Wall of Dignity

From the Wall of Dignity mural, African ancestors and familiar Black faces representing the Civil Rights Movement proudly looked out to their audience below. The mural’s purpose was to assert Black Pride and bring the people and communities of Detroit closer together following the Detroit Uprising in 1967. Regrettably, on June 13th, 1972, the building on which the mural was mounted was damaged by a large fire and later vandalized, leaving the painting without some of its important panels. After the fire, the mural stood for a few more years before the building was demolished. Today, the reason for its destruction is still unknown and the mural– for the most part– has since been long forgotten. Art is a very powerful language that moves people. As Detroit enters its new wave of protest or revitalization art, it is essential to understand the history of murals such as the Wall of Dignity and to appreciate the importance of preserving and honoring their legacy. 

The Wall of Dignity was installed during April and May of 1968 on the Fairview Gardens Building at 11000 Mack Avenue on Detroit’s East Side. Months before, in July 1967, Detroit’s neighborhoods had suffered from a wave of civil unrest following the raid of an unlicensed bar known as a “blind pig” near Twelfth and Clairmount on the city’s West Side. Within a few days, arson, looting, and gunshots were also reported on the East Side. The neighborhood near Mack and Fairview became one of the casualties of the upheaval.

The community organization called the East Side Voice of Independent Detroit (ESVID) worked diligently to raise awareness and bring resources to the neighborhood near Wall of Dignity. ESVID’s founder Frank Ditto, a community organizer from Chicago, was hired by the Coalition of East Side Churches for Social Action to bring professional expertise and grass-roots experience to their efforts to address poverty and crime in the area. Ditto had worked as a city cab driver in Chicago, participated in Martin Luther King’s marches against housing discrimination in Illinois, and then, as chairperson of Chicago’s Oakland Committee for Community Improvement advocated for school desegregation, anti-discrimination, and voting rights.  

Ditto knew about the Organization of Black American Culture’s mural, The Wall of Respect, on Chicago’s South Side and had met the artist William “Bill” Walker there. He soon proposed a similar mural for ESVID and enlisted  Walker and his partner, fellow mural painter Eugene “Eda” Wade, to join him in Detroit. Together they began the ambitious task of bringing the Wall of Dignity mural to life.  

According to the Antislavery Usable Past Project, the artists wanted to use the murals as an “expression of black unity during a time of racial pain.” Wall of Dignity was mounted on the façade of an abandoned roller-skating rink, and was broken down into three main sections. Many of the figures that appear on Wall of Respect were also featured on the Wall of Dignity mural. However, one major difference between Wall of Respect and Wall of Dignity was the inclusion of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Walker originally wanted to add Martin Luther King Jr. onto the Wall of Respect but other artists in Chicago had vetoed his request.

The mural’s design can be read chronologically from top to bottom. In the upper panels, a frieze of African royalty beginning in Egypt and continuing to Benin City showcases the historical wealth and power that Black people had and created for themselves before the slave-trade era. In the image above, a scene is created with the various roles that people played in an ancient Egyptian civilization. There are artists, warriors, boatmen, and their important creations like the Sphinx and the Pyramids. 

On the right, the panel showcases a king and queen issuing instructions to their retainer from some sort of throne in their outdoor court, surrounded by timbered buildings and masonry fortifications. There are also Iife-sized bronze casts representing scarified faces, once symbols of beauty and high-refined style. In an interview on the Detroit television show Colored People's Time, Eda Wade expressed that, “as a black artist, I tried to find how [I could] exhibit my talent for the elevation of my own Black people.” He further emphasized that the portrayal of past historical achievements and contributions of Africans was the most effective approach because much of that history has often been omitted. Thus, Wade expressed that fostering a sense of self and pride within communities through art could be used as a visual reminder of that part of their heritage. 

Between 1968 and 1969, Wade and Walker traveled in Eda’s Volkswagen between the two cities because their studio was based in Chicago and they would later bring panels up to the city of Detroit. Among the works they transported were pieces contributed by the Chicago artists, Edward Christmas and Elliott Hunter who had worked on the Wall of Respect, and Eda’s portraits of such prominent figures as Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Amiri Baraka, and Carl B. Stokes. Each piece encapsulated the spirit and ideals of the era. Amiri Baraka’s poetry is also featured on the mural– the beginning of his poem “S.O.S” is seen above a scene  of a busy crowd, the first stanza saying, “Calling Black People/ Calling all Black People, man woman child; Wherever you are/ calling you, urgent, come in Black People come on in.” Nearby Walker painted a scene of the slave trade, including figures being chained on a boat, as a reminder of our harsh past as well and how we overcame it. Lastly, the mural depicts a group of men in dashikis, a traditional West African garment that was often worn during the Civil Rights Movement as a way to connect back to the continent of Africa and feel a sense of Black pride. 

The mural captured both the pain of the past and the resilience that flows through Black people as a whole, as a way to inspire and define the journey toward justice and equality. It was nationally recognized alongside the Wall of Respect  and the Wall of Pride murals. However it lasted for only a few years before the building was demolished. 

After their destruction the Detroit murals were forgotten by many– especially by the people of Detroit. When our class conducted interviews with the congregation of Grace Episcopal Church in Detroit, we learned that many members stated that they didn’t recall if the Wall of Pride mural had been there, or if they had maybe glanced at it once in passing. It is important that we treat community murals as if they were pieces in a museum because they are as important and valuable to history just as any other piece of art. Art can empower, influence, and instill something in people in communities such as the Wall of Dignity mural. Without that care for remembering and retelling the history of these works, we lose an important part of storytelling. By recognizing and preserving these works, we ensure that future generations can connect with the narratives, struggles, and triumphs they represent, keeping the spirit of the community alive.

Written by Sana’a Brown and Miranda Ludwick