MUSIC: 12 CAN’T-MISS ACTS AT THE HAMTRAMCK MUSIC FESTIVAL
VOL. 40 | ISSUE 21 | FEB. 26–MARCH 3, 2020
In search of Detroit’s lost walls of dignity, freedom, and pride | By Jeff Huebner
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Vol. 40 | Issue 21 | Feb. 26-March 3, 2020
News & Views
Publisher - Chris Keating Associate Publisher - Jim Cohen
Feedback/Comics ................. 8 News .................................... 12 Informed Dissent ................ 16
Feature
EDITORIAL Editor in Chief - Lee DeVito Digital Editor - Sonia Khaleel Investigative Reporter - Steve Neavling Music and Listings Editor - Jerilyn Jordan Copy Boy - Dave Mesrey Contributing Editors - Michael Jackman, Larry Gabriel Editorial Interns - Alexis Carlisle, Brooklyn Blevins, Marisa Kalil-Barrino
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Music Hamtramck Music Fest ...... 32
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On the cover: “Wall of Dignity,” circa 1973, photograph by John Pitman Weber
Printed on recycled paper Printed By
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FEEDBACK We received an earful in response to Lee DeVito’s story “‘Strong for whom?’ Gov. Whitmer disputes Trump’s claims of booming economy” in the Feb. 12 issue from a reader who identified herself as Marilyn from Oak Park: I usually find your articles to be quite worthwhile. However, this time, I’m really upset because of your last little parenthetical statement you made in the first part of the article, which was “and if you can’t see that, you need to step outside of Grosse Pointe.” That was a snarky, offensive comment to make. My sister lives in Grosse Pointe and is in her 70s, and she gets her ass out to support people who are being evicted, and people who got caught in the middle of the water crisis, and any number of causes that she really feels strongly
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about. She doesn’t just sit at home. I just think that was a slap in the face for all the people who live in Grosse Pointe and actually try to make a difference. You could have ended it by saying “and if you can’t see that you need to step outside,” period. That’s all you had to do. I do enjoy reading your column most of the time, but I’m just very upset that you went after people in one community. That’s a shame, so shame on you — but I’ll keep reading. Correction: Tom Perkins gave the chicken 65 sandwich from Ali’s Pizza and Burgers a rave review in the Feb. 12 issue. One hungry reader pointed out that we forgot to print the restaurant’s address: It’s 11608 Conant Ave., Detroit. More information is available at 313-826-1403 and facebook.com/alispizza313. We regret the oversight!
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ON SALE FRIDAY
THE DEAD SOUTH
CLANNAD
with Chance McCoy
September 16 *
October 1
COMING SOON
3/4 STEVE HACKETT: GENESIS REVISITED TOUR * 3/6 THE REVIVALISTS WITH TANK AND THE BANGAS
3/11 DERMOT KENNEDY (SELL OUT ALERT) WITH SYML
3/17 SILVERSUN PICKUPS WITH THE NEW REGIME
3/20 SCOTT BRADLEE’S POSTMODERN JUKEBOX: WELCOME TO THE TWENTIES 2.0 TOUR *
3/21 CHIPPENDALES – GET NAUGHTY TOUR (18+) * 3/27 BRENDAN SCHAUB: 50 SHADES OF BROWN TOUR * * denotes a seated show
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on sale friday:
on sale now:
coming soon concert calendar:
2/29 – mija @ the shelter
w/ hana & foxy panic - 18+
3/1– while she sleeps
@ the shelter w/ he is legend & savage hands
may 12
dave rubin
st. andrew’s *seated show*
apr. 3
electric feels:
st. andrew’s indie rock & dance party - ages 18+
3/2 – kamasi washington 3/5 – lanco w/ tyler rich 3/6 – elohim @ the shelter w/ bahari and mehro
may 28 jojo st. andrew’s
apr. 6
the shelter
dying fetus
w/ throne & S**t LIFE
3/7 – sloan 3/8 – young dolph & key glock 3/9 – mod sun @ the shelter low ticket warning
3/10 – ally brooke @ the shelter
3/11 – howard jones acoustic trio w/ rachael sage - 18+
june 20 wild rivers the shelter
june 24 jeremy zucker st. andrew’s w/ cehryl
3/11 – bear hands
@ the shelter w/ irontom
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NEWS & VIEWS The vaping deaths continue Another Michigan resident dies from vaping By Steve Neavling
Counterfeit cannabis vaping products.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
(MDHHS) reported in a press release that it was notified last week of the death of a woman from vaping-related lung injury. Her identity and age are
News Hits
Trump trails, Bernie surges The top Democratic candidates are leading President Trump in hypothetical, head-tohead matchups in Michigan, with Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg leading the pack, according to a new poll. The Quinnipiac survey, which was released Thursday, is significant because Trump won Michigan in 2016, albeit by a razor-thin margin. The poll also shows the president trailing the top five Democratic candidates in Pennsylvania, which Trump also won. But in the battleground state of Wisconsin, Trump holds a comfortable lead. In Michigan, Trump trails Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg by 5 percentage points each, Joe Biden by 4 points, Elizabeth Warren by 2 points, and Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar by 1 point. The results are similar to a Glengariff Group poll in January, which showed the five Democrats edging out Trump in Michigan. The most glaring difference between the two polls is that Sanders and Bloomberg have taken the top spots against Trump. Sanders’ lead over Trump climbed 1 percentage point, while Bloomberg’s dropped a point. In January, Biden held the biggest lead at 7 points. The Quinnipiac poll also showed that 54%
NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
not being disclosed. “Although reports of new cases related to this outbreak have decreased in Michigan and across the country, new cases continue to be reported,” Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical
of Michigan voters said they disapprove of Trump’s handling of his presidency. In Michigan in 2016, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by roughly 10,000 votes, or 0.25 percent of all ballots cast. It was the first time a Republican candidate won the presidential election in Michigan in nearly 30 years. In the 2018 midterm elections, Democrats came roaring back, winning two Republican-held districts. The poll surveyed 845 registered voters in Michigan between Feb. 12-19. The margin of error for the poll is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. —Steve Neavling Michigan man charged for threatening Trump whistleblower lawyer A Michigan man was charged for threatening to kill one of the attorneys of the whistleblower who prompted President Donald Trump’s impeachment for soliciting foreign interference in the 2016 U.S. election. “All traitors must die miserable deaths,” wrote Brittan Atkinson, a 52-year-old laborer foreman from Beaverton, according to federal court documents first reported by Politico. “Those that represent traitors shall meet the same fate. We will hunt you down and bleed you out like the pigs you are.” “We have nothing but time, and you are running out of it,” the email continued.
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executive and chief deputy for health for MDHHS, said in the press release. “We urge Michigan residents to refrain from vaping until a definite source or sources have been identified. Health care providers should remain vigilant in educating their patients about the potential risks associated with vaping and report any cases to their local health department.” Michigan has identified at least 7 confirmed or probable cases of vaping related lung injuries since ugust 0 . The patients range in age from to 7. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported more than ,700 cases in 0 states. .S. health o cials believe the cause is vitamin E acetate, a chemical goo used to “cut” or dilute marijuana vaping cartridges to ma imi e profits. The state’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA) banned the sale of vitamin E acetate at legal dispensaries on ov. . Since then, the M has re-
“Keep looking over your shoulder. We know who you are, where you live, and who you associate with. We are all strangers in a crowd to you.” Though not named in the documents, attorney Mark Zaid of Washington, D.C., confirmed to The Detroit News that the threat was directed at him. The email was sent in November, one day after Trump criticized Zaid at a Louisiana rally. At the rally, Trump waved a printout of a Fox News story, which detailed tweets from 2017 by Zaid that were critical of the president and called for “#rebellion.” Trump called Zaid “a sleazeball.” “These people are bad people, and it’s so bad what they do to our country,” Trump said. “They rip the guts out of our country.” Bradley Moss, a partner at Zaid’s firm, said he also received threats after Trump’s rally. “@realDonaldTrump thank you so much for the specific commentary about my firm last night,” Moss tweeted. “I woke up to a ton of hate mail and death threats. And I’m not even on this case.” Atkinson is charged with violating federal interstate communication laws, which prohibit “any threat to injure the person of another.” The felony offense is punishable by up to five years in prison. Atkinson pleaded not guilty. —Lee DeVito
called vaping cartridges sold at at least seven dispensaries across the state. espite the obvious link to marijuana, state health o cials continue to con ate tainted cannabis cartridges with nicotine vaping products, causing confusion about the source of the outbreak. Two thirds of .S. residents still falsely believe that nicotine vaping is the cause. In October, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer banned avored nicotine in Michigan, but the prohibition is on hold, pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by vaping retailers who say the governor overstepped her authority.
Metro Retro
Looking back on 40 years of MT As we count down to our 40th anniversary in October, we’ve been revisiting our archives to highlight Metro Times stories that resonate in 2020. 30 years ago in Metro Times: The Metro Times logo is painted on the roof of The Green Tee Par 3 Pro Shop and Cafe in rural Waltz, Michigan, located about miles southwest of etroit. hat the heck is a reference to MT doing out here in the sticks
wners rny and Ida Simeck had it painted on the roof of their indoor golf course to try to drum up interest in selling it as a massive billboard. Orny, a etroit native, offered it to MT for free; the logo was painted by retired cartoonist John McCormick. What was happening: Laurie Anderson at the Fisher Theatre.
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Joe Smith and Markus.
STEVE NEAVLING
Saving dogs and humans How Detroit turned around its dysfunctional animal-care division By Steve Neavling
Not long ago, the odds of
Markus surviving were slim. The black Labrador mix likely would have spent his final days in a filthy cage before being euthanized by the city of Detroit’s underfunded, notoriously dysfunctional animal-control department. Those dark days are coming to an end. “Sweetheart, you’re going home,” a shelter worker says as she scoops Markus from his clean cage on a recent weekday. With his tail wagging wildly, Markus greets his new owner, Joe Smith. The 27-year-old from Grosse Pointe Park decided while eating breakfast that he wanted to get his first dog. ater that day, Smith drove to Detroit Animal Care and Control’s shelter, where he became attached to the perky dog staring at him through a cage. “It was a great experience,” Smith tells Metro Times. “We got blessed with this dog.” In 0 , when the city filed for bankruptcy, about 80% of the sheltered dogs were euthanized. Today, that rate has fallen to less than 20%, with a goal of reaching 10% by 2021. The average
stay for a sheltered dog dropped from 45 days to 26 days. Over the Valentine’s Day weekend, the city held an adoption event, My urry alentine, finding homes for nearly 100 dogs — a record for a three-day period in Detroit. On the enforcement side, the city is responding more quickly to complaints about dangerous and neglected dogs. In 2013, the city had four animal-control o cers and one investigator to cover 139 square miles and handle nearly 500 animal complaints in one week. Today, the department has 19 animal-control o cers and si investigators. The department expanded its hours to 12 hours a day, seven days a week. ith a much larger staff, the city issued 740 tickets in 2019, a three-fold increase over the prior year. Since the city emerged from bankruptcy, the department’s budget has more than doubled. At the helm is the department’s fourth director in four years, Mark Kumpf, who was hired in September and has three decades of experience working with animals for city and county governments. Kumpf’s passion for animals was on display during a recent adoption event.
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As he shows a Metro Times reporter the vastly improved shelter conditions — clean and uncramped cages, a full staff and healthy animals — he showers the dogs and cats with attention. Empathetic, smart, and bespectacled, Kumpf gingerly lifts a brown puppy from his cage and beams as the dog licks his face. “Who’s a cutie?” Kumpf asks the puppy. iping off the puppy’s hair from his black suit jacket, Kumpf says he’s proud and eager to be a part of the department’s turnaround. “There is no other city that has committed so many resources and staff in such a short period of time as Detroit,” Kumpf tells Metro Times. “This is an entirely new operation. They are doing everything they can to make this a fantastic operation.” Kumpf’s career with animals began in the city of Norfolk in Virginia in 1989. For the next three decades, he helped care for animals and protect the public from dangerous, neglected dogs. He became an e pert in dogfighting investigations and served as president of the National Animal Care & Control
Association. At one point, he was a consultant to help investigators build a criminal case against then-NFL quarterback Michael Vick. His passion for animals meant he took his work home with him — literally. He’s had dogs, cats, snakes, big birds, spiders, rats, chinchillas, ferrets, “and anything else that came in and no one wanted.” Today, he has three dogs and a cat. Two of his dogs recently died. “Every single day is exciting to me,” Kumpf says. “There’s a real opportunity to make a difference.” He’ll have plenty of opportunities to make a difference in etroit, home to roughly 150,000 dogs, many of which end up neglected, abused, and homeless. In the city’s neighborhoods, vicious dogs had become all too common — the consequence of irresponsible pet owners and a city ill-equipped to handle an abundance of stray and neglected dogs, as documented by a Metro Times cover story in October. In 2018, the city picked up 4,136 homeless dogs — an average of more than 11 a day. Since 2005, at least six people have been mauled to death by dogs in Detroit. The victims ranged in age from three weeks old to 91 years old. Over the past three years, more than 1,250 dog bites have been reported in the city. The wakeup call for Detroit came on Aug. 19, when 9-year-old Emma Hernandez was fatally attacked by three undernourished dogs that leaped over a neighbor’s fence. Emma’s father had repeatedly complained about the dogs getting loose, but city o cials never took action. Just eight days after Emma’s death, two pit bulls slipped under a fence in Southwest Detroit and killed a small dog and injured his owner. To reduce the number of attacks, Detroit City Council strengthened its dangerous animals ordinance last week by adding a provision called “Emma’s Clause,” which requires the Detroit Animal Care and Control Division to investigate and evaluate all complaints about dangerous animals. “ ur first priority is making sure animals do not pose a threat to human safety,” Assistant Director of Animal Control Lori Sowle says in a written statement. “Increasing our enforcement is helping to send a message to dog owners that they will be held accountable for their pets.” Kumpf supports the strengthened ordinance and says the city is a lot quicker in responding to complaints. “Response times were measured in days,” Kumpf says. “Now they’re measured in minutes.”
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NEWS & VIEWS
Mike Bloomberg and Bernie Sanders: two theories of how to beat Donald Trump.
