DETROIT (WXYZ) — Thousands of people gathered at Detroit's Cobo Center Sunday night for music, prayer and celebration.
It was the Detroit NAACP’s 64th Annual Fight For Freedom Fund dinner.
The fundraiser attracted several state and local leaders, including Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who gave opening remarks.
Many of the people at Sunday’s dinner remember a time when people of color in Detroit couldn’t have hosted an event like this. Others, like 8-year-old Karrington Mitchell, were there learning about the city’s and the nation’s history.
“There wasn’t equal rights a long time ago and people couldn’t work at the same jobs and eat at the same restaurants and I thought that was just unfair," she told 7 Action News.
Karrington’s mother Gabrielle Blackman brought her to Sunday’s event so she could learn about the local leaders who helped pave the way for her.
“It’s important to me to instill it in my children. This is a reason to bring this to their attention, so they are aware of the things that happened. What happened before, how far we’ve come.”
2020 Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Senator from California Kamala Harris delivered the keynote address, first paying respect to a Motor City civil rights icon: the late federal Judge Damon J. Keith.
Keith passed away last month at his home in Detroit. He was 96 years old.
"He was a brilliant, Howard-educated lawyer, with an unwavering commitment to fairness and the willingness to speak truth," Sen. Harris said.
Judge Keith was one of the event's original founders.
Several awards were presented Sunday night, including the James Weldon Johnson Lifetime Achievement Award given to Rev. Dr. Charles G Adams.
Adams, a Detroit native and pastor at the Hartford Memorial Baptist Church, is also a former Detroit Branch NAACP president. Adams is a celebrated lecturer, preacher, and mentor. Detroit NAACP president Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony presented Adams with his award.
