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Video: Rosa Park's niece Rhea McCauley and others talk about the civil rights icon and the importance of saving the house.
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On a gorgeous, sunny fall Sunday, on an aging block in Southwest Detroit dotted with bungalows -- most of which were still nicely maintained -- something unusual was going on.
A couple dozen people gathered in the late afternoon to hear heartfelt speeches, singers and a hip-hop artist and commemorate the saving of a vacant home at 2672 S. Deacon Street where civil rights icon Rosa Parks first lived with relatives in the late 1950s when she migrated from Alabama with her husband and mother. In recent years, the home had deteriorated and had been slated for demolition.
American born artist Ryan Mendoza, who lives in Berlin, was behind the gathering. Greg Dunmore, a multimedia journalist from Pulsebeat.TV, emceed the event.
At the behest of Parks' niece, Mendoza had agreed to save the home. He deconstructed much of it this past summer and shipped the parts to Berlin where he plans to reconstruct the home to honor Rosa Parks and display it at museums in Europe. The ultimate goal is to return it to Detroit.
The remainder of the house -- or the carcass of the home that was left behind and covered with a white canvas-- is scheduled to be removed Monday by a demolition company.
Hold It Hostage
"What I would like to do is hold the house hostage,” Mendoza told the crowd, which included Rosa Park's nieces, community activists and men who belong to a bicycle club. “America, you lost this house. This house is held hostage until — America, you gotta get it back. And it's going to cost you. And I want that money to go to the Rosa Parks foundation.”
Members of the D-Town Riders were among those who attended the event
Mendoza is no stranger to Detroit.
He grabbed headlines when he deconstructed a vacant Detroit home last year and shipped it to Europe, only to put back together, paint it white and turn it into an art project. Earlier this year, he did something creative with two vacant homes in Detroit's Brighmoor neighborhood, spelling out “Clinton” on one and “Trump” on another. LED lights spell out the names at night. Some lauded his creative art after he deconstructed the first home and shipped it to Europe, where it is on permanent display. Some accused Mendoza of doing nothing more than exploiting Detroit's misfortune and creating a new form of ruin porn.
Rhea McCauley, Rosa Park's niece, who lived in the house with 12 other siblings and her parents when Parks came and lived on Deacon Street for a couple years, asked Mendoza to save the home after others organizations, including the NAACP, had turned her down. McCauley says she paid $500 to the city to remove the home from the demolition list. She then donated it to Mendoza.
On Sunday, McCauley, 65, who is president of the Rosa Parks Family Foundation, stood in front of the shell of the home, and told Mendoza how grateful she was that he took up the cause.
"The house is going to be preserved forever," she said, adding: "I’m so completely blessed and honored that Ryan came forward. "
She went on to talk about her aunt, saying:
"Auntie Rosa has always loved this city and I wonder sometimes if the city loved her. You know in America, black people love America, but I wonder, I truly wonder in my heart and in my soul if Americans love black people."
Parks gained fame when she refused in 1955 to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Ala. She died in Detroit in 2005 at age 92.
Other speakers included Nelline Baldwin, 87, who still lives on the block and knew Rosa Parks.
She said she would often chat with Parks, who taught her how to sew.
"I’m the only one left on the block. All the neighbors (have) passed away. I’m the only one. My husband and all the rest of them is gone."
Below you can watch videos of people who entertained at the event.
Nelline Baldwin and community activist Jonathan Pommerille