Informed Dissent
The Bloom and the Bern y e rey . illman
There are many, many things wrong with Michael Bloomberg’s billion-dollar vanity exercise. But there is one thing he gets right, and it’s also the thing that gives me pause about Bernie Sanders’s increasingly likely nomination. The issue isn’t ideology. On that score, I’m mostly in Bernie’s camp. I believe in universal health care and a Green New Deal. I think ICE should be abolished, private prisons should be banned, wealth should be taxed, carbon emissions should be taxed, coal plants should be shut down, public schools should be better funded, public housing should be m h better funded, public universities should be free, the arts should be publicly supported, childcare should be publicly supported, and military adventurism should be vastly curtailed. But I also think Donald Trump poses a singular threat to our institutions, and that if he wins, we’ll spend four more years sliding toward authoritarianism. Priority one is defeating him. Bloomberg’s campaign isn’t premised on ideas. The whole thing — the hundreds of millions of dollars he’s spent, the billions more he says he’ll spend — can be summed up in one sentence: r m is bad, and an beat him. Let’s make one thing emphatically clear: Mike Bloomberg is the absolute wrong person to deliver this message. Bloomberg’s history of racist, sexist, transphobic comments is disqualifying. Stop-and-frisk is disqualifying. Trying to
literally b y an ele tion is disqualifying. Having the plutocratic hubris to first suggest that other candidates drop out so he could go mano-a-mano with Sanders, then showing up in Nevada after half-assing debate prep is disqualifying. (Watching Elizabeth Warren disembowel him was fun.) Bloomberg is a terrible candidate. Democrats would be nuts to nominate him. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore the one thing he accurately intuits: If the election is a referendum on Trump, Trump will lose. Unseating an incumbent is hard under the best circumstances; only once in the last hundred years has a party lost the White House after one term in power — in 1980, during a recession and the Iran hostage crisis. It’s even more di cult when the economy is growing. Any normal president would be favored this year, when GDP is growing at about 2 percent, we’re adding about 200,000 jobs a month, and unemployment is under 4 percent. But Trump isn’t a normal president. He’s never had positive approval ratings; he probably never will. Democrats scored massive wins in 2018 because voters disliked him. Hillary Clinton was on track to wipe Trump out when the campaign was focused on him — until James Comey refocused it on her email scandal just before the election. Democrats are ahead in generic polls, and most major Dem candidates consistently poll several points ahead of the president. Bloomberg’s theory, then, is to simply
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SHUTTERSTOCK
let Trump beat himself. For all of his braggadocio, Trump understands this. He doesn’t want a referendum. He wants an enemy — someone to make as despised as he is. Any Democrat will be attacked, called a commie, a baby killer, the Antichrist, perhaps have Trump’s totally inde endent Department of Justice launch an investigation into some family member. But Sanders is leading a self-described political revolution. He also has a long history of praising aspects of repressive regimes, including the Soviets and the Sandinistas. (Just this weekend, on 60 Min tes, he threw in some nice words for Fidel Castro’s literacy program.) An election that o ld be a referendum on Trump will instead become a referendum on Bernie Sanders and (democratic) socialism and his revolution. hat s what Trump wants. Maybe it’s what Bernie wants, too — sweeping reforms shouldn’t be secondary players in an election. It is not what Democratic Party leaders — or Dems in vulnerable congressional districts — want. I normally don’t find establishment pearl-clutching particularly interesting. or decades, the party has been terrified of its own shadow, even as radicalizing epublicans redefined the political center. But I do worry that Sanders is the wrong person running the right campaign at the wrong moment. The thing about revolutions — or major legislation — is that they usually follow disasters. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments followed the Civil War. The New Deal came amid the Great Depression. The Civil Rights Act followed ’s assassination. ven the ffordable Care Act followed a global economic collapse. The economy isn’t nearly as great as Trump claims, and perhaps it will crash in the next eight months; but right
now, we’re not there. That’s not to say Sanders is unelectable, or that Democrats vying for the so-called moderate lane would be more electable. Sanders can inspire and mobilize in a way that Joe Biden and Mike Bloomberg never will. But I would argue that a campaign focused more on prosecuting Trump’s malice, incompetence, and corruption than selling a massive overhaul of the U.S. economy — while explaining the differences between communism, socialism, and democratic socialism — is more apt to succeed. Peter Hamby made a compelling argument in anity air last month that my concerns are misplaced: hat if anders is a t ally the M ele table Demo rat In the age of Trump, hyperpartisanship, institutional distrust, and social media, Sanders could be examined as a candidate almost custom-built to go head-to-head with Trump this year.” Sanders, Hamby continued, has five things going for him: celebrity, mediasavvy, a clear message, a fundraising machine, and an army behind him. The last thing is the most essential. Bernie’s theory is that he’s going to rewrite the playbook, that his movement will inspire young and previously disenfranchised voters to turn out in record numbers, while his economic populism will peel away segments of the Trump coalition. In a close election, which forecasts suggest this will be, a surge of new, unlikely voters could put Sanders over the top — if they’re in the right states, and if they’re not offset by otherwise Trump wary suburbanites scared off by the S-word. This is the high-stakes gamble Bernie is making. It’s a bet Trump appears eager to take. Then again, Hillary Clinton was eager to run against Donald Trump.
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In search of Detroit’s lost walls of dignity, freedom, and pride
INNER CITY BLUES By Jeff Huebner
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O
ne bright May day nearly ten years ago, in 2010, I was stooping in the dark, dank basement of a Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries facility on Mack Avenue and Fairview Street, searching for the remnants of what could be the oldest surviving outdoor African-American mural in the nation. Lawrence Lewis, the DRMM’s kindly, patient maintenance trainer, and I took turns handling his ashlight, its beams bouncing off bare brick and concrete walls, plumbing fi tures, and stacks of boards in a surprisingly cramped subterranean space below the former St. ernard of lairvau atholic Church. But the Archdiocese of Detroit shuttered the church and its school in 1990, and not long later it became the DRMM’s Genesis House III, a residence for homeless women recovering from addiction. (It now provides housing for teen moms.) There were no mural panels stored in the basement. After I’d called ahead from Chicago, Lewis had already searched the comple ’s dormitory, where I wasn’t allowed; it had been the parish’s Community School, where the mural was originally stored when it was removed around 1980. But nothing there, either. No one who worked at the facility could remember them. I’d been looking for the five Masonite panels that made up the Harriet Tubman Memorial Wall (Let My People Go), a Black-pride mural that had been painted on panels and installed on the church facade in late 1968 by Chicago artists William “Bill” Walker, widely regarded as the “father of the community mural movement,” and his late-1960s painting partner Eugene “Eda” Wade, along with church helpers. I was following up on a lead that the mural, long believed destroyed, might still be alive…somewhere. When I’d started researching my recent book, Walls of Prophecy and Protest: William Walker and the Roots of a Revolutionary Public Art Movement (Northwestern University Press), I’d found references, including in the 0 first edition of Art in Detroit Public Places, by critic Dennis Alan Nawrocki and Thomas J. Holleman, claiming that the panels were in storage and that there were plans to renovate and reinstall them. I’d called Nawrocki, who couldn’t recall where he got that information. Neither the Archdiocese’s Archives nor its Properties o ces had records for the mural’s whereabouts. And the
Detroit Historical Society, to which I was eventually directed, didn’t have the panels in its holdings, either. They were presumed lost. It’s not widely known in Detroit that the city played a critical role in the early development of what came to be known as the community or contemporary mural movement, in 1968-69. During that time, the riot-scarred, racially tense city was the scene of three dramatic, highly visible outdoor Black Power murals directed by Walker and Eda in ravaged east- and west-side neighborhoods. They were assisted by groups of Chicago and Detroit artists, in a post-uprising arts initiative led by a coalition of east-side churches and a community organization.
Harriet Tubman Memorial Wall (Let My People Go), St. Bernard’s Catholic Church, Mack Avenue and Lillibridge Street, Bill Walker, Eugene Eda, others. (As it looked circa 1973.)
COURTESY OF THE CHICAGO PUBLIC ART GROUP
“Diego Rivera himself could not have wished for a more popular or public art,” wrote Dan Georgakas and Marvin Surkin, in their 1975 book Detroit: I Do Mind Dying, a classic study of the city’s radical Black workers’ movements. (The authors were comparing the works to Rivera’s Detroit Industry.) “Like most revolutionary movements and mass art, the muralist movement was little discussed in aesthetic journals.” The book’s first edition pictured a portion of one of the murals on its cover. Yet these long-gone murals have been a nearly forgotten facet of Detroit’s Black Arts history — indeed, in the city’s art history and its exuberantly profuse mural and street art scene — as well as a largely overlooked chapter in the still-evolving history of the nation-
wide mural movement. By the mid1970s, outdoor walls of hope, pride, power, and action by diverse groups of socially conscious muralists became common features in America’s inner cities. In Detroit, the 1968 murals can be seen as ancestors of such modernday programs as Murals in the Market, City Walls, Mexicantown murals, and the Grand River Creative Corridor, as well as many other individual and community projects from Bennie White’s destroyed shrine to Malice Green to Chazz Miller’s Public Art Workz to Nicole Macdonald’s Detroit Portrait Series. Walker, who died in 2011, is regarded as the originator of the mural movement owing to his instigation
of the epochal Black Arts landmark, the outdoor Wall of Respect, created by him and more than a dozen other African-American artists and photographers in August 1967 on the side of a gang gra tied grocery liquor store in a South Side Chicago neighborhood slated for “slum clearance.” (The building was damaged by suspected arson fire in 7 , and soon demolished. Members of the visual arts workshop of the Organization of Black American Culture conferred with local residents to identify and paint portraits of 50 “ lack heroes” in the fields of activism, rhythm and blues, jazz, theater, religion, literature, sports, and dance. Instead of moderate civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., the group pictured militants such as Malcolm X,
Stokely Carmichael, and H. Rap Brown. (It also included Motown Records stars Smokey Robinson, the Marvelettes, and Stevie Wonder, as well as Aretha Franklin.) The wall, wrote key participant eff onaldson, later a founder of the AfriCOBRA collective and art department chair at Howard University, was “a national symbol of the heroic black struggle for liberation in America.” Walker, 40 (at the time), was the senior member of the collective and the only one who’d had experience as a muralist, beginning when he was a student on the GI Bill at what’s now the Columbus College of Art and Design, from which he graduated in 1953. From the late 1960s to the 1990s, the Birmingham, Alabama native created several dozen outdoor murals in Chicago that addressed the harsh realities and enduring hopes of the urban Black experience, social and racial justice, and the “unity of the human race,” as he put it, which are considered among the movement’s highest achievements. Once called a “prophet with pigment,” Walker — who co-founded the Chicago Mural Group, now the Chicago Public Art Group, in 1971 — painted walls with a morally righteous, missionary zeal, believing they could save mankind from destruction and provoke social change. (Three 1970s walls survive, and are periodically restored, on Chicago streets.) The Wall of Respect became the scene of political rallies, poetry readings, jazz jams, and other performances. It drew visitors from all over the city and beyond, as well as undercover cops and the FBI. An article in the December 1967 issue of Chicago-based Ebony magazine spread news of the mural nationally, and by the summer of 1968 similar walls began rising in other Black neighborhoods, most notably in Boston and St. Louis. Spurred by countercultural, protest, and ethnic-pride movements, socially engaged “people’s art” murals and organizations soon proliferated in major U.S. cities. Detroit was where the movement moved first after hicago, in early spring 1968, becoming (at least for a while the center of a different kind of “revolutionary art” in response to Rivera’s monument to labor and industry at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Rebecca Zurier, an associate professor of art history at the University of Michigan, became interested in the murals while teaching a class on the history of art and culture in Detroit. She e-mailed, “It’s interesting to me that Walker and Eda painted soon after the 1967 uprising — in the neighborhoods that suffered the most damage — and their work became part of the
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FEATURE
Above: Wall of Respect, 43rd street and Langley Avenue, Chicago, 1967, 13 artists with the Visual Art Workshop of the Organization of Black American Culture. ROBERT A. SENGSTACKE Right: Bill Walker, 1970.
process of Detroit becoming, and redefining itself, as a majority lack city.” In Detroit, the newly formed hurches on the ast Side for Social ction — a coalition of interracial Protestant and atholic churches — called the 7 year old organi er rank Ditto from Chicago to start a grassroots organi ation in the struggling neighborhood. itto was the key link. n ast Te as native who had picked and chopped cotton as a kid, itto was working as a cab driver in hicago in the early 0s when he became a school desegregation activist. He organi ed a South Side community group and marched regularly with comedian activist ick Gregory in hicago in the mid 0s to protest the racist school system he also accompanied Martin uther ing, r. on his final Selma to Montgomery March in . Ditto founded the East Side Voice of Independent Detroit in a storefront o ce on Mack venue, blocks from St. ernard atholic hurch, ministered by ather Thomas . erwin, a SS founder. itto couldn’t have arrived at a more opportune moment — weeks before a police raid in an after hours club stoked long smoldering racial tensions that ared into the five day rebellion, leaving dead. ccording to a une , profile in Time, ESVID was “a civic action organi ation that is the moving force behind a do en black pride’ projects in the slums, where burned out shops still define the fury of the 7 riots.” unded by ew etroit, a coalition of community leaders that formed to find solutions to the violence, projects included lack Panther like youth patrols, police monitoring, neighborhood
cleanups, playgrounds, a free employment agency, and a weekly newspaper, The Ghetto Speaks. The projects would also soon include murals. Ditto had the idea when he saw the Wall of Respect on a trip back home to hicago in late 7. “I was so fascinated each time I saw that,” itto told me in a 00 interview. He died in 0 . “There was such a sense of pride and dignity and history. I couldn’t get it out of my mind.” itto knew ill alker, a constant street presence, from his days as an activist in Chicago, and invited him to Motown. “I admired ugene’s and ill’s work in hicago. e decided we wanted to put up some murals in etroit.” Walker and Eda shuttled between Chicago and Detroit a number of times through and early , usually in da’s olkswagen bus. t the time, the aton ouge born da, , was a middle school art and history teacher who’d soon earn his M degree from Howard niversity and was later an art professor at hicago ity olleges . The two often also stayed at the St. ernard hurch ectory as they worked intermittently on the three murals. Sometimes they hauled panels they and others had painted in their studios in hicago to install in etroit. “Me and brother Eda were fortunate to get the project,” alker told me, in one of our many interviews before he died in September 0 . “Things in etroit were not good at all, but we worked toward painting about love, unity, and understanding, as best we could. People understood — they had a desire to get along. e had a good group of people.” Wall of Dignity, believed to be the
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COURTESY OF THE CHICAGO PUBLIC ART GROUP
nation’s second community based lack Power mural, stood across the street from the church on the northeast facing wall of the airview Gardens building at 000 Mack venue, which housed a roller rink and former wrestling hall and other shops. The colorful, collage like gallery featured da’s Masonite panels showing glorious ancient frican civili ations and his portraits of lack merican leaders, like one of Malcolm and Marcus Garvey together alker’s brick painted black, white, and red scenes depicting lacks in bondage and liberation and paintings by other artists. alker added an illustrated te t panel of miri araka’s poem “S. .S,” which begins “ alling all black people ” ith four auto plants within a mile in all directions, the wall drew a captive audience of commuters, factories’ “radical workers” included, observed Georgakas and Surkin.
