Thousands Mark 50th Anniversary of MLK's Detroit March

Tens of thousands marched down Woodward ave. on June 22, 2013 in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Detroit Walk to Freedom. This banner was carried by Moratorium NOW! Coalition. (Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe), a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Thousands mark 50th anniversary of MLK's Detroit march

2:40 AM, June 23, 2013
Detroit Free Press
by Marlon A. Walker and Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press

DETROIT -- Fifty years after his father led a historic march in Detroit that helped set the tone for later civil rights action, Martin Luther King III stood beside Woodward Avenue and spoke of dreams unrealized.

King addressed a crowd gathered before Saturday's march about the need to revisit his father's 1963 march down Woodward that ended with a version of his famous "I Have a Dream" speech at Cobo Hall.

"I can say I'm excited to be here," King said. "But I can't - nor should anyone - say they've achieved the dreams of Martin Luther King Jr."

Thousands - residents, activists and celebrities - took part in the anniversary march through the city to Hart Plaza, including the Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, Detroit Branch NAACP President Rev. Wendell Anthony and comedian and activist Dick Gregory.

The daylong event culminated with dozens of speakers at Hart Plaza talking on topics ranging from issues of social and economic justice to frustrations over the appointment of an emergency manager in Detroit.

While some of the issues facing Detroit are different from those addressed in the Walk to Freedom in 1963, Sharpton said, the goal for Saturday's march was the same.

"Let's walk for a better tomorrow," he said. "We're not on a nostalgia trip down Woodward. We still have challenges."

Seeing a sense of pride

Pride is what the Rev. Louise Beamon, pastor of Historic Second Baptist Church of Detroit, remembers most about the speech King gave 50 years ago.

"It gave us a sense of pride," she said, "where someone is actually speaking what needs to be said."

She struggled to find the word that would adequately describe the emotion of that day, finally settling on "overwhelming," with the help of Delores Hilson, a Detroit resident and member of her church, sitting beside her at Hart Plaza.

Hilson said this year's march helps maintain the connection to King's legacy.

"It is so important to keep the spirit alive," she said. "This is for all races of people."

Adrian Ponder, 65, of Royal Oak said he remembered messages at the march 50 years ago preaching love and forgiveness for all, though it was hard to do so at a time when black people could not eat at certain restaurants and were kept separate from white patrons in businesses where they were allowed.

"Being the age that I was, it made me think about all those things - prejudices - that I experienced," said Ponder, who was 15 when he came to the Walk to Freedom in 1963. "It was a good experience to have. Then, it was about civil rights."

Carolyn Graham of Detroit said she and her sister were sent by their parents to the first march for a history lesson on civil rights. Issues plaguing the city today galvanized her for a return Saturday morning.

"I am here for justice for the young black men and young white men in this city," the 63-year-old said. "They can't get a job because they have felonies on their records and they can't pay their child support. You're forcing them onto the streets to rob and steal and sell drugs - by any means necessary.

"And it's costing us big."

Remembering the past

Grace Washington of Brighton was not in Detroit during the 1963 march. She was attending the University of Arkansas, which is one reason she wanted to support the effort this time.

"It brings us back to the day when we as people of color had few rights in these United States of America," Washington said as she waited for speeches to begin at Hart Plaza following the march.

Her memories of the era that prompted King to come to Detroit are still vivid.

"I can remember there were a lot of people of color who were being left out of the houses and schools and so forth, and he came here to march for that," she said.

Jacob Montelongo Martinez, 50, was not old enough to know about King or the march when it happened, and his connection to Detroit is recent. The southwest Detroit resident, who came to the march on his bicycle, moved to the area to attend graduate school at the University of Michigan in 2002.

Martinez, one of the founders of the 555 Nonprofit Gallery and Studios, sees tremendous possibilities in Detroit, although he noted that change can be difficult.

"It is a double-edged sword. We want change, but change is hard," he said.

Cobo Hall was packed with people when Fred Williams and his friends finished marching 50 years ago. He and others in the overflow crowd heard King's speech outside the venue over a loudspeaker.

Williams, 81, a former Detroiter living in Redford Township, said he was surprised weeks later to hear the same speech, which had impressed him.

"He tried it out on us before he went to Washington, D.C.," Williams said, noting that at the time, "we were very unhappy by all of the abuse being perpetrated," not just in the South but all over the country.

Tony Brown coordinated the first march and returned Saturday as grand marshal.

While some speakers after the march referenced their anger over the appointment of an emergency manager in Detroit, Brown spoke of past failings and the need to take action.

He said the legacy of the first march had been squandered, but he urged those in the audience to understand that they are the answer for Detroit.

"You've got to wake Detroit up," he said.

He gave the audience members four words to repeat that he said were their call to action: "My Detroit, my choice," he said twice.

"Now make that choice."