Several events are happening around Michigan today to remember the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. On the campus of Michigan State University, observers gathered to recreate a march that took place in 1968, the day after King’s death. WKAR's Karel Vega has more.
It was cold and windy afternoon in mid-Michigan, as people marched through the campus of Michigan State University, to honor the life and death of Martin Luther King Jr.
The march was organized by Dr. Robert L. Green, who led the first MLK march on MSU’s campus the day after king was assassinated in 1968.
About two dozen people gathered for today’s march at MSU including Theodore Ransaw, a faculty member at MSU’s James Madison College. Ransaw was born in 1968 not long after King was assassinated, he says this march is a representation of MSU’s history of being impactful to civil rights.
“About the summer before Dr. King’s assassination, Dr. Green had taken some students down from MSU to do some work in the south, in some reading programs." Says Ransaw. "Black and white students. So, MSU has actually done a lot with regards to social justice, and I guess not too many people may know that.”
Fighting through strong winds and the occasional blast of snow, the marchers walked from the Spartan Statue to Beaumont Tower, sending a message according to Ransaw, that people have not forgotten about Dr King’s fight for justice over 50 years ago.