Free, family-friendly event to commemorate historic civil rights march with live music and 
art showcase exploring themes of freedom on Sunday, July 9 in Detroit’s Palmer Park
 
The Detroit Parks Coalition and People for Palmer Park will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Detroit Walk to Freedom, a massive civil rights march held on June 23, 1963. The historic event drew thousands to downtown Detroit and culminated with a moving address by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which is widely considered a preview to his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington just two months later.
 
The 60th anniversary celebration at Palmer Park will commemorate the Detroit Walk to Freedom with various art displays and live performances from Marion Hayden and Freedom Sounds—featuring Marion Hayden on bass, A. Spencer Barefield on guitar, Alvin Waddles on piano, Tariq Gardner on drums and Isis Damil on vocals. 
 
Freedom Sounds will perform a free concert featuring music of the Civil Rights era—exploring themes of freedom, activism, collective work, spirituality and resistance through the lens of artists such as Max Roach, Donny Hathaway, Bob Marley and the Jazz, R&B, Reggae and Gospel traditions—along with original works by Marion Hayden and A. Spencer Barefield. The Freedom Sounds concert invites guests to explore our shared humanity and reflect on Dr. King's dream—through music.
 
Following the Freedom Sounds performance, attendees can enjoy a reggae dance party with King Mellowman and Mellow Runnings.
 
Cranbrook Art Museum will host a free cyanotype constellation making activity based on the artwork Finding Freedom by Sonya Clark. Each participant will create and take their own constellation fabric square using the sun and seeds. The artwork is on view until September 24, 2023 as part of the exhibition Sonya Clark: “We Are Each Other”,  a meditation on the plight of individuals fleeing slavery along the Underground Railroad.  (link: https://cranbrookartmuseum.org/exhibition/sonya-clark-we-are-each-other/)
 
Cranbrook Art Museum’s Curator of Public Programs Lyla Catellier will help people make cyanotype constellations from seeds. It’s basically a photographic process. A mixture of salts that make a solution that turns blue with sun exposure - wherever you put an object on top - in this case seeds - it stays white. It was one of the first forms of photography and discovered by a female chemist
 
Madrid-born artist Marta Carvajal will display her artwork of freedom fighters from MLK to Malcom X, Nina Simone, Miles Davis and others. (https://www.martacarvajal.art) “Marta’s visual art painting canvas visual storyteller style is cutting edge and is the new wave for this generation that incorporates traditional and digital. She explores history to create her rare artistic documentary Artwork, which also teaches the present and future generation about the Human rights of great leaders and notable persons and their legacy.”-- Gregory J. Reed (author, attorney for Rosa Parks’; worked with Nelson Mandela, Coretta Scott King, Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker, The Last Poets, Motown legends, others)
 
WHEN:          Sunday, July 9, 2 p.m. – 5 p.m.
WHERE:        Palmer Park, 910 Merrill Plaisance St. • Detroit
WEBSITE:     www.detroitparkscoalition.com/freedom-arts-festival
 
ABOUT DETROIT PARKS COALITION
The Detroit Parks Coalition (DPC) is an alliance of organizations supporting healthy, equitable, and
vibrant parks and public spaces. We are a diverse group of park leaders and community members who have come together to expand resources for Detroit parks. For more information, visit DetroitParksCoalition.com.

Photos: Barbara Barefield

When Mayor Duggan first announced the preservation of the historic bandshell in his March 2021 State of the City Address with the goal of relocating it to another site, he said the city's first choice was Palmer Park (District 2)—as long as the neighbors wanted it there. The initiative was supported by Councilmember Roy McCalister Jr. and preservationists from across the region.

After a handful of 2021 online meetings and one final community meeting with District 2 representatives in August, a final vote was taken and the move to Palmer Park was approved.

Public meetings
4/17/2021 - The City of Detroit/General Services Department first presented their three location options at the People for Palmer Park Annual Meeting which sparked the first public discussion on the pros/cons, concerns and questions some of the surrounding community had about the proposed location.

5/11/2021 - The City then held another presentation and discussion on the bandshell relocation at their online April District 2 Meeting. Some support as well as some concerns arose and the three location options were again discussed. Supporters loved the possibilities of free family-friendly cultural events, while concerns about noise levels and more community engagement in planning and design process were also brought forth.

