Detroit ― Downtown Detroit’s Greek Quarter was filled with protesters, flags, blue and white balloons and Greek pride Sunday to celebrate Greek independence and culture.
Members of Greek Orthodox churches in metro Detroit marched down Monroe Street with Greek and American flags, stopping between Beaubien Street and St. Antoine Street near Greek restaurants and businesses to sing, applaud and dance.
Michigan Lt. Gov. Gilchrist, other Greek officials and representatives spoke at the 21st annual Greek Independence Day Parade in Detroit.
“The celebration has special meaning for those of Greek descent, but it means something to all of us. It is a reminder of the inner strength of the human spirit,” Gilchrist said. “When we reject oppression and seize opportunities, when we fight for each other, for our freedom, our alliance, our common determination to be able to achieve and overcome anything.
“The reason it’s important for all cultures to celebrate each other’s independence is because there may come a time when we have to fight for each other’s independence. Whether it’s ideological oppression, oppression linked to lack of economic opportunity or it is oppression strictly caused by ignorance.
For all to achieve the freedom we were born into, we must always fight for it, he said.
Greek Independence Day, which commemorates Greece’s uprising against the Ottoman Turks in 1821, is March 25, but due to weather conditions, the parade committee celebrated it on Sunday as temperatures hovered around 60 degrees.
Detroit’s first Greek parade began during World War II to raise money for the war bonds of Greece, an American ally. The parades continued for several decades until the late 1960s. In 2002, the current parade committee resurrected the event and parades have been held annually since then.
Yanni Dionisopoulos, chairman of the committee, and his team have been organizing the parade for almost a decade.
“We celebrate our liberation from the Ottoman Empire. We celebrate our freedom as Greek-Americans here in Detroit,” Dionisopoulos said, adding that the community is honored and proud to be able to exercise their culture, heritage and religion.
“We have a very large population of Greeks in metro Detroit, but what really sets us apart is we have a lot of Greek pioneers … who started a lot of things in the city,” Dionisopoulos said .
According to the Detroit Historical Society, the popular American Coney Island and Lafayette Coney Island, located on West Lafayette Street in downtown Detroit, were established by Greek immigrants in the 1900s.
“There are so many Greeks who have contributed to the city over the years,” he said.
Many participants were dressed in different shades of blue and white, representative of the country’s flag. Some wore traditional skirts, shoes and jewelry from different regions of Greece.
Teenage dancers at St George’s Greek Orthodox Church in Southgate wore skirts, shirts and jewelry from Kalymnos and Cyprus, and performed dances originating from Rhodes, a Greek island, and Cyprus.
“It is on them that we count on to perpetuate these traditions, because there are third and fourth generation Greeks. …. The Greek language is not predominant among them or they have not been to Greece but they are very proud to be Greek,” Dionisopoulos said. “It’s our duty to let them know what our culture is.”
Lynn Whitemarsh was recording protesters on Monroe Street as the parade began; she wanted to see representatives from Saints Constantine Greek Orthodox Church in Westland, a church whose events she often attends.
“I think it’s nice to have something like this,” Whitemarsh said of Dearborn.
“They have really good fish fries during the Easter season. I’ve been to a lot of their…dinners…they also have a Greek fair every summer,” she said.
She said her mother was a member of the Greek Catholic Union and shared the culture with her. So, as an adult, Whitemarsh celebrates Greek culture by attending church events.
When she was in high school, she went to Greektown every weekend. “It was kind of a ritual,” Whitemarsh, 63, said.
Parade committee member Vasilis Vouharas handcrafted a red and gold metal helmet, shield and sword to represent the warriors of northern Greece under the leadership of Alexander the Great.
“We try to keep the culture and history (alive),” Vouharas said.