Another AMAZING night of performances at Detroit's 16th annual Concert of Colors!!! First my friend Pat and I heard Les Primitifs Du Futur, a French folk/musette band from Paris. Then, with Brenda, my new friend from Hannan House, we went over to the Diversity Stage and danced our booties off to a Senegalese hip hop group called Gokh Bi System. Back at the Main Stage we were enthralled by Fallou Dieng and his band from Senegal. It was there that we experienced the unforgettable dancer Mor Talla Samb. And just when we thought things couldn't get any better, out came Mavis Staple, the gospel/soul legend who started her career 58 years ago with her father and sisters, known as the Staple Singers. I have no words to describe what happened during her set. It was about so much more than music. I mean she and her family were favorites of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and often sang at his church, on marches like Selma to Montgomery, and when he'd speak at rallies. "Inspiring" can sound like such a cliched term but in Mavis' case it barely describes her effect on an audience. By the end of her set, everyone was on their feet dancing and singing along in full voice. Again I was in the front row and was privileged to have her take my hand and sing into my eyes, "I'll take you there." Along with everyone else, I sang it back to her. But, even though there were hundreds of people around us, somehow it felt as if Mavis and I were alone together, we connected that deeply.

Oh, I do LOVE Detroit!!!