5/27/2021 - The next DISCUSSION MEETING gave members of the surrounding adjacent neighborhoods the floor to share their thoughts, questions and concerns. Supporters argued that this would be an asset to the community, an arts center and that any type of performance/music could be realistically restricted to the type that would not have higher decibel levels such as jazz, folk and classical. Those opposed were worried about establishing controls on impact to the neighborhood, City enforcement issues that are already a concern and the upkeep and maintenance responsibilities for the bandshell.

AUGUST 2021 - Kim Tandy and District 2 representatives as well as GSD/Detroit Building Authority staff held a FINAL community meeting and the community voted to approve bringing the bandshell to Palmer Park. 
Location will be on 7 Mile Road, east of Pontchartrain but closer to Woodward behind the 12th Precinct. Anticipated parking will be for 82-90 cars and 500-person capacity. It was stressed that there will be more community meetings in the future to discuss management, infrastructure and programming. Once cost is determined, the City will work with partners to manage fees associated with the move. Currently the bandshell is completely disassembled and stored at an unknown location.

About the bandshell structure:

• Heavy timber, wood bolted structure, still in very good condition. City will meet current-day building requirements, transport over to the new site and assemble with same structural integrity.
• The clapboard/plywood siding is in poor condition and will be restored with new materials to replicate.
• The move does not include the single story, back-of-house part of structure, which is also to be rebuilt. A smaller back-of-house likely that would serve the bandshell, loading for performance, storing and a green room.

 

THE PERFORMERS
​Charles & Gwen Scales Quartet
Gwen (vocals) and Charles Scales (keyboards) with drums and sax will perform an array of jazz, soulful, spiritual, and their own original music. Gwen and Charles have shared the stage with artists such as Patti LaBelle, Phyllis Hyman, Najee, and Hamilton Bohannon; and performed for Bill and Hillary Clinton,
various Detroit mayors and Michigan governors, as well as for crowds at the Detroit Jazz Festival, concerts in Japan and the United Kingdom, and regularly at Detroit Unity Temple.

Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi
Detroit-born Yale Strom (violin), Elizabeth Schwartz (vocals, baritone ukulele) and Greg Powell (bass) will perform Klezmer music, a 1000-year old Eastern European musical tradition played at Jewish weddings, parties, and holiday celebrations. It was nearly extinguished during the Holocaust. Yale is an award-winning filmmaker, violinist, composer, writer, photographer, playwright, historian, and one of the world’s leading ethnographer-artist of klezmer music. Elizabeth is an acclaimed vocalist and first woman to sing in NYC’s 125 year-old Eldridge Street Synagogue/Museum. They’ve performed throughout the U.S. and Europe in festivals, Carnegie Hall, jazz clubs, and synagogues.

Thanks to the amazing work and support of District 2 Councilman Roy McCalister Jr. and the City of Detroit, the historic State Fairgrounds bandshell will be relocated a half mile south to Palmer Park.  

“By preserving the bandshell it saves a piece of Detroit history,” said Rochelle Lento, president of People For Palmer Park. “This is a great opportunity to continue the redevelopment and activation of Palmer Park that the City and People for Palmer Park have collaborated on for the past ten years, and to resurrect a positive attribute for the surrounding communities in an exciting way.”

As the new Amazon fulfillment center and indoor transit center for the Detroit Department of Transportation started to take shape at the longtime site of the Michigan State Fairgrounds, plans to demolish the 83-year old bandshell were not well received by the public and after some media attention, and discussions with Amazon, the City and People for Palmer Park, plans were made to disassemble and move the bandshell to its new home in Palmer. Proposed location is in the old back nine of the former public golf course no longer in use, just north of our community garden.

This move will not be done without community input and the City of Detroit and its Department of Neighborhoods will be engaging residents and community organizations like People for Palmer Park closely on this project as funds are raised and design and location are worked out. We will keep you updated as plans progress.

In 2014, we unveiled our Master Plan Proposal for Palmer Park, and having a bandshell was one part of the vision. Being able to repurpose the existing one is an incredible turn of events for our organization and the potential to see families gathering for cultural events here is exciting.

For more on the bandshell move: 
https://detroitmi.gov/news/councilmember-mccalister-mayor-duggan-preserve-historic-state-fairgrounds