I started out Friday after work, going to Central United Methodist Church over by Comerica Park on Woodward. Central United has a long history of activism in the Detroit community. I had the opportunity to hear the pastor speak some time ago and was really impressed. The church has a lot of community programs. There is also a history. Every time I drive by I think of my 5 brothers who had their funeral there in March 1932. Ford security workers shot a couple dozen of unarmed workers who wanted to form a union at Ford. Five of these workers died and the funeral was held at Central United Methodist Church, with tens of thousands of workers attending the funeral and procession. So yeah, every time I think of that church I think of that funeral, 29 years before my birth. Have I mentioned before all the ghosts in Detroit?
Anyway, the Michigan Welfare Rights Coalition held a meeting at Central United to show a film about Hugo Chavez and Venezuela that I wanted to see. Prior to this film they showed a short trailer for another movie about the water situation in Detroit. I'm sure we all know that there is probably no place in the world with more fresh water resources than the State of Michigan. Yet we have people in urban Detroit who are getting their water shut off. Not only that, but the way the system works is the unpaid water bills get added to their taxes, and eventually it is possible that a person could have their house taken away from them, simply because they can't afford a water bill. And not only that, but if your water is shut off, the State comes and takes your kids away! What kind of world is this? I had no idea. And to think, I pee into fresh water all the time. And other people get their kids taken away by the State because they can't afford fresh water. Crazy.
There were a number of activists at this meeting, some I had met before, most not. Maureen Taylor was there. She is awesome. I heard her speak at a rally before. She ran for some kind of public office in Detroit and I hope she got elected. The people of the city would benefit greatly from her vision, leadership, and spirit.
The Hugo Chavez film (The Revolution That Won't Be Televised) was awesome. Unfortunately, you won't see it on CNN or FOX. You can, however, see it on http://www.YouTube.com
OK, so Saturday morning it was the breast cancer walk in Detroit. I don't know the total of walkers/runners but I am sure it was well over ten thousand. The UAW had a group of walkers that I walked with, but the group was much smaller than last year (the UAW convention in Las Vegas was going on at the same time).
After the breast cancer walk I went to the Eastern Market to do some grocery shopping. I'm not sure that the groceries are much different than those at Kroger, but I like to shop there anyway. It was really crowded with the art festival and breast cancer walk that same day.
Saturday afternoon it was the art festival at Wayne State/midtown Detroit/Cultural Center. This was good, a very diverse crowd, lots of hands-on activisities for kids of all ages, lots of art for sale, music, and some good food. But no ribs. Can you beleive there weren't any ribs at a festival in Detroit? Well, I had the craving so I went back to the Eastern Market to pick me up half a slab of freshly barbequed ribs.
What a great life, huh? Detroit is awesome!
At the art festival I joined the Detroit Historical Society and the Wayne Preservation Society and spoke to a DIA volunteer about doing a bit of volunteer work there. They used to call Detroit the Paris of the Midwest and I think it is important that people know why!
Oh, the folks from the Tuskegee Air Museum had a tent there, too. I stopped and talked with them a bit. They have a small museum in a building at Fort Wayne. If you go to any museum in Detroit you gotta see this one. And you can't miss the short video of Chauncey Spencer, the guy who got the Tuskegee Airmen thing going. The man had a great message about racism and overcoming it. Last I heard,t hey were trying to move the museum to the City Airport but I haven't heard that they made the transition yet.
From there it was home for a quick nap and then off to the Main Art Theater in Royal Oak for a midnight movie.
Isn't Detroit the best?
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