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50th Anniversary of Freedom Summer (1964-2014)
This year’s commemorative celebration of the federal holiday honoring the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on his 85th birthday will again take place at Central United Methodist Church, located on Woodward Avenue and East Adams, downtown, on Jan. 20 beginning at Noon. There will be a rally and a march through downtown Detroit returning to the Church for a community meal and cultural program.
The theme of the 2014 event is “Honoring the Legacy of Freedom Summer of 1964 and Lessons for Today.” Special tributes will be paid to the historic and courageous work of Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer of Sunflower County, Mississippi who was a leading member of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) which challenged the seating of the all-white Democratic Party delegation at the national convention in Atlantic City, NJ that summer.
In addition, we will also honor Detroit-area participants in Freedom Summer five decades ago. Those activists, lawyers and students who sacrificed their safety and endangered their lives in order to challenge the denial of the right to vote and access to public accommodations have provided tremendous lessons for the movement in 2014 in a state where the majority of the African American population and others are subjected to an imposed system of emergency management and the forced bankruptcy of the largest city in Michigan.
During the summer of 1964 … Continue reading →