Protesters who claim the republic’s founders were the start of a racist legacy that continues today will use the day that is set aside each year to celebrate America’s liberation from British tyranny and the birth of the United States to protest President Donald Trump and police in the nation’s capital.
Here’s a roundup of some of the protests gleaned from news articles and protest websites:
• The Washington Post publicized the Power to the People March as an “anti-Trump march” that will begin at noon on the National Mall.
• The news outlet also reported the March for Malcolm X will begin at 3 p.m. at Malcom X Park. Malcolm X was a leader of the Nation of Islam movement in the United States and, according to a Stanford University report, he rejected Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolent approach to the civil rights movement. He soured on the Nation of Islam in the 1960s and practiced Sunni Islam until he was assassinated in 1965.
• The All Americans Unite protest will start at 10 a.m. at the Washington Monument “for a march in solidarity with all communities regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity,” the Post reported.
• The George Floyd Memorial March On Washington will start at 9:30 a.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and end at the White House.
• The Million Man March On Washington’s Facebook page said it will begin at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial at 10 a.m. Protesters will then make their way to the White House and the U.S. Capitol. The Facebook page said 11 people are attending.
• The Black Out March, hosted by the Freedom Day Foundation, will begin at noon at the Capitol Reflecting Pool. “This July 4th we would like to ask a simple question. Are we truly free?” the notice on its Eventbrite page said. “We live in a nation with a broken criminal justice system … This is not the America we were promised. Participants are encouraged to wear all black attire.”
• The Birth of a New Nation’s Facebook page said that it is not affiliated with the Back Lives Matter political organization but is organized by “black people.” It begins at 12:30 p.m. at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “The Hell with the 4th of July! BLACK LIVES still don’t MATTER!” The website said.
• The Juliberation: No Justice, No Fourth march, organized by Freedom Fighters D.C. and Concerned Citizens of D.C., begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Park at Le Droit, located at 3rd and Elm Streets NW, according to its Instagram page. “Freedom is a constant struggle. We cannot celebrate a day of Liberation when it was never a reality for Black people. We aren’t free until we’re ALL free,” the post on Instagram said.
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