by Jessica Carreras
If ever someone wondered how to let go of their problems, the Triangle Foundation, S.P.I.C.E., the Black Pride Society and the Affirmations Community Center gave them an answer: Burn them and walk away.
On Sunday, just hours before Motor City Pride kicked off, members of both organizations, as well as over 20 people from the community, met in Detroit's Palmer Park for Building Bridges, an unprecedented march of LGBT people and friends across Eight Mile Road and into Ferndale.
Sunday's Building Bridges march was the first of two. The second will take place during the black gay pride, Hotter Than July. That march will begin in Ferndale and cross back over Eight Mile Road into Detroit.
The purpose of the march, said Triangle Foundation Interim Executive Director Kate Runyon, was to bring together gay and lesbian people of all races and ethnicities to let go of their past fears, doubts and issues and move on as one. "The LGBT community is so complex and beautiful," Runyon said, addressing the crowd. "The one thing that draws us together is sexual orientation."
To celebrate their positive – and literal – march forward, each person was asked to write one or two things on a slip of paper that they wanted to let go of. Then, despite the heavy wind that blew Sunday morning, Affirmations Executive Director Leslie Thompson lit them all on fire.
After the problems became ashes, the group walked down Woodward Avenue, signs and banners in hand, across Eight Mile Road and into Ferndale just as the Motor City Pride festival began.
"I think it's good to bridge a gap," Tammi Henderson of Detroit, who came with two of her friends, said of the march. "It's a great opportunity to be visible."
Henderson, 39, wrote on her paper that she wanted to "continue to be authentic and live my life out and proud."
In the spirit of Building Bridges, the group marching was diverse in gender, race and age."We decided to come out here as a GSA field trip," said Jesus Murillo, 16, who came with two of his friends. "We felt as teenagers we should also strive for equal rights and acceptance among the community… . As a teenager, I feel that my voice should be heard."
Murillo and his friends all attend Churchill High School, and felt that it was important to be visible at the march as LGBT teenagers. They all participated in writing down things to let go of as well. Murillo said he wanted to let go of "Parents who don't accept their children for who they are."
When asked if he and his friends were ready to let go of the things they burned that morning, they replied, "Definitely."
And on the march to Ferndale, the teens and many others took their first steps away from the thoughts that were holding them back and toward a new future – together. "I decided to come out today to celebrate our oneness and to symbolize that regardless of what side of Eight Mile we're on, we're all the same," said Brooke Adams, 41, of Detroit. "I want to make sure that we all understand that."
Runyon and Andrea Wilson of S.P.I.C.E. encouraged people to talk to someone they wouldn't normally talk to and make friends with someone different, both within the crowd that gathered for the march and in their everyday lives. "Diversify your way of thinking so we can promote some real change," said Wilson. "And don't just do it when you're visible. Do it when no one can see you, because that's when change really happens."
But on Sunday, that change was visible – and audible – walking down Woodward Avenue.
