Lu Burgos did not attend the Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Walk and Parade in the nation’s capital last year — or the year before.
But the Silver Spring resident and D.C. hotel worker made sure he was posted on the side of the road Monday as hundreds of marchers approached Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue Southeast. He held a sign: “I.C.E. GOONS ARE THE TERRORIST OF AMERIKKKA.”
In case there was any doubt about who he blamed for Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s controversial actions over the past year, Burgos wore a beanie denouncing the president and a shirt declaring “Trump Must Go.”
Burgos, 34, was one of hundreds who braved temperatures near-freezing to honor King and the principles he stood for: equality, justice and people making the world better by creating community. The theme of this year’s parade and march, which covers a one-mile stretch of MLK Jr. Avenue, was “The Struggle is Real! The Fight is Still.” Organizers estimated some 2,800 people marched.
Many who took part in the 21st-annual event did so with a renewed sense of urgency, with some accusing President Donald Trump and his administration of betraying those principles, citing Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdowns across the country, airstrikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats and the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.
“The struggle is still happening,” said Christine Heidebrecht, who marched with fellow congregants from St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Southwest Washington.
A few feet away, Margaret Yao said people need to organize and unify as “our democracy is being destroyed daily.”
“We have to keep showing up to let the leaders know and each other know we’re not alone in our outrage over the trampling of our rights,” she said.
Further back in the procession, marchers held signs that read “The Fascist Trump Regime Must Go Now” and “Fighting Fascism Isn’t Free.” An organizer with Party for Socialism and Liberation handed out fliers for a Tuesday protest of federal immigration enforcement in the District, calling on residents to rise up and “Stop ICE Terror.”
Sophia Thomas, a social worker at Bard High, brought about 60 students from her school’s Peacemakers Club, which has tripled in the three years its members have been attending the MLK Day march. Students in the club talk about national issues such as ICE’s actions in Minneapolis, but Thomas tries to focus members on anchoring themselves in their neighborhoods and bettering themselves through local education.
“Despite what’s going on all around, how can you make your community better?” she said she asks students.
André Simmons Jr., a senior at Bard, stood atop a platform to speak to he crowd below. A few minutes later, he boiled down his message to: “Everybody can be brought together in a good way.”
Monday’s march was as much about building community as a political show of force. Much of the procession was made up of K-12 students and civic organizations.
About a dozen members of the Ruff Ridaz Performance Percussion Squad ripped off rat-a-tat staccato drum lines while dancing, spinning and entertaining a growing audience. Across the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. and Marion Barry avenues, 16 members of the Just A Girl dance group were jamming out to “Let’s Groove” by Earth Wind and Fire and Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman.”
The dancers, dressed in letterman-style jackets and accompanied by chaperones pulling a wagon with a speaker inside, plopped their purple and gold pompoms into storage bins as they retrieved post-parade snacks: oranges, bananas, chips, water and hot chocolate.
“We did it!” one shouted.
Back at the start of the parade route, Burgos took a wider lens and longer view than the day’s events. Considering the state of the country, he was far from declaring mission accomplished.
Burgos got plenty of backing for his outspoken protest sign and apparel. Marchers hollered. Passersby took selfies with him. One woman brought him a coffee. Despite the support, Burgos struck a tone mixed with melancholy and nostalgia.
“I grew up thinking we’re diverse and progressing,” he said, “but I don’t know, as I grew older, it just seems as though that was all a lie. It’s like a fantasy.”
The post Hundreds march to celebrate MLK — and protest Trump appeared first on Washington Post.
