The Stone of Hope, the granite sculpture that memorializes Martin Luther King Jr. in a scene of stoic resolve, was cut off by a grid of rigid street closures. A raging pandemic — with more than 13,000 COVID-related deaths across D.C., Maryland, and Virginia — kept people largely isolated from one another. But even while reeling from the attack on the Capitol, bracing for the possibility of more extremist violence, and staying socially distant, the nation’s capital still found ways to honor King on a quieter, more tense MLK Day.

At Marvin Gaye Park, about 50 masked volunteers gathered on a blustery morning, using trash pickers to remove solo cups and water bottles and food wrappers from the brush.

Steve Coleman, director of Washington Parks & People, said he felt safer helping out in Deanwood than he would walking downtown, where authorities have set up a 4.6-square-milesecurity perimeter.

“At the end of the day community is not a virtual thing. We need to be able to see each other and to reconnect with each other,” Coleman said, adding that D.C.’s parks provide safe options for gathering. “Dr. King’s dream is more important and more vibrant at this moment than it’s ever been. We’re standing at the precipice of history. We’ve got a real choice to make every day when we wake up: Do we accept the world as it is, or do we make it what it should be?”

Still, the group was a fraction of its normal size on MLK Day. And another 40 or 50 people planned to attend but couldn’t make it because of the road closures and checkpoints stretching from Dupont Circle to Capitol Hill. Bridges from Virginia into the city are closed, and with 13 Metro stations closed, it’s a nightmare trying to get anywhere quickly in D.C.

Elsewhere in Marvin Gaye Park, Ted and Chanel Diggs handed out donated hats, gloves, scarves, and meals with Kirk Franklin’s upbeat gospel track “Looking For You,” blaring behind them. By 11 a.m., they’d handed out at least 50 bags.

“This is one of the communities that is forgotten. When we get sick in this community, we’re dying,” said Chanel. The couple, who own SoBodyFit Gym in Capitol Heights, Md., has been promoting health and wellness in communities of color like Ward 7 to help fight COVID-19. “We’re dying versus us just getting well and going on with our life.”

Other groups also used the holiday as an opportunity to continue activism and outreach. In Southeast, Black Swan Academy and the East of the River Mutual Aid Network organized a pop-up winter clothing drive, providing people with hot meals, hygiene kits, and fresh produce. At the Big Chair on V Street, Black Swan held a rally to get police out of D.C. schools. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and husband Doug Emhoff bagged groceries at Martha’s Table. And park cleanups were a popular volunteering option.

The Rock Creek Conservancy has hosted cleanups on MLK Day for more than a decade, according to Conservancy Director Jeanne Braha, but it still drew first-time volunteers.

“I think that idea of giving back to the place that’s been so helpful to them during the pandemic is one motivation for volunteerism that we see,” Braha said.

Faith Saviano fit that mold. She felt compelled to pitch in near the Carter Barron Amphitheater because of everything that has happened in the past year: the pandemic, social justice movements, and now the insurrection and security presence it has brought.

“Washingtonians are bonded together in this,” said Saviano. “So it’s nice to do something small for the community even if it’s just picking up trash.”

But amid safety concerns and with coronavirus cases continuing to set new records, many organizers opted to cancel or move MLK Day events online.

The organizers of D.C.’s annual MLK holiday parade — normally held in Southeast with marching bands, cheerleaders, and large crowds — instead hosted a panel discussion on Facebook Live.

The Memorial Foundation, builders of the MLK Memorial on the National Mall, hosted its 10th annual wreath-laying ceremony online. Following a lineup of speakers, the event played C-SPAN footage of the Ebenezer AME Church Choir singing at the statue from a previous year.

Over in Arlington, Amazon sponsored a virtual event, mostly a series of pre-recorded speeches, which featured Bernice King. She quoted her father in telling participants that “anyone can be great because anyone can serve.”

“Your service is particularly important during this terrible pandemic, which has revealed the systemic inequities which made life harder for some before COVID and have increased their suffering exponentially now,” King said.

Still, COVID-19 made in-person service impossible for many this year.

Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler, of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Northeast, says he’s usually “overbooked” with community service events, church breakfasts, and speeches on MLK Day and the days leading up to it. But like most of his congregation, he was hunkered down at home on Monday morning — reading, writing, and participating in virtual events.

The time at home has led Hagler to be more reflective on MLK’s life and legacy than in years past.

“I think that we have sort of reduced the meaning and the significance of Dr. King,” Hagler said over the phone. “We’ve taken King and we’ve reduced King to a mantra of service, when really the life of King has to do with transformation, has to do with challenging people to live up to the ideals of the Constitution.”

Hagler has been outspoken against the presence of white nationalists in the city, issuing a statement with fellow D.C. clergy about what they perceived as city officials ceding the city to “racist, marauding mobs.” One of Hagler’s congregants, from Southeast D.C., sent him a text on Monday morning describing how she is feeling right now.

“I’m stressed, to be totally honest, with all this mess going on,” Hagler said, reading the text. “They are cutting off access to the rest of the city where our grocery stores, hospitals, etc. are located starting tomorrow morning. White people on Capitol Hill and downtown are protected with an enormous presence of security and amenities while we are left over here with nothing, no increased MPD presence, no National Guard — just let the Black folks fend for themselves.”

Residents east of the Anacostia River have also been particularly concerned about the effects of impending bridge closures cutting off access to grocery stores and healthcare.

Still, national headlines Monday morning focused on reports of an “exterior security threat” that forced an evacuation at the U.S. Capitol. D.C. Fire and EMS reported that a fire broke out at a homeless encampment underneath the Southeast-Southwest Freeway near Navy Yard. One woman was burned and received treatment for non life-threatening injuries.

Over on K and 5th streets NW, artist Shawn Perkins and his co-workers from Paints Institute, a non-profit organization that provides arts education to underserved youth in the District, spent much of the day bringing to life a brightly colored mural of Harris, MLK, and boldly written words like “progress” and “hope”.

“With the state of events right now it may not seem like a lot of progress is being made…but we like to stay on the positive side of things and look at the silver lining,” Perkins told DCist. “We hope to uplift the community when everything is in disarray right now.”

Commissioned by Mount Vernon Triangle’s community board, the institute has been helping beautify boarded up businesses throughout the downtown area since the beginning of the pandemic. Perkins said he felt it was his responsibility to record what was happening in this moment downtown.

“‘I’m not one to go on Twitter or social media and rant. I’m one to spread my ideologies via artwork,” Perkins said.

A few blocks away, a few dozen people milled around at Black Lives Matter Plaza.

A family of four, who declined to give their names because of their jobs, said they were visiting from out of town and had originally been planning to visit the MLK Memorial and attend the inauguration — plans that were completely upended by recent events.

They said they bought their plane tickets from the Midwest weeks before the insurrection at the Capitol, intending to give their kids a front seat to history. While they still came to the District, the family instead plans to watch the inauguration on TV.

Other visitors to the plaza were more familiar faces. Speaking behind a “Defund MPD” mask, Joseph Ip said he was at BLM Plaza on Jan. 6 and returned to keep watch.

“We have people coming from out of town who would like to start trouble here,” said Ip, who was accompanied by his dog Bambi.

But there are far fewer Trump supporters roaming the streets this week, and the ones who remain are being far more discreet about their ideological leanings, he observed.

In the coming days, Ip doesn’t expect Trump supporters to create as much chaos around BLM Plaza.

“Now they’re more focused on the presidential election and the inauguration and the Capitol building,” he said. “But still, there’s still a vibe of uneasiness.”