For many, the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr. Day is an opportunity to reflect on the progress made in civil rights and the challenges that remain. The holiday is also recognized as a day of service, a call to volunteer for the community. The fifth Jazz and Freedom Festival—a day when local jazz musicians convene to benefit community activist groups—seeks to be both.

“I wanted to start the Jazz And Freedom Festival because I felt the need to express my frustrations with injustice while also promoting peace through music,” says festival founder Shannon Gunn, an award-winning trombonist and fixture on the local jazz scene. “Our goal is to raise awareness and funds to fight injustice while paying homage to the lineage of jazz as social justice music.” (Disclosure: I occasionally perform with Gunn.)

Each year, the festival is focused around a particular social justice issue. Past festivals have partnered with Black Lives Matter DMV, Empower DC, and others. At this year’s event—which takes place at Eaton DC—proceeds will support ICE Out of DC, a coalition dedicated to challenging Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The coalition includes immigrant rights groups (United We Dream DMV, Sanctuary DMV, and CARECEN Latino Resource and Justice Center), faith groups (Congregation Action Network and Calvary Episcopal Church), the legal services nonprofit Just Futures Law, advocates, and others.

“Today, probably the greatest civil rights challenge facing our country has to do with our treatment of immigrants, particularly those arriving from countries just across our Southern border,” CapitalBop, the festival’s co-presenter, said in a release.

In addition to her work organizing the festival, Gunn works with Jazz4Justice, a non-profit that raises money for music scholarships. She also produces Jazz Girls Day DC, which is dedicated to helping female and non-binary middle and high school students learn to play jazz.

Gunn arrived at the concept behind the Jazz And Freedom Festival in 2003 while attending Michigan State University, where she performed with faculty for a similar event. The program included the “Freedom Now Suite,” a piece recorded and released in 1960 by drumming icon Max Roach and lyricist Oscar Brown, which is a prominent example of the activist streak that runs through jazz history.

Another example is “Freedom Suite” by legendary saxophonist Sonny Rollins, whose recording featured Roach on drums and preceded the “Freedom Now Suite” by two years. Rollins’ piece is connected to the Jazz And Freedom Festival in not only its social commentary, but also because it was a source of inspiration for Todd Marcus, the Baltimore-based bass clarinetist whose trio will headline the festival. Marcus’ latest recording, Trio+, features “Something Suite,” a four-part composition whose structure and style parallels that of Rollins. While Marcus is best known for working with larger ensembles, this album is largely devoted to the three-piece format that Rollins championed, where horn, bass, and drums can interact more freely in the absence of a chordal instrument such as guitar or piano.

“It’s freedom on multiple levels,” Marcus explains. “It’s freedom on the harmonic level but also freedom on the social/political end of things.”

Marcus also has a history of using his music to wrestle with broad societal questions. In 2015, he released Blues For Tahrir, an album in which Marcus drew from his Egyptian heritage as a response to the Arab Spring. On These Streets (a Baltimore Story) is Marcus’s 2018 recording that explored the potential of and challenges facing his Charm City neighborhood.

Three other bands are on Sunday’s bill, featuring a who’s-who of the D.C. area’s finest jazz talent, before the night concludes with an open jam session. Gunn leads the Jazz And Freedom Octet, playing Gunn’s original compositions and arrangements as well as works by others. Up-and-coming drummer Angel Bethea leads a trio and guitarist Cristian Perez performs with a quartet. A panel discussion precedes the music and focuses on D.C.’s role as a sanctuary city. Poet and community activist Claudia Rojas is also scheduled to deliver a spoken word set.

“I’m really excited to see how spoken word combined with jazz can amplify and drive home the meaning of the festival,” says Gunn.

The Jazz And Freedom Festival takes place at Eaton DC on Sunday, 3 p.m.-11 p.m. $20 suggested donation.