Hyundai Honors 50th Anniversary of Voting Rights March

by Ellis Eskew

The red carpet was rolled out for dignitaries as they arrived at the Rosa Parks Library and Museum Friday night.
One special guest in attendance was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s daughter.

“I’m just honored and humbled to be here in the middle of greatness because all these people that worked with my dad. I didn’t know them because I was oblivious. And then after he was assassinated, kind of like when Jesus’ disciples some of them scattered. To have this wonderful opportunity, it’s almost like a reunion of sorts, but not in a sense of just celebrating but really coming back to reconnect with what is still needed today,” said Bernice King.

Holding this reception for the 50th anniversary of the voting rights march was important to Hyundai president and CEO Dave Zuchowski.

“We wanted to make sure we celebrated this event with the community and really celebrated this history about what happened and how it impacted all of us. And what it means in the future moving forward. So very, very important for us,” said Zuchowski.

That’s why Hyundai is donating  10 thousand dollars to the Rosa Parks Museum to allow them to open their doors Saturday totally free of charge to the public.

Local officials say they hope the weekend’s events will serve two purposes.
 
“It’s important for us to celebrate but even more important for us to take this event and fire everyone up to get recommitted because the job is not yet done,” said Tuskegee Mayor Johnny Ford.

 “We have come a long way but we still have a long way to go. And we want to continue to build that bridge and Hyundai has been a really large part of building that bridge,” said Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange.