Elizabeth James' office is organized chaos. It's decorated with trinkets, collectibles, and a sea of pictures strategically placed on her wall.
As a librarian in Detroit for decades, James' goal was to expose children to as many experiences as possible, a lesson she learned from her grandmother.
"That was the thing about my grandmama, we were always going on adventures," James said.
One of the more significant adventures they went on was to Detroit's Freedom March in 1963, led by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The march is famous for being the first time King gave his "I Have A Dream" speech and it was attended by more than 100,000 people. James was nearly 3 years old.
"The main thing I recall is this really powerful energy all around me. There were people there some were laughing, some were serious, some had signs they were holding up. They seemed just very purposeful," she said.
The Freedom March marked the 20th anniversary of Detroit's race riots of 1943. Those riots started on the Belle Isle bridge and lasted several days, resulting in 34 deaths and hundreds of injuries. The fighting continued into Detroit's Paradise Valley neighborhood and ended when the federal government sent troops in to restore peace.
“It’s like each commemoration is standing on the shoulders of the other one," James said.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Freedom March, and the NAACP is celebrating the anniversary with their June Jubilee, a four-day celebration filled with events throughout the city.
It includes a freedom march on Saturday, June 24 starting at Martin Luther King St. and Woodward Ave. and going down Woodward to Hart Plaza, followed by a rally at Hart Plaza at 12 p.m.
"When you hear it’s the 60th anniversary of Detroit’s walk to freedom, how does that make you feel?" I asked.
"It really makes me reflective. Sometimes when I get a little despondent or concerned about how much more we have to do, it makes me stop and think, you know what, we are a lot better and further than what we were," James said.
As our country continues its fight for freedoms, James believes the next movement will come from the ground up.
"We always talk about growing from the roots up and out, and I am just really, really excited about what's going on with the little seeds in the garden," James said. "It could be those 3-5-year-olds, you know, exposing them to as much as possible because again who knows what’s on the horizon."