n early version of the mural was pictured on the cover of the pril issue of S I ’s weekly The Ghetto Speaks, calling it a “monument to lackness.” esides alker and da, the paper credited Edward Christmas, who’d also worked on the Wall of Respect, l Saladin edmand or edmond , a hicago Muslim activist and newspaper publisher, and helpers. The wall, said the article, “carries a message for the lack moderate, the militant, even ncle Toms and white people. It says H H I , , T . H P S T,M , I PP , S P SS.’” The mural, which cost ,000 in materials and e penses, was dedicated in May like the Wall of Respect, it became a site for rallies, concerts, and other events. itto trained local teens
Wall of Dignity, Fairview Gardens, Mack Avenue and Fairview Street, Bill Walker, Eugene “Eda” Wade, Edward Christmas, Al Saladin Redmand, others. (As it looked circa 1973.) THE TIMOTHY DRESCHER COMMUNITY MURALS COLLECTION (ROBERT SOMER)
to be guides when school classes and other groups visited the mural, and civil rights icon and Detroit resident Rosa Parks attended an ESVID youth political organization event. “We involved the community, with respect and participation,” Ditto told me, adding that the mural “lifted peoples’ spirits and had a positive effect.” fter auditors found accounting irregularities in 7 , S I became a nonprofit Ditto resigned as a trustee from New Detroit a year later, citing corruption, according to Sidney Fine in his Violence in the Model City.) five alarm fire “destroyed” the airview Gardens building on June 13, 1972, according to the Detroit Free Press. The Wall of Dignity remained relatively intact, except that a couple of Eda’s heroes’ portraits were lost or stolen after the blaze. The building with its mural stood at least for another few years, until it was demolished. Wanting to organize a mural in the area of the riots, Walker and Eda approached the clergy of Grace Episcopal hurch through their SS contacts. The artists were also drawn by its highly visible wall facing th street now Rosa Parks Boulevard) at Virginia Park Street, blocks south of the uprising’s epicenter. They met with the Reverend Father Marshall Hunt, who was white, and associate rector rthur illiams, who was Black, and discussed the idea of bringing this new form of social
public art to a primarily conservative Black church. The artists made plans to involve Detroit artists and to begin painting during the 12th Street Black rts estival, which was to take place at the church uly 7 — the first anniversary of the rebellion. Still, the artists’ group found themselves caught between the church’s mainline civil rights and its more liberal, activist elements, exemplifying the tensions of the times. The mural movement was so new and unproven at this point, there were bound to be growing, or learning, pains. “ e took a definite risk in doing the wall,” Hunt told the Free Press in a November 4, 1968 article, pointing out that more than half the church’s members were “well-to-do blacks” who lived on the city’s northwest side and 20 percent were from the local neighborhood the rest were white. “ e decided to make our move into the community with the wall.” The church contributed 00 for scaffolding, paint, and other materials, with some left over for the artists. Walker, the Wall of Pride director, recruited about eight Detroit artists through the church’s community program. Many were a liated with the Contemporary Studio group, the city’s earliest Black gallery and studio venue, dating to . ccording to alker’s memory, other muralists, and an ugust 9, 1968 Detroit American article, participants included: LeRoy Foster,
obin Harper wasi sante , Henry ing Henri mbaji ing , on ockard on nye ockard , ames Malone, rthur oland, Gerald Simmons ana kpan , and ennie hite ennie White Jr. Ethiopia Israel). Several of these artists went on to create some of Detroit’s — and Michigan’s — bestknown frican merican community murals and public mural commissions. The group painted figures on the church annex’s roughly triangular upper roof facade that highlighted the “contributions of black people, whether they be controversial or well-liked,” said Walker, in the November 10 issue of The Living Church maga ine. fter the design was drawn up, each of the artists contributed their own sections and images, interweaving tropes of uplift, heritage, and militancy. ifferent groups painted at different times. Many images called for revolution and liberation, from frica to fro merica. There were alker’s renderings of Malcolm and miri araka with his poem, “ lack rt” da’s Egyptian scenes and his portraits of Stokely and Rap inside a Black Power fist . . . u ois anked by leaders of frican postcolonial nations sante’s Muhammad li as well as figures such as ames aldwin, Miriam Makeba, ina Simone, and retha. The novel sight of a group of Black men up on a roof painting a mural slowed tra c and drew gawkers, according to news articles.
The community response was “overwhelmingly positive,” Hunt told the Free Press, but some church members were “less than enthusiastic” about some of the figures. ockard — who’d done a couple nightclub murals on 12th Street in the mid-1960s that burned in the riot — said he was painting a portrait of the ev. lbert . leage, Jr., the civil rights activist and pastor at Detroit’s Shrine of the Black Madonna, when Grace Episcopal clergy told him that some congregants had complained — they objected to leage’s lack Christian nationalism. “They wanted me to remove it, and I just refused,” Lockard, then 78, told me in a 2010 interview. He died in 0 . Walker, who said he was unaware of religious politics in Detroit, defended Lockard in a tense meeting with church leaders. “The image was not meant to antagonize,” he told the American. “It was meant to help people understand each other.” In the end church members presumably painted out the portrait. The mural was entirely whitewashed by the mid-1970s. “Bill Walker brought a spark that ignited something,” recalled Lockard, a longtime art professor at Washtenaw Community College and a founder of the froamerican and frican Studies department at the niversity of Michigan who created some of the state’s most notable murals in the 1970s and ’80s. “It was an interesting era — you didn’t have the support of the established art community. It was grassroots, renegade grassroots. Not renegade like when you think of renegade today, with gra ti. The established artists wouldn’t dare get involved.” The final mural led by Walker and Eda in Detroit also had its provocative elements. ather Thomas erwin, the white pastor of the racially mixed St. Bernard atholic hurch, and llen Mc eeley, the Black director of the church’s Community School, commissioned the artists to create the Harriet Tubman Memorial Wall (Let My People Go). The rchdiocese’s Inter Parish Sharing Program funded materials, transportation, and meager salaries. ccording to the mural’s dedication booklet, children enrolled in the school’s summer history class taught by Detroit Institute of rts educator hristine Schneider, a nun, suggested the theme of freedom and slavery, drawing parallels between biblical and civil rights examples. alker and da worked on the five Masonite panels in Chicago and De-
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FEATURE troit, and installed them on the facade of the church in December, along with church helpers. “It took a lot of courage on the part of the priest to allow us to do this particular wall,” Walker told me, referring to the mural’s activist content. “There was a time he would have been regarded as a heretic.” Reached at his home in Colorado Springs in 2010, the 86-year-old Kerwin credited the reform-minded Archbishop of Detroit John Cardinal Dearden. “He never balked or gave a note saying, ‘You better be careful,’” said Kerwin, who left the church in 1969, moved to Flint, married, and became a community mental-health counselor. “Everything was open-ended, and I thought that was amazing.” (Kerwin died in 2016.) The Harriet Tubman Memorial Wall commemorated the famed abolitionist, the “Moses of her people,” who led fugitive slaves to the free North and Canada. The mural’s images equated the civil rights movement with that of the Israelites in bondage to Egypt, chronicled in the Book of Exodus. In the dedication booklet, McNeeley urged visitors to ask who was the modern-day Pharaoh and who were the people yearning to be “free of oppression, political exploitation, poverty, fear, unemployment, ignorance, apathy, wars, and hate.” Yet Walker told the January 25, 1969 issue of the Michigan Chronicle that the “Biblical Wall” was intended to “serve as a healing function between the races rather than any form of protest.” The mural’s three sections on five panels), each about 20 feet high, resembled elongated stained-glass windows. The central panel above the doorway, designed and painted by Eda, pictured Moses confronting the Pharaoh, both lack figures, demanding that he “let my people go” to the Promised Land against a backdrop of ancient Egyptian monuments. Walker designed and painted most of the two side panels, which emphasized the religious dimension of the Black freedom struggle, from historical to modern times, linking Tubman and unshackled worshipers in the west panel to a civil rights march of both mainstream and and nationalist figures in the east panel. King, Malcolm, and Nation of Islam leader and former Detroit minister Elijah Muhammad (Elijah Poole), clutching their holy books, were in the forefront of a procession that included Charles Diggs, Jr., Michigan’s first frican merican congressmen, and Shirley hisholm, the first lack
Wall of Pride, Grace Episcopal Church, 12th Street (Rosa Parks Bloulevard) and Virginia Park Street, Bill Walker, Eugene Eda, eight Detroit artists. THE TIMOTHY DRESCHER COMMUNITY MURALS COLLECTION (MARK ROGOVIN)
congresswoman. While Walker was installing these panels, he said a black limousine pulled up and uniformed agents from the Fruit of Islam, the NOI’s security wing, got out and studied the portrait of Elijah. Walker asked them what they thought, and one of them said, “We’ll let you know.” Walker said to let him know now, because he was heading back to Chicago. He added the mural was “done with respect” on behalf of the church community. An agent replied, “You executed it beautifully.” The mural was unveiled on January 7, 1969. Not long later, back home in Chicago, Walker got a call from Father Kerwin, who said that the mural had been defaced: the image of Elijah with his Koran had been covered with green paint. Recalling the meeting with the FOI agents, Walker wasn’t surprised. He said the portrait had likely been erased because Elijah forbade images of himself depicted with Malcolm, owing to the latter’s bitter split from the Chicago-based Nation in 1964. alker offered to come back to etroit and repaint the panel for free, but Kerwin told him, “No, no — we want it to stay the way it is.” And it did stay that way until the mural was removed, more than a decade later. Back at the Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries’ Genesis House III in 2010, it turned out that a few staffers knew Allen McNeeley, who still visited the
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old parish. He was then chief chaplain for the Detroit Fire Department. I got his number from an o cer at a nearby firehouse and called him from the parking lot. McNeeley told me that the decaying panels had been removed from St. Bernard’s facade around 1980 while he was administering the church. “We had to take it down because of the weather and it was becoming dangerous — pieces were ying off,” Mc eeley explained. The panels were stored on the second oor of the school building until they could figure out what to do with them. He mentioned having talks with the Detroit Historical Society. The archdiocese closed the parish by 1990, before the DRMM took over the property. Recently, the U-M’s Rebecca Zurier sent me a February 25, 1990 Free Press article I’d been unaware of. In it, Deacon McNeeley, then a coordinator with the rchdiocese’s ce of lack atholic ffairs, announced plans to turn the closed Holy Ghost Church into a Black Catholic Historical Museum, forming what the newspaper called “a chronicle of a community’s faith in the face of racism.” He’d already collected artifacts from shuttered churches, and planned to include the Harriet Tubman Memorial Wall panels (which he erroneously called the Wall of Dignity). But the museum “never came to fruition,” e-mailed John Thorne, pastoral associate at Sacred Heart Parish and
former director of the archdiocese’s ce of lack atholic Ministry. archivist Steve Wejroch said he didn’t know what happened to the artifacts, adding that plans to annually exhibit them also never panned out. And Allen’s daughter, Judith McNeeley, of Detroit, e-mailed she did “not have details on the artifacts,” either. Somewhere along the way the mural disappeared. Almost 10 years ago McNeeley told me, “someone could’ve trashed or stolen the panels.” In all, despite the con icts, alker felt that his Detroit stint was an important passage in his life and work, in the city’s Black arts and power movements, and in the mural movement. “It was a hell of a time,” he said. “People were very involved in the movement, in what was happening. People were friendly and concerned about doing the right thing. All the people were starting to come together… The spirit of the people, especially the young people, was tremendous. And they were all trying to do something — they were all trying to do the right thing. That’s all I can say. I was privileged to be a part of it, to be a part of the people trying to do the right thing.” Adapted from Walls of Prophecy and Protest: William Walker and the Roots of a Revolutionary Public Art Movement. Copyright 2019 by Northwestern University Press. All rights reserved.
metrotimes.com | February 26-March 3, 2020
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Ima
FOOD
4870 Cass Ave., Detroit 313-883-9788 imanoodles.com/midtown Handicap accessible Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m.-10p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-11p.m., Closed Sun. $5-$17
Ima’s spicy karaage fried chicken sandwich is hot stuff.
The bird’s the word By Tom Perkins
There are few chefs in metro Detroit’s Japanese restaurants who can send out bowls that stand up to what Ima chef-owner Mike Ransom prepares in his kitchens. While eating the crispy fried-chicken don — one of the new bowls at Ima’s recently opened location across from Wayne State — I pondered why that is. In the dish, Ransom mixes meticulously made spicy karaage chicken thigh, house pickles, napa cabbage slaw, furikake kewpie, lemon, chili threads, pickled ginger, scallions, and nori above sushi rice. The bowl is busy with contrasting and complementing avors and brightened with citrus and acids, but it’s seamless and smooth — not chaotic. And that’s partly it. It’s hard to think of a clumsy dish in Ransom’s repertoire, and you see that sort of polish across Ima’s menu. At the new location (Ima’s third,
following the original in Corktown and a second in Madison Heights), there’s room in the kitchen for a deep fryer, so ansom offers plenty of new territory to check out. The karaage seems to be the main attraction. Ima marinates its boneless, skinless chicken in a tamarigarlic-ginger-citrus mix for about 48 hours, dusts it with two types of glutenfree starch, and deep-fries it twice to give it a thick, crispy crag. The citrusy marinade shines through. In the spicy version, Ransom also dips the bird in a house-made chili oil made with habanero, chipotle, ghost pepper, and other chilis. It’s as hot as it sounds, but pleasantly so. Aside from the rice bowl, the karaage comes in sandwich form. The chicken arrives on a soft and slightly sweet bun with napa cabbage slaw and furikake kewpie — a Japanese mayo — and lemon and house pickles on the side.
