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.
