Historic
Detroit
Unity
Temple
to host
renowned
Attorney
Morris
Dees,
Co-Founder
the
Southern
Poverty
Law
Center
during
Black
History
Month
DETROIT,
MI -
Detroit
Unity
Temple
(DUT) is
pleased
to
invite
the
community
to its
Sunday
service
on
January
28th,
2018 at
10:00AM,
where
Attorney
Morris
Dees of
the
Southern
Poverty
Law
Center
(SPLC)
will be
the
guest
speaker.
A civil
rights
champion
and
legend,
Morris
Dees has
risked
his life
and
personal
fortune
to
battle
racist
and
bigoted
hate
groups
for more
than 45
years,
and the
organization
he
formed,
the
Southern
Poverty
Law
Center,
has
become a
leader
in
fighting
and
tracking
extremists.
Mr. Dees
first
saw the
raw
prejudice
and hate
of white
supremacy
when he
witnessed
the
harassment
of the
first
African-American
student
to
attend a
previously
all-white
university.
Following
graduation,
Mr. Dees
went
into
private
practice,
as well
as
formed a
multimillion-dollar
publishing
and
direct
mail
venture.
After
reading
the
autobiography
of famed
lawyer
Clarence
Darrow,
who
defended
Detroit
physician
Ossian
Sweet,
Mr. Dees
had an
awakening
and he
decided
to sell
his
business
and
specialize
in civil
rights
cases.
In 1971,
Mr.
Dees,
fellow
attorney
Joseph
J. Levin
Jr., and
civil
rights
activist
Julian
Bond
formed
the
Montgomery-based,
non-profit
the
Southern
Poverty
Law
Center
which is
dedicated
to
combating
hate,
intolerance
and
discrimination
through
education
and
litigation.
The
Southern
Poverty
Law
Center
has
continued
to grow
in
scope,
size and
importance,
fighting
discrimination
in the
courts.
Perhaps
the most
famous
case was
the 1981
lynching
of
Michael
Donald,
where
Mr. Dees
won the
victim’s
mother a
$7
million
settlement
that
bankrupted
the
United
Klans of
America.
In
honor of
Mr.
Dees’
appearance
there
will be
a
special
viewing
of the
quilt
“Strange
Fruit”
created
by noted
fiber
artist,
April
Shipp.
This
masterful
and
poignant
quilt
depicts
the
known
lynchings
of
African-Americans
and
others,
which
have
occurred
in the
United
States.
The
quilt
has been
displayed
in
several
museums
around
the
country.
Detroit
Unity
Temple
is
located
at 17505
Second
Ave in
Detroit.
In
October
2016,
the
church
celebrated
100
years of
service
to the
Detroit
community,
making
it one
of the
oldest
continually
operating
churches
in
Detroit.
Sunday
services
are at
10:00
am. All
people
are
welcome.
313-345-4848,
www.detroitunity.com,
#detroitunitytemple.
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