NICOLE MACDONALD
Justice Work
THEME: A MORE PERFECT UNION
Justice Work
THEME: A MORE PERFECT UNION
Nicole Macdonald
the artist's inspiration
I was born and raised in Detroit, a heavily industrialized city once characterized as “The arsenal of democracy” during WWII. People came here from across the nation, and the world, seeking a better future.
It has a unique history which includes the birth of the automobile and a place where workers organized unions in an effort to seek economic justice, a center in the struggle for worker’s rights, of people seeking better working conditions and dignity as human beings.
For me, as an artist, it’s been the fuel of inspiration for a lot of my work. And that is what I thought about when I thought of creating a work for the theme A More Perfect Union. I thought of the journey that we have been on as a city and community over the years and the people who have contributed to it. That’s what you see in Justice Work. I wanted to honor some incredible activists who have contributed to real changes in how we live and how we think about work.
CAPITOL PARK, detroit
june 2024
General Gordon Baker - General worked in Detroit’s automotive factories in the 1960s and knew first-hand what it meant to work in hazardous conditions. He co-founded the organization DRUM (Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement) and the League of Revolutionary Black Workers. As he once told me, “Black people had to work the dirtiest, most deadly jobs.” This was why he dedicated his life to the labor movement.
Marian Kramer - Marian says she was inducted into the Civil Rights Movement as a child and it continued her entire life. Early on she joined CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and later, when she moved to Detroit, she became increasingly focused on public housing and welfare rights. This led her to found, and currently co-chair National Welfare Rights Union, where she worked for fair housing, healthy environments and safe and affordable water for poor and working class communities.
Maureen Taylor - Maureen has spent her life advocating and fighting for the rights of the poor. She is the state chair of the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization and has often worked arm in arm with Marian Kramer. She believes that poor and working class people should be empowered with the ability to advocate for themselves. Among her other accomplishments, she led mass mobilizations against water shut offs in Detroit, which ultimately led to significant changes in how the water company related to poor people.
Jamon Jordan - Jamon is the Official Historian of Detroit. As a teacher who also leads guided tours of historical sites around the city, he tells our stories — of how uncelebrated people have created progress and change in Detroit. Jamon reinvents and enriches what work means and can be, for himself and for the people he educates.
These voices and actors for change represent vasts movements that I have tried to honor on the sculpture through small snapshots: in those campaigning for meaningful and healthy jobs, in Jamon holding a picture of the working class neighborhood of Black Bottom that was destroyed by the city in the early 1960s, in UAW protests for increased pensions and the references to the Poor People’s Campaign.
the artist's inspiration
I’m a lifetime Detroiter - born and raised here