Mt. Pisgah AME Church in Jersey City celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Songs of praise, liturgical dance and words of inspiration highlighted this year’s annual celebration honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the eve of MLK Day, Sunday, Jan. 14, while recognizing that the mission he initiated for justice and equal rights in America remains unfulfilled nearly 56 years since his death.

The event, hosted by Mt. Pisgah AME Church in Jersey City, was convened by The National Action Network (NAN), a non-profit civil rights organization founded in New York City in 1991 by the Rev. Al Sharpton, in collaboration with The New Jersey Reentry Corporation and two other Jersey City-based houses of worship, The Sanctified Church and Monumental Baptist Church.

“We had to fight to get Dr. King’s birthday recognized as a federal holiday because many never intended to allow America to have such a day honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. People had to march and petition – Stevie Wonder even composed a song. And we weren’t playing ‘Happy Birthday’ for Dr. King’s birthday because the song we sang and sing each year was one written just for him,” said Sharpton who served as the keynote speaker and serves as the president of NAN.

Sharpton and members of NAN kicked off MLK Day, one day before what would have been Dr. King’s 95th birthday, in Washington, D.C. where the organization hosted the 2024 Martin Luther King Jr. Day Awards Breakfast at the Mayflower Hotel. Maryland Governor Wes Moore and entertainers, Taraji P. Henson and Phylicia Rashad were among those honored at the breakfast as leaders who continue to carry on Dr. King’s dream.

Then, Sharpton traveled to New York City for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Policy Forum at the NAN House of Justice in Harlem. The rally brought together city, state and federal officials who reflected on Dr. King’s legacy. This year’s celebration was also significant as the nation prepares to mark 60 years since the passage of the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“We are not simply celebrating Dr. King’s legacy this year but coming together to publicly vow to protect it from those who wish to undo his work,” Sharpton said to the audience during the third event of the day in Jersey City. “Right now, the Civil Rights Act he pushed President Johnson to pass in 1964 is under relentless attack, voting rights for Black Americans are being chipped away in dozens of states and diversity in corporate America is on the brink. 2024 must be a year in which we make a stand to both protect the rights Dr. King fought for and expand them, so our children and grandchildren live in the just nation he envisioned.”

The celebration at Mt. Pisgah AME Church, organized by NAN Northeast Regional Director The Rev. Dr. Steffie Bartley, also featured other prominent New Jersey leaders including First Lady Tammy Murphy; former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey; New Jersey State Senator Angela V. McKnight; Newark activist and candidate for U.S. Senate, Lawrence Hamm; the Rev. Keith Garvin-Howell, senior pastor, The Sanctified Church; and Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka. Congressman Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) also attended the event.

Baraka addressed the crowd, making it clear that activism must be multifaceted if one hopes to follow the path on which Dr. King embarked after accepting the call to lead the Civil Rights Movement.

“You can’t celebrate King and be against the minimum wage [increase], immigration rights, labor movements or teaching Black History and literature in public schools,” Baraka said. “We have to support justice, equality, economic and social equity because if you don’t support these things, then you don’t support Dr. King and what he stood for.”

Tammy Murphy, a candidate for U.S. Senate, said, “Like Dr. King, we have all experienced times in our lives when we heard the calling to do more, to do better, to make life better for those around us. That calling is impossible to ignore … I am determined to reduce maternal and infant deaths by dismantling systemic racism and establishing health equity. While our work is far from finished, I am extremely proud of what we’ve been able to achieve together.”

Sharpton issued words of warning saying America has moved backwards not forward in promoting and realizing equality for all of its citizens.

“Understand that everything Dr. King fought for is at risk,” Sharpton said soberly. “In the last year, the U.S. Supreme Court has killed affirmative action, has taken out section two of the Voting Rights Act and has ended women’s right to choose.”