Among the highlights of Annette Kim’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day program. they did not include watching President Donald Trump take the oath of office.
Instead, Kim, 23, a recent college graduate, said it was a day to “celebrate different cultures.”[…]Martin Luther King stood for these ideals.”
She and about 200 others gathered at the Philadelphia Ethical Society in Rittenhouse Square on Inauguration Day for a morning of music celebrating diversity and equality in the spirit of the Rev. Dr. King, organized by HIAS Pennsylvania and BuildaBridge.
“There will be a lot of uncertainty after this inauguration, but [immigrants and refugees] they need to know and feel part of this country, that they have a community,” said Ami Yares, executive director of BuildaBridge. “This event is an opportunity to come together, strengthen and restore our collective agency as the people who support them.”
Later that day, about 200 protesters chanting “We have power, people power” gathered at City Hall for a march to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to protest what they call Trump’s racist, sexist and xenophobic policies.
“Democrats will not come to save us,” activist Gabby Ballard of the Socialism and Liberation Party said there. “It will have to be the power of the working class.
“Our struggles are interconnected and now it’s up to us to help each other,” Ballard said as the crowd cheered and some cars squealed in support.
Marcy Boroff, 61, left the warmth of her home to join protesters on a day already heated by teenagers.
“It’s important to do something, to be with people who are fighting and calling out racism,” she said.
The topics were similar during the Ethical Society event.
As musicians from Iran, South America, Africa and other countries took the stage, Yares expressed hope that immigrants and refugees from across Pennsylvania know they have a place in the fabric of the country.
“We are here for you and we are looking for you,” Yares said. “You are not alone.”
Staff writer Anthony R. Wood contributed to this article.
