I am sure that most of the news outlets have been following Hurricane Gustav and pregnant teenagers, but I took part in an amazing event today and I think that more people should know about it.
Barack Obama came to speak at the annual Detroit Labor Day Parade. Considering Detroit’s history, one might think that the Labor Day Parade would be a big deal. I have attended the parade for the last few years and the crowds are generally pretty small (perhaps 1000 people). I knew however that Obama’s appearance would bring out a bigger crowd.
I took the tunnel bus from Windsor to Detroit at 8:00 in the morning. An e-mail I received on Friday explained that the gates at Hart Plaza would open at 8:30, so I figured that I would have to wait in a line. A radio reported from the CBC accompanied me, to get the story from an American living in Canada (Sadly, the story didn’t air). We walked to Hart Plaza and found a line that snaked down Jefferson Avenue, reached all the way to Cobo Hall and then back towards Griswold. In all, the line snaked around for almost a mile.
I met several kindred spirits while waiting for tow hours. One man, originally from St. Lucia, brought his whole family, including a nine-year old daughter who had watched all of the debates. I met another couple who had worked for the Obama campaign in Indiana. I watched a young man register to vote for the first time. All around, I saw people of all shapes, sizes, ages, and hues. As a native of the Detroit region, I was thrilled to see so many blacks and whites together in a happy atmosphere. The good vibes in the diverse crowd were a joy.
Unfortunately, my queue mates and I never made it inside of Hart Plaza and had to try a listen to the big screen set up on the street. Sound quality was poor and he spoke for only 10 minutes. I don’t think that anyone had planned for a crowd of this magnitude. It took several hours before one of the local media outlets announced an estimated crowd of over 100,000 people. Anytime a crowd that size gathers to hear a politician, it should be news. If that crowd is in Detroit, someone should shout it from the hills.