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TOM PERKINS
Vegetarians can substitute tofu, and many of Ima’s plates are or can be made vegetarian or gluten-free. Ransom says he planned to include karaage on his menu at Ima’s other locations, but limited space in his Corktown and Madison Heights kitchens prevented that. The sandwich works especially well here in that it offers students a hand-held carryout option. And the students seem to be into the new restaurant — during a recent lunch rush, I felt pretty certain that I was Ima’s oldest diner, and I’m only 41. Most of the dishes from Ima’s other locations’ menus are also here, and some familiar items are plated in new contexts. That includes the bright spicy tuna typically found on Ima’s spicy tuna don; in the Cass Corridor, it’s also offered in appetizer form. The dish holds a big dollop of ground ahi, fish roe, masago, kewpie, togarashi, sriracha, and sesame that arrives with fresh veggies, and chips made from thin slices of taro, a tropical root vegetable. Also new is a selection of yaki udon. The Szechuan yaki holds thick, some-
what chewy wheat noodles in a gritty, punchy XO sauce with fermented black beans, soybeans, chili peppers, onions, garlic, citrus, and more. Also in the mix are a hint of mouth-numbing Szechuan peppercorns, baby corn, and punches of umami in the spongy black mushroom. Ransom recommends ordering the dish with the glazed pork belly. My nose didn’t run until the end, and I prefer it to be owing after a couple bites of Szechuan cuisine. Several days prior, I had dined at Trizest, Madison Heights’ awesome Szechuan restaurant, which packs in enough peppercorns and chili peppers that the competing sensations are disorienting. It’d be great to see Ima’s Szechuan yaki pushed to that level. The pan-fried yaki butter udon may be familiar to diners from Ima’s previous posts. Its noodles come in a somewhat thick and heavy butter-sesame sauce with furikake and nutritional yeast that sticks to your ribs nicely during the cold weather. That’s accompanied by beech mushrooms, crispy garlic, and shallots. The menu also holds a fine teri yaki udon, its sauce made with plenty of ginger, garlic, brown sugar, and citrus to highlight the sweetness. Sauteed ginger and garlic are added to the noodles before the sauce, and the package is finished with more sesame seeds. The new bo ssam lettuce wraps consist of big folds of crunchy green lettuce that package a mix of kimchi, shiso, and scallion along with your choice of protein. The ginger beef fits well. It’s served with a ginger-black garlic glaze of soy, brown sugar, black garlic, and sesame, and the two packages are a nice, light start to a meal. The chiliblack vinegar sauce with black vinegar, soy, sesame, and garlic makes the shrimp and scallion dumplings worth it just for the dipping. For dessert, the Cass Corridor location offers several soy based, vegan, soft-serve options. The menu is rounded out with an extensive beverage list that includes everything from Topo Chico and Mexican Coke to various teas and coffees to mocktails the chameleon with ume plum puree, lemon, simple syrup, and soda. The full-service bar with a selection of beer, sake, and cocktails is up and running after an initial delay on the liquor license.
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THIS WEEK What’s Going On
A week’s worth of things to do and places to do them FRIDAY, 2/28 Sunset Boulevard @ Redford Theatre
FILM You’re in a safe space, folks. With scar season behind us, it’s finally to admit that we might have a pretty e tensive list of classic, must see films that we just haven’t made time for, because, well, sometimes it’s just easier to re-watch Frasier for the ,000th time. nyway, we finally have an opportunity to cross one of the most in uential films of all time off of our list illy ilder’s 0 merican noir classic, Sunset Boulevard. The film stars illliam Holden, who plays a struggling screenwriter, and Gloria Swanson as orma esmond, a silent film star fighting to regain her renowned place in the spotlight. ot only did the film win three of cademy wards it was up for, but it’s been recogni ed by the .S. ibrary of ongress for its cultural significance, and its blurring of fantasy and reality may have even served as a weird, indirect blueprint for the life of eccentric director Tommy iseau, who gave the world, ironically, the best worst movie of all time, The Room. — Jerilyn Jordan
to a bridge troll at 22. Ouch. , not all tattoos are bound to become a pending regret, and anyway, merica is both the land of the free and land of the inked. or years, the Motor ity Tattoo po has honored the weird, wonderful, and intricate beauty of permanent body art and the many insanely talented, needle wielding artists who commit our boldest visions to esh. This year, the e po returns to the en en with a weekend of contests, certification classes, seminars, and more than 300 acclaimed tattoo artists, including elly otty, i ook, Myke hambers, emember, arl Grace, ig ee e, ig Gus, and ob Tyrrell, all ready to stick it to you. —Jerilyn Jordan The event begins at noon on Friday, Feb. 28 and 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 29 and Sunday, March 1; 400 Renaissance Center Dr., Detroit; themotorcitytattooexpo. com; Single-day passes are $20; weekend passes are $45.
FRI., 2/28-SUN., 3/1
Motor City Tattoo Expo, Detroit Marriott, Feb. 28- March 1.
The 68th Annual Autorama @ TCF Center
CARS ast year, utorama organi ers pulled the plug on a scheduled vehicular stunt involving Michigander urt eynolds’ black and gold 77 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from his Smokey and the Bandit days. It had nothing to do with danger, but everything to do with the car’s a liation with onfederate ag imagery. or this year’s event, the 68th annual Autorama is giving the glitz
and glam of Hollywood another shot by featuring cars from the cademy ward winning movie Ford v. Ferrari. The silverscreen cars will join more than 800 hot rods, customs, trucks, and motorcycles across the globe, including a showcase of the most significant hot rods of the 0th century, and a lowrider invitational. illed as merica’s greatest hot rod show, Autorama will also bring back event favorites like chop shop demonstrations, rockabilly bands, and the Miss utorama etro Pinup Girl contest. —Jerilyn Jordan The event begins at noon on Friday, Feb. 28 and 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 29 and 10 a.m. Sunday, March 1; 1 Washington Blvd., Detroit; autorama.com; Tickets are $21.
SATURDAY, 2/29
Screening begins at 8 p.m.; 17360 Lahser Rd., Detroit; 313-537-2560; redfordtheatre.com. Tickets are $5.
The 33rd Annual Erotic Poetry and Music Festival
FRI., 2/28-SUN., 3/1
@ Tangent Gallery
Motor City Tattoo Expo @ Detroit Marriott at Renaissance Center
INK ccording to a survey conducted in 2018, more than 46% of Americans have at least one tattoo — be it a regretful past lover’s name, a tribal arm band, or a mishmash of hinese characters that absolutely do not translate to “serenity.” r, maybe you’ve spent the equivalent of a down payment on a house to festoon your back with a full color tat of a tiger fighting a lion in a volcano in space surrounded by ooney Tunes characters wearing a jersey by your favorite ed ings player and some oman numerals of the birthdays of your step kids. r, if you’re a Metro Times staffer, a amien ice lyric you got when you were engaged
MIKE DIONNE
Kamasi Washington, Saint Andrew’s Hall, March 2.
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COURTESY OF SACKS & CO.
ART + MORE In at the age of , celebrated hilean poet Pablo eruda published Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair. The collection, arguably his most beloved, includes a poem titled “ very ay You Play,” during which eruda writes, “I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.” In the years since penning one of the most sensual lines ever written, people all over the world have contributed to the vast tradition of personal, emotional, and downright steamy erotic poetry. elebrating the works of Detroit-area erotic artists for years running is the annual rotic Poetry and Music estival. The single-night event returns to the Tangent Gallery with titillating and thought provoking performances, this time by artists Satori ircus, onrad ee, ivine ut-
Friday 2/28
ThE NoRtH 41 WsG TrAvErS BrOtHeRsHiP
Saturday 2/29
DaVe BrUzZa
Eleanor Friedberger, Deluxx Fluxx, March 2.
ter y, mily Infinity, and others, as well as sets by local burlesque dancers ushes aMoan, Magenta eMure, Sophia on Stardust, and ottie llington. s per the ethos of the event, more than a do en writers will share their written works, including poems by immy oom, ady of Pain, Glenn ovak, ai ui , Shakespeare Simmons, Mike elly, Pearl, and more. There will be erotic art, too, a local marketplace, which will offer sensual toys, naughty leather goods, and intimate oils. or those who need to refuel, food will be offered by a selection of four vendors, and for those looking for guidance, Gemin ye Tarot will be on site to dish the goods on your future. Here’s hoping it’s a se y one. —Jerilyn Jordan
HIGH ROAD TOURING
inspired by the disgraced metro etroit rap rocker id ock. However, it’s pretty damn funny if you consider the film is about some liberal elitists who go after M G loving middle merica. Sounds like some good fodder for a country tune, if you ask us. un fact Ha el Park’s own obby mmett, who produced Sturgill’s last two albums, is on keys. —Jerilyn Jordan
Doors open at 7 p.m.; 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; 313-537-2560; saintandrewsdetroit.com. Tickets are $29.50.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; 500 Temple Ave., Detroit; 313-638-2724; themasonic. com. Tickets are $49.50+.
MUSIC In a review for Have We Met, estroyer’s th studio record released in anuary, Pitchfork claimed that if you “spend enough time listening to estroyer and the world will start to resemble a an ejar song.” If this is true, the world is then an observational diary scrawled on bar napkins with an old lover’s lipstick, hurtling through outer space if outer space were designed by filmmaker Michel Gondry. ejar, who has fronted this avant indie rock project for years, might just have the strongest release of the decade so far, due in part to the fact that Have We Met has a deliberately crafted identity, which is more than can be said for, say, Tame Impala’s latest, The Slow Rush. estroyer will be joined by former iery urnaces vocalist leanor riedberger, who released her fourth record, Rebound, in 0 . Since disbanding from her fellow urnace, brother Matthew riedberger, she’s dropped a few solo releases, but with Rebound, riedberger e plores the complicated lament that comes with being a post 0 election e pat living in Greece and irts with a space between dancey avid yrne style observations and self investigation. —Jerilyn Jordan
MONDAY, 3/2 Kamasi Washington @ Saint Andrew’s Hall
Event begins at 8 p.m..; 715 E. Milwaukee St., Detroit; 313-873-2955; tangentgallery. com. Tickets are $15+.
SUNDAY, 3/1 Sturgill Simpson @ Masonic
MUSIC Here at Metro Times we admittedly gloss over most country acts unless it’s, say, illie, Shania, or literally any combination of the i ie hicks. However, thanks to last year’s rock ’n’ roll steeped Sound & Fury, Sturgill Simpson is o cially an e ception to our rock ’n’ rule. If we’re being honest, we lowkey caught some feels from the entucky bred singer songwriter’s 0 epic A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, which earned him a Grammy for best country album. The year old is also an actor and can be seen in the upcoming violence heavy political satire ick The Hunt, where he plays a character named id ock, who is, from our understanding, not at all
MUSIC The last time amasi ashington passed through etroit was last summer, when he teamed up with 7 year old, time Grammy winning ja virtuoso Herbie Hancock, who has more than 0 studio records under his belt and just as many years on ashington. ut the year old os ngeles native and celebrated sa ophonist, who has often been referred to as a torchbearer, can stand wholly on his own. ashington is ushering in a new era of ja , one in which the confines of tradition are bent, warped, and manipulated into atmospheric, transportive soundscapes. It’s been a long two years since ashington released his sophomore P, Heaven and Earth, and a follow up P, The Choice, and even longer since his 0 debut, The Epic, which earned ashington the merican Music Pri e, but thankfully we have his catalog, as well as a hefty playlist of collaborations with the likes of un the ewels, haka han, and endrick amar. —Jerilyn Jordan
MONDAY, 3/2 Destroyer with Eleanor Friedberger @ Deluxx Fluxx
Doors open at 7 p.m.; 1274 Library St., Detroit del . om. i ets are $15-$17.
WsG FuLl CoRd
Sunday 3/1
LeSpEcIaL
Saturday 3/7
WiSh YoU WeRe HeRe Sunday 3/8
BaD BaD HaTs Thursday 3/12
CoNsIdEr ThE SoUrCe friday 3/13
MeLvIn SeAlS & JgB
Saturday 3/14
ThE StEeL WhEeLs
Thursday 3/19
25Th AnNiV. ShOw FoR BiG CiTy RhYtHm & BlUeS Saturday 3/21
ThE TrOuBlE NoTeS SuPeRbLoOm ToUr
FoR TiCkEtS & DiNnEr ReSeRvAtIoNs
ViSiT OtUsSuPpLy.CoM 345 E 9 MILE RD
FeRnDaLe
metrotimes.com | February 26-March 3, 2020
27
The
Old
Miami
THIS WEEK
OUR PATIO NIGHTLY BONFIRES ON
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28TH: OHLY, ANY ISLAND, BRANDON Z. SMITH (QUIRKY DANCE-POP) 9PM DOORS / $5 COVER
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 29TH HOT LIPS, JUNGLEFOWL, IAMDYNAMITE (INDIE ROCK, ELECTRIC DANCE) 9PM DOORS / $5 COVER
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND FREE POOL
FRIDAY, MARCH 6TH
FUNKWAGON, CAST IRON CORNBREAD, COSMIC KNOT
SATURDAY, MARCH 7TH
SHORSEY, J. WALKER AND THE CROSSGUARDS, PADDLEFISH
FRIDAY, MARCH 13TH
THE KEYMAKERS, CARTER ERICKSON, FRANKIE
SATURDAY, MARCH 14TH NOTHING ELEGANT (MONTHLY LADY DJS)
Sturgill Simpson, Masonic Theatre, Feb. 28 & March 1.
MUSIC Wednesday, Feb. 26 Durand Jones & The Indications, KAINA 7 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $16-$91. Jauz 7 p.m.; Majestic Theatre, 4140 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $25-$30. Jazz Fusion Neo-Soul House Voyage Featuring Javonntte Garrett 7-10 p.m.; Aretha’s Jazz Cafe, 350 Madison St., Detroit; $20. Marc E. Bassy 7 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $22. Westside Gunn, Conway & Benny the Butcher 7 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $26.
Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $59.
Dinner Show: Blue Pontiac 5:307:30 p.m.; PJ’s Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; Free.
Shagg Nasty, SCREW, A Day at the Station 8 p.m.; PJ’s Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave, Detroit; $7.
Flor 7 p.m.; Blind Pig, 208 S. First St., Ann Arbor; $15+.
The Mattson 2 7:30 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $10.
Larry McCray, Jake Kershaw 7 p.m.; Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $25-$35. Lund / guccihighwaters 6:30 p.m.; Pike Room, 1 S. Saginaw, Pontiac; Soldout. Motherfolk, Beta Camp, The Running Youngs 7 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $12. Rick’s Ruiner’s “Screw You Winter” Birthday Beach Party!!! 8 p.m.; PJ’s Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave, Detroit; $7.
Super Whatevr, Chapel, Happy 6:30 p.m.; Pike Room, 1 S. Saginaw, Pontiac; $13.
The Magic Bag Presents Elliot Moss 8 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $16.
Thursday, Feb. 27
Saturday, Feb. 29
070 Shake 7 p.m.; El Club, 4114 W. Vernor Hwy., Detroit; $15-$18.
The Music of Duke Ellington: On a Turquoise Cloud 8 p.m.; The Cube, 3711 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $25+.
Cam’Ron 8 p.m.; Blind Pig, 208 S. First St., Ann Arbor; $25.
OPEN EVERY DAY INCLUDING HOLIDAYS INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK: THEOLDMIAMI CALL US FOR BOOKING! 313-831-3830
New Opera Workshop: Tales from the Briar Patch 8 p.m.; University of Michigan School of Music, 911 N. University, Ann Arbor; Free.
The Old Miami
Refused 6 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $38.
