U.S. Sen. Cory Booker returned to South Carolina on Monday to deliver the keynote speech at the annual NAACP King Day at the Dome event at the Statehouse, sparking speculation that the New Jersey Democrat may again seek higher office.
Booker called on the several hundred South Carolinians in Columbia to "redeem the dream," connecting to Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream speech" that played on loudspeakers as the crowd marched from Zion Baptist Church to the Capitol.
"We are a powerful people, and the power of the people is greater than the people in power," said Booker, who spoke at the same King Day event in 2019. "I don't care what they say from the White House. We are the people, and in our generation, we shall overcome."
Despite Booker's appearance, he told reporters Monday he's focused on getting reelected in his home state this year.
The annual event has become a go-to stop for presidential candidates, a chance for higher office hopefuls to speak before one of the state's largest gatherings of Black voters, who make up a core voting bloc of the state Democratic Party's base.
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke last year.
Then-presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden have all made appearances. In 2020, eight Democratic presidential candidates marched with attendees and spoke.
In addition to Booker, on Monday California Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, another possible 2028 contender who's traveled through the state before, also spoke.
"We need to remember not just what he (King) said about racial justice, not just what he said about peace, and war and peace," Khanna said. "We need to remember what he said about the economic development to build a beloved community."
The event started in 2000, when protesters called on the General Assembly to remove the Confederate battle flag from the top of the Statehouse dome.
Lawmakers reached a compromise that same year, when the Legislature passed the so-called Heritage Act to protect the removal and change of certain American war, Native American and African American monuments and statues from public property without now a simple majority of legislators.
As part of the deal, the battle flag was lowered to a prominent spot in front of the Statehouse, facing the intersection of Gervais and Main streets.
It took 15 more years for the flag to be taken off the complex completely, following the racist mass shooting of nine Black parishioners, including a state senator, at the historic Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.
On Monday, with the American and South Carolina flags, flew the flag of historically Black university South Carolina State University, marking the school's Celebration Bowl win in December.
South Carolinians from every region in the state came to the Statehouse to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Carrying signs that read, "We protect our neighbors," and "Immigrants Make America Great," several in attendance focused their concerns this year on the ongoing immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis.
Also top of mind for many South Carolinians? Election season.
Columbia's Elliott Brown, an opera singer, said as far as the presidential race, he's hopeful that people "realize they messed up in November" 2024.
"We've (South Carolina) been voting red a long time, it has not served us well, so let's try another way," Brown said. "... But if you really want to see change, try to change yourself first and vote differently."
Not only has the 2028 presidential race started in South Carolina, this year all 124 state House seats and constitutional officers are up for reelection. That includes the governor.
On Monday, only one gubernatorial candidate, state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, D-Richland, spoke.
Johnson faces Charleston lawyer Mullins McLeod.
On the Republican side, candidates include Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, Attorney General Alan Wilson, state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, Congressman Ralph Norman and Congresswoman Nancy Mace.
Filing opens in mid-March.
Sue Berkowitz, with South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center and one of the speakers Monday, said there are only a few candidates talking about issues important to her and important to the constituencies, most of whom are low income, her nonprofit serves.
"It is my hope that those in South Carolina who are looking to the future, will look at those candidates that are talking about moving forward and not moving backwards," she said.
