On Friday, June 18th I biked into Detroit from Chicago with a group of 20 other cyclist. By Saturday I began to locate my volunteer activity during my stay in Detroit. Robin, a Chicago organizer who had been in Detroit for over a month, had ideas of where to fit me in. We arranged to meet Marcia, the Detroit organizer of the tent city at the park on Woodward at Temple Streets. When I arrived there were cars in the parks spaces on both sides of Temple. I parked my bike and waited. One by one cars drove off the lots. But the foot traffic of individuals from the neighborhood continued to use the park and the alley as a shortcut. New condos lined Woodward street heading into downtown Detroit.
When Marcia and Robin arrived they provided a little context to the neighborhood and park. The park, adjacent to the Vietnam Veteran's Center, was gifted to the Veterans over 30 years ago. The city reneged on the promise and is currently leasing the space as a parking lot for cars during ball games. The Vets have been struggling to get the city to hold true to their word for years now. The point of housing travelers (bikers and youth) would help create a vision of the parks as a space for community, not cars. The parks had one large tree which provided lots of shade, and a handful of young spindly trees scattered about. As a result of the cars or just neglect there were many dirt-bald areas and uneven spaces in the park. That afternoon and all of the next day we cleared the grounds, mulched the bald spaces, pruned trees, painted signs, measured tent spaces, installed outdoor showers, put up fencing and barred off the alleys in attempt to transform the park into a temporary space to house over 200 people from June 21 - June 26.
On Monday night the first wave of about 17 bikers rolled in from Buffalo, NY. They were met by us, the organizers and the security team called Threat Management. The security team members, with names like Alpha, Bravo and Delta wore fatigues, black gloves, and utility belts. Their image was jarring to my senses and to the self described anarchist bikers on the first day. The Detroit organizers had thought and debated long and hard about the issue of security and we as volunteers supported the choices made. Not withstanding their names, the security people were Detroit residents, very nice and could help orient the camp residence to their temporary home. At least that is the way I sometimes told it.
In the first few hours of gating off the area, volunteers and security alike had to escort people who were used to walking through the park off the grounds. That was particularly hard. It was clear that the temporary presence of the campers had interrupted the natural flow of the area.
Over the next couple of days scores more bikers, youth and USSF participants slept at the campsite. Many Detroit residents and USSF participants came by and inquired about the site. Who is staying here? For how long? Are there any spaces left? Who manages the site How are showers taken? How are individual personal property secured? What’s with the SWAT looking security people roaming the perimeters? Some visitors asked to walk around the site and that was ok with us. Non-residents guests were permitted on the grounds before 10p daily. After this time, only individuals with the blue gray wrist-band were allowed on the grounds.
Despite the Tornado warning and heavy rainfall that had us evacuate the site for shelter in the Vet center, the tent city went on without incident. On the last two afternoons of the Social Forum the campsite became a serene, idyllic resting place. Exhausted from workshops and touring around the city, the ballooning center tents provided shelter from the sun. Many residents and organizers took naps, read books and generally used the space to rest between workshops and night-time activities.
We just e-mailed out evaluations to all camp-site participants and are eager to learn from this experience.
