Photo caption: Buffalo Soldiers Heritage Association gather for Veterans Day in Rouge Park, Detroit with friends and supporters from Carhartt, Sierra Club, and Detroit’s Official Historian Jamon Jordan
Friends and supporters of Detroit’s Buffalo Soldiers Heritage Association gathered at the historic horse stables in Rouge Park to express their gratitude for the Association’s continued service to the country and community. Jamon Jordan, Official Historian for the City of Detroit, shared stories of the simultaneous obligations of military service and the struggle for civil rights that are legacies of Black Veterans in the United States.
Sierra Club Detroit Outdoors hosted the gathering in partnership with Sierra Club Military Outdoors and Sierra Club Michigan Chapter as a way to celebrate the accomplishments of these veterans at the Rouge Park Stables and to advance our shared vision of connecting ensuing generations with the legacies of the Buffalo Soldiers. Participants celebrated the beautiful new fence installation completed with the support of Detroit’s own Carhartt.
Our shared vision became evident with the enthusiastic plans for a July 2024 visit to Yosemite National Park, where the Detroit contingent will mark Buffalo Soldiers Day by visiting with Yosemite Park Ranger Shelton Johnson, a fellow Detroiter. Ranger Johnson has dedicated more than two decades of his career to researching and telling the stories of Black Soldiers as some of the world’s first park rangers.
The Whitmer administration has a plan to make all 103 state parks free to veterans, active duty service members and National Guard members. Learn more HERE.