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But just as the freedom fighters who came before, Stewart marched on. The families left behind were too important, the struggle was too real, the fight too meaningful, the stakes too high. Giving up was never an option.
Each Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Stewart tries to shed light on the legacy of the late civil-rights leader. The real legacy, Stewart says, not the whitewashed history so often passed around.
And this year, for those such as Stewart who helped lead the racial reckoning that unfolded across the nation in 2020 and who
recently watched a mob that included known white supremacists lay siege to the U.S. Capitol, MLK Day carries some extra weight.
Weekend demonstrations to honor Black people killed by police have been paused as the city prepares for an “armed march” by pro-Trump supporters at the Ohio Statehouse.
A rally in honor of Andre Hill, a Black man killed by Columbus Police officer Adam Coy on Dec. 22, was scheduled at City Hall at 3:30 p.m. Friday.
However, Hill’s sister, Shawna Barnett, announced that the event was canceled via a Facebook post on Wednesday. Barnett said the event was canceled because of safety concerns.
Additionally, the People’s Justice Project (PJP), in collaboration with the Black Abolitionist Collective of Ohio, Central Ohio Freedom Fund and Showing Up for Racial Justice had planned a “Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend of Action,” which included a Black Lives Matter march and rally on Saturday in Goodale Park.