Several Philadelphia groups plan to mark next week’s inauguration with local music, prayer and protests, and some will take to the streets after President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
HIAS Pennsylvania, an immigrant advocacy organization, said in a press release that the 47th president’s inauguration will be challenging for many as Trump promises a series of tough immigration enforcement orders and that he intends to offer an “uplifting alternative” by hosting a live concert on Monday to honor the legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
This year, the federal holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader falls on Jan. 20, the same day as Trump’s second anniversary inauguration.
The concert is titled “A Loud Celebration of Infinite Hope” and reflects King’s statement: “We must accept finite disappointments, but never lose infinite hope” – words spoken in Washington two months before he was shot dead in Memphis in April 1968.
According to HIAS Pennsylvania, the concert will feature immigrant and refugee musicians who will “unite through the universal language of music to dispel hate and celebrate the richness they bring to our community.”
Trump has promised to deport millions of undocumented people who live in the United States without legal permission.
The concert will take place at 11:30 a.m. at the Ethical Society on Rittenhouse Square in Center City, organized in cooperation with Build a Bridge AND All Around This World Global Orchestra. The concert is free, although registration is required the group said donations to HIAS Pennsylvania are welcome.
Meanwhile, the New Sanctuary Movement in Philadelphia is calling on people to speak out in defense of sanctuary city policies as Trump promises to crack down on jurisdictions that don’t cooperate with ICE.
The immigrant advocacy group is planning a public gathering for prayer, song and fellowship near City Hall at 2 p.m. on Jan. 25, with the exact location to be determined in the next few days.
Trump’s promised workplace raids and mass deportations “are a flagrant violation of our faith’s teaching on loving one another,” the New Sanctuary Movement said in a statement. “And they constitute a flagrant violation of Philadelphia’s values as a city of brotherly and sisterly love. “Elected officials in Philadelphia will be under enormous pressure to work with ICE and will have a choice – fall in love with Philadelphia families or stand with ICE.”
Everyone is welcome, the group said, “to unite in our sadness, fear and anger for a public display of love.”
In Philadelphia, the sanctuary city issue sparked sudden controversy as immigrant leaders criticized Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s lack of full support for the policy. Sanctuary cities like Philadelphia are places that deliberately limit cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, making them a volatile political issue and a vulnerability for Democrats who have suffered a devastating defeat in national elections.
On Inauguration Day, the Socialism and Liberation Party will hold a rally in Philadelphia against Trump’s stated plans for immigration policy and reproductive rights, gathering in front of City Hall at 2 p.m. The group said it would honor the king “by continuing to fight to defend and expand our democratic rights and for a world without poverty, hunger and war.”
This Saturday at 10 a.m., Refuse Fascism Philly plans to gather at City Hall and then march to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in what it calls a civil rights advocacy.
“If you believe that decisions about your body should remain yours, that books should be kept in libraries and not on fireplaces, that health care is a right, not a privilege of the wealthy… then this march is for you,” the group wrote on Facebook.
Staff writer Michelle Myers contributed to this article.
