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| Richard Gleason |
The highlight of the event was the keynote speech by Richard Gleason, one of the Freedom Riders from the 1960s who challenged the segregation law on buses. Gleason was a 24-year-old minister in Chicago when he saw the racial injustices in the south and felt he had to go. Gleason now lives in metro Detroit. At the very bottom of this post you can view a Detroit Channel 7 video about Richard Gleason.
During Gleason's inspiring speech, this 2007 commentary from the late Congressman Jack Kemp came to mind...
If you weren't able to attend this year's Troy event, it will be re-broadcast on Troy Schools TV at 12:30pm and 7:30pm Friday, January 25 through Sunday, January 27 (on WOW Channel 15 and Comcast Channel 19).All too often "white folks" quote Dr. King's "dream" of treating people without regard to the color of their skin, yet fail to quote King's comments on the inequality that still exists. He said in that great speech, "that the negro lives on an island of poverty in the midst of an ocean of affluence and wealth." I believe Dr. King's solutions were not about establishing equality of reward, but equality of opportunity. Equal opportunity in education, jobs, ownership of homes, access to capital and the chance not just to drive a truck but to own the trucking company and someday sitting on corporate boards, running businesses and yes, coaching Super Bowl teams, (my words)...
Troy Athens Choirs performing at the 2013 Martin Luther
King, Jr. Day: Celebration of Freedom event
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