Norwich — The Rev. Jeffrey T. Hill looked out into the audience at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. march and program at Evans Memorial AME Zion Church on Monday for proof that progress has been made in the civil rights struggle led by King.

“I don't take it for granted that I can come to worship with the mayor,” said Hill, who was recently named pastor of the church that annually hosts the celebration. “That I can come to worship with the senator. It is not without a struggle that we are here.”

Norwich Mayor Deberey Hinchey, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, state Rep. Kevin Ryan, D-Montville, and Norwich Aldermen H. Tucker Braddock and Gerald Martin all marched from City Hall to the church for the program. U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, attended the introductory program before the march.

The Rev. Tarishia Martin, religious affairs chairwoman, called Hinchey and Osten her sisters and Ryan her brother when inviting them to the podium to speak.

“Years ago, we could not do that,” Martin said.

Hinchey thanked the event organizers for making her feel welcome at the church right from the first time she participated three years ago. Ryan said he has been attending for many years and looks forward to the occasion.

“I just love this church,” Osten said. “It is a blessing on Norwich, a grace that is not easily found.”

The Norwich branch of the NAACP set the theme “Not without a Struggle” for the day's march and program. Many speakers used the theme to highlight not only struggles — from the brutality of slavery through segregation and mistreatment to persistent racial tensions and police shootings — but also great successes.

Hill and other speakers urged the audience to take up King's famous quote: “injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere,” and asked people to pledge to do something to contribute to the progress of equality and justice.

Hill read statistics on police shootings of unarmed black suspects or bystanders — in one case shooting a woman in the neck who opened an apartment door to direct police to the location they were looking for. He also cited a rise in a different form of injustice, aimed at people with different religions or different native languages.

“We must rise up, but not at the expense of tearing down somebody else's dignity,” Hill said.

Hill used the now-familiar phrases “black lives matter” and “all lives matter” but added a new phrase to the mix: “We are all somebody.”

At the City Hall gathering, about 20 people braved one of the coldest afternoons of the otherwise mild winter and gathered at the David Ruggles Freedom Courtyard, named for a 19th-century abolitionist who helped hundreds of African-Americans escape slavery.

As he bowed his head for the opening prayer, Blumenthal noticed that he was looking at a brick engraved with one of his favorite quotes from King: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

c.bessette@theday.com

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