Friday, October 14, 2011

Conyers, Clarke, and Levin Pay Tribute to the City of Detroit and Canadian Government’s Underground Railroad Memorial

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For Immediate Release
Date: Thursday, October 13, 2011
Contact: Matthew Morgan (Conyers) – 202-226-5543
              Kim Bowman (Clarke) – 517-256-4500
              Tara Andringa (Levin) – 202-228-3685
          
Conyers, Clarke, and Levin Pay Tribute to the City of Detroit and Canadian Government’s Underground Railroad Memorial

(WASHINGTON) – Today, Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) along with Representative Hansen Clarke (D-Mich.) and Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) introduced resolutions in both the House of Representatives and the Senate marking the 10-year anniversary of the Underground Railroad Memorial.

In October 2001, the City of Detroit joined with the City of Windsor in Ontario, Canada to honor the courage of former American slaves and organizers of the Underground Railroad who risked their lives so others could be free. The observance of the ten year commemoration of the Underground Railroad Memorial will be celebrated from October 19, 2011 through October 22, 2011.

“Scores of Americans worked in the Underground Railroad Movement and risked their lives and their liberty so that their fellow African-American citizens could live free,” said Rep. Conyers.  “The Underground Railroad Memorial serves as a proud reminder that we live in a country where the values of fairness and social justice have repeatedly triumphed over small mindedness and bigotry.”

“Detroit was the symbol of hope and the gateway to freedom for many of our ancestors.  This monument honors their struggle, sacrifice and courage,”  said Rep. Hansen Clarke. 
“In commemorating the anniversary of these memorials, we recall the proud legacy of opposition to the evil of slavery that Detroit and Windsor share, and we pay tribute to those who heroically led slaves along the corridors of freedom, most notably, fearless abolitionist leader Harriet Tubman, a runaway slave who led hundreds of slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad on their journey north to freedom.  The suffering, degradation and brutality of slavery cannot be repaired, but the memory can serve to ensure that no such inhumanity is ever perpetrated again on American soil,” said Senator Levin.
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