A historic milestone will be marked next month in Detroit -- the 50th anniversary of a Woodward Avenue march led by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Detroiters mark MLK Day downtown last January. [Photo from Michigan Chronicle]
Michigan Chronicle senior editor Bankole Thompson has details of Freedom Walk Detroit from Rev. Wendell Anthony, president of the local NAACP branch:
Several organizations, institutions and individuals, including the NAACP and the United Auto Workers (UAW), are joining hands in a coalition to celebrate the 1963 march, which was the prelude to the March on Washington for Jobs and Justice. . . .
The Detroit celebration on June 22 will be a march down Woodward Avenue following the same route that King took when he marched in Detroit, organized by the Detroit Council for Human Rights and chaired by the late Rev. C.L. Franklin.
Participants in the local rally a half-century ago and their descendants are invited to join next month's commemoration, says Abayomi Azikiwe, publicity director of the Detroit MLK Committee.
Marchers will gather by 9 a.m. at Woodward and Forest for a walk to Hart Plaza for a rally with local and national speakers. More details are at the event website and Facebook page created three weeks ago.
A day before the anniversary event, the NAACP and UAW will host seven workshops at a forum called “MLK Think Tank for Social Action.” Topics include workers' rights, job creation, entrepreneurship, youth violence, voter suppression and health insurance reforms.
Bankole quotes UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles, an event coordinator:
“We have many milestones to celebrate since King walked Detroit’s streets. But we are asking that everyone take a step toward finding solutions as we go forward and the anniversary celebration is a good place to start.”
Workshops will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 21 at the UAW Conference Center, UAW Center, 151 W. Jefferson in Detroit. Details are here, along with a signup form.
-- Alan Stamm
