The Walk to Freedom was a mass march during the
Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
on June 23, 1963 in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. It drew crowds of an estimated 125,000 or more and was known as "the largest civil rights demonstration in the nation's history" up to that date.
Various ministers and leaders of local and national organizations including the Mayor of Detroit were in attendance and gave speeches. Among them was
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
who after the Walk to Freedom March gave an impassioned speech. It was a precursor to his famous "
I Have a Dream
"I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister, Martin Luther King Jr., during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, King called ...
" speech given weeks later in
Washington, D.C.
)
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, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
The march itself was, to King and his supporters, partly a practice run of the
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic righ ...
.
Due to the greater size of the March on Washington, the Detroit Walk to Freedom has been somewhat lost to obscurity outside of local Detroit history.
At the time, Dr. King called it "one of the most wonderful things that has happened in America."
Origins
Reverend
Clarence L. Franklin and Reverend
Albert Cleage
Albert B. Cleage Jr. (June 1911 – February 20, 2000) was a Black nationalist Christian minister, political candidate, newspaper publisher, political organizer, and author. He founded the prominent Shrine of the Black Madonna Church, as well as ...
were Civil Rights leaders who, although they had very different viewpoints and methods of tackling injustice, came together and proposed the idea of having a large march or demonstration in Detroit.
Together along with other organizers, they formed the Detroit Council for Human Rights which would be the organization that would actually put on the Walk to Freedom march.
Cleage originally wanted the march to be all black and led by blacks only; however, the local Detroit branch of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...
(NAACP) was prepared to not support the march and even boycott it if the DCHR did not include some local white leaders in the march.
Although the march was open to all, the vast majority that came to the march were African-American, but there were several prominent whites, such as the
Mayor of Detroit
This is a list of mayors of Detroit, Michigan. See History of Detroit, Michigan, for more information about the history of the incorporation of the city.
The current mayor is Mike Duggan, who was sworn into office on January 1, 2014.
History o ...
Jerome Cavanagh
Jerome Patrick Cavanagh (June 16, 1928 – November 27, 1979) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 1962 to 1970. Initially seen as another John F. Kennedy, his reputation was doomed by the 1967 riots. He w ...
, who joined in leading the march or otherwise showed their support.
Purpose
The Walk to Freedom had two main purposes. The first and main purpose of the march "… was to speak out against segregation and the brutality that met civil rights activists in the South while at the same time addressing concerns of African Americans in the urban North: inequality in hiring practices, wages, education, and housing."
The second purpose of the march was to raise funds and awareness for the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., who had a large role in the American civi ...
(SCLC), which was an organization that did civil rights work in the south.
The date that was picked to be when the march would take place, June 23, was to honor the 20th anniversary of
Detroit race riot of 1943 in which over two dozen people were killed and many more injured.
The March
Who Marched
Many prominent people, known locally and nationally, lead the Walk to Freedom. From the Detroit Council for Human Rights: Rev. C. L. Franklin, father of famous singer
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...
and was chairman of the DCHR; Rev. Albert Cleage, who was a part of forming the DCHR; and Benjamin McFall, director of the DCHR. The former
Governor of Michigan
The governor of Michigan is the head of state, head of government, and chief executive of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the stat ...
John Swainson
John Burley Swainson (July 31, 1925 – May 13, 1994) was a Canadian-American politician and jurist who served as the 42nd governor of Michigan from 1961 to 1963.
Early life and education
Swainson was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He mo ...
, who was governor from 1961-1962, joined with the Mayor of Detroit Jerome Cavanaugh, and Martin Luther King Jr.
Also leading the march was
Walter Reuther
Walter Philip Reuther (; September 1, 1907 – May 9, 1970) was an American leader of Labor unions in the United States, organized labor and Civil rights movements, civil rights activist who built the United Automobile Workers (UAW) into one of ...
, president of the
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico ...
(UAW);
Billie S. Farnum, who was the State Auditor General.
George Romney, then current Governor of Michigan, was unable to attend the march because it took place on a Sunday and conflicted with his religious practices; however, since Romney fully supported the march and the cause, he sent representatives to walk in his place.
Route of the March
To generate interest in the Walk to Freedom, stickers, handbills, and other advertisements were spread around the city by event planners.
