Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Pressley, civil rights advocates gather in Boston to tout ‘Community Over Chaos’
"Though this weekend is a profound and painful contradiction with the imminent inauguration of the former occupant of the White House on Monday, I still cling to the discipline of hope.”
Local politicians and civil rights advocates gathered at Boston Common Friday afternoon ahead of both Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the second inauguration of Donald Trump on Monday.
Within view of the Embrace memorial, speakers made calls for justice and unity as they stood on the Parkman Bandstand — the same spot where King spoke in 1965 following a march protesting racial discrimination.
The event, sponsored by the ACLU of Massachusetts, Embrace Boston, NAACP Mystic Valley, and the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, was inspired by the title of King’s final book, “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?”
Advertisement:
“We’re here to basically declare that we are choosing community over chaos,” Traci Griffith, director of the Racial Justice Program for the ACLU of Massachusetts, told Boston.com. “We are working with partners to make sure that whatever is coming from the next administration, that we are prepared for it, that we declare that we are not going to stand by and watch people’s civil liberties and civil rights be trampled on.”
The gathering started with a prayer from Rev. Art Gordon of the St. John Missionary Baptist Church.
“We pray that our collective witness, our collective power, brings us together as we get ready to fight an uphill battle over the next four years,” Gordon said. “But we are glad today that we have brothers and sisters who will stand with us.”
Advertisement:
Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune said that while “xenophobia and racism is rampant,” there is work to do to “to build messages of love and inclusivity.”
“I wish that we were continuing on the linear journey towards justice, but sometimes we have to take a detour, and I think that what we are about to experience is a detour towards that march towards justice, but we will do it together,” Louijeune said.
Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who is boycotting Trump’s inauguration, encouraged attendees to “organize.”
“Though this weekend is a profound and painful contradiction with the imminent inauguration of the former occupant of the White House on Monday, I still cling to the discipline of hope,” Pressley said. “As we face the challenges of another Trump presidency, we will need you. We will need one another.”
Pressley reaffirmed her plans not to attend Trump’s inauguration, and is instead hosting a community event at 1:30 p.m. on Monday at the Bruce Bolling Building in Nubian Square, she told reporters following Friday’s event.
“We’ll be doing the work of organizing for a future rooted in love and also providing people with just valuable information to know their rights as we brace for what I anticipate will be a wholesale harm,” she said of her scheduled event.
Advertisement:
Andre Gallesse, a visitor to Boston, stumbled upon the event while walking around the park. Gallesse said he anticipates that the country is headed into a “dark time.”
“It feels like the very antithesis of what MLK stood for,” Gallesse told Boston.com. “He’s had a very hopeful and optimistic message, and then you have someone like Trump who’s got like, the complete opposite.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com