We can end gun violence

I was in downtown Detroit today for a double bill.

In the morning I took part in a rally put on by Moms Demand Action against gun violence. We were asked to wear orange, and I did, though not a shirt with their logo. I carried my hand-made poster that says, “Guns mess with my right to life,” which I’ve carried to another ralliy to end gun violence. Several people took pictures of it.

We gathered at the foot of Woodward Ave. (Detroit’s main street) outside the City-County building. This last block before the riverside park is now closed to vehicles and looks like a good place for rallies and protests.

The first part of the program was a march up a few blocks to Campus Martius, which we circled, then headed back to our starting point. We were on the sidewalk and stopped traffic at every cross street.

The march got very real for me when the organizers asked survivors to lead the march. Survivors carried posters with photos of loved ones killed by a gun. This wasn’t just a political position. These people are living it.

Here’s a photo shortly before the march stepped off. The big green guy in the background is known as the Spirit of Detroit.

There was a bit of time before the speaking began. Here’s a photo to show the size of the crowd.

Many of the speakers were survivors. Others were various elected officials at the local and state level. Some were both – they got into politics after they became a survivor. One of of these speakers was my US Rep. Rashida Tlaib. Here she is at the microphone with the Spirit of Detroit behind her.

Towards the end were four high school women who told about what it is like being in school during a time of so many school shootings. They spoke well and made important points (but I wasn’t taking notes). In this photo the last one is speaking. Her shirt says, “Police violence is gun violence.” The other three are behind the women with the shirt with the photo.

After the last speaker I had time to take my poster back to my car and get some lunch (not easy downtown during the weekend when a lot of lunch places are closed).

The second event was Motor City Pride. It had been a few years since I’ve gone to a pride event. But, I realized, this one would be literally across the street from my morning rally.

And I was reminded why I usually don’t go. Yes, pride events are important. For many it is a safe place and a chance to be who they are. For the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, a friend sent this:

Mostly what I find at pride events are vendors delighted for a chance to sell stuff to LGBT people, food trucks with not very good food (I’m glad I ate elsewhere), and performing groups with music I’m not interested in. I did listen to an LGBT choir for a while. I appreciated the songs of self acceptance and defiance they sang, but they weren’t all that good. So I stayed at Pride only an hour.