3930 Cass • Cass Corridor • 313-831-3830
Friday, Feb. 28
Sheila Landis & Rick Matle 6 p.m.; Center Line Public Library, 7345 Weingartz, Center Line; Free.
Bambara 7 p.m.; PJ’s Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave, Detroit; $12.
28 February 26-March 3, 2020 | metrotimes.com
RETO STURCHI
Palmer Woods Music in Homes presents Black History Month with Jannina and Jason: Classical and Beyond 8 p.m.; Detroit’s Historic Palmer Woods, Palmer Woods, Detroit; $50+. Radical Face 6:30 p.m.; El Club, 4114 W. Vernor Hwy., Detroit; $22-$25. Ryan Hurd 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s
Trapt 6 p.m.; Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $20.
Sunday, March 1 Alta Boover: A Woman’s Life (and Love) 2 p.m.; Kerrytown Concert House, 415 N. Fourth Ave., Ann Arbor; $10+ Deau Eyes (VA), Jackamo, Craig Garwood 8 p.m.; PJ’s Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; $5. John “Tbone” Paxon & RJ Spangler Quintet CD Release Party 7 p.m. liff ell’s, 0 0 Park ve., etroit $10. Lespecial 7 p.m.; Otus Supply, 345 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; $12-$14. Sleep On It 6 p.m.; Pike Room, 1 S. Saginaw, Pontiac; $15. While She Sleeps 5:30 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $18.
Monday, March 2 Destroyer with Eleanor Friedberger 7 p.m.; Deluxx Fluxx, 1274 Library St., Detroit; $15+.
Tuesday, March 3 Dashboard Confessional 6 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $48+.
6 p.m., Saturdays, noon and Sundays, noon; Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit; Free; 313-8337900. Exhibition: “Abstraction, Color, and Politics in the 60s and 70s: Kaleidoscope” Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sundays, noon-5 p.m.; University of Michigan Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor; Free.
Sunset Boulevard, Redford Theatre, Feb. 28.
Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, and Yo-Yo Ma 7:30 p.m.; Hill Auditorium, 825 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor; Sold-out, wait-list only.
THEATER Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Thursday and Friday, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, 2 & 7:30 p.m., Sunday, March 1, 1 & 6:30 p.m.; Fisher Theatre, 3011 W. Grand River Ave., Detroit; $33. Music Hall Presents Lightwire Theatre Moon Mouse A Space Oddity Sunday, March 1, 4 p.m.; The Music Hall, 350 Madison Ave., Detroit; $10-$20. Next to Normal Through March 15. Fridays, Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. and Sundays, 2 p.m.; Monster Box Theatre, 2529 Elizabeth Lake Rd, Waterford; $29+. Roadsigns Through March 14. Thursdays, 3 & 8 p.m., Fridays, 8 p.m., Saturdays, 3 & 8 p.m., Sundays, 2 p.m.; Purple Rose Theatre, 137 Park St., Chelsea; $28+.
COMEDY All-Star Showdown Fridays, Saturdays, 8 & 10 p.m.;Go Comedy! Improv Theater, 261 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; $20.
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Monday Night Improv Mondays, 8-10 p.m.; Planet Ant Black Box, 2357 aniff Street, Hamtramck . Pandemonia Every other Friday, 8 & 10 p.m.; Go Comedy! Improv Theater, 261 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; $20. Sunday Buffet Sundays, 7 p.m.; Go Comedy! Improv Theater, 261 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; $10. Thursday Night Live! Thursdays, 0 p.m. nt Hall, 0 aniff St., Hamtramck; $5.
DANCE 91st Annual Spring Dance Concert Thursday, 7:30 p.m. and Friday 10 a.m. & 7:30 p.m.; Bonstelle Theatre, 3424 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $29. Cunningham Saturday 2, 4:30 & 7 p.m.; Detroit Film Theatre, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $7.50-9.50.
FILM Disney’s Moana Sunday, March 1, 3 p.m.; The Berman Center for the Performing Arts, 6600 W. Maple Rd., West loomfield . Leave Her To Heaven Saturday, 2 p.m.; Redford Theatre, 17360 Lahser Rd, Detroit; $5.
Andrew Santino Friday, 6:30 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; Sold-out.
Looper Friday & Saturday, midnight; Main Art Theatre, 118 N. Main St., Royal Oak; $7,
Byron Legacy Show Saturday, 8 p.m.; Andiamo Celebrity Showroom, 7096 E. 14 Mile Rd., Warren; $59, includes dinner.
My Brother’s Wedding Thursday, 7 p.m.; Detroit Film Theatre, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $7.50-$9.50.
Cocktail Comedy Hour Fridays, Saturdays, 8-9 p.m.; The Independent omedy lub at Planet nt, 0 aniff Ave., Hamtramck; $10. Fresh Sauce Sundays, 9 p.m.; Go Comedy! Improv Theater, 261 E. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale; Free. Laffs in the Lair Presents The Homance Chronicles Friday,7 p.m.; Green Brain Comics, 13936 Michigan Ave., Dearborn; Free.
Sunset Boulevard Friday, 8 p.m.; Redford Theatre, 17360 Lahser Rd, Detroit; $5. Valley of the Dolls Saturday, 8 p.m.; Redford Theatre, 17360 Lahser Rd, Detroit; $5.
ART American Paintings Through April 5; Oakland University Art Gallery, Oakland University, Rochester; Free. Drawing in the Galleries Fridays,
Exhibition: “Collection Ensemble” (April 2, 2019–ongoing) Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sundays, noon-5 p.m.; University of Michigan Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor; Free. Exhibition: “Cullen Washington, Jr.: The Public Square” Through May 17. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sundays, noon-5 p.m.; University of Michigan Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor; Free. Exhibition: “Pan-African Pulp: A Commission by Meleko Mokgosi” Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 am-5 p.m. and Sundays, noon-5 p.m.; University of Michigan Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor; Free. Exhibition: “Reflections: An Ordinary Day” Through May 10. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sundays, noon-5 p.m.; University of Michigan Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor; Free. Exhibition: “Witness Lab” Through May 24. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 11 am-5 p.m. and Sundays, 12-5 p.m.; University of Michigan Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor; Free. In the Beginning… Through March 31. 5:30-8 p.m.; Detroit Center for Design + Technology, 4219 Woodward Ave., Detroit; F LECTURE: DEBORAH KAWSKY ON RUTH ADLER SCHNEE Sunday March 1, 2-3 p.m.; Cranbrook Art Museum, . oodward ve., loomfield Hills; Free and open to the public. Organic Fiction by Hava Gurevich Mondays-Fridays, 8:30 am; Farmington Hills City Hall, 31555 W. 11 Mile, Farmington Hills; Free. The Big Picture Guided Tour Tuesdays-Sundays, 1 p.m., Fridays, 6 p.m. and Saturdays, Sundays, 3 p.m.; Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit; Free. Highlights of the Permanent Collection Thursdays, 1 p.m.; Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit; Free. QUEEN: From the Collection of CCH Pounder Friday 9 am; Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, 315 E. Warren Ave., Detroit; Museum admission.
metrotimes.com | February 26-March 3, 2020
29
THIS WEEK are in support of the headliner, Virginiabased li Thibodeau, who performs gritty indie rock as Deau Eyes. —Jerilyn Jordan
SATURDAY, 2/29 Bernie Sanders Fundraiser
Doors open at 8 p.m.; 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; 313-961-4668; pjslagerhouse. com. Cover is $5.
@ Marble Bar
After four emotionally taxing years under human sack of shit-turned-Commander in Chief Donald Trump, it’s time to take a leap — no, not off of a bridge or anything though we’ve been tempted regularly since the morning of ov. , 0 , but at the polls. On March 10, Michigan voters will get the chance to vote in the Democratic primary, which means they’ll be presented with a big decision. You have plenty of options in the crowded field of contenders, but let’s be real It’s ernie or bust. Sen. ernie Sanders is the clear Democratic Party frontrunner and arguably the only candidate who can take down Trump in a debate, which is why Marble ar is backing the 7 year old democratic socialist cutie and “Medicare for ll” bulldog with a fundraiser on eap ay with some dope sets. yan Spencer and Mike Medow will hit the decks, as will adylike, enjiro, eige, eon amar, Scott acharias, and ill Spencer, with video projections by ance Gilbert. In addition to donating the door charge for the event, Marble ar will donate a portion of the bar proceeds to back ernie’s campaign — because when they go low, we get high. —Jerilyn Jordan Doors open at 9 p.m.; 1501 Holden St., Detroit; 313-338-3674; eventseeker.com. Cover is a $5 minimum donation.
SUNDAY, 3/1 John “Tbone” Paxton and the RJ Spangler Quintet CD Release @ Cliff Bell’s
or local ja heads, the name ohn “Tbone” Pa ton is a familiar one. ot only as a celebrated trombone soloist and rotating bandleader for Planet onet, the Sun Messengers, and others, but also as a ja and rhythm vocalist. or his latest endeavor, he’s teamed up with longtime collaborator Spangler for Back in Your Own Backyard, a selection of 100-year-old tunes that span traditional ja , as well as transitional rhythm and blues. Tbone refers to the songs selected for this project as “non standard standards” — in other words, some preII deep cuts. Though the songs may not be classic ja bangers, the songs on Back in Your Own Backyard were selected for their emotive range because ain’t that
TUESDAY, 3/3 Super Tuesday Bernie Bash @ Loving Touch
Jackamo, PJ’s Lager House, March 1.
NORMAN HUANG
Livewire
Local music picks y M sta what ja is about, anyway Pa ton and the Spangler uintet will perform in honor of their collaborative release at liff ell’s. —Jerilyn Jordan Doors open at 7 p.m.; 2030 Park Ave., Detroit li ells. om. Tickets are $10.
the late ick rake. oining Garwood is etroit indie trio ackamo. Sisters lison and Tessa Wiercioch perform alongside guitarist bestie immy Showers for some sunshiney folk harmoni ation that gives us some major irst id it feels. oth acts
, , we’re clearly a little slutty for ernie Sanders. ut we’re not alone. ike, hello Health care is a human right. Though Michigan isn’t heading to the polls on Super Tuesday remember, we vote on March 0 the oving Touch has recruited some fellow ernie bros and babes to perform to raise some funds for the largest grassroots presidential campaign in history, with ero monies from bogus billionaires, on the big primary day. eading the pack of bands lending their tunes are lint based punk rockers the Werewolves; noise rockers Those Hounds “geek rockers” Yes o ait new garage rock ensemble i y Hotel the lit ers, who released their second EP, Noble Rot, in January; the Paycheck Brigade; and John Penman. During the event, T will screen live primary results, and volunteers will be on site to collect your ernie bucks. —Jerilyn Jordan Doors open at 7 p.m.; 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; 248-820-5596; thelovingtouchferndale.com. Event is free, donations for Bernie’s campaign are optional/encouraged.
SUNDAY, 3/1 Jackamo and Craig Garwood in support of Deau Eyes @ PJ’s Lager House
How do we love 21-year-old Detroit singersongwriter raig Garwood et us count the ways. o, but seriously, Garwood is cut from the same rare and intimate and vulnerable songwriting cloth as the late, great angel lliott Smith. ot only has he been making tunes since before he was of legal drinking age — like, lots of them — but he is such a prolific artist that he was able to drop 2019’s Weed Plant, a stunning track compilation album of songs that didn’t make it on previous records and includes covers of lliott Smith’s “ hatever olk Song in ” and “Place to e” by
30 February 26-March 3, 2020 | metrotimes.com
John TBone Paxton and RJ Spangler, Cliff Bells, March 1.
