Trust the Current, Hold Fast to One Another Self-Portrait

summer 2017 | Issue Three trust the current, hold fast to one another Self-Portrait BY ANGELA JONES Sistah be riding her bike in Detroit And sistah be makin’ mad noise on that bike From the eves of Eight Mile With Walkman wailing To the Gideon of Grand River Never halting at heads turning Detroit, D-town, De Trois, Of three Rubber burning These streets are her trinity She don’t wear no protective gear 8mile the father- Livernois the son- Cause sistah ain’t got no fear of her streets Grand River her holy ghost Just the price of living getting’ higher And the occasional flat tire Pedaling past parking structures and sidewalk preachers But the edge of the shore is a sure Dodging broken glass like bullets sign of salvation To keep from puncturing her tires, In this desert D Tired with mobility, with movement Cause sistah be pedaling down Grand River ‘Cause all that matters is motion Shallow and deep, still and raging Using her tires to keep afloat She rejoices when she reaches the water So she won’t sink into quicksand cement The blood of 22mil consecrated martyrs Like sidewalks that swallow you whole On this surface of loss, Jesus just walked If you don’t keep pedaling But sistah, she be gliding across Like 747s in the sky So sistah be pumping fast past the past Or skateboarders in July Using the speed of her ride To escape from that great divide This river ain’t a river of oil spills or showboats That strip that separates the white folk Slaves came from hell for a chance From the West Side To cross this moat That un-imaginary line Then some got sent back Where the war of North and South is still fought Now, tell me… With exhaust fumes of factory lines How do you bury that betrayal? And the flames from 67 fires How can you resist resentment? It’s a 1-way route 2 further racial aggression You pedal past it Within 3 bodies of water 4 which we live, Work, judge, hate, bottle, package, and sell With all the muscle in your calves In a 5 day work week With all the strength in your soul But I have a 6th sense Try to fill in the holes of a sadist system That the only way we’ll make it Without becoming sadist yourself To the 7th generation Is if we put these last 8 miles behind us See, Grand River ain’t made From asphalt or H2O So sistah be pedaling fast past the past It’s a concept conceived in the mind Cruising down Livernois It tries to bind history to the present Cause that’s all that people can do: Live So we know that it’s still relevant When rotting buildings and empty lots Photo by Marisol Teachwort Are constant reminders So sistah be pedaling fast past the past Of how the dead haunt this city Carrying visions of it with her To the next street, to fend off defeat So sistah be pedaling down Livernois Remembering is her mobility Cause that’s all that people are: Livin’ noise An added fourth to her trinity Persons- of sound And right at the starting line Rhythm in movement Of her spiritual coast Masters of motion And people be makin’ some noise in this city Is 8mile the father- Livernois the son- Raisin’ hell in this city Grand River her holy ghost Like ancestors before Quick jabs and daily scabs can’t quiet us our past, present and futures as we talk together. Claiming our own stories is an act of power and A Choice Between Two Worlds resistance to those who speculate on our lives. This issue of Riverwise provides more contribu- RIVERWISE EDITORIAL BOARD tions from the people consciously reimagining and reorganizing society from the ground up. It’s an approach we’ve been promoting more had a transformative effect on the people around during our Riverwise Community Conversa- On Detroit’s west side, near the corner of Wisconsin and Fullerton, Linda them. The process of reimagining wildflowers as tions. Our June 24 conversation across from the gardens of Feedom Freedom led to a request that Gadsden has diligently been recovering native plants from vacant lots and the assets they once were has brightened neigh- bors’ outlook on their immediate surroundings. we incorporate some version of a writer’s work- transplanting them in her community garden. The seasonal wildflower preserve Plants that were often considered ‘weeds’ are shop to help beginning writers tell their stories. she has cultivated on a previously open lot is a forward step in the evolution now examples of the beauty and healing that Multi-disciplinarian artist and visionary, of the urban agriculture movement in Detroit. Her four-season garden plots exist on previously neglected lots. That funda- Halima Cassells, describes her path to economic emphasize the ability of the earth to provide for us year-round. Additionally, she mental change in perspective serves to heighten liberation through the Detroit Free Market. our consciousness and encourage participation. Cassells is working at the grassroots level to has integrated her garden with the curriculum at Noble Elementary School. The These dedicated efforts, by groups and indi- ‘Noble Open Classroom’ will allow students to study the natural world in the stem the tide of consumerism and material- viduals, are guided by long-term investments in based values by introducing the community context of their own neighborhood. Gadsden is prone to telling stories about the the ecology of the neighborhood. Witness Linda to effective practices of trading and sharing to she produces from them. Her work also takes In his recent presentation at the Charles H. path that specific plants took to get to her garden and how they are faring there. Gadsden and her family of volunteers haul five- meet basic needs. from an ancient tradition and uses it to visually Wright Museum, author/historian, Gerald For example, the root system of the white roses, she tells folks, have a tendency to gallon buckets of water over a city block to the Familyhood Inc. garden when the soil is dry. Our portrait presentation of members of the project us into the future. Horne, emphasized the State’s continued retri- grow outward, parallel to the surface, in search of suitable areas to sprout. Homrich 9 draws inspiration from their act bution towards our city for the city’s historic role Here in Detroit and across the U.S., the doors The diversity of locations where you’ll find of civil disobedience to affirm that water is a in Black liberation politics or, what he called, to corporate success have been flung open by gardens and support for local agriculture is human right. Their individual statements on “Rebellion at the point of production.” State-imposed financial takeovers. Real estate In another part of town, the gilded side, Dan inclusive, value-based and attentive to our also expanding. As one shining example, the the power of civil disobedience, which for them speculators and venture capitalists are free from That legacy of revolution and rebellion Gilbert has been planting things too. A high- environment. In addition to Linda Gadsden’s children and teachers of the Detroit Inde- included three years of delays by the prosecu- the constraints of democratic institutions and burrowed deep in the African-American experi- speed fiber-optic cable underneath Woodward garden, which offers praise to the seasons and pendent Freedom Schools movement have tion and the courts, reveal the power of personal public input. Dan Gilbert has planted his flag ence is now finding its way back to the surface was buried while the street was dug up for the neighborhood wildflowers, Hope House’s constructed a raised-bed vegetable garden on commitment and sacrifice. firmly and in full view on Woodward Avenue. A through the roots of Linda Gadsden’s roses. This installation of the QLine tracks. Now, some are Naim Edwards gives us a tour of the plant the patio of the Charles H. Wright Museum In keeping with this edition’s attention to long list of startup tech companies are waiting issue of Riverwise is dedicated to those who are wondering if the QLine was just the public rela- sanctuary he has designed and cultivated near of African-American History. The museum’s native flowers, and native species, and the to sign up. But miles from Woodward, out of seeking new ways to restore, reclaim and rebuild tions part of a grander scheme to persuade tech the Brightmoor district. This garden incorpo- support of this project has been consistent with roots of Detroit, artist Ash Arder contrib- view of the cameras, the seeds of (r)evolution our lives in this place we call Detroit. companies to relocate to Detroit. If so, we have rates a wildflower sanctuary situated along the its push to be a center for community engage- uted photos of her sculpture series based on are being planted in vacant and occupied lots to look at the QLine as more than just another properties’ outer edge, and a rain garden for ment in addition to a source of programming foraged stinging nettle plants and the fiber dotting historic neighborhoods. missed opportunity to improve public transpor- naturally controlling water run-off into storm dedicated to social justice. tation. More accurately, it’s a devious ploy in the drains. Edwards has also planted a diverse In our brief lifespan, Riverwise has evolved from effort to expropriate public funds and city land. array of vegetables and fruits.

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