August 28, 1963....I was 13 years old and preparing for my first year of High School. This was the day the March on Washington was held. I listened to the speech by Martin Luther King Jr. with great anticipation. You see he had been in Detroit Michigan on June 22, 1963 to participate in the Freedom March that was held. Over 100,000 people marched down Woodward Avenue to bring attention to the plight of workers in Michigan, especially Detroit. The speech he delivered was a preview of the speech he would give in Washington DC on Aug, 28th. The speech in Detroit ended with the I have a Dream statements. It was powerful and I was so proud that my Dad, Edward K. Barber Sr. marched in Detroit representing the African American group of The Veterans of Foreign Wars group.
I spent today thinking about how far we have come and how far we have to go. It is truly a challenge and we cannot be faint of heart. Life is like that, there is always something to do, always something to learn, always something to heal.
The photo above was taken at the Train station in Kansas City, Missouri. I love sepia tones for photos. I used my histogram app for this presentation. I was traveling from Nevada to Detroit for my annual family visit. I rode in a small roomette (private car). 50 years ago in some parts of the south I could not have had a private room; 50 years ago I still would have had to use a restroom for African Americans. 50 years is not really such a long time ago.....We have really come a long way, but we still have so far to go. There are lessons every person has to learn no matter ethnicity. Wouldn't be nice if we could drop our guard and learn them together?
3 comments:
How incredible that you got to listen to his speech! Just thinking about that sends shivers through me. What a great memory.
Thanks so much for visiting my blog and your comment Amy. I was talking to my daughter about it yesterday and she was so proud of her grandfather for being a part of the Detroit March.
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