Octo 11-17,1987. MICHIG
all
of
Black'
Heroe
7
ByRo Enlow
I arrived late on the scene __ .'0 .... " .. _
of People' Community
Church, located at 8601 W ood­
ward ave., where the dedica­
tion for Michelle Gibbs, a
no ed Black Artist, took place.
y tardiness turned out to be
to my advantage, as, I was
able to assess the opinions
and comments of others. I did,
however, avail myself of the
opportunity to view Michelle's
all Of Black Heroes",
which was the theme of the
dedication. The contents of
the mural included the likenes-
of some of our most
celebrated Bla· achievers,
Martin L. King jr., Rosa
Parks, Mary McCleod
Bethune, Ida Wells, Adam
Cl yton Powell, Dr. Charles
Drew, George Washington
Carver, Boo er T.
Washington, Sojourner Truth,
Frederic Douglass, Harriet
Tubman, Carter C. Woodson,
arion Ander on, Paul
Robeson, and W.E.B. DuBois.
There, also, were repre­
entations of Black children
from all alb of life, depict­
ing our future. Mrs. Joan Daw­
on, the Assistant Teacher for
the nursery, says,· The artists
took different features from
different children in the
church to constitute faces.
A sun that encased an
embryo was said by Ms. Gibbs
to "ignify new possibilities
while unifying the past," As I
turned to speak with another
patron, a very interesting COD­
cept caught my eye, to ex­
tents of either end 0
were two froli .
that converged to
single tree, and
traditional knothole
dinarily be, was in i cad,
map of Africa to the right and
one of orth America to the
left.
This undertaking began
July 23, and was completed in
approximately three weeks,
and topped off with an inscrip-
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865-4119
tion from the writings of
Reverend Benjamin E. Mays
that reads; WJt is not your en­
vironment, it is you, the
quality of your minds, the in­
tegrity of your souls, and the
determination of your wills
that will decide your future
and shape your lives."
The total finished product
was the joint effort of an inter­
national group of students
from the DCA (Detroit Coun­
cil Of The Arts) Summer
Youth Program, with Michelle
at the helm. The Reverend
Martin E. Bolton, pastor of
People's Community Church,
had this to say; "Our history
has been neglected for so
long. it needs new links to
strengthen the weak chain of
our Blac society. He
added, "the wall was a source
of inspiration and motivation
for the children, and a
genuine accomplishment in a
community berift of heroes.
Ms. Charlesetta Crosby,
Director of People's Com­
munity Church, maintains that
-vie should polish our rough­
gems into shining diamonds
for our future generations,
and in ten years time, our
children will be reading about
paint and paintbrushes instead
of guns."
The next day I was suc­
cessful in contacting Michelle
via telephone, she told me
that, "This is only phase one of
the project, phase two will en­
volve the children from the
school painting their own im­
ages on the remaining two
WUllam E.
Miller, II
Counse/or&
Attorney At Law
2111 Woodward Ave
Suite 508
Detroit, MI 48201
313/867-7245
313/963-5981
Member:
Michigan, is Issippi, &
Ullnols Bar k.soc ations
P.O. Box 457
Detroit, MI 48231
walls." She then added, "This
mural is part of a beautifica­
tion project called 'Art In The
Heart Of Detroit', which in­
cludes a sculpture garden
called 'Geometree', located at
Clairmount at Second ave., (ar­
tists, Matthew Corbin and
Richard Bennett). As this
statement ended the inter­
view, I bade Michelle count­
less years of continued success
in her endeavors.
Free trees
for home
beautification
Ten free flowering trees
will be given to each person
who joins the National Arbor
Day Foundation during Octor­
ber, 1987.
To become a member of
the Foundation and to receive
the fre trees, $10 member-
ship contribu on uld be
ent to FLO RI G
TREES, tio Ar r D y
Found tion, 100 bor
Avenue, ebr Ci
68410, by 0 0 r 31,
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