Activists hope to turn MLK day of service into day of action

The Martin Luther King  Jr.  holiday is this Monday, and you may have seen  Reclaim-the-dream and reclaim-mlk hashtags popping up in your Twitter feed or your Facebook accoun.  This year, nationwide marches are planned to reshape what has become a day of service into a day of social activism.

As part of WHYY’s new podcast, The Remix, Dr. James Peterson of Lehigh University spoke with local activist and community organizer Leslie MacFayden who is organizing a “Reclaim the Dream” march in Philadelphia.   

 Leslie MacFadyen wants to change the way that Martin Luther King Jr. day is celebrated.  Instead of focusing on service projects and volunteer work, MacFadyen, and other activists across the country, hope that the holiday will become a day of  protest for social justice.

MacFadyen says she finds the day of service concept “offensive” to Dr. King’s legacy.  “While he did promote service in our communities, he was a man of action”, says MacFayden.  

MacFadyen is an activist and creator of the Ferguson National Response Network tumbler and podcast. She who works locally and nationally organizing with BlackLivesMatter protest groups. 

MacFadyen worked with a coaliton of religious and community groups to organize this Monday’s MLK Day of Action, Resistance & Empowerment (D.A.R.E.) in Philadelphia.  

Beginning at 1:30pm protestors will gather at  School District of Philadelphia headquarters at 440 N. Broad, march to the statue of Frank Rizzo and continue on to City Hall.

Similar marchees will take place across the country, including a march in Washington, DC that will culminate at the White House.