A Beautiful Detroit Begins with Monica and Ashley (and their green army)

 Monica Tabares                                             Ashley Atkinson

The Greening of Detroit                     The view from GM's Headquarters

The Greening of Detroit is looking for new members. It's sort of like fundraising, but maybe you have to do something. To say this to outsiders, especially those just over the 8 Mile divide, would be like bringing up the bad marriage, "the money wasted!"  Some hard-core hippie-types are looking for more money and help to throw it away on plants for all that vacant land. Is this how they are going to make up for what other cities have i.e. real grocery stores with fresh food? 

It wasn't a very big gathering, there were some Birkenstocks, and they were looking for people to "join" this organization that plants gardens and trees.  It could have been a deja vu moment, that is until you heard the statistics.  Obama couldn't have dreamed up a better grassroots movement nor this winning green party ticket:  Monica Tabares, Events Coordinator and Ashley Atkinson, Director of Project Development and Urban Agriculture for The Greening of Detroit. 

They stand up in their cargo pants and flip flops, coolly lay out the statistics that have put Detroit in the international driver's seat of a cutting-edge urban agricultural movement. Monica tells how 15 years ago she decided she wanted to save the world and couldn't as just a new mom and an attorney in Detroit. She was one of three staff members in this fledgling organization whose mission was to plant trees in the blighted city. This is going to save the world? (the power of postpartum thinking?!). 

Well it turns out those darn "hippies" were planting more than trees. The Greening of Detroit has grown a citywide food movement, and it's feeding more than a few people. Where there were once only 18 gardens, Detroit now has more than 1500. Then an idea to involve kids became the training of hundreds of kids and adults in green jobs, paying green jobs. The initial staff of three has become thirty.  One board member flew to an international conference on urban agriculture, and found out there was nothing new to learn. Detroit knew more than any other city about how to cultivate a successful urban agricultural program. Monica's idea to expand the mission beyond tree planting, despite limited funds and few troops, paid off.  

Ashley is the field marshal presiding over a not so small army, getting acreage planted, food disseminated to markets and people across the city and the projects keep coming. All this on a budget and they're so fiscally efficient, they've earned a 4-star rating because of their money management. Ashley and Monica  explained that when the money isn't available, they simply all work together to find another, creative way to get things done. How novel. Ashley whispered that a 3-acre garden is going in at the 200-plus year-old farmer's market in downtown Detroit and a whole world is watching to see if Detroit can cultivate a financially viable model that can be exported. People watching this food desert to see if a grass roots movement can grow food in it? As a business concept? Like an unwanted weed, turns out you just can't kill the D, and actually, you might want to live there. 

Trees are still getting planted. One impassioned homeowner reported how The Greening organization helped his neighborhood replace dead trees and in the process a strong community took root. They're moving from places like Ann Arbor and Chicago, it's such a positive, futuristic living experience here. There's money being wasted on some ugly ideas in this country, but not in this beautiful backyard. One woman's company moved from one of the well-heeled suburbs to downtown Detroit. She said that looking out her new window from the GM headquarter's building, the trees are blooming and it's quite beautiful. Would you believe the people who planted them are on their way to saving the world?

Jack Kervorkian

He was a slight, older man living above what's now Mr. B's bar in Royal Oak. I use to see him heading to the lamplighter diner north of 11 Mile Rd. Other than the nazi memorabilia collector he hung around with, most of us didn't know the unassuming townie had subversive tendencies. Then he Rube Goldberged a "death" machine and helped Janet Adkins end her own life in the back of a beat up VW van (keep this on the down low, but my husband sold him used parts to keep it "operational"…the accomplice).  

By the time he had his art opening at Ariana Gallery in town, he was well known as Dr. Death and a media superstar. I could only imagine the circus. Of course a preeminent  business owner like myself needs to represent, this is gonna be good.  His attorney was showboating for his own reality show in front of all the cameras. I braved the crowd and finally got to the paintings. A bleeding neck stump and the soldier with weapon, I fairly squealed in delight. Provocative, so my move.  I should have bought it. Jack was so small you could barely see him in the crowd, the horrified bourgeoisie of Oakland County couldn't tear themselves away.   

That he would not be the best spokesman for this important cause notwithstanding, he put the issue on the docket, served his time and put his life on the line. God forbid anyone should be trapped in a tortured body with no way out. That's beautiful, that's Detroit. Now who has those bus keys. Only qualified drivers should apply. 

