Detroit Evening Report: NAACP Detroit announces June Jubilee events headlined by freedom march
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The Detroit skyline from Hart Plaza.
The NAACP announced plans Tuesday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s march in Detroit.
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King led a walk down Woodward Avenue in June 1963 before giving an early version of his “I Have A Dream Speech” at the then-named Cobo Hall.
This year’s walk will happen June 24 with a “freedom rally” event to follow at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit.
“It is a memento of the first occasion when Dr. King gave his first ‘I Have A Dream’ speech right in the City of Detroit,” NAACP Detroit President Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony said at a press conference.
The NAACP Detroit branch will hold its “June Jubilee” June 22-25, ending with the organization’s annual Freedom Fund dinner in Detroit’s Huntington Place on Sunday. Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock will be the keynote speaker at the event.
“Dr. King’s March down Woodward in June of 1963 was a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said at the announcement event. “It was at the end of that march when Dr. King delivered the first version of his ‘I Have A Dream’ speech, that he later delivered on the National Mall. I am so pleased that Rev. Anthony and the Detroit Branch NAACP are organizing this series of events to commemorate that historic time in our city and encourage all Detroiters to participate in this year’s March Down Woodward.”
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