The icy evil that struck his father down
and ravished his mother into madness
trapped him in violence of a punished self
struggling to break free.
As Home Boy, as Dee-troit Red,
he fled his name, became the quarry of
his own obsessed pursuit.
He conked his hair and Lindy-hopped,
zoot-suited jiver, swinging those chicks
in the hot rose and reefer glow.
His injured childhood bullied him.
He skirmished in the Upas trees
and cannibal flowers of the American Dream--
but could not hurt the enemy
powered against him there.
-Robert Hayden
http://www.johnscarpethouse.com/
http://www.paradisevalleyblues.com/tour/hastingsindex.html
Curator's Statement:
Even as it continues to burn, the music still hasn't stopped in Paradise Valley. Poet Robert Hayden and John Lee Hooker both lived in Paradise Valley, once the cultural center of the African American community in Detroit. With businesses thriving up and down Hastings street, it was decided in the late 1960's that a majority of Paradise Valley would be razed to make way for a freeway. Bisected by I-75, the community was not able to survive and lays nearly completely abandoned today. Pheasants roam free among cherry trees and grassy fields in the shadows of rotting auto plants, but on Sundays in the summer the music returns to Paradise in the form of John's Carpet House. A community blues jam like no other, this abandoned corner of the city hosts one of the best shows in Detroit.
Experience 2: United Nations Lobby Display
Location: United Nations
Upon walking inside heads of state discover:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/
We can all help each other be heard.
We are important to each other (and can laugh together for fun and for therapy).
And if you don't agree yet, Ron will straighten you out. We're all on the same team.
Curator's Statement:
I don't know how much laughing goes on at a place like the UN, but it seems to me levity on occasion could help expedite matters for the common good. Those in power need to concentrate less of self-preservation and more on how to include everyone as an equal when it comes to global decision-making. The elements of the presentation may perpetuate silliness, but in context I hope they incite both laughter and meditation.
Curator's Statement:
I don't know how much laughing goes on at a place like the UN, but it seems to me levity on occasion could help expedite matters for the common good. Those in power need to concentrate less of self-preservation and more on how to include everyone as an equal when it comes to global decision-making. The elements of the presentation may perpetuate silliness, but in context I hope they incite both laughter and meditation.
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