The Southfield Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Task Force, Inc. will sponsor the ‘Freedom Ride’ for high school students through historical civil rights sites in Atlanta, Memphis, and Louisville.

The bus will depart today (Friday, August 3) at 11 p.m. from Southfield Parks & Recreation, 26000 Evergreen Road, and will return on Tuesday, August 7 in the evening. Thirty-six students from schools throughout Oakland and Wayne counties and their chaperones will participate. The trip was made possible by contributions from: Eaton Corporation, DTE, Avis Ford, Plante Moran, Oakland County Board of Commissioners, Straker Bar Association, Southfield Public Schools, State Representative Jeremy Moss, Southfield Mayor Kenson Siver, Oakland County Commissioner Nancy Quarles, Judge Debra Nance, Barbara Talley, Kameshia Gant, the New Metropolitan Detroit Club of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women in addition to several other individual donors. 

Southfield was the first city in the state of Michigan to hold a Dr. King peace walk or march. The first Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Walk took place on January 20, 1986, commemorating the first national observance of Dr. King’s birthday. The walk continues to grow in size and scope each year, with year-long educational and community outreach activities.

For more information, call the MLK Task Force hotline at 1-248-924-9MLK or visit www.mlktaskforcemi.org.