1
Metro
Photos by Ken Guten Cohen
At breakfast before the program are
Michael Betman, with his son, Noah,
10, friend Jason Gelsey and other son,
Seth, both 7, all of West Bloomfield.
• United We Walk marchers stop to check out an installation of colorful shoes made under the
guidance of Detroit artist Tyree Guyton. The installation is on the grounds of Temple Shir Shalom
at Orchard Lake and Walnut Lake roads in West Bloomfield.
United We Walk
Shoe. art installation anchors dreams to
'walk in . pe-ace' as Dr. King Urged.
Keri Guten Cohen
Story Development Editor
r. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream
lives on in West Bloomfield, where
his word was spread with great pas-
sion by the youth of this diverse communi-
ty.
Under the umbrella:of United We Walk,
the 12th annual celebration in honor of Dr.
King's birthday began with a solemn can-
dlelight vigil attended by about150 people
on Sunday evening at West Bloomfield
High School. Early Monday morning, close
to 1,000 people showed up at the school to
express their solidarity and to participate
in a march down Orchard Lake Road.
"The boys kept asking me to go, and
we're finally doing it," said Michael Betman
of West Bloomfield, who was eating break-
fast Monday in the high school cafeteria
with his sons, Noah, 10, and Seth, 7.
22
January 19 2006
"They've learned about Dr. King in school,
and we've talked about him throughout the
year. He came up again when Rosa Parks
died."
The boys' friend, Jason Gelsey, 7, of West
Bloomfield, son of United We Walk co-
chair Nanci Gelsey, explained, "We are cele-
brating Martin Luther King. He said to
people that little black girls and boys can
hold hands with white girls and boys."
Seth piped in, "And go to the same
school, too."
At this program, everyone — from the
very young to seniors — got Dr. King's
message to walk together in peace.
The diverse audience packed into the
WBHS auditorium included the ninth-
grade class from the Jewish Academy of
Metropolitan Detroit. As part of the pro-
gram, students of various ethnic and
religious groups told the audience
how to say "walk in peace" in their
native languages. JAMD student
Victoria Greenstein of West
Bloomfield was chosen to say the
phrase in Hebrew.
Among the student leaders was
Michael Rubyan, a graduate of
WBHS who now attends the
University of Michigan. A past stu-
dent co-chair of United We Walk, he
returned one more year to partici-
pate and help transition the leader-
ship.
"I believe in the program:' he said.
"It's a wonderful way to show soli-
Walk on page 24
Michael Rubyan of West Bloomfield, now at the University
of Michigan, came back to help West Bloomfield High
School student leaders with the program.