DETROIT (WXYZ) – Several Metro Detroit communities took time to celebrate the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday.
From rallies to parades, King’s legacy took center stage.
Monday, the Henry Ford Museum offers families a chance to see the history and impact of the Civil Rights Movement.
“He opened doors for a lot of black people,” Mattie Gatson said.
Gatson was a young girl when the king set out to change hearts and minds. The 70-year-old says he remembers being separated from his white peers.
Raja dreams of overturning the status quo, making way for a world where blackness is a badge of honor and not a scarlet letter.
“Regardless of the color of our skin still holds us back,” Gatson said. “You know I can say that.”
“I was raised in sunflower Mississippi, and I came up with Jim Crow,” Gatson said.
Holiday time is a time when many people reflect on how much times have changed.
Aria Griffin said, “It’s definitely different. Growing up you learn a little bit, but I don’t think it was enough.”
So Griffin chose the Henry Ford Museum for Monday’s family outing.
Griffin said, “I’m grateful to be here. I’m glad all the families here are meeting new people and learning about the same people.”
Knowledge is power and Ronald Hawking says that learning about the past can help us build a better future.
Hawkins said, “Dr. King, Rosa Parks, people like that, Jesse Jackson, Harriet Tubman are learning their history, not only of black culture but of the civil rights era.”
Asked how King would feel about our progress today, Hawkins said, “I think he would be pleased, but I think he would say the struggle is still on.”
Coretta Scott King once said, “Freedom is never really won. You earn it and you win it in every generation.”
Gatson said, “We fought for you to take advantage of all the opportunities you have in America today. There’s no reason we black people can’t do that and be who we want to be.” “
