T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center’s “We the People: Walk for Democracy” will conclude at 94 Drs. James Parker Blvd., where the nonprofit is located. SUNAYANA PRABHU
By Sunayana Prabhu
RED BANK – T. Thomas Fortune, a fierce civil rights advocate and towering figure in the Black press, would be 170 years old Oct. 3. Nearly two centuries after his birth, the borough-based nonprofit that bears his name is working to carry his legacy forward with a community event focused on democracy, equality and civic engagement.
The T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center is organizing “We the People: Walk for Democracy” from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27. In case of inclement weather, the walk will take place Oct. 11. The walk is free to attend and will begin at Riverside Gardens Park on Front Street and end at the cultural center at 94 Drs. James Parker Blvd.
Gilda Rogers, executive director of, said that the community walk was conceived during the nonprofit’s board meeting as a positive, unifying response to growing social and political division.
The walk is intended to uphold the values championed by Fortune – a shared humanity and civic participation – and reaffirm ideals like freedom, justice, liberty and equality.
“We want the community to come together to uphold ideals that we all grew up under, which was democracy,” Rogers said.
“We now know how fragile that is.”
Among the local organizations participating in the upcoming walk are Lunch Break, Grunin Foundation, Pilgrim Baptist Church, The United Methodist Church of Red Bank, Two River Theatre, Project Write Now and the League of Women Voters.
Expected speakers include Rev. Kerwin Webb, chairman of the board of the T. Thomas Fortune Foundation, and former Monmouth County judge John D’Amico, along with supporters and youth tour guides who work at the cultural center.
Gwendolyn Love, executive director of Lunch Break, the Red Bank nonprofit that provides food, clothing and social services for those in need, said the cultural center’s mission is “very important to keep the African American experience alive and well-known in the area.”
The cultural center’s youth programming is particularly important, she added. “I love the programs that they have for the youth, to help them be aware of what Mr. Fortune stood for, especially in these times when so much of the African American experience is trying to be wiped out and pushed out,” Love said.
According to organizers, the walk is both a fundraiser and a public statement that the work Fortune championed remains unfinished.
Fortune, the influential editor of The New York Age, a newspaper in the late 1880s, used his platform in the Black press to challenge racism, oppose disenfranchisement and press for social and economic justice. His work helped shape debates about civil rights and citizenship during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 2027, the cultural center will commemorate and celebrate the Black press’ bicentennial.
According to the invitation for Sunday’s event, those same debates continue today.
“I don’t care what community you’re from – black, white, Latino, Asian, trans community – it doesn’t matter,” Rogers said, urging the public to come together at the unifying event.
“Now we have to go beyond this division and stand up for our shared humanity.”
This article originally appeared in the September 24-30, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
