A group of civil rights advocates announced Wednesday that they will hold a march in downtown San Diego on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to push for issues such as civil rights, police reform and helping the homeless.
At a news conference to announce the march, the Rev. Shane Harris of the National Action Network's San Diego chapter said the election of Donald Trump as president and his subsequent cabinet appointments were "a blow'' to civil rights.
“We may have lost the election, but we did not lose our calling,'' Harris said. "We must fight in these times.''
He said there is no better time than the week of Trump's inauguration to stand up for King's ideals.
The march, which will include participation by organized labor, is scheduled for Jan. 16 at 2 p.m., starting at City College and winding up at Civic Center Plaza.
Harris said the march will be for the downtrodden, who are no longer represented at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Parade, which is scheduled to be held the day before.
“History tells us that the Martin Luther King Parade that used to be held in Lincoln Park, down Imperial, down Market, all in that community, that parade is now downtown with the highest hotels and top 1 percent of the country,'' Harris said.
Two rallies are also scheduled before the march, with the first one on Thursday at 7 p.m. at New Horizons Baptist Church, 3559 Sweetwater Way in Lemon Grove. The other will be Jan. 10, also at 7 p.m., at Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, 1728 S. 39th St., in the Southcrest section of San Diego.
Pastor Jared Moten of Ebenezer Missionary encouraged clergy around the region to remember King's legacy in messages to their congregations.
