Hundreds take to the streets in Detroit for 20th annual MLK day rally and march

Detroit, Michigan – On January 16, Martin Luther King Jr Day, the Detroit MLK Day Committee organized a large gathering, which took place at Historic Saint Matthew’s-Saint Joseph’s Episcopal Church with the theme of “Six Decades of Mass Movements, The Struggle Continues.” Issues addressed included winning full funding for the Right to Counsel Ordinance and ensuring that all Detroit residents have access to quality housing, water services, good schools, environmentally sound communities, and healthy food. Marchers also demanded an end to police crimes, no more funds to NATO and ending the proxy war in Ukraine. Several FRSO members took part in and provided logistical support for the event.

Detroit has a long legacy of struggle based around Martin Luther King Jr. Sixty years ago on June 23, 1963, it was the site of the Detroit Walk to Freedom, which was the largest civil rights demonstration to ever take place in U.S. history, with attendance ranging from 125,000 to 500,000 with the keynote speaker being delivered by Martin Luther King Jr, who gave an early version of his “I have a Dream” speech. 

The Detroit MLK Day Committee continues to strive for equality, housing rights, economic justice, social justice and anti-militarism. 

After a speakout, there was a short march down Woodward Avenue to a new Black food cooperative down the street which is in the process of being built. 

Chants during the march declared that housing, water, jobs, education, right to counsel are human rights (“Fight, fight fight!”) and to free Palestine.