Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivering his last speech in Memphis on April 3, 1968. Detroit will honor his legacy on January 15 with a rally and march through downtown Detroit.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos.
Media Advisory
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Event: Detroit Martin Luther King Day Rally & March
Monday, January 15, 2007, Rally at Noon
Central United Methodist Church, Woodward at Adams
March: Beginning at 1:30pm the March Will Move Through
Downtown Detroit
Contact: Detroit MLK Committee, 5922 Second Ave. Detroit, MI
48202, Telephone: 680-5508
URL: http://www.mecawi.org
Detroit Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Rally and March Set to Commemorate Federal Holiday With Renewed Push to End War and Racism
This year's annual Detroit MLK Day Rally and March will place a special emphasis on the struggle to end the war in Iraq and the rising tide of racism in the United States. The event, which will be organized for the fourth consecutive year, comes at a time when the majority of people in Detroit and throughout the country are looking for answers to the escalating conflicts overseas and the growing crises inside the country.
The passage of the anti-affirmative action proposal 2 on November 7 has illustrated the continuing scrouge of institutional racism in the state of Michigan. The peace movement must join in solidarity with the civil rights and immigrants rights movements to make a final onslaught against the triple social evils of pre-emptive war, institutional racism and anti-immigrant biogtry.
All throughout the nation the negative impact of the $2 trillion wars in the Middle-East and Afghanistan has hampered the ability of society to produce adequate jobs, economic opportunities, affordable housing, health care and quality education for everyone. At the same time we look with horror at the police murders of Sean Bell in New York, a 92-year-old grandmother in Atlanta and a 16-year-old youth in Detroit. This is taking place in conjunction with anti-immigrant raids by Homeland Security where thousands of people are being disappeared daily. It's time to fight back and build a multi-issued popular movement aimed at creating a better world within our lifetimes.
Last month, December 2006, proved to be the worst as far as deaths of US soldiers and Iraqi civilians. In an attempt to deflect attention away from the 3,000 officially reported deaths of American soldiers since the occupation, the government has instituted the execution of former President Saddam Hussein. Such actions illustrate the desperation of the Bush administration and will not have any positive effect on the efforts to end the war and to bring the troops home now.
Highlights of Detroit's commemoration of the federally designated holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday will include: messages from City Councilwoman the Honorable JoAnn Watson, Maureen Taylor, Co-Chair of the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, Debbie Johnson, spokesperson for the Detroit Area Network on Reproductive Rights and a keynote address by columnist and spiritual leader Marianne Williamson. Cultural presentations include a performance by the Mosaic Youth Theater, the Ann Arbor Trail Marching Band, essays and art work displayed by Detroit area students and puppets designed by the Matrix Theater.
A "Detroit MLK Spirit of Detroit Award" will be presented to Bishop Thomas Gumbleton for his tireless work aimed at acquiring peace and social justice throughout the world. Rev. Ed Rowe, pastor of Central United Methodist Church, will deliver the invocation for the Noon rally.
Moreover, this year's Detroit MLK Day Freedom March and Rally will provide a forum for people seeking outlets to express their desire for genuine democracy and peace. People are encouraged to bring their own signs, literature and forms of expression that emphasize the need for a fundamental change in the present war policies implemented by the Bush administration and Congress.
For more information on this year's Detroit MLK Day Rally and March just contact the numbers and web sites listed above. Flyers for this event can be downloaded from the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice (MECAWI) site at: http://www.mecawi.org
Forward to January 15
End War & Racism
Abayomi Azikiwe,
Detroit MLK Committee
MECAWI
No comments:
Post a Comment