DETROIT MUSIC FACTORY
Steve Martin and Martin Short Michigan Lottery Amphitheater at Freedom Hill, Sep. 11, 7 p.m., $35+
Fast-Forward
Thundercat Majestic Theatre, March 17, 8 p.m., $30
Billy Joel Comerica Park, July 10, 7 313PRESENTS p.m., $123+
Blake Shelton Little Caesars Arena, March 21, 7 p.m.; $64+
Guns ‘N Roses with the Smashing Pumpkins Comerica Park, July 10, 7 p.m., $76+
Billie Eilish Little Caesars Arena, March 23, 7 p.m., Sold-out Elton John Little Caesars Arena, May 1-2, 7 p.m., $250+ Bikini Kill Royal Oak Music Theatre, May 23, 7 p.m., $39.50+ Tame Impala Little Caesars Arena, May 31, 7 p.m., $47.75 Slipknot DTE Energy Music Theatre, June 8, 7 p.m., $39.50+ The Rolling Stones Ford Field, June 10, 7 p.m., $135+ Maroon 5 DTE Energy Music Theatre, June 16, 7 p.m., $100+ Halsey DTE Energy Music Theater, June 26, 7 p.m., $70+ Alice Cooper DTE Energy Music Theatre, June 27, 7 p.m., $29.50+ The Weeknd Little Caesars Arena, June 27, 7 p.m., $29.50+ Journey DTE Energy Music Theater, July 5, 7 p.m., $35+
Rage Against The Machine Little Caesars Arena, July 13 & 15, 7 p.m., $125+ Harry Styles Little Caesars Arena, July 17, 7 p.m., $79.50+ Bon Jovi with Bryan Adams Little Caesars Arena, July 19, 7 p.m., $39.50+ Daryl Hall & John Oates DTE Energy Music Theatre, July 20, 7 p.m., $29.50+ Alanis Morissette DTE Energy Music Theatre, July 21, 7 p.m., $81+ Dead & Company DTE Energy Music Theatre, July 22, 7 p.m., $61.50+ Backstreet Boys DTE Energy Music Theatre, July 23, 7:30 p.m., $69.50+ Rod Stewart with Cheap Trick DTE Energy Music Theatre, July 25, 7 p.m., $39.50+ Goo Goo Dolls Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill, Aug. 9, 7 p.m., $29.50+ Green Day, Weezer, Fall Out Boy Comerica Park, Aug. 19. 7 p.m., $59.50+
metrotimes.com | February 26-March 3, 2020
31
MUSIC A sonic trip
An interview with the genre-bending band Saajtak, plus our picks for 11 other acts to catch at Hamtramck Music Fest y e Milo
“I knew I wanted this to be an
exploration,” says Ben Willis, recollecting his first year in music school and admitting his motives may have been different from those who were predominantly focused on technique or theory. illis is one of four multi instrumentalists comprising Saajtak, a certifiable oltron like convergence of virtuosos who each share that resolve, that embrace, of e ploration. The band is one of 00 artists to be featured throughout the seventh annual weekend long Hamtramck Music est, taking over venues across the city, the culmination of entirely volunteer run coordination and community support. illis who’s on bass met his bandmates le oi vocals , Simon le ander dams electronics , and onathan Taylor drums when they were all studying in the M School of Music back in 0 . le ander dams says illis was the “missing piece,” who joined just after this group’s first few months together, when Saajtak was a trio. The word “e plore” continually comes up in our conversation, and it couldn’t fit the band’s aesthetic any better Saajtak utili es each instrumentalist’s training in ja and improvisation to arrange transfi ing suites that sound invigoratingly untamed, like seven minute odysseys through e perimental electronica, post rock, trip hop, and cosmic opera. The band has released
four Ps in four years, including f o Ask, from the late summer of 0 , featuring an acoustic version of one of their songs, a cameo from nn rbor emcee adence, and a remi treatment from onathan Snipes of the band lipping. “ s avant garde as we come off, this is actually the most commercial band I’ve been part of,” illis says. “To me, I think Saajtak is like a rock band.” The band credits its strength to its omnivorous musical habits “ y listening to a lot of very diverse music and musicians, you start to more rapidly understand different structural languages,” le ander dams says. Taylor says that a strict digest of challenging music can wind up being enlightening — to where, after consistent listens, something can spark, “and suddenly, this dense, incomprehensible cloud suddenly has clarity.” “There’s something so interesting about an artist who shares their true, authentic self through their work,” says oi, who called in to this interview, as she splits time between etroit and ew York more on that later . “Something about fringe art, especially fringe music, really captivates my attention because often times you’ll hear people taking risks in order to convey essentially what they’re really feeling. vant garde music and art very much gets at the root of something and is about peeling back layers and looking at the
thing — as it is, as it’s e isting. That’s always been something that, naturally, I want to do with my music.” oi credits supportive parents who encouraged her from a very early age to pursue her vocal talent. “It’s a gift that I don’t take lightly,” says oi, who recently performed at a gala event honoring aurie nderson, a pioneer in modern e perimental music. She also auditioned for and joined the cast of an opera piece by Toshi eagon adapting ctavia utler’s arable of the ower. Meanwhile, as a solo artist, she just released her debut single, “ ast Goodbye.” ach member has interesting and noteworthy projects on the side of Saajtak. le ander dams speciali es in interactive media development, programming projections and visuals, and recently had the opportunity to design a light show for a large scale adornment in Shen hen, hina. He says he was exposed to an eclectic range of music in his youth, but that acts like phe Twin, oards of anada, and Portishead really had an impact. hen le ander dams got his first digital audio workstation, it didn’t occur to him to try any YouTube tutorials, and instead “e plored everything about it until I understood it.” He grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota — crediting, like oi, an upbringing that was very supportive of music and creativity. It led him to
“be very open minded about music, and art in general.” Taylor grew up in nn rbor, e pressing gratitude for a band director in school who, as it happened, “was really into very percussive heavy pieces.” “I was e posed to lots of music from my brother, which ranged from The ho to Method Man to harles Mingus, and had some very forward looking friends that got me into the M label dition of ontemporary Music and weird metal,” he says. hile Taylor played in the genres of rock, ja , metal, and even marching band, he said that, as a drummer, he felt frustrated before he got to college, as he was eager to find a means of taking “all of these different musical styles I was pulling from” and find “an outlet for all of them to be filtered through. I didn’t understand why they all couldn’t just communicate with each other.” Taylor leads several other groups, including Teiku, which reframes his family’s ancestral Passover melodies in a creative music setting, and he’s developing a new project ourishing his curiosity with and inspiration from the natural world, particularly the way that root systems of plants e change nutrients and information. illis says that it can sometimes be a struggle, but also quite a strength “that we’re all doing so much outside of the band. e all come to the table with so
11 other acts to catch at Hamtramck Music Fest Starting Thursday, Hamtramck turns into an odyssey of live local music. Thursday’s kick off festivities will be hosted at Bar/ter and High ive, and then the Hamtramck Music est e pands to more than 0 venues, each hosting four band lineups. Purchasing a wristband will get you all access to various venues throughout the weekend you can find a list of locations selling wristbands at hamtramckmusicfest.com or follow HM on acebook or Instagram . You can also pick up your
wristband, will-call style, on the night of the kick off party, tomorrow, at ar ter. ate to the party You can stop by HM headquarters at 00 oseph ampau on riday or Saturday evening to grab last minute wristbands. Proceeds from this grassroots volunteer powered event go toward the purchase of music and art equipment for local public school students. long with Saajtak, we’ve got more can’t miss acts for Year 7 of HM
32 February 26-March 3, 2020 | metrotimes.com
Bad Fashion
h rsday, i h Dive, .m. ecently featured in M ’s rtists to atch in 0 0, this solo project by songwriter ustin arpenter combines surfy riffs, new wave, and electro pop.
Maiyana Davis
h rsday, ar ter, .m. Maiyana avis will supercharge the kick off festivities with a fiery blend of garage rock and blues. There’s grit, mo ie, and mightiness in both
her impassioned lead vocals and the face melting capacities of her riffs and solos.
Girl Fight
riday, his ey in the ar, .m. Girl ight is punk rock that gets right down to the point forthright lyrics, fierce vocal delivery, primal drum pounds, guttural guitars, pure adrenaline tempos, and status quo shattering urgency.
Saajtak.
much more because of that.” Willis, meanwhile, just wrapped up recording a new album with Madison, Wisconsinbased jazz group Lovely Socialite (in which his membership predates Saajtak). He has a solo performance piece he’s been adapting for the last five years called “Subatlantic Songs,” a featured piece in the Ann Arbor Film Fest (a music video for local punk-rock auteur Throwaway), and he’s developing his
Pancho
NOEL WOODFORD
composition for four double basses, “ onewater,” into a short film. As Saajtak, Alexander-Adams says, “most of our ideas emerge through improvising. We’re working on streamlining our process so that we can write something that has complexity and depth, but do it faster.” As Koi puts it, with poetic urgency, “Everything happens simultaneously … but we’ve gotten faster at completing the songs.”
Earth Engine
Friday, Painted Lady, 10:30 p.m. rothers Tino and olando find a universal strand of musical DNA that’s shared between punk and mariachi — as awareness spreading, fiery folk music.
Friday, Ghost Light, 12:15 a.m. An adventurous and experimental ensemble with grand space-rock ballads that forge funk with free-jazz and their own signature psychedelia.
Ilajide
Saturday, Outer Limits, 10:45 p.m. This punk-rock power trio gracefully balances grit and volatility with tight hooks, solid grooves, and anthemic harmonic blends of two lead vocalists threading inventive progressions and melodies throughout stormy and intensive dynamic shifts.
Friday, High Dive, 12:15 a.m. A solo artist known from the last decade’s worth of recording and performing with hip-hop group Clear Soul Forces, Ilajide has a powerful stage presence, with bold, defiant, and socially conscious lyrics threaded through conceptual metaphors.
Milk Bath
It’s the tricky balance of thinking, unconsciously, like a composer, and having a keen sense of structure, even in the midst of explorative improv. It evokes an analogy to the careful but hurried art of throwing clay into shape while it’s on a spinning wheel. “Earlier in the band, we may have tended to throw the clay on the oor and take time figuring out what to make,” says Willis, embracing that comparison.
Raazzz
“Now, the process is very much, ‘Let’s make a pot! Let’s make a jar! Let’s make a vase!’ ... We have a language of our own now.” Saajtak performs on Friday, Feb. 28 as part of the Hamtramck Music Festival a the New Dodge Lounge, 8850 Joseph Campau Ave., Hamtramck; 313-8745963. Full schedule can be found at hamtramckmusicfest.com.
and releasing singles like “Mountain of Love.”
Saturday, Ghost Light, 10:45 p.m. Jump on the proverbial bandwagon right from the get-go when you see this debut performance from Raazzz: this newer group’s comprised of longtime local players who just put out their first album combining melodic alt-pop, twangy country, and raucous garage rock.
Saturday, Whiskey in the Jar, 11:30 p.m. Ypsilanti’s soul-rock songstress leads a fantastic ensemble of players keenly capable of conjuring a dreamy, cosmic vibe.
Ultimate Ovation
Bave
Saturday, Polish Sea League, 11:15 p.m. This legendary local soul and R&B trio was founded back in the late ’60s, running its own label (Ultimate 1999)
Dani Darling
Saturday, Ghost Light, 11:30 p.m. A tremulous duo unleashing an intense post-rock thrash-up of mathy arrangements and punk-metal energy.
metrotimes.com | February 26-March 3, 2020
33
CULTURE The new is now
How the world finally caught up with mid-century modern design pioneer Ruth Adler Schnee By Ana Gavrilovska
“I just loved what I was doing, and I wasn’t scared,” 96-year-old textile artist and interior planner Ruth Adler Schnee says when asked about the time she went to the showing of the Degenerate Art Exhibition in Düsseldorf, held by the Nazis as Hitler came to power and Kristallnacht was on the horizon. Adler Schnee was 14, Jewish, obsessed with modern art, and desperate to attend the exhibit. “My parents absolutely did not want me to go to that exhibit,” she says. “I was a noodge. You know what a noodge is?” I don’t, and I say so. “One who doesn’t stop mentioning the things she wants to do,” Adler Schnee says with a laugh. “And I very much wanted to do that. They were examining people, and of course, there was incredible anti-Semitism, so they could’ve put me in jail. But that never crossed my mind.” The exhibit was supposed to back up the Nazis’ claim that modern art was degrading German culture. But the effect on young dler Schnee was very much the opposite. “Once I got to see the art, I was beside myself,” she recalled in an oral history conducted by her daughter Anita Schnee back in 2003. “I had never seen colors so brilliant and so unusually put together as in the Kandinsky paintings. It was as though I had been introduced to a new world. And I came home just totally transported by that.” Color has been instrumental in Adler Schnee’s life. Her mother was a student of the foundational modernist German art school Bauhaus. Swiss painter Paul Klee, who also taught there, was a family friend. Her background was unusually positioned toward art at an extremely young age. She took to it with great pleasure, designing her own clothes as early as age 4. On her first day of school, she wore a brilliant yellow sweater her mother had knitted specifically for the occasion. hen her teacher saw her come through the door, she raised her arms and said, “Ah, now comes the radiant sun.” Adler Schnee’s radiance has never dimmed. Now we get to experience the first full reckoning of her design
The interior of Ruth Adler Schnee’s store on 12th Street.
career with an exhaustive exhibit at Cranbrook Art Museum. It includes everything from the screenprinted mid-century patterns she designed in the ’40s and ’50s to the revitalized woven forms of those designs in the ’90s — the work she is best known for in our current era — to more obscure items like a variety of one off custom rugs she created, as well as printed material, including photos and advertisements related to Adler-Schnee Associates, the retail business she and her husband, Eddie, ran together. Adler Schnee herself may be slight in stature, but nothing else in her life could be described that way. One glance through the exhibit immediately makes that evident. Much like her work, Adler Schnee is magnificent, colorful, brave, pioneering, uncompromising, steadfast, and true — a vibrant storyteller conversationally and artistically. One of the
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last living figures of the mid century modern design movement. A style connected to ideas of democratic design, mid-century modern placed emphasis on function as much as form and organic shapes. It was in uenced in equal measure by the International Style, a modernist form of architecture that was developed in the 1920s and 1930s, and the modernist principles of the Bauhaus movement, named for the prestigious German art school that incubated it. Adler Schnee’s family persevered through the escalating persecution of Jews in Germany; when her father was detained and then interned at the Dachau concentration camp, her mother worked tirelessly to get him released and, somewhat miraculously, was successful. The family secured a trip to the United States and set about rebuilding their lives in metro De-
COURTESY OF CRANBROOK ART MUSEUM
troit. Adler Schnee eventually went to Cass Technical High School to study fashion. On the strength of this work, she got a full scholarship to the Rhode Island School of Design for fashion, but switched to interior design early in her studies. She was interested in modern architecture and eventually landed a job with Raymond Loewy, who is now sometimes known as the Father of Industrial Design. Adler Schnee worked there long enough to create lasting relationships with architects arren Platner and Minoru Yamasaki, the latter of whom designed the original orld Trade enter, with colors for the lobby specified by none other than Ruth Adler Schnee. dler Schne was quite happy at work in New York, but was persuaded to return to Michigan after Cranbrook awarded her a fellowship in the design department. She was one of the first
Ruth Adler Schnee working with designs for Slits and Slats and Pits and Pods
Jewish women to receive this honor, as well as one of the first women to graduate from Cranbrook with an MFA in esign. “ hen I studied architecture, the field was not open to women,” dler Schnee says. “ nd I found myself, all the time, to be the only one that was interested in that. ut that didn’t seem to stop me.” ddly enough, dler Schnee’s path toward te tiles was shaped by sheer happenstance, a byproduct of the fact that there were no drapes on the market that were modern enough for her vision when she was working on her entry for the Chicago Tribune’s Better Rooms for Better Living residential
design competition. She imagined her own and drew them in. hen this design won, dler Schnee heard from an architectural firm interested in purchasing the drapes. hen they found out the drapes didn’t e ist, the firm offered dler Schnee a deposit to bring them to life. She had taken a class or two on te tiles, but it was by no means a focus of her studies at ranbrook. There she had leaned toward architecture and interiors, color planning, working with light and shadow, and how all elements of space interacted with one another. ut with the support of the firm who wanted her drapes, opening her own
COURTESY OF CRANBROOK ART MUSEUM
design studio and screenprinting workshop seemed to make perfect sense. It was 7, and dler Schnee was only years old. dler Schnee talked about this first studio, which was on th Street in the heart of oston dison, with her daughter nita back in 00 . “The front was open to the public,” she said. “ ord got around that I had this little shop, and people came by. I felt I should have something in the front window, so I purchased an ames chair, a little noll table, and I had a friend who was a potter in ermont — ancy ickham, who supplied the most beautiful pots.”
hen her husband, dward Schnee, came on, the two continued the printing business on th Street and rented the garage in back. “People had to go through the alley, which was strewn with garbage and beer cans, to get to that garage, which ddie painted green,” dler Schnee says. “He did it after shop hours. He would come home totally covered in green paint, his shoes, everything. He sprayed the walls green. e displayed fine crystal there. I don’t know to this day how people got back through that alley.” dward Schnee was uth’s one true love and a fountain of support. “I had a wonderful husband who didn’t mind spending hours talking about good design and why we liked it and why it was important to have it around you,” dler Schnee says. This was particularly important when it came to running the retail side of their business, dler Schnee ssociates. In the store, they sold dler Schnee’s own designs, as well as a number of highly curated modernist pieces of home d cor. ddie had a degree in accounting from Yale, but after marrying he settled into the business role of dler Schnee ssociates, making sure their finances were in order, as well as chasing the perfect modernist pieces across the country. He was totally convinced of the value and beauty of this aesthetic, so much so that he forked over more than they could really afford for an ames wood laminated screen, then priced at 7 . It stood in their show window, undesired by the general population, for two years, and was eventually donated to a public radio station. Much later, dler Schnee learned it had been auctioned off for , 00. Art historian Deborah Kawsky met dler Schnee in 0 when she began researching an le ander Girard designed home that had recently been re discovered in Grosse Pointe. This work would later be published in awsky’s first book, Alexander Girard, Architect: Creating Midcentury Modern Masterpieces. n architect and designer particularly well known for his colorful fabrics and deep rooted interest in folk art, Girard was instrumental in the visual cues of mid century modern. dler Schne had worked with him on the iconic For Modern Living e hibition held at the etroit Institute of rts in , which displayed the work of many of the modernist figures whose careers dler Schnee crossed paths with, including Yamasaki, groundbreaking architect and furniture designer harles ames, and neo futuristic designer ero Saarinen — son of liel Saarinen, who designed the ranbrook campus and became president of the ranbrook cademy of rt.
