The People’s Organization for Progress hosted an emergency march and rally to condemn the Black church massacre that took place in Charleston, S.C.
The prayer vigil, march and rally took place on Friday from the Lincoln Monument near Essex County College in Newark.
“We demand a full and complete federal investigation into this massacre and we stand behind our people in Charleston to the fullest and insist that our people everywhere be vigilant about both their safety and the protection of their rights and their lives,” said Lawrence Hamm, founding chairman for the People’s Organization for Progress.
One of the victims, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, was a native of Newark. Only 45, she was a mother of three, a girl’s track and also a minister at the church. She was a speech pathologist in the area’s schools.