KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Kalamazoo’s Abraham Lincoln Institute will be holding a Thursday rededication of the state historical marker that commemorates the Great Emancipator’s speech in Kalamazoo, delivered in Bronson Park just a few years before he would become President.
Raymond Ehrig says the local event comes on the anniversary of the address.
“Exactly 170 years ago, on August 27th, Abraham Lincoln, who didn’t have a beard at that time, made his only appearance in Michigan, in Kalamazoo.”
Lincoln came here to speak at a rally for presidential candidate John Freemont and to speak out against slavery.
Ehrig says the event will be held in Bronson Park Thursday evening from 6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. with free ice cream and bottled water and music from Western Michigan Brass.
On Friday, the anniversary of a more important speech will be observed at the nation’s Capitol. It will be the 63rd anniversary of the March on Washington and Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Portage city councilmember Vic Ledbetter says some things have changed since then, but some things haven’t.
“My basic civil rights, my basic humanity have been threatened currently! So 63 years later, It’s repeating itself,” he says.
That’s why another march on Washington will be held on the anniversary this year, to again push for civil rights and voter rights.
“This Friday, they’re Marching again on Washington, for the same things we were fighting for in 1963. It’s a national thing, but it affects us locally.”
The march is expected to draw a large crowd, including members of Congress and various civil rights organizations, emphasizing the ongoing struggle for equality and justice in America.
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