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2d ago

Boston Commemorates 60th Anniversary of MLK's Freedom Rally with Renewed Focus on Equity and Inclusion

The re-creation march highlights ongoing social disparities and resistance to federal rollbacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion policies under the Trump administration.

FILE - Civil rights marchers parade down Columbus Ave. in Boston led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., en route to historic Boston Common, April 25, 1965. (AP Photo, file)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is completely surrounded as he leads a civil rights march in Boston, April 23, 1965, en route to historic Boston Common where he will address a crowd. (AP Photo, file)
Wayne Lucas, right, who sixty years ago participated at the Freedom Rally on Boston Common, talks with Imari Paris Jeffries, the president and CEO of Embrace Boston, at the "The Embrace" sculpture on the common, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
BOSTON – APRIL 23: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks from the Parkman Bandstand on the Boston Common at the end of a march through the city to protest segregated housing conditions and racially imbalanced schools, April 23, 1965. (Photo by Joseph Runci/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Overview

  • The 60th anniversary march begins at Trinity Church in Copley Square and concludes with a rally at the Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common, featuring speeches by Martin Luther King III, Mayor Michelle Wu, and Representative Ayanna Pressley.
  • Organizers, led by Embrace Boston, are collaborating with city and state police, private security, and immigration advocates to ensure a nonviolent and inclusive event.
  • The rally underscores concerns about the Trump administration's rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, including bans on federal DEI programs and funding cuts to institutions like Boston’s Museum of African American History
  • Speakers and participants are drawing parallels between the 1965 Freedom Rally’s fight against housing and education inequality and today’s challenges, including affordable housing, systemic barriers, and anti-immigrant policies.
  • Martin Luther King III emphasized the need to preserve diverse perspectives and warned against societal division, urging collective responsibility to address ongoing inequities.