![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Aghomo-MLK-Image-2-800x533.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nBy Oisakhose Aghomo<\/p>\n
Photography By Oisakhose Aghomo<\/p>\n
Reporting Texas<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hundreds commemorate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. during a rally at the Texas Capitol. Oisakhose Aghomo\/Reporting Texas<\/p>\n
After a two\u2013year hiatus due to inclement weather, the Martin Luther King Jr. Community March and Festival returned Monday at the Texas Capitol against a backdrop of national political uncertainty \u2014 and threats to MLK Day itself<\/p>\n
\u201cOur commander in chief is trying to remove this day,\u201d said 61-year-old Austin resident Jackie Sanders. \u201cWe\u2019re going to still fight for this day because he (MLK) has earned it and we are here to support and represent.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last year, President Donald Trump ordered the removal of a bronze bust of King <\/a>\u00a0that President Barack Obama had placed in\u00a0 the Oval Office. Trump also mandated an anti-DEI executive order <\/a>, which led\u00a0 some federal agencies to pause<\/a> MLK Day events. His administration has also revoked free access<\/a> to national parks for the holiday.<\/p>\n In Austin, hundreds gathered Monday morning at the Capitol, many with signs for causes ranging from reproductive rights to immigration. The march returned after frigid temperatures caused cancellation of the 2025 event, and its start at the Capitol marked a departure from other years when the march began at the MLK Statue on the East Mall of the University of Texas campus.<\/p>\n Sanders, who has lived in the city for 38 years, has participated in the march for 25 years. She noted the march \u201cwas not this big years ago\u201d and was impressed by how diverse it has become.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we hear power, a lot of people hear offices, we hear money, we hear titles \u2026but Dr. King didn\u2019t wait for access,\u201d Christianna McAfee, president of the United Black Collegiate Association at UT, told the crowd. \u201cPower is common, and injustice depends on us forgetting that.\u201d<\/p>\n McAfee, along with other speakers at the event, emphasized the importance of community participation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAll of us are kind of having to come out constantly these days,\u201d said Jeffrey Clemmons, communications director for state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin. \u201cThere\u2019s always something that we have to be protesting whether it\u2019s the surveillance state.. ICE\u2026the attack on our HBCUs. We are having to come out time and time again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n