While marches and demonstrations are a characteristic of the Newark-Based People’s Organization for Progress, who regularly make their presence known here in Plainfield, involvement in three separate and distinct marches in one long weekend is certainly notable.

As announced this evening by POP Chairman Larry Hamm, the first march will be in memory of the late poet, writer, and activist Amiri Baraka, who passed away at the age of 79 last week. With the blessing of the Baraka family, participants will meet at 5:00pm Friday evening at Broad and Market Streets. The march ends at Metropolitan Baptist Church, where tomorrow night’s viewing from 4pm until 9pm will take place.

POP Chairman Larry Hamm announces Friday’s march for Amiri Baraka at tonight’s People’s Organization for Progress General Assembly. The assembly meets every Thursday at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Newark, 6:30pm.

Amiri Baraka’s Funeral is on Saturday, January 18 at 10am at Newark Symphony Hall. Many are expected to come – including Bill Cosby, Danny Glover, and a host of other notables – so attendees would be wise to arrive early.

On Sunday beginning at Irvington City Hall at 2pm, there will be a march for Abdul-Wakil M Kamal, an unarmed black man who was killed in November by three Irvington Police officers. He was shot ten times for reportedly not taking his hands out of his pockets. See the flyer here.

After Plainfield’s own annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast, there will be a third POP march beginning at Broad and Market Streets in Newark. The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. March for Racial Equality, Economic Justice, and Peace will begin at 3pm. See the flyer here.