Put Your Marching Shoes Back On…..THREE Major Events Happening This Weekend!
We hope you had a restful Memorial Day Weekend, folks, because this coming weekend will be ACTION-PACKED! Three major events are happening in locations around the country: anti-gun violence #WearOrange Marches, the March for Truth, and LGBTQ Pride Marches and Celebrations.
From Friday, June 2nd, to Saturday, June 3rd, thousands will take part in #WearOrange Marches and Rallies. Also on Saturday the 4th, Americans around the country will March for Truth. Then on Sunday, June 4th, cities in and around NJ will host Pride Marches and Celebrations. To help you decide which events you will attend, we’ve compiled everything New Jerseyans need to know about these three big marches!
#WearOrange Marches are part of the #WearOrange campaign, a coalition of organizations including Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and Everytown for Gun Safety, sister groups that work to end the epidemic of gun violence in America through stronger, sensible gun safety legislation. #WearOrange is inspired by the favorite color of Hadiya Pendleton, a Chicago teenager who was shot and killed in 2013 a week after performing in the parade celebrating President Obama’s second inauguration. This year marks five years of marching on or around June 2, National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Dozens of advocacy organizations are partners of the #WearOrange Campaign. Events kick off on Friday June 2nd and continue into Saturday, June 3rd.
New Jerseyans can attend the following #WearOrange events in and around our state:
- FRIDAY: Camden County #WearOrange Peace Walk and Family Festival, 5pm at Dudley Grange Park, Camden.
- FRIDAY: SOMA Wears Orange Rally, 6:30pm at the Gazebo at Hilton Library, Maplewood.
- FRIDAY: Wear Orange Family Dinner, 6:30 pm at Alexis Diner in Denville.
- SATURDAY: The 5th Annual March Across the Brooklyn Bridge, at 2pm from the Korean War Veterans Plaza in Brooklyn to a rally on the Manhattan-side of the Bridge in Foley Square. Local Moms Demand Action chapters are meeting at train stations to travel together to the march, and organizing rallies at the train station before boarding trains. You can attend these pre-train rallies even if you are not able to go to Brooklyn yourself. Meet up with MDA for a rally and a ride to Brooklyn in Morristown at 10am, in Hamilton at 10:30, or in Princeton Junction at 10:45 am.
- SATURDAY: The Philadelphia #WearOrange Walk, 10:30 am at Penn Treaty Park.
Saturday, June 3rd, also brings us the March for Truth. Seventeen national progressive organizations, as well as many more local groups, are organizing more than 135 marches across the country and even abroad. National organizing partners include MoveOn, Indivisible, Common Cause, Rock the Vote, and the Working Families Party. Marchers will demand that Congress require the president to release his tax returns, and establish an independent commission to investigate possible connections between Russian interference in the election and the Trump campaign.
In addition to the DC March for Truth, New Jerseyans can attend March for Truth events in the following locations:
- Bedminster, NJ, 11am at River Road Park.
- New York City, 9am at Foley Square.
- Philadelphia, 10am at Thomas Paine Plaza.
This busy weekend concludes on Sunday, June 4th, with LGBTQ Pride Marches and Celebrations in:
- Asbury Park, 12-7pm, 5th & Ocean Aves. (Marchers should arrive by 10:30am at Cookman Ave. & Main Street). STAND Central NJ will be marching — look for our banner and come say hi!
- Queens, 12-6pm at 89th St & 37th Ave, Jackson Heights
If you are unable to attend the Pride events in Asbury Park or Queens, more marches are scheduled nearby for June 11th in Brooklyn, June 18th in Philadelphia and June 25th in NYC.
Now, choose your march, find your good walking shoes, and get ready to flex your activist muscles!