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This story may be seen here: http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2007/07572.htm 07572 September 11, 2007 Better together Detroit Presbyterian churches partner in pilgrimage to commemorate historic Little Rock event by Toya Richards Hill Presbyterian News Service LOUISVILLE – Two Detroit-area Presbyterian churches are readying to embark on a journey designed to build partnership and promote peace, raise awareness of ongoing racial inequality in education and commemorate a significant piece of history. First Presbyterian Church in suburban Brighton, MI, and Gratiot Avenue Presbyterian Church in urban Detroit are joining forces for the Better Together II Pilgrimage, Preaching, Teaching & Talking Project. An effort by the two churches and the social justice and peacemaking ministry team of the Presbytery of Detroit, the project creates an interracial, multicultural group that will travel Sept. 20-25 to Little Rock, AR, to participate in the 50th anniversary of the historic integration of Little Rock schools. Financial support for the project also was provided by the Synod of the Covenant. In 1957, nine black school children were escorted into Little Rock’s Central High School by the National Guard, making their journey the first test following the Brown vs. Board of Education, Topeka decision in 1954 that struck down the separate-but-equal doctrine. “When people understand the prices that others paid for access to public education, then maybe we can be a little bit more tolerant of each other,” said the Rev. Diane Smalley, pastor of Gratiot Avenue Presbyterian Church. The hope is that this journey will create people who can come back and talk about the experience with the passion needed to address racism and other issues in the community, she said. The pilgrimage is the second such collaborative effort held by the two area congregations. The first Better Together event was held in May 2004 and commemorated the 50th anniversary of the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education case. The event included time with Elizabeth Eckford, one of the nine black students selected to integrate Central High. “We are building on the experience,” Smalley said. “We decided to continue to work together and look at issues around public education.” Other joint efforts have included co-funding summer day-camp and after-school programs for Detroit children and co-sponsoring an annual back-to-school rally. “This is the second project of this kind, but we have done any number of other things,” said the Rev. Dan Michalek, pastor of First Presbyterian Church. “We’ve got this wonderful connection. … It’s two churches reaching out to each other.” He described the pilgrimage as an “experiential” event that will yield so much more knowledge and understanding than could be gotten simply from a book. “It’s the personal involvement,” he said. It’s literally setting foot on Little Rock Central grounds and interacting with the original participants, he said. It’s also the experience that comes from talking to one another along the pilgrimage, something hours on a bus together will undoubtedly precipitate, Michalek said. Two separate groups will journey as part of the upcoming pilgrimage: a group of about 15 travelers and a group of about 30 musicians and members of the Sounds of Detroit Choir, a community choir from the East Side of Detroit that will participate in worship services while in Little Rock. Included in their itinerary will be stops while in route at the national office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Louisville and the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN. The Presbyterian Peacemaking Program will help host the group while in Louisville and has information about the pilgrimage on its Web site. Once in Little Rock, activities will include worship at Second Presbyterian and Allison Presbyterian churches, both of which formed their own partnership in 1957; viewing the Emancipation Proclamation on display at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center, and attending the 50th anniversary commemoration of the front lawn of Central High School, now a national historic site. “We need to journey with each other so that we can understand how America was discovered,” Smalley said. And, also to understand “the common ground that we have in Christianity.” The collaboration between the two church congregations is especially significant given the Detroit area’s own struggles with racial unrest over the years. In Detroit, “there’s a racial divide that gained momentum with the 1967 riots,” Smalley said. Brighton, where First Presbyterian Church is located, also was home to a leader of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1980s, and was the community where a black Michigan State Police trooper was assaulted by two white men in a bar. Inequities in education reign supreme in Detroit too, where “schools are still separate and unequal,” Smalley said. “I’m hoping that this trip to Little Rock will inspire (people) … to come back and become more involved in the public education experiences of children in Detroit.” Post-pilgrimage efforts also will include the group making itself available to others who wish to learn more about their journey, Smalley said. This event “can be one of many things that we do to increase the communication across boundaries,” she said. “Our hope is that we will do an annual pilgrimage.” For more information, or to inquire about joining the pilgrimage, email Smalley or call (313) 318-8724.
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