February 25, 2022
DEARBORN – “March On! ‘22” honors the 90th anniversary of the Ford Hunger March and benefits the Fort Street Bridge Interpretive Park now open in southwest Detroit. The event takes place Saturday, March 5 from 4 – 9 p.m., starting with a short program at the park, located at 12700 Denmark, followed by a recreation of the march up Miller Road to UAW Local 600 at 10550 Dix in Dearborn.
The program at the park will feature speeches by local union and elected officials. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell is confirmed to attend. Doors will open at Local 600 at 5 p.m. with food and beer available, multimedia displays and a silent auction. Musical performances will start at 5:30 in person and on Facebook Live. There is no cover charge.
Virtual sets by local singer-songwriter Emily Rose and Chicago artists Jon Langford and John Szymanski will open the musical performances, followed by Tony Paris & Sugarburn live at Local 600.
Reverend Robert Jones will headline the evening performances. Jones is a native Detroiter and an inspirational storyteller and musician celebrating the history, humor and power of American Roots music. His deep love for traditional African American and American traditional music is shared in live performances that interweave timeless stories with original and traditional songs.
On March 7, 1932, during the Great Depression, auto workers organized a march from Detroit to the Ford Rouge Factory in Dearborn. Five workers were killed when the marchers were confronted by Dearborn Police and Ford Motor Company security. Known as the Ford Hunger March, or alternatively as the Ford Massacre, the event helped accelerate the US labor movement, including the creation of the United Auto Workers union three years later. The Fort Street Bridge Interpretive Park includes a memorial sculpture honoring those who gave their lives while providing a place of recreation for the neighborhood where the march began 90 years ago.
The event is being organized by Downriver Delta CDC; the Fort-Rouge Gateway (FRoG) Partnership; MotorCities National Heritage Area; UAW Local 600; Friends of the Rouge; the Walter Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University; and the University of Michigan – Dearborn College of Arts, Sciences and Letters.
***