OGDEN — Martin Luther King Jr. backers will return to Ogden’s streets to mark MLK Jr. Day on Monday, marching from the Marshall White Center to the Ogden Amphitheater.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Ogden Branch is hosting activities, focused — in addition to remembering King’s legacy as a civil rights icon — on promoting passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. The actual march starts at 10 a.m. and speakers will address participants at the amphitheater.

Betty Sawyer, who heads the local NAACP branch, referenced the false claims in the wake of the 2020 U.S. presidential vote by Donald Trump and some of his backers that the election was rigged, refuted by election experts but nevertheless still accepted by some.

“We all know that elections are important,” Sawyer said. “What we saw last year — if that’s any indication, we’re in trouble.”

The focus on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act stems from recent voting legislation passed in some states that Sawyer says is designed “to deny and suppress the right to vote, and we don’t want that.”

The measure, proponents say, would shore up voting rights and act as a safeguard against racial discrimination in voting practices. President Joe Biden delivered a speech Tuesday in support of that proposal as well as the Freedom to Vote Act, a parallel measure touted by backers as a safeguard against voter suppression.

Last year, the Ogden NAACP branch sponsored a car caravan in Ogden to mark MLK Jr. Day instead of a march, the traditional activity, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As COVID-19 cases surge, Sawyer said masks would be available for marchers on Monday and she also recommended social distancing among marchers as a safeguard.

Activities on Monday start at 9 a.m. at the Marshall White Center at 222 28th St., where march participants can make signs to carry during the march. The actual march gets underway around 10 a.m. and Sawyer said it will likely take around 10 minutes to get to the amphitheater at 343 25th St.

Speakers at the amphitheater will include Amir Jackson of Nurture the Creative Mind plus reps from Weber State’s NAACP chapter and Black Scholars United, a Weber State University group.

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., children’s coats and shoes will be given out at the Marshall White Center to those in need as part of an MLK Jr. Day service project. From 3-4:30 p.m., an online “emerging leaders forum” will be held.

On Sunday, the day before, a prayer vigil will be held at 6 p.m. at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City, also to mark MLK Jr. Day.

The Weber State Office of Diversity will host a virtual screening of the film “Beloved Community Project” and a panel presentation on it in conjunction with MLK Jr. Day. The online event is to go from 6-7:30 p.m. next Wednesday and members of the campus community interested in taking part need to register online.

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