June First Friday

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June First Friday is canceled.

We stand in solidarity with the Black community and those peacefully protesting against a racist and unjust system. And want to share this Martin Luther King, Jr. speech. His words are always moving and eloquent; this speech feels especially relevant today.

Below are a few excerpts but do yourself a favor and read the whole speech. There’s one mind-opening section where he points out the sanctioned racial disparity from the beginning: slaves were freed with no compensation or assistance and European settlers were granted free land, free farming education and low interest loans to grow their farms. Find it on the Grosse Pointe Historical Society website along with photos and some interesting documents including FBI notes and an anti-communist protest announcement.

Stay safe and healthy, everyone. We hope to see you in July. Stay tuned.

"The Other America" Speech by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Grosse Pointe High School - March 14, 1968

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“… And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard.  And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality and humanity.

And so in a real sense our nation’s summers of riots are caused by our nation’s winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention.

… It may be true that morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. It may be true that the law cannot change the heart but it can restrain the heartless. It may be true that the law can't make a man love me, but it can restrain him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important also.

And so while legislation may not change the hearts of men, it does change the habits of men when it's vigorously enforced and when you change the habits of people pretty soon attitudes begin to be changed and people begin to see that they can do things that fears caused them to feel that they could never do. And I say that there's a need still for strong civil rights legislation in various areas.”