Demonstrators in a “March on Wall Street” Thursday called on corporate America to push back against President Trump’s attack on diversity initiatives.
Carrying signs that said, “Stop Stealing Our Legacy,” protesters, led by the Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III, took their financial fight to the seat of the nation’s economic power base.
“We come to Wall Street rather than Washington this year to let them know: You can try to turn back the clock, but you can’t turn back time,” Sharpton said as he kicked off the demonstration commemorating 1963’s historic March on Washington.
“We’re going to keep the dream alive on Wall Street.”
From left, Randi Weingarten, Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III participate in a “March on Wall Street” to call for economic justice on August 28, 2025, in New York City. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
Sharpton’s “dream” reference was a nod to the iconic “I Have a Dream” speech the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered to 250,000 people 62 years ago on Aug. 28 at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial.
Although the Wall Street crowd was considerably smaller, speakers, including King’s oldest son, touched on some of the same themes, noting the battles won since then, and the economic fights that continue today.
“It’s extraordinarily significant, but in the back of mind, I am thinking about how sad this is, that 62 years after Dad delivered that dream for our nation and world, that we are in the position we are in,” Martin Luther King III said. “And the goal is to find ways to move this nation forward around economic inequality.”
Rev. Al Sharpton speaks after a “March on Wall Street” to call for economic justice on August 28, 2025, in New York City. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
At the top of the march’s agenda was Trump’s campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion, a crusade marked by economic punishments against college campuses and companies that highlight race.
The marchers also criticized the White House for taking over the District of Columbia police department, and threatening similar actions against major urban hubs, including New York City.
“Donald Trump’s attacks on DEI were only the prelude, as he is now dangling threats to take over American cities led by Black mayors,” said Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network. “If we leave him unchecked on DEI, if we do not get out and march, if we do not speak up, he will completely erase the freedoms our parents and our grandparents fought, bled and died for.”
People participate in a “March on Wall Street” to call for economic justice on August 28, 2025, in New York City. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
Stops along the march included the lower Manhattan African Burial Ground — the largest known resting place of enslaved and freed Africans — and 26 Federal Plaza, where ICE agents have rampantly arrested migrants during appearances before immigration courts.
Invited speakers included mayoral candidates Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Adams, but only Mamdani appeared at the podium at the end of the march to speak to the crowd.
“I don’t endorse candidates but I took attendance,” Sharpton said.
Zohran Mamdani, left, and Rev. Al Sharpton are pictured after a “March on Wall Street” to call for economic justice on August 28, 2025, in New York City. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
A Cuomo spokesman said the former governor was in Harlem addressing gun violence in the wake of a recent shooting. An Adams representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mamdani talked about King’s legacy and reminded the crowd about what the slain civil rights leader had fought for all those years ago. Paraphrasing a famous quote by King, he tied it into his own campaign plank of affordability.
“We still have yet to answer the question that Dr. King posed all those decades ago,” Mamdani said. “‘What good is it to have the right to sit at a lunch counter if you can’t afford to buy a hamburger?’ Our freedom is only as good as our ability to exercise it.”
People participate in a “March on Wall Street” to call for economic justice on August 28, 2025, in New York City. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
Originally Published: August 28, 2025 at 2:39 PM EDT