MLK RALLY: Speakers tell crowd to preserve democracy, ‘fight for justice,’ ‘resist attacks on the truth’

The Reclaim Rebuild Resist Rally brought nearly 250 people to to the Broadway United Methodist Church in Indianapolis on Monday to hear community leaders and clergy members speak of the importance of preserving democracy. (Photo/Phil Bremen)

By Phil Bremen
special to The Indiana Citizen
January 21, 2025

It doesn’t usually happen this way, but Monday’s presidential inauguration coincided with Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

In response, community leaders and clergy members in Indianapolis held a rally – titled “Reclaim, Rebuild and Resist” – that both saluted the civil rights leader and served as a counterprogram to President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Nearly 250 attended the event, at Broadway United Methodist Church. It was arranged by Hoosiers for Democracy.

Debbie Asberry is a co-founder of Hoosiers for Democracy which organized the Reclaim Rebuild and Resist Rally. (Photo/Phil Bremen)

One of the group’s founders, organizational consultant Debbie Asberry, said this day was one “of bitter irony and paradox” – both the national holiday celebrating MLK Jr.’s birth and the second inauguration of “a president who campaigned on hate, racism and division.”

Asberry exhorted the audience to “to resist attacks on the truth … and be well informed.”

Outside, the temperature hovered just above zero as frigid air from the Arctic Circle plunged into Indiana and the surrounding Midwestern states. The city of Indianapolis has temporarily turned 15 family centers into warming centers. However, only three of them were open on the King holiday. And only one – 11 miles from the rally location – was permitting people to stay overnight.

“We say we want to preserve democracy,” said Rabbi Aaron Spiegel, head of the Greater Indianapolis Multifaith Alliance. “So I say, fight for justice. Right this minute just half a mile from here,” he said, “a family is huddled in a warming center, wondering what they’ll do” when the shelter closes for the day.  

“To reclaim democracy, we must first reclaim our collective power,” said the Rev. David Greene, president of Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis. “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability.”

Rabbi Aaron Spiegel of the Greater Indianapolis Multifaith Alliance was among the speakers at the Reclaim Rebuild Resist Rally. (Photo/Phil Bremen)

Also speaking was Dana Black, an Indianapolis commentator and activist. Black drew a parallel between Indiana House Bill 1136 and the historic ban on teaching African Americans to read. The proposed legislation would “dissolve” the Indianapolis Public Schools and four other districts with diminished enrollments. That, Black said, would imperil children’s right to a public education.

Another speaker, Quaker pastor Phil Gulley, said even his 9-year-old granddaughter knows to reject claims that Trump is a good Christian. “‘That’s crazy talk,'” he quoted her as saying.

“Americans believe … that no one is above the law, and that includes those who run our government,” said retired law professor Sheila Kennedy. “We believe dissent can be the highest form of patriotism. And we really believe that how you play the game is more important than whether you win or lose.”

Following the scheduled speakers, members of the audience were invited to identify their respective groups and briefly describe how they are confronting the threats they see to democracy and human rights.

At the end of the program, an interracial trio sang “We Shall Overcome.” Audience members stood and linked arms or held hands across the aisle as they sang along.

Sponsors of the rally included the ACLU of Indiana, American Association of University Women Indiana, Common Cause Indiana, League of Women Voters Indiana, ReCenter Indiana, The Indiana Citizen, and Women4Change Indiana.

Phil Bremen is a volunteer with ReCenter Indiana. He is a former journalist for outlets including NBC News nationally as well as WRTV and WTHR in Indianapolis.