Marchers continued along Route 1 towards Washington DC on day two of the Poor People’s March. A small group of committed marchers had walked all night to make it to College Park, Maryland this morning, where others met up with them after a night of rest to finish off the last 7 miles.
The marchers enter Freedom Plaza in Washington DC, which marked the end of the 41-mile Poor People’s March that had begun yesterday in Baltimore.
Carlos Dufflar, who was a part of the 1st Poor People’s Campaign and March when it kicked off exactly 45 years ago today, is currently marching with us to DC for this year’s Poor People’s Campaign and March.
In honor of Mother’s Day, women are leading the Poor People’s Campaign March today. It was also exactly 45 years ago today that Coretta Scott King led the kickoff of the Poor People’s Campaign.
Police officers attempt to stop marchers from entering a Walmart parking lot where they were planning to rally in support of workers’ rights. The marchers far outnumbered the police, and successfully made it to the front of the store without any arrests.
Marchers on Route 1 right outside of Baltimore on their way to Washington DC. They are taking the same historical route used by prior Civil Rights leaders in the campaign to desegregate restaurants and other facilities
The opening night was dedicated to remembering Anthony Anderson, who was killed by Baltimore police officers in front of family members on September 21, 2012, in a vacant lot where the march began. In January 2013, the Baltimore State’s Attorney decided not to prosecute the officers involved. Community members including march organizer Reverend C.D. Witherspoon hold regular vigils at the East Biddle Street lot to decry ‘police terror’ which claims the life of a black person every 28 hours in the US.
Marchers rally in support of workers’ rights at a Walmart store outside Baltimore Saturday afternoon. Police initially refused to allow the marchers onto the parking lot but yielded after a tense exchange which included shoving but no arrests. March endorser OUR Walmart has long organized protests at Walmart locations across the country, most notably on Black Friday last year, which spurred a significant decline in the company’s brand ranking.
A family in East Baltimore welcomes marchers from the Poor People’s Campaign.
Marchers trek through Baltimore neighborhoods which have been upended by decades of endemic poverty. Boarded up homes stretch for blocks across the city, underlined by a recent report which showed the percentage of city housing units that are vacant or abandoned has increased by 43 percent since 2001.
The Poor People’s Campaign begins a 41-mile march from Baltimore to Washington, DC to mark the 50th anniversary of the Jobs and Freedom March in 1963, and 45th anniversary of The 1968 Poor People’s Campaign. Marchers hope to address a range of economic justice concerns from mass incarceration to the need for jobs and adequate funding of education and healthcare.
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