The march itself started, at about 3pm, on
Woodward Avenue
A woodward is a Game warden, warden of a wood. Woodward may also refer to:
Places
;United States
* Woodward, Iowa
* Woodward, Oklahoma
* Woodward, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place
* Woodward Avenue, a street in Tallahassee, Florida, which b ...
and Adelaide, it continued on Woodward, and then onto Jefferson and concluded at
Cobo Arena and Hall.
Songs were sung, such as "
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe.
Howe wrote her l ...
", and people carried banners and signs.
The whole march only lasted about an hour and a half, but afterwards there were speeches given. At least 125,000 people participated in the march and tens of thousands packed into Cobo Arena and the surrounding area to listen to the speeches.
Speeches
Many of the leaders of the march gave speeches. Albert Cleage, Walter Reuther, Mayor Cavanagh, former Governor Swainson, Congressman Charles Diggs, a representative of Governor Romney, Martin Luther King Jr., and others all gave speeches to the eager crowds.
The speech spectators were looking forward to the most however was the one given by Martin Luther King Jr., and he obliged them by giving a speech that was as riveting as his speeches always were.
Martin Luther King Jr’s Speech
Some parts of his Detroit speech are similar to the one he gave in Washington. In particular, the end of his speech was a longer and more detailed version of the legendary "I Have a Dream" portion of his speech given two months later in Washington.
For comparison certain parts of both speeches are alternated below, given on the left is the speech in Detroit at the Walk to Freedom, and given on the right is the speech in Washington.
Motown Records
One of the top record companies of the time,
Motown
Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...
, had asked Martin Luther King Jr. if they could record some of his speeches.
They negotiated to record King’s speech after the Walk to Freedom when everyone gathered at Cobo Arena. King asked in the negotiations that the royalties from sales of the recording go not to him but to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
That selfless act left a deep impression on
Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record la ...
, the founder of Motown, who had been negotiating with King.
Different Names
Governor George Romney officially had the day of the Walk to Freedom declared "Freedom March Day in Michigan".
There are several different variations of the title "Walk to Freedom" that have been used. Locally in Detroit, it has been known by the title, King’s Walk on Woodward, and the Great March.
Other variations of the title that have been used include, Walk to Freedom March,
Great March/Walk to Freedom, Walk for/to Freedom, Detroit Freedom Walk/March,
and Great March on Detroit.
After the March
Although Governor Romney had sent representatives in his place to march in the Walk to Freedom, he wanted to do more than that. A few days after the march, he joined a group of hundreds through
Grosse Pointe
Grosse Pointe refers to an affluent coastal area next to Detroit, Michigan, United States, that comprises five adjacent individual cities. From southwest to northeast, they are:
*Grosse Pointe Park
*Grosse Pointe
*Grosse Pointe Farms
*Grosse Poi ...
, a wealthy suburb of Detroit, to advocate for civil rights.
He was also involved with other marches, rallies, and demonstrations in Michigan and knew Martin Luther King well.
The Walk to Freedom, however, did not have the huge impact on Detroit and on civil rights that the March on Washington had and the Detroit Council for Human Rights (DCHR) did not last. The DCHR tried to start up a Northern Christian Leadership Conference as a companion to the SCLC, but disagreements, particularly between Franklin and Cleage, kept the idea from becoming a permanent reality.
Albert Cleage eventually left the DCHR and it seems that other differences and disagreements caused the DCHR to dissolve.
Anniversary
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Walk to Freedom a walk was held June 22 of 2013, organised by the Detroit branch of the NAACP and the United Auto Workers. Titled,"We Shall Not Default On Our Freedom!".
Thousands participated including Martin Luther King III, Detroit Mayor
Dave Bing
David Bing (born November 24, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player, businessman, and politician who served as the 74th mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 2009 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
After starring a ...
and the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Unlike 1963's walk's conclusion indoors, the 2013 version concluded at Hart Plaza. Detroit NAACP President Wendell Anthony said the march "signifies that the work for freedom and justice must continue" in Detroit and worldwide.
References
{{Reflist
Movements for civil rights
African-American history in Detroit
Woodward Avenue
1963 in Michigan
Martin Luther King Jr.
June 1963 events in the United States
1963 protests