metrotimes.com | February 26-March 3, 2020
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CULTURE Working together on this project led to a deeper collaboration between the two women that turned into a friendship as they criss-crossed the country attending openings and giving lectures. “We were design partners on the road,” Kawsky says, an experience that has given her a unique perspective on Adler Schnee’s understated role in this design movement. Even though Adler Schnee’s textiles are designed in two dimensions — “I am totally uninterested in computers and the new world,” she says, and has always only used her pencil and the T-square — she was always thinking in three dimensions, according to Kawsky. This comes from the foundational design philosophy taught at Cranbrook, a concept that essentially boiled down to the importance of the aesthetic unity of total design. Patterns, colors, textures, furnishings — everything had a necessary role to play in the larger architectural environment of a space. “When people view her textiles, they’re always talking about this pure aesthetic pleasure that they find in them,” Kawsky says. “Of course, she has these characteristic bold colors and patterns and the playful names that were conceived by Eddie. But that pleasure is not at all re ected in her own experience as a designer. She describes the design process as pure agony.” Adler Schnee could spend several years on some designs, reworking until she was satisfied to the best degree. How did she know when a design was finished “ ell, you’ll probably laugh at this, but somehow it sings to me,” she says. She laughs when I tell her I find that wonderful, but it even makes a kind of aesthetic sense; some of her patterns have a decidedly musical quality to their appearance. The agony of the process also goes back to her training at Cranbrook. Kawsky explains: “Eliel Saarinen had this dictum: art and design cannot be taught. It must be learned. They didn’t tell you what to do; they put you in a studio and said ‘Create.’ She said it was lonely and terrifying at first, but it was ultimately rewarding because it instilled in her this personal and professional discipline.” When asked now about what inspires her, Adler Schnee thinks for a moment and simply says, “Everything.” “She’s pulling almost exclusively from landscape and space,” exhibition curator Ian Gabriel Wilson says. “The built landscape and the natural landscape.” Biomorphism is a fancy way to refer to this artistic element, which evokes
Schnee at the CAM Ruth Haystack Opening December 13, 2019.
nature through abstract patterns and shapes. An early biomorphic pattern known as “Germination” was conceived on Adler Schnee’s honeymoon in the Southwest, inspired by the striations in the hilly landscape. Patterns like “Central Park South,” “Country Fair,” and “Spiney Pines” all clearly evoke environments. Eddie’s humor in naming her work is on display with “Bugs in Booby Traps,” an odd visual pairing of chopped triangles and balloon-animal-circles that does, indeed, suggest trapped bugs. Adler-Schnee Associates moved four times. The initial studio was relocated to a larger spot on Puritan Avenue, then moved to the Avenue of Fashion on Livernois. Adler Schnee recalls that the students of U of D’s architectural department were always in and out, given that the campus was right down the street. “They had very little money so they were not the best customers that we had, but they were certainly loyal,” Adler Schnee says with a laugh. The final move was to etroit’s Harmonie Park, made possible by Eddie’s remarkable ability to convince local retail giant Hudson’s to invest in their tiny little store using a “David and Goliath” marketing angle. Somehow it worked. Hudson’s got a ta write off, and Adler Schnee and Eddie got their downtown store. The store stayed there until 1976 when it closed its physical doors. (The business lived on with interior planning and consulting projects, among other things.) Adler Schnee stopped creating new
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SARAH BLANCHETTE
PD REARICK
textile designs in the ’60s, but by the time the ’90s rolled around, the world was starting to come around to the colorful promises of mid-century modern. She was approached by te tile firms to bring some of her original designs back to life, as well as create new ones. Museums started noticing and exhibiting her work. 2010 brought a documentary, The Radiant Sun: Designer Ruth Adler Schnee. In 2015, she was named a Kresge Eminent Artist and signed a 20-year-contract with Knoll Textiles. This year, Adler Schnee’s life and career are the subject of a new book, Ruth Adler Schnee: Modern Designs for Living, the comprehensive companion piece to the Cranbrook exhibit. In 1946, in her thesis at Cranbrook, Adler Schnee wrote, “The new is now.” Somehow, the spirit of this senti-
ment seems not to have faded at all in the intervening years. “There is no reason to fight for acknowledgement of contemporary design,” she wrote. “We are ready to accept it.” It may have taken longer than anticipated, but for Adler Schnee’s forward-thinking vision, her embrace of modernity and color, its brilliance and light, acceptance has undeniably arrived. Ruth Adler Schnee: Modern Designs for Living is on view at the Cranbrook Art Museum through March 15. You can hear Deborah Kawsky speak at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 1, at the Cranbrook Art Museum deSalle Auditorium; 39221 oodward Ave., loomfield ills ranbroo artm se m.or . Lecture is free and open to the public, museum admission is $10.
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CULTURE
Means of Production made a name for themselves with a smart campaign spot for U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Now they’re launching a leftist streaming service with Means TV. COURTESY OF MEANS TV
Reality bites
Billed as the first ‘post-capitalist streaming service,’ Means TV launches this week in Detroit — with an aim to portray the world as it really is By Lee DeVito
In 2018, when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez burst onto the scene as an underdog candidate for U.S. Representative of New York’s 14th Congressional District, she did so with the help of a scrappy but smart campaign video shot by a pair of Democratic Socialists from Detroit: Naomi Burton and Nick Hayes, of Means of Production. The video cost the duo less than $10,000 to shoot, largely because they simply followed Ocasio-Cortez around, showing the real her. “This race is about people versus money,” Ocasio-Cortez
says in the ad. “We’ve got people. They’ve got money.” Within a day, the video had amassed more than 300,000 views — and helped secure OcasioCortez’s stunning victory. Burton says that, at the time, Hollywood producers started reaching out to the duo to congratulate them on their success. That’s when she and Hayes started talking about their next idea: a leftist, worker-owned streaming platform. “We got laughed at for the most part,” Burton says. “They couldn’t understand
38 February 26-March 3, 2020 | metrotimes.com
what we were talking about … they couldn’t understand what a post-capitalist streaming service was. Which is understandable.” But now, once again, Means of Production have proven the power of people over money. Less than a year ago, the duo launched a crowdfunding campaign for Means TV. The new platform celebrates its international launch with a premiere in Detroit on Wednesday. “No advertisements or product placements,” the platform promises in a press release. “No corporate backers or
VC cash ever. Means TV entirely funded by people.” “It’s a post-capitalist, anti-capitalist perspective,” Hayes says. “We have over a do en feature length films, all of them are talking about the different issues we all experience every day under capitalism.” Initial offerings include The Last Days in Chinatown, Detroit artist Nicole Macdonald’s documentary about Midtown’s gentrification. The etroit launch party will screen Gaza Fights for Freedom, a documentary by journalist Abby Martin. There will also be animated shorts, comedy, and even live morning news and sports shows. “The idea is it’s not just a bunch of boring documentaries,” Burton says. “It’s entertaining, but it’s all based in the reality we actually live in — versus the one et i tells us we live in.” The problem with mass entertainment for the past few decades, Hayes says, is a gulf between “what is portrayed on-screen and what normal, working-class people experience” — think Friends, for example, a show about four people who live in what would be a giant, multimillion dollar apartment and somehow they never talk about being able to afford it. “It’s a totally different world,” Hayes says. “And it’s not relatable. What’s so cool about film and television is that it’s an incredible tool for empathy and for relating to other human experiences. But a lot of it is just used for stories that aren’t anything anybody can connect with.” There’s also the fact that, despite all its boasting of “disrupting” the massentertainment industry, a streaming service like et i isn’t really offering any real diversity of perspectives — you still have an idealized version of reality. nd there’s also the fact that et i is, like Hollywood, also backed by venture capital and corporate interests. The company’s CEO, Reed Hastings, for example, is a booster of privatizing schools in Los Angeles. For that reason, Hayes has little faith that et i would ever host a documentary film critical of charter schools. “Our biggest criticism of entertainment, broadly, is the pervasiveness of advertising and venture capital, and shareholders who have significant investments and things like defense or natural gas and oil,” Hayes says. “We think that those same people creating our entertainment is wrong.” To that end, Means TV is funded only by its subscribers, who pay $10 a month for access to Means TV’s library of
metrotimes.com | February 26-March 3, 2020
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CULTURE
Means of Productions’ Naomi Burton and Nick Hayes.
films, as well as a community message board where viewers can discuss the content. Is a et i like subscription model really “post capitalist” “ e’ve gotten that question a lot — like, You’re using money, how is that post capitalist ’” urton says. “It’s like, you know, we are still functioning in this world, and e changing money isn’t capitalism. eing worker owned and people funded is the way we can be totally independent of basically what all other streaming services are beholden to venture capital and cra y rich guys.” The duo say they sourced most of Means T ’s content from like minded individuals, as well as creating their own. “It’s really been ama ing having so many people reach out to us via email or via social media with these incred ible films that either never went any where or they never quite got finished, but they’re this really incredible story and we could help throw a little money and get across the finish line,” Hayes says. “ lot of that has truly been just people reaching out to us, people want ing to have their films on Means T , and us trying to work with them as a studio to get them across the finish line and get it ready for general audiences.” There will also be an original series called Bad Future, which Hayes de scribes as “a dystopian kind of show about, you know, what it’s like to live in a capitalist dystopia like the one we’re currently in,” which was shot in os ngeles. espite the . . connection, urton says for now Means of Production will continue to be based in etroit — “The only place we can afford to be,” she says — which is why etroit gets the world
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COURTESY OF MEANS TV
premiere. s far as the future, she says the hope is to invest any earnings into creating new content. “ e really want this to be a profitable cooperative,” she says. “ e want to be able to hire and pay more people to do this, and then also bridge outside of video to video games, and other spaces that we can make cooperatively to give people a chance to kind of unplug from, like, the corporate jobs that we all are forced to have.” “ ight now, when you think about the media you consume, it’s like, you can go an entire day and consume media that’s just from one conglom erate — you know, you could watch five different shows on three differ ent streaming services that are all by isney, or it’s all iacom, or whatever,” Hayes says. “ e want to create that same sort of situation where it’s like you’re immersed in a world of leftist entertainment — it’s entertainment that is punching up, that aligns with your values. So we want to create that same kind of viewing e perience.” Hayes also says he’s proud that the premiere will be held in etroit. “It’s really cool to be able to have a red carpet event in etroit be based in etroit, and be entertainment that isn’t, like, where every day in the show is sunny and looks e actly the same,” he says. “ ike, this is the Midwest, baby.” “ nd to have an event that’s not, like, sponsored by ord is refreshing in etroit,” urton says. Means TV’s launch party opens to the public at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at Cinema Detroit; 4126 3rd St., Detroit; 313-482-9028; cinemadetroit. om. Admission is free first ome, first served. More information is available at means.tv.
metrotimes.com | February 26-March 3, 2020
41
CULTURE Higher Ground
Politics and marijuana intertwine in 2020 By Larry Gabriel
Celebrities, musicians, sports figures, and even politicians
have had their careers attached to marijuana in numerous ways, both good and bad. It was once big news when anyone of note came out in support of the stuff. ow the leader of the pack in the emocratic presidential primaries at out says that he’ll make marijuana legal. emocratic socialist ernie Sanders would put a lot of capitalists into business with that pronouncement. These days, coming out in support of marijuana legali ation is a little less revolutionary than it once was. rankly, we’ve seen a steady stream of notable names coming through Michigan banging the gong for marijuana for several years now, some of them promoting their own brands. apper erner partnered with Gage to open the ookies provisioning center in etroit last month. f course, rappers and weed have always been closely associated. That has played out in the High Times annabis up events. ust this past ugust, u Tang lan, hain , and arren G performed at the High Time annabis up in etroit. ut then again, the up folks have always brought through high profile rappers for their groundbreaking events. Snoop ogg visited the Green uddha provisioning center in erndale while here for a show in anuary. Professional sports figures are becoming fi tures in the cannabis crowd too — at least retired sports figures. o er Tommy Hearns appeared at I in erndale for that store’s grand opening. etired ed ing arren Mc arty has been a fi ture as a legali ation activist. ion alvin ohnson has a Michigan provisioning center license. Mike ames came out as a marijuana supporter just days before the ions released him and his playing career ended. ormer etroit Piston ohn Salley spoke at last year’s Hash ash. “Salley was a pretty beloved figure on behalf of the Pistons,” says ick ettell, a Hash ash organi er. “I doubt that back then any of his fans thought in 0 years this guy is going to be an
42 February 26-March 3, 2020 | metrotimes.com
advocate for the cannabis cause.” omedian actor Tommy hong has been a cannabis advocate for, like, forever, and has made Michigan one of his regular haunts this past decade. pect his hong’s hoice products to show up around here as recreational marijuana spreads across the state. Politicians are taking their whacks with weed too. ormer ew Me ico Governor Gary ohnson announced his 0 candidacy for president as a libertarian at the 0 Hash ash. ast year, ep. ebbie ingell became the first sitting national politician to speak at the event. ith the emocratic primaries upon us and much of the field in support of legali ation, could we see a high level surrogate for a presidential candidate pop up at the ash ettell’s not naming names but says it’s possible there will be a national politician at this year’s bash pril . “It will be interesting to see how much the emocratic nomination may evolve between now and the Hash ash,” ettell says. It will evolve, and with Hash ash in five weeks, we’ll be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel of this nominating process. e’ll be past Super Tuesday on March , and the less super Tuesday, March 0 the following week that si states, including Michigan, vote in. y then the field will be whittled down from the near 0 candidates we once had to the two or three headed for the finish line. Hash ash attendees will have a sense of whether we’re looking at a emocratic presidential candidate who supports marijuana legali ation at the federal level or not. e’ve had three former presidents, ill linton, George . ush, and arack bama, who used marijuana in their past but stopped using. ow we need a president who sees marijuana in the future. Maybe that’s a little homework for the marijuana gang as we rev up for Hash ash — in March, get out and vote for a candidate who will work to legali e marijuana across the country. If you’re Michigan centric, there’s more work to normali e weed and get
metrotimes.com | February 26-March 3, 2020
43
CULTURE the system straight here. That’s another angle of the looming Hash Bash. “We’re continuing to keep the focus on cannabis and the issues that we face,” says Zettell of Bash organizers. “People want to see a more equitable market — to improve this beyond simple legalization and possession of cannabis. There are issues that are really pertinent right now and cross over to cannabis. Fighting for prison abolition and fighting for justice in climate change — these are really important issues that you might have thought don’t have an immediate relevance to cannabis.” It seems that the tendrils of cannabis in uence travel everywhere. et’s keep in uencing the growth.
