The gathering was part of the nationwide Day of Action organized by the AFL-CIO, affiliated unions and community groups. Participants honored the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was assassinated April 4, 1968, while supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tenn.

Claudie Washington, president of the local NAACP chapter, said Dr. King believed that economic and social justice are strongly related. Ties between the labor and civil rights movements continue to this day.

“Our goals and missions are one,” he said. “We’re stronger for that.”

The noon rally was the first of two “We Are One” events. Later in the day, people gathered at the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial, dedicated to three young African-American men who were lynched in Duluth in 1920. Marchers then walked to the federal courthouse, where a vigil for King was held.

Claudie Washington (above), president of the Duluth NAACP, addressed the crowd gathered to show support for worker rights. Photos by Jessica Hayssen