Rev. Al Sharpton, founder/president of the National Action Network (NAN), will lead a series of events in Washington, D.C. and New York City during the week of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday to keep the Civil Rights leader’s dream and mission alive. The demonstrations come at a poignant point in which many questions remain on voting rights, economic opportunity, and criminal justice reform as a second Trump administration is set to take office.

“As we honor Dr. King’s legacy this year, our nation again stands at a crossroads in the fight for the soul of America,” said Rev. Al Sharpton. “On the eve of Donald Trump’s second term, we need to be clear as day: Dr. King did not march, preach and lay down his life so that we would one day again retreat into the shadows of hatred and division. The man who has made it his mission to suppress the vote, demonize diversity and roll back our rights will take the oath again, and this moment demands that we be louder, stronger and more determined than ever to keep Dr. King’s dream alive.”

The events kicked off with a legislative breakfast on Dr. King’s birthday, January 15, and will culminate on January 20 with a major Inauguration Day rally and march in Washington, D.C. The MLK Day demonstration will be held at the historic Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, where both Frederick Douglass and Rosa Parks were laid to rest. NAN’s annual Policy Forum at the House of Justice in Harlem will this year be held on Saturday, January 18, in which federal, state, and city leaders from the New York City area will join Rev. Sharpton to discuss how they will continue to advance Dr. King’s dream for a just, fair nation.