The students’ peace march on January 18 to show the Real face of Dearborn was a bright spot that shone in the face of fear, ignorance, and some fact-twisting media claims. Participants braved an extremely cold weather and marched to the New City Hall building led by the event organizers, Mayor O’Reilly, Superintendent Dr. Maleyko, Dearborn Police Chief Haddad, in addition to Congresswoman Dingell, Representative George Darany, Commissioner Woronchak, and Dearborn Public Schools Trustees Lane, Bazzi, Hammoud, Petlichkoff and Meade.
There were a few short speeches by students that included Omar and Sultan from Fordson, Gus and Jacob from Edsel Ford, and Claudio from Divine Child. Sultan quoted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that,” to highlight the attitude of those who took part in this peaceful march and their deep desire to positively represent our community as an integral part of Michigan and the USA.
Both, Mayor O’Reilly and Superintendent Dr. Maleyko, had short speeches that reflected their support and admiration of the event and the students. Mayor O’Reilly took aim at “idiocy” that tarnishes the reputation of Dearborn and at false claims of “No Go Zones”in the city.
Here is a link to Dr. Maleyko’s post along with some photos.