Candidates on cannabis
As we approach the March 10 Michigan primary, here’s a little reminder of where the major candidates stand when it comes to marijuana. On Sunday, Feb. 23, Sen. Elizabeth Warren rolled out her plan during a speech in Denver, saying that she would reduce federal funding for law
enforcement to states that won’t legali e marijuana. She also plans measures to keep big tobacco companies from dominating the market, social-equity provisions, and expungement. Warren promises to appoint marijuana friendly people to o ces such as the , , and FDA in order to engage in a process of legalization. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who became the frontrunner this week, says he would legali e marijuana on ay ne, which he probably can’t, but it shows where his heart is. Sanders has the most detailed and far-reaching plan when it comes to legalization. He would deschedule marijuana and remove it from the Controlled Substances Act and create a $10 billion development fund for communities devastated by the war on drugs. Candidates Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Mayor Pete Buttigeig, and Tom Steyer have all said they support legalization at the federal level, but are short on details, and none of them have made the issue a focus of their campaign. According to cannalawblog.com, “(Klobuchar) comes across as having softened on
44 February 26-March 3, 2020 | metrotimes.com
Mike Bloomberg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar. SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
legalization more for political reasons than out of any true commitment and she has done very little to demonstrate that she really wants to legalize marijuana.” Buttigieg doesn’t have much of a record regarding marijuana. He supports legalization but has not actively addressed the issue. Steyer had been mostly silent on the issue, but stepped up with a anuary statement calling for legali ation of marijuana and decriminalization of opioid possession.
ormer ice President oe iden has been reluctant to join the pot party, wavering on the subject. In anuary, he said he’s opposed to legalization without more studies on its health risks. Regarding former New York governor Mike Bloomberg, cannalawblog.com gave him “a D- grade because he does not support the legalization of marijuana and because of his history of anti marijuana rhetoric and policies.” That’s your lineup and their positions on cannabis. Happy voting.
metrotimes.com | February 26-March 3, 2020
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Savage Love
CULTURE
By Dan Savage
Q:
I’m a 31-year-old cis bisexual woman. I’m hetero-romantic and in a monogamish relationship with a man. We play with other people together. I’ve never liked giving blowjobs because I was taught that girls who give blowjobs are “sluts.” Phrases that are meant to be insulting like “You suck,” “Suck it,” “Go suck a dick,” etc., created a strong association in my mind between blowjobs and men degrading women. (Men take what they want, and women get used and called sluts.) As such, I never sucked much dick — and if I did, it was only brie y and never to om letion. also find s it and ome ind of ross. Even when I get really wet during sex, it s a bit of a t rno , and hate that it makes me feel gross and wish I could change my thinking around it. Early in our relationship, my husband noticed the lack of blowjobs and confronted me, saying they were really important to him. At first felt a little inse re about being inadequate in this area, but then I decided to do some research, because I honestly thought it wasn’t just me and most women don’t like giving blowjobs. (Because how could they? It’s so demeaning!) But I learned lots of my female friends enjoy giving blowjobs — they like being in control, giving a partner pleasure, etc. — so I googled ways to start liking blowjobs and I’ve started to get into them! It’s great! Except I still don’t like when he comes in my mouth or if a blowjob gets super spitty. But my husband loves sloppy blowjobs; he says the lubrication feels good and he enjoys the “dirtiness” of it. If I know he’s getting close to coming or if it gets super wet and I have spit all over my face, my a re e a tivates and it s hard to continue. I feel like I’m at an impasse. I want to give him the blowjobs he wants, but I don’t know how to get around (or hopefully start enjoying!) the supersloppy-through-to-completion blowjobs he likes. Do you have any advice? —Sloppy Oral Always Keeps Erections Drenched
A : You play with other people
together, SOAKED, but have you tried observing — by which I mean actively observing, by which I mean actually participating — while your husband gets a sloppy blowjob from someone who really enjoys giving them? If someone else was blowing your husband while you made out with him or sat on his face or played with his tits or whatever might enhance the experience for him … and you watched another woman choke that dick down … you might come to appreciate what’s in it for the
ways: Your body is yours, and what you do with your body is your choice. And you can choose not to press your body against his — or press your face against his — while he’s got a beard. If long business trips are a regular part of your life, maybe he could grow his beard out in your absence and shave when you get home. (Full disclosure: I have a pronounced anti-beard bias, which means I’m not exactly impartial.)
Q:
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
person giving the sloppy blowjob. Most people who were taught that girls who give blowjobs are sluts were also taught that open relationships are wrong and women who have sex with other women are going to hell. You got over what you were taught about monogamish relationships and being bisexual years ago, SOAKED, and recently got over what you were taught about women who enjoy sucking cock. While some people have physical limitations they can’t overcome — some gag re e es are unconquerable — watching someone enjoy something you don’t can make you want to experience it yourself. But even if your observations don’t trigger a desire to get down there and get sloppy and swallow his load yourself, your husband would be getting the kind of blowjobs he enjoys most and you would be an intrinsic part of them. If you set up the date, you’d be making them happen, even if you weren’t doing them. And if you were into the scenario and/or the other woman — if the whole thing got you off, not just off the hook — then there would be something in it for you, too. And take it from me, SOAKED, to be kissed with both passion and gratitude by, say, a husband (ahem) who’s really enjoying something someone else is doing for/to him — whether or not that something is something you also enjoy doing for/to him from time to time — is really fucking hot. So even if you never come around — even if
46 February 26-March 3, 2020 | metrotimes.com
sloppy blowjobs are something you have to outsource permanently — you and your husband can enjoy years of sloppy blowjobs together, with the assistance of a series of very special (and very slutty) guest stars. And you can always get those blowjobs started — the non-sloppy, non-spitty initial phase — before passing the baton off to your guest star.
Q:
Married 40-year-old gay guy here. I hate beards — the look, the feel, the smell — and I miss the good old days when the only beards gay dudes had were metaphorical. When I got back from a long business trip, my hot, sexy, previously smooth husband of many years was sporting a beard. Unsurrisin ly, hate it and find it to be a om lete t rno . owever, he says this is controlling behavior on my part, it’s his body and his choice, and he’s hurt that m re e tin him. e also says ll get used to it and he doesn’t plan to keep it forever. I agree that it’s his body and his choice, but I think he should still take me into consideration, and that it’s actually him who’s rejecting me, by choosing the beard over me. What’s your take? o se s airiness Averts irile Erection
A : I’m with you, SHAVE, but I’m also
with him. It is his body, and growing a beard is something he can choose to do with the face section of his body. But that my body my choice stuff cuts both
I’m a 30-year-old queer cis woman and a late bloomer. My first relationshi — with a hetero cis man — began when was . e was my first se al artner. I fell in love hard, but he broke up with me after almost two years. Months later, I know I’m not ready to fall in love again, but I have a high sex drive. I masturbate frequently, but when I think about playful/romantic sex, the only memories I have are with the ex, which makes me sad. So I watch rough porn, which keeps me from thinking about the ex. But watching bondage videos alone isn’t the sex life I want. Should I Tinder or Lex up some rough casual sex? Get drunk and get some more memories in the mix? (I don’t think I could get out of my head enough to do this sober.) Assuming I minimize the risks of pregnancy and STIs and partners that are bad at consent, what’s the risk of going for it ow does it om are to the ris of getting stuck in this nowhere land and never findin a new love se b ddy r maybe need to et dr n and er o alone without the porn and just feel all my feelings and avoid any risk of crying on some poor stranger? —I Need A Plan Today
A : Do it all, INAPT. Masturbate to
kink porn and feel dirty, masturbate to your memories and feel sad, and put yourself out there on Tinder and Lex and see if there isn’t someone who intrigues you. But stop telling yourself you can’t find romance with a partner you first met up with for rough se . I know lots of people who first met up with someone for rough sex, clicked on a deeper level, started dating, and have since enjoyed years of sex that’s both rough and loving. Finally, booze has a way of intensifying feelings of sadness — so if you don’t want to wind up sobbing on the shoulder of some poor stranger, don’t get drunk before that hookup. On the Lovecast, all things weed with Lester Black: savagelovecast.com. Questions? mail@savagelove.net. Follow Dan on Twitter @fakedansavage.
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48 February 26-March 3, 2020 | metrotimes.com
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CULTURE
I’m not trying to get into a political argument, but that Democratic debate was about as white as the Dakota 500.
HOPSLAM ALE ON DRAFT
ARIES: March 21 – April 20 You’ve got enough to keep you busy; the last thing you need is to have to figure out what to do about your love life in the midst of all this. or the time being, just take care of business and let time handle the relationship piece. iving full on into your goals and work demands will fortify you in ways that make you stronger when your personal life concerns can no longer be ignored. It comes down to priorities. nowing what’s important, even when feelings are boiling over, the wise person never lets the emotional component get the upper hand. TAURUS: April 21 – May 20 aking up is hard to do, but it beats the alternative. s you wipe the dust from your eyes, a lot of things will start to look a little “off.” etting go of who you thought you were will require you to accept radical changes in your relationships. In the same vein, many of you will begin to come to terms with the issues that have made it di cult to connect. s more than you bargained for starts to surface, you’ll need space and time to process a few things. Those closest to you could have a problem with this. e tactful when you tell them you need room to breathe.
Horoscopes
LEO: July 21 – August 20 Stuffed full of beliefs that have less to do with you than they do with the people and systems that shoved them down your throat, you are just waking up to what it means to live your truth. ithin that framework, all of your original response mechanisms are getting shaken and stirred. It could take a while, but by the time spring rolls around, much of who you are will be so revamped that you’ll have a whole new story going. on’t let your current sense of insecurity disturb you. s the dust settles on the idea that you didn’t come here to play it straight, your future will begin to open up. VIRGO: August 21 – Sept. 20 Things are intense. Holding your own at times like this takes more than the usual amount of strength. It’ll be a while before you get to take a breather. s one thing after another demands everything you’ve got, the deeper part of you is ready for it. In some cases, this is just about too much mundane .S. going on all at once. The rule of thumb is “take one thing at a time.” or others, major life milestones are hitting you like a ton of bricks. emember that all of it has a purpose and treat yourself gently. raw your strength from within and keep your faith alive.
By Cal Garrison SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 21 – Dec. 20 You’ve had a chance to take a few of your bright ideas out for a test drive. fter the fact, it might be time to review your motives for needing to get all of this up and running. e learn as we go, and this time you’re wondering if these plans and ideas have anything to do with what you’re really here for. In your shoes, I would be prompted to dive a little deeper into myself. The need to be clear, along with the need for a major reality check, are both on the menu. Maybe it’s time to go to the mountain and sit at the feet of someone who’s older and wiser than you. CAPRICORN: Dec. 21 – Jan. 20 It’s hard for you to break the rules or step out of line. Your inner child is torn between what it took to please addy and what it took to please Mommy, and pleasing yourself has always gotten lost in the shu e. t this moment, the importance of knowing what you want can’t be underestimated after all these years, that secret is a total mystery. I’m here to tell you that your personal growth and your spiritual evolution rely heavily upon the eradication of “the need to please.” You’re just about ready to know what that means — don’t be afraid to go for it.
GEMINI: May 21 – June 20 Steady on is the name of the game right now. eep holding space for what you know is right, and it will all come together. hat appears to have more clout, or too much power over you, is an illusion. nd whether you know it or not, he who is in the weaker position is always the strongest. se your private moments to re ect on where you want to go from here — because after this is over, you’ll be looking at the future instead of the past. In light of all of this, and as a result of all of the changes you’ve gone through, it could be time for a complete change of direction.
LIBRA: September 21 – October 20 You have enough wind beneath your wings to do pretty much anything whatever that might be, this is no time to hold back. Your whole life has prepared you for this. s you think about what it will take to get things to work, respect the need to keep your plans to yourself. I see some need to play it safe in the midst of forces that either seek to undermine you or that manipulate your tendency to co-depend. If money is too important, give it a rest. The money piece could easily trap you into remaining stuck in a situation that will put the kibosh on the chance of a lifetime.
AQUARIUS: Jan. 21 – Feb. 20 You have enough to keep you busy for a while. It would be great if you could loosen up and make it fun. Too much internal pressure, too much responsibility, and guilt that piles the weight of the past onto what’s already heavy enough isn’t working for you. The last thing you need is to let life shut off the light that makes you shine. If this has to do with the burden of e pectation, you’re in no mood to be controlled by anything. nyone who tries to tell you what to do needs to know that they’ll get more of whatever they want from you if they stop cramping your style.
CANCER: June 21 – July 20 It’s time for things to open up. fter a stretch of clinging to the edge of the cliff by the skin of your teeth, a period of smooth sailing is in the works. There may even be a chance to travel included in all this. ut however it plays out, you’re looking at a good time. I see openings in the work arena and visions of relationship opportunities that could turn out to be the answer to your prayers. s far as that goes, if you’re already involved, whoever you’re with could all of a sudden step up to the plate and be there for you. There’s new growth on the road ahead, and it’s about time!
SCORPIO: Oct. 21 – Nov. 20 You’re in a much different space than you were a year ago. This could be literal you might be in a totally new location. It could also be that you’ve let go of relationships and other forms of attachment that were bogging you down. ll of this has altered your perspective on who you are. If you’re not yet clear about where to go from here, there’s a sense of restlessness that’s looking for a place to roost. hat the future holds doesn’t have to be certain. e willing to watch and wait, and over the ne t three months, allow the latest clue to the new direction to reveal itself one day at a time.
PISCES: Feb. 21 – March 20 ombshells have dropped. Plowing through the wreckage, you’re wondering what made you think anyone was ready for the truth. verly defensive responses to things that got way out of hand are coming from multiple sources. You had enough on your mind before all this started. Since you’re the one who seems to have caused it, the deeper question now is where did it really come from It seems to me that if everyone can be accountable for the part they played in bringing this on, the blame that’s being cast on you will fade away before the Spring quino .
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