At King Day rally, Sharpton leads oath to support DEI as Trump opposes it

by | Jan 20, 2025 | Religion

WASHINGTON (RNS) — As President Trump was sworn in three miles away at the U.S. Capitol, hundreds of people rallied at an African Methodist Episcopal Church to make a Martin Luther King Jr. Day pledge to support diversity, equity and inclusion, in direct opposition to Trump’s Inauguration Day promise to reduce programs supporting DEI.
“I will defend equality for all, diversity, equality, inclusion, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, immigration rights,” said the crowd gathered at Metropolitan AME Church at a rally organized by the National Action Network in an oath led by the Rev. Al Sharpton.
“I am not for violence,” the crowd continued, standing and still bundled against the severe cold that gripped Washington and had sent the inauguration ceremonies inside at the Capitol. “I will peacefully stand against those that want to bring us down. I commit this in the house of God on this sacred ground, so help me God.”

The oath was taken in the name of King, as well as the 19th-century abolitionist Frederick Douglass and Civil Rights-era activist Rosa Parks, whose funerals were held in the historic sanctuary. 
Sharpton, president of the National Action Network and the keynote speaker at the event, having been handed a note as he spoke, announced that Trump had …

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