AMA Plans March for Justice

The Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for Justice and Peace Reform is sponsoring a March for Justice and Equality through Northeast Portland the morning of Jan. 28.

The march will begin at the Martin Luther King Jr. statue at the 1000 block of Northeast MLK Blvd. near the convention center and end with an 11:45 a.m. rally at Marantha Church, 4222 NE 12th Ave. At 1 p.m., participants are invited to attend the Portland NAACP’s monthly general meeting at Maranatha Church.

 “In light of many of the things that are happening in society today, around the election and the protests that have been happening, even the protests that were happening here in Portland, we wanted to allow people of our community – African American, African brothers and sisters – the opportunity to express their own voice in a very safe, family-friendly atmosphere. We wanted to march in North/Northeast Portland to allow the community to have that type of voice and that type of atmosphere. So our plan is that it’s very peaceful,” said the Rev. Dr. T. Allen Bethel, pastor of Maranatha Church and longtime member of the Albina Ministerial Alliance.

Bethel said the rally would include a short program of speakers and would provide the opportunity for members of the community to fellowship with each other and talk about their concerns and the issues that matter to them – including police accountability, housing and voting rights.

 “I want to actually say to our community that there’s an opportunity to express your feelings, have your voice going in, continuing to be aware of things that are happening to our country, to our people, our community and realizing that as we come together. As one we can accomplish a whole lot more than being divided or opposing one another. We want to do what is going to be good for the whole community,” Bethel told The Skanner News.

Along with the Portland NAACP, the march is endorsed by the Urban League of Portland and Portland Copwatch.

The march coincides with the Portland NAACP’s regular monthly meeting time, although the organization typically meets at the Oregon Trail chapter of the Red Cross on North Vancouver.

The rally also comes the week after a series of large announced marches for social justice causes, most of which are scheduled for downtown Portland. The Portland Women’s March is scheduled to take place Jan. 21, preceded by a Jobs With Justice-sponsored march called United Front Against the Trump Agenda.