Upheaval and social unrest followed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination on April 4, 1968. Fifty-five years later, the anniversary of his death will be marked by a day of activism, as a reminder that many of the social ills that were endured then still linger.
Those rallying Tuesday will appeal for voting rights legislation, including the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act; statewide implementation of the state’s 20-year-old Amistad Law in school curriculums; laws that make police accountable, including the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and the Breathe Act.
“Specific demands of the march will include the passage of bills in the New Jersey legislature that would establish police review boards with subpoena powers and other police reform measures,” said Larry Hamm, chairman of the People’s Organization for Progress (POP), who plans to march on Tuesday.
Hamm points out that police brutality was an issue Dr. King discussed several times in his books, articles and his “I Have A Dream” speech.”
Despite a social reckoning since the murder of George Floyd, police brutality continues unabated and the number of fatal shootings by police officers has actually increased since 2020. Few police accountability and reform measures that were introduced in that political climate have become law.
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