Telegram - Serving Metropolitan Detroit Since 1944

I remember it was the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington. I had a feeling that I couldn't shake. I felt like I had to be there. So I went.

I was a new member of the Western Wayne County NAACP but we weren't providing a bus to go to Washington DC. So after a little research, I connected with the NAACP branch out of the Southfield area and made my plans to go DC. I didn't know anyone in the branch, just a name, a phone number and a location to meet. So on the day to leave, Keith dropped me off and I boarded the bus with a group of strangers and we were off to 'The March'. (That wasn't my first time to DC. I took my daughter Alexandria and her friend, Kim there when they were kids)

I made it to Washington DC and it was all I had imagined. People were everywhere. Young, old, Black, White, NAACP, NAN, Sororities, Fraternities, UAW, AFL-CIO and any organization that you can imagine was all throughout the area. The most encouraging site was the many people in wheelchairs that were there. Think about, if they were in a wheelchair, they were probably over 60 years old then. That means that many had actually lived through the Jim Crow era and were active in The Movement in their younger days.

I made it to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, which is off the path a little. I wanted to look for my son's name. I made a donation towards the building of the Memorial so Michael Wilson's name would be enshrined in history. I didn't find it because I ran out of time and had to get back to the bus for the journey back to Michigan.

It was worth the trip. I was inspired and that energy still lives in me. I'm not going to The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom this year, but the attention is still needed. The purpose of The March was to advocate for the civil and economic rights of African Americans. We must continue to protest and follow the work of A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin, who planned The March in 1963

Gina Wilson Steward

Publisher/CEO