Climate change and the weakened American infrastructure is not fake news. We fight for one great economy.”
In 1963, King delivered the pivotal 16-minute speech as he stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial.