Photo Essay | Powering the resistance: A people’s convention evokes MLK’s revolutionary spirit
Newark, NJ – In especially challenging times where reactionary forces have been empowered to roll back much of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s work in civil rights and economic justice, 15-year-old Montclair NAACP Youth Council President Ife Joseph moved through the inaugural MLK People’s Convention for Social Justice & Resistance at Essex County College on April 26, undaunted and steadfastly optimistic.
“I believe that youth needs to be involved politically, and to be able to learn from elders so that we can help progress ourselves towards the future,” Joseph said.
The first-ever event sponsored by the People’s Organization For Progress (POP) was an opportunity for all those animated by Dr. King’s dynamic activism to come together in the spirit of solidarity and collective action at one of the most pivotal moments in this nation’s often tortured history.
Some 300 people representing 200 groups including activists, organizers, students and politicos gathered to back actionable resolutions aimed at stemming the rising tide of fascism seen nationwide.
Public Square Amplified award-winning photojournalist, Brian Branch-Price, was there to properly document the defiant energy that reverberated throughout Smith Hall during the daylong event–and was moved by what he experienced as each POP member rose to introduce resolutions confronting the latest attacks on Dr. King’s legacy.
“It’s important for the younger generation to understand how civil rights came about,” Branch-Price says. “I think this event reminds people of the struggle to get voting rights, to get civil rights, and housing rights because many people don’t know how those fights came about. If people knew the struggle they would understand why things are what they are today–especially with the Trump administration trying to roll back the progress.”
Seton Hall University Political Science student, Lanie Joseph, was among the younger generation of people who said she was “inspired” to attend the Martin Luther King Jr. People’s Convention for Justice & Resistance, and was proud to take the podium to introduce an early resolution pushing back against federal cuts to New Jersey nursing homes.
“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death,” Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1967–exactly one year before he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.
It was part of his “Beyond Vietnam” speech, and what he also had to say about dissent and civic action could be seen as a direct line to what lay at the core of this year’s People’s Convention for Social Justice & Resistance.
“Men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in times of war,” Dr. King said almost 60 years ago. “Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world.”
“I was happy to see the youngsters come out,” Branch-Price says.
Newark, NJ – The Solidarity Singers take to the stage and sing out against growing nationwide repression and increasing assaults on fundamental human rights. (Brian Branch-Price for Public Square Amplified)
Newark, NJ – The intergenerational convention benefited from the passion, wisdom, and brilliance embodied in all of its participants–young and old alike. Fifteen-year-old Montclair NAACP Youth Council President Ife Joseph said it was important for youth to be involved to “gain knowledge from the elders.” (Brian Branch-Price for Public Square Amplified)
Newark, NJ – The Martin Luther King Convention for Justice & Resistance may have been a serious endeavor with concrete goals for real civic action, but it was not without humor and levity–with People’s Organization for Progress (POP) Chairman Lawrence Hamm inviting a resolution on a “$50 downpayment for reparations” at one point. Here, Greg Mills raises a sign urging reparations for the descendants of Black people enslaved in the United State. (Brian Branch-Price for Public Square Amplified)
Newark, NJ – POP member Suzy Newington contributed more music to the daylong Martin Luther King Convention for Justice & Resistance held at Essex County College on April 26. (Brian Branch-Price for Public Square Amplified)
Newark, NJ – Michael Hand of Newark’s ACCA Creates (l) is seen here in deep conversation with Gail Corby (r) during the Martin Luther King Convention for Justice & Resistance. ACCA–Arts, Culture and Community Activism–is an arts and cultural education program serving people of diverse abilities, racial, religious, ethnic, gender, and economic backgrounds. (Brian Branch-Price for Public Square Amplified)
Newark, NJ - Seton Hall University student Lanie Joseph presents an early resolution during April 26th’s Martin Luther King Convention for Justice & Resistance at Essex County College. Resolutions introduced throughout the day tackled issues related to social justice, labor & economic justice, foreign affairs & peace, immigration, political reform & voting rights, the environment, healthcare & disability rights, education, housing, and veterans affairs. (Brian Branch-Price for Public Square Amplified)
Newark, NJ – Ronald Long spent decades incarcerated and years on death row before ultimately having his felony conviction overturned. Here he gives an impassioned call for reforming New Jersey’s Conviction Review Unit (CRU). (Brian Branch-Price for Public Square Amplified)
