Edition No. 108
Arts and Culture
A notable moment in local history when Dr. King visited Grosse Pointe South High School in March 1968.
Community and Family
Much has been said since Russia invaded Ukraine last February. One group looks to offer further perspective and insight to be offered at The Story of Ukraine talk.
March 14, 1968
“The Other America”
As Martin Luther King, Jr. Day nears, we’d like to revisit an Inspired Thoughts entry highlining a moment in history where Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. visited Grosse Pointe.
This March will mark fifty-five years since the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. visited Grosse Pointe. And while Grosse Pointe is a special place filled with its own cultural relevancy, the historical significance of Dr. King’s visit (during the height of the Civil Rights Movement and only a few weeks prior to his assassination) is not lost on us.
On March 14, 1968, King addressed a crowd of over two-thousand in the gymnasium at Grosse Pointe South High School. In his speech titled “The Other America,” King challenged the community to address the nation’s race problem, face their own biases, and engage in thoughtful and honest conversations to move forward. As expected, that evening drew the attention of many naysayers and those who adamantly disregarded and discredited Dr. King’s rhetoric (he was heckled over thirty times during his speech and over one hundred protestors gathered outside the gymnasiums that evening). However, as to the credit of much of his legacy, Dr. King was not deterred by hateful comments. This speech, similar to many others he gave, examined and critiqued race, poverty, and militarism, as he aimed to emphasize his vision of a world where equality was holistic.
And now, in 2023, we feel it is appropriate to again highlight this local moment in history. A catalyst for change, Dr. King’s words spoken that evening in 1968 serve as a reminder that to build a more perfect union moving forward, we must learn from the mistakes of our past.
Read the full speech here, courtesy of our friends at The Grosse Pointe Historical Society.
Local community to gather for special presentation
The resilience of the Ukrainian people will be one point addressed at an upcoming talk in Grosse Pointe.
Natalie Melnyczuk serves as the keynote speaker for It’s About More Than it Seems: The Story of Ukraine. The event is planned for Jan. 28 at 11 a.m. at the Village Grille, located at 16930 Kercheval Ave., in Grosse Pointe. The talk focuses on why Russia invaded, how its goals and calculations have and haven’t changed, and how the roles of women and education in Ukraine have contributed to the resilience.
Melnyczuk has spent 30 years as an analyst, academic, and diplomat, has worked as a political officer in the Political Affairs and Security Policy Division at NATO headquarters in Belgium, and as a NATO representative to Ukraine as the head of NATO Information and Documentation Center in Ukraine, where she lived for six years.
The American Association of University Women (AAUW) Grosse Pointe is an active branch located in the Grosse Pointe area. It is an affiliate branch of the AAUW National organization. Its mission is to advance gender equity for women and girls through research, education and advocacy.
Lunch will be served and the cost to register is $30. To learn more, visit the link in the box below.
Inspired Thoughts is a collection of highly curated content that embraces the spirit and purpose of The War Memorial: arts and culture, community enrichment, leadership, and patriotism.
Derived from the notion that learning from others is the key to success, Inspired Thoughts is meant to shine a light on those making a difference in the world around them. This collection features artists, poets, writers, architects, and every thought leader in-between. Inspired Thoughts is the strongest reflection of what The War Memorial stands for, and what we aim to be.
The content featured on Inspired Thoughts is curated by War Memorial leadership — we also look forward to featuring special guest curators in the near future. If you are interested in providing content for Inspired Thoughts, please email our Communications team at dmurphy@warmemorial.org.