Molly Motor: Artist, Gardener, Home Renovator, Chef

Longtime Detroiter Molly Motor is aptly named, she works like a machine whether making art, gardening, working on her house or cooking full-time for her employer.  Uptown Chicago roots and a top tier education does not come to mind when she tells the story of running the car thieves off Farnsworth at 3:00 am, armed only with dreadlocks and green caftan. She can be a fierce presence, especially if anyone threatens her corner of Detroit. 

Her home is clearly where a degree in art and old school discipline is evident. She obviously loves all the crayons in her box and painted the 1920's bungalow leaving no color out.  Rooms flow and meander out passed a library and studio, living room and kitchen, through a back door and out to gardens, animal coops, and a garage with plans to expand her compound into the alley. Her approach to home improvement is academic, she has a design in mind and works the construction out, methodically taking the heavy lifting on herself and bringing in craftsman she sources locally as needed.  Furnishings and fittings, found roadside and saved for show a curious Intellect and practical spirit. She is more pleased with the smooth function of a new Chicago brand kitchen faucet she splurged on than the stunning farmhouse sink salvaged roadside. 

When the topic turns to the street's stunning revival, Molly is quick to give the bulk of credit to her neighbor Paul who got the ball rolling. Their combined years long commitment to saving homes and creating the thriving Farnsworth Garden drew what amounts to a small family-run farm (complete with livestock) to the end of their block, and a strong community of homesteading-types restoring homes, raising children and working together to grow food shared by all. With bee keeping around the corner and an abandoned house turned into an informal gathering place for art shows, movies, live music and parties, it's no wonder starry-eyed artist/activists from around the nation have wanted to join in with their own plans. The realist Ms. Motor shrugs her shoulders at the "20 somethings" and their visions, mostly abandoned. This is no dream she's chasing. This is home; maintained day after day, sustainable, secure and that in itself, is a beautiful thing. Like all the projects she starts, Molly's home sits on a solid foundation of hard work, ingenuity and fortitude, it's a real art.

Marche du Nain Rouge (and chase the devil from Detroit)

I have been looking for just the right story to launch this blog/idea that "A Beautiful Detroit Begins With You." I've been overwhelmed by so many people doing so many revolutionary and wildly creative things in Detroit that I honestly didn't know where to start.  That is until I got to the parking lot at Third and Forest (Midtown Detroit) last Sunday, saw these obstreperous, colorful gypsy-types assembling and heard the outrageous send up for the "Marche du Nain Rouge."  This, I said, is beautiful and where I begin. 

So what's the Marche du Nain Rouge? It's an old parade based on a 1700's legend that began with a fortune teller's warning and Detroit's founder Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac who failed to listen (you knew the French were to blame!). The upshot is we have a red devil (Nain Rouge) on our backs and all we have to do is chase him out of Detroit, problem solved.  O.K., you heard the census statistics, and thought the devil had a leg up on some chasing out. But, if you heard the loudspeaker in this parking lot pointing to pot holes and politics, you'd be as positive as I that these folks are on the right track to meaningful, beautiful, improvement.

Beauty is what I'm talking about and those costumes, the live theater and heart in this parade has no equal! NONE! This parade put the D in DIY:  The cat in the giant fist (Joe Louis sculpture on Jefferson), you got more fight than this?!; the 6'5" bearded Mary in the bathtub, holy mother of God; the stuffed animal magnet?; does your city have a Tyree Guyton block and stuffed animal-covered houses? Sorry, no it doesn't; What about a Frederick Marshall bronze?, Here's his seminal work The Spirit of Detroit rendered in metallic body paint on this youngster, museum quality. 

Sure the Trojans have precision marching, but really, with the Detroit Party Marching Band dancing up your parade, I say put those Trojans to better use.  You say the Rosebowl parade has bragging rights and pretty floats. But, it's Detroit that brought the world Motown sound and manufacturing ingenuity.  Here's the giant boombox pulled by a just-engineered-it-together bike contraption. When your life's on the line, you're not stopping to smell roses.  

Look, I've got a load of material about the beautiful people making Detroit a beautiful place, but I'm just one tiny cog in this big wheel.  And having spun wheels here, I know it takes coming together in a merry sort of way to rock a parade and a better place to live while we're at it.  I hope you'll join the parade, here at this blog, so we can get onto better living in Detroit.