The Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network led a March on Wall Street on Thursday, calling on Americans to resist the Trump administration's campaign to roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. 

Thursday's protest in New York City was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963.

"Sixty-two years ago today, [Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.] marched in Washington. Sixty-two years later, the dream is not dead," Sharpton told the crowd, adding, "We will march until we turn the economic inequality in this country around. We're not going back."

The march started in Foley Square and traveled through Manhattan's Financial District. The crowd made its way past Wall Street's famous Charging Bull statue, and wrapped up with a series of speakers.

"The first thing traded on Wall Street was Black bodies, but we've come back. The children of our ancestors [are] ready to spend our dollars. We're not slaves anymore. We're not going back on the slave market. Donald Trump, get ready for the fight of your life," Sharpton said.

"America is not fair to everyone and if we don't march, we will not get our rights and they'll be taken away," one person from Texas said.

Sharpton calls for boycott of companies that ended DEI programs

After returning to the White House in January, President Trump quickly issued a series of executive orders ending DEI programs in the public and private sector.

In response, Sharpton and other Black leaders have called for the boycotting of companies that rolled back their initiatives.

Sharpton said the current situation is "the civil rights fight of our generation," adding the importance of the march had only grown since the federal government deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C. and threatened more takeovers of Black-led cities.

Mr. Trump has said the deployment of troops was necessary to crack down on crime, homelessness and illegal immigration. 

"Only someone suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome would organize a march against dropping crime rates. Al should listen to Democrat Mayor Bowser who said she 'greatly appreciated' President Trump's surge of law enforcement officers to D.C. and highlighted the massive drop in crime as a result," a White House spokesperson said in a statement.

Sharpton notes absence of some NYC mayoral candidates

Organizers said they bussed people in from states like Florida and Michigan. Police barricades were put out in preparation for a large attendance. 

While many showed up, Sharpton noted who didn't, pointing out the absence of Mayor Eric Adams and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

"Let's hear it from Eric Adams. Oh, he's not here. Let's hear it from Zohran Mamdani," Sharpton said.

"How is it that we have still yet to answer the question that Dr. King posed all those decades ago? What good is it to have the right to sit at a lunch counter if you can't afford to buy a hamburger?" Mamdani said.