All these racial troubles down in the States reminds me of a time almost 50 years ago when Canadian Gordon Lightfoot did a song about the riots in Detroit, Michigan.
Yup, it was the summer of '67' that we heard this for the first time:
Not only that folks, but since Gordon Lightfoot's Black Day in July hit the airwaves, the once-controversial tune is providing fresh inspiration for a new work by a Canadian visual artist.
Timothy Schmalz has created a sculpture inspired by the singer-songwriter's Black Day in July, which addressed the 1967 race riots in Detroit. The incident was ignited by a police raid of an unlicensed, after-hours bar.
Clashes ensued between residents of largely black neighbourhoods and police, and members of the state police and National Guard were brought in as the protests and violence escalated. The riots lasted five days, leaving 43 dead.
Song remains relevant
Hundreds were injured and thousands arrested, with businesses left looted and burned.
Black Day in July was released in 1968. Lightfoot's lyrics described "Motor City madness" and the chaos that followed proved to be too incendiary for some at the time, with a number of American radio stations banning the track.
Gordon Lightfoot's hometown of Orillia, Ont. is introducing a second public art installment to honour the legendary Canadian musician. (Fred Thornhill/Canadian Press)
"Gordon Lightfoot really is a role model to artists because he had the courage to sing or write about something that other people wouldn't even want to talk about," said Schmalz.
Latest addition to Orillia park
The artist's one-metre high sculpture inspired by Black Day in July is cast in bronze and will be displayed on a granite pedestal with the song title carved into the face of the stone.
It's the latest addition to the Gordon Lightfoot Trail in a park in Orillia, Ont. named for the Canadian icon.
Schmalz, a figurative artist from St. Jacobs, Ont., also created a bronze work of Lightfoot that was unveiled last October. His latest work was officially unveiled at a ceremony Sunday.
Gordon Lightfoot poses at a ceremony unveiling a bronze statue in his honour last October. Another sculpture will be unveiled Sunday inspired by his song Black Day in July. (Fred Thornhill/Canadian Press)
Sculpture represents 'healing and peace'
The Black Day in July sculpture is a maple leaf that features a scene from Detroit, with smoke rising from the city transforming into clouds. Within the clouds, two outstretched hands — one black, one white — reach out to clasp the other. Hovering above the clouds is a dove.
"It's really a sculpture that's meant to bring healing and peace, and I think one of the first steps to that is acknowledging the actual event happened," said Schmalz.
"And you say, 'How did it happen' And you say, 'How did it start?' Why can't we all be brothers, why can't we live in peace?"-Gordon Lightfoot, Black Day in July
Schmalz said an exact cast of the piece is bound for Detroit. He plans to have the second sculpture permanently installed in a yet-to-be-determined location in the city next year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the riots.
With the recent police shooting deaths of two black men — Alton Sterling and Philando Castile — in the U.S., and the discussion around the Black Lives Matter movement at Toronto's Pride Parade, Schmalz said the themes explored in Lightfoot's lyrics remain as relevant as ever.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/lightfoot-detroit-riots-sculpture-1.3672493?cmp=rss
(I worked at CKLW Windsor/Detroit in the summer of 1971 and even though it was four years later, they were still talking about it!)
(I worked at CKLW Windsor/Detroit in the summer of 1971 and even though it was four years later, they were still talking about it!)
No comments:
Post a Comment