Detroit, NAACP unveil MLK statue on 60th anniversary of "I Have a Dream" speech in Detroit
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(CBS DETROIT) - Sixty years ago Friday, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech for the first time in downtown Detroit.
Now, the city is honoring the civil rights icon with a statue in Hart Plaza.
The Walk to Freedom march took place on June 23, 1963, in Detroit, as more than 125,000 people walked down Woodward Avenue.
"The 'I Have a Dream' just had everybody on their feet. I was a little child trying to see," said Derek Blackmon.
Blackmon was a part of the march and was inside Cobo Hall when King delivered the speech.
He was only a kid at the time but says it's a memory he cherishes to this day.
"I could see him and see that fire and that passion and his humanity in him speaking," he said.
That moment in history will now forever be recognized in Detroit
The city and the Detroit branch of the NAACP honored Dr. King with a statue at Hart Plaza on the 60th anniversary of the speech Friday.
"Today, we are being inspired by the historic landmark placed permanently in the heart of a city where hope was lifted. It was lifted up 60 years ago by one whose life serves continuously for freedom, justice and dignity," said Wendell Anthony, President of the Detroit NAACP.
The seven-foot-tall statue was created by sculptor Stan Watts. He convinced the owner to donate it to the city for free.
Watts says he didn't realize the significance of it being in Detroit until now.
"I was quite taken back by the importance of Dr. King in Detroit and how powerful of a city that I discovered today in history," he said.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says the statue is a special moment for the city.
"Every family and the children of Detroit, every day they come to the city center, will be reminded that this was the place that Dr. King gave the speech that defined the aspiration for America," Duggan said.
Blackmon brought children he mentors to see the statue. He's hoping the spirit of Dr. King will impact them the same way it did when he watched him deliver the speech 60 years ago.
"They understand. They weren't here physically there in 1963 or in D.C. in August of 1963, but they are here now, and that will impact them for generations and generations," he said.
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