Today, we honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the profound impact he and his vision had on our country. All around Michigan, it’s a day of reflection and recommitment to realizing America’s promise of a multi-racial, multi-ethnic democracy. And it’s also a day of service. I believe that service is the greatest love letter you can send your country – and no one exemplifies that more than Dr. King.
Most people don’t know that the March on Washington wasn’t actually the first time Dr. King gave his famous “I have a Dream” speech. He also gave that speech in Detroit in June 1963, when at least 125,000+ people marched along Woodward Avenue against segregation in the south and de-facto segregation in the north. It was hailed as a strong example of how protestors, government, and police could work together for a peaceful and powerful event.
Last summer, on the 60th anniversary of that march, the NAACP led the Freedom Walk along the same route, and thousands of us joined.
The March on Washington holds, with good reason, a significant place in the history books, but there were so many other important moments, like the Detroit Walk to Freedom, that served as proof of concept to help make the March on Washington the success that it was.
Detroit alone boasts 100 civil rights sites, with five sites on the National Register of Historic places, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, and an interactive Civil Rights sites bike tour.
So today, in honor of Dr. King’s role, not just as a speaker but as an organizer, spend some time understanding the civil rights leaders from your own community who helped Dr. King’s movement. Google your community’s roles and leaders, make a plan to visit a local civil rights museum or monument, and generally take a moment to learn about the thousands of people and events that served as the scaffolding of the Civil Rights Movement – and who we may not have learned about in school.
Sincerely,
Elissa
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