A whole week's worth.

Last weekend I spent a good part of Saturday at Eastern Market. My favorite booths thus far are those that offer samples. Especially when the samples are of delicious honey-almond goat cheese made just outside Detroit. Hannah and I ‘liberated’ mushrooms and broccoli from boxes near dumpsters at Eastern Market. I bought more purple basil to make pesto with. The result of our Saturday shopping was the “localEST” feast we could muster to celebrate Hannah’s birthday. Michigan wine, homemade bread, bruschetta made with tomatoes from the backyard, corn, spaezli that Bill made, there was broccoli involved somehow, and Michigan-made mozzarella too. Joanna did bring some champagne, not from Michigan, to have with our dessert of apple crisp… apples from the backyard. It was a feast, and a great ending to a week that whirled by…

Monday I marched in the parade with the AFL-CIO, handed out fliers for the Social Forum to everyone still marching in the parade, and spent the afternoon at Pastor Pitts’ church cook-out.

Tuesday I made reminder phone calls to all the people on the Faith and Spirituality committee for the USSF, about the meeting Thursday morning. Then I made reminder phone calls to all the people on IWJ’s Board about the meeting Thursday afternoon. I spoke with the president of IWJ in Detroit, who would be chairing the meeting- Pastor Pitts- and put together an agenda with him.

The D-LOC meeting was at 5:30 and we got into an interesting discussion about what purpose, if any, the Forum could serve in the present. A few people are very interested in using the Forum to pull in support for current issues, maybe calling on the Forum to endorse a certain stance on healthcare or get involved with a union. To some, the Forum needs to start acting as well as discussing. To others, this could be going against the focus of the Forum; it is a space for conversation and action, but is not a support in and of itself. There was no real conclusion to these thoughts, but rather the vague idea that perhaps the Forum could learn about a few current issues.

Wednesday I was nervous about Thursday. And worried about all the unreturned voicemails I had left people on Tuesday.

Thursday finally came and went- leaving me with a drink on my balcony by 6pm.

The morning meeting with the Faith and Spirituality committee of the USSF went well. I took the minutes, and interestingly enough one of the first things that was discussed was the same question of the Forum’s purpose. Though at this meeting, that purpose was questioned not as how it can be useful in the present, but rather, what will happen after the Forum itself? What is left after so much effort goes into producing it? In all honesty, I feel that question is much more valid. The Forum is going to require an enormous amount of energy, creativity, time, hope, and more. What will be left? Will Detroit be better off in July because the Forum happened in June?

I don’t know what July will be like, but it isn’t the Forum itself that is so important, rather the connections and ideas that build the Forum. And those will remain once the Forum has come and gone.

The Board meeting in the afternoon got off to a tumultuous start. Pastor Pitts called me as I was on my way to the meeting to let me know he would be unable to make it. So- I got to chair the meeting. I probably don’t need to tell any of you how terrible I am at interrupting people, and the meeting took some interesting turns- union drama caused a rather heated debate about an hour in. It was a long meeting, we got off track a few different times. As it turns out, the disagreement stemmed primarily from some misinformation, and our meeting in October should go smoothly. I’m crossing my fingers.

Friday I was so happy the Board meeting had happened, everything seemed to go perfectly. I somehow ended up at AFSCME for a press conference at which AFSCME announced it was revoking its endorsement of current Mayor Bing, and instead supporting candidate Tom Barrow (Joe Louis Barrow’s grandson!) I had gone on the assumption that it was a press conference about the AFSCME Childcare Workers campaign. Oh well. I have now seen both Bing and Barrow speak- without meaning to. (Bing was at the Labor Day Luncheon I wrote about earlier.)

Friday night was a religious experience to say the least… I went to an Iftar dinner at the Muslim Center. One of the Board members, Imam El-Amin, runs the center and invited me after the meeting Thursday. A few different people spoke about Ramadan, the different parts of fasting; not only does one fast from food, but also from judgments, from gossiping, from holding grudges etc. Imam El-Amin then read a part of the Qu’ran, a message about God being a God of all people- that neither Muslims nor people of any other faith should feel superior to another. Of course the Qu’ran is more eloquent.

After dinner I left, got lost on the maze of Detroit highways for 30 minutes or so, and arrived home to a house full of 15 Jesuit novices and lots of beer. It was a great evening.