Street Preachers at Woodward and Grand River

[EastsideAl]

Black Hebrew Israelites.

Have these guys really come to Detroit? Maybe that is some sort of perverse sign of urban health, since these jokers are something of an urban freakshow fixture in NYC. When I lived there, I used to enjoy hanging out and watching them for a little while, as they would camp out every weekend around Macy's in Herald Square. And they also used to have a bizarre public access TV program too that was often good for a little laugh.

Both the TV show and the street preaching would consist of a leader, and several followers dressed up in the robes. A young acolyte would be holding a bible, and when the leader would yell "READ!", the young guy would start shouting out a bible verse until the leader yelled "STOP!" And then the leader would start some expounding some bizarre crap on the passage just read. Every now and again he'd get the whole group to chant one of their slogans too.

One thing I will say about them, they were always ready to engage in some religious debates. In fact, that really seemed to be their whole point in standing out in the street, and bringing along all the followers, who would break out into one-on-one arguments with people in the crowd. They particularly seemed to love calling out and trying to "correct" mainstream African-American Christians, and engaging in pretty disgusting displays of anti-Semitic provocation and argument with Jewish people.