By Gerry Scoppettuolo

A militant youth-led Martin Luther King Day rally, march and speakout against racism filled the streets of downtown Boston on Jan. 21 with chants, hip-hop and spoken word calling for funding Dr. King’s dream, cutting the military budget and using the money for jobs, housing, education and health care.

Youth from FIST (Fight Imperialism, Stand Together) and Voices of Liberation led the demonstration, which included strong participation by activists from the Boston Workers Alliance, a community organization that organizes against discrimination based on “CORI” past criminal records. The crowd of about 70 included strong representation of youth as well as older representatives from the oppressed communities and a good representation of supporters of all ages.

The opening rally at Park Street on the Boston Common featured hip-hop performances addressing issues affecting oppressed youth in Boston, including police sweeps in the community and a surge in violence affecting Black youth.

City Councilor Chuck Turner told the crowd he was honored to be addressing “the first hip-hop rally commemorating Dr. King,” and raised the need to continue the fight to fund Dr. King’s dream and abolish the three evils identified by Dr. King: militarism, economic exploitation and racism.

Minister Rodney X from the Nation of Islam also gave a rousing talk to the crowd, highlighting Dr. King’s legacy of struggle. The youth, including Jonathan Regis, D. J. Nomadik, Jesse and Augustin, coordinated and led the program and played hip-hop with a message that can no longer be heard over public media, where it has been co-opted and taken over by big business interests.

The demonstration marched through downtown Boston led by a sound truck playing excerpts from Dr. King’s final speeches condemning the Vietnam War, and raps and chants led by Miya Campbell of FIST and the Women's Fightback Network. Rev. Franklin Hobbs, director of Healing Our Land, highlighted the disproportionate incidence of HIV/AIDS among communities of color resulting from discrimination and failure to provide resources available to other communities, and led militant chants against racism.

The demonstration was closed out by messages from members of Boston Workers Alliance including Mr. Tim and Phil Reason, Sara Mokuria of VOL, and Bob Traynham of the International Action Center and the Boston School Bus Drivers Union. It was endorsed by City Councilors Charles Yancey and Sam Yoon, New England Human Rights for Haiti, and Bishop Filipe Teixeira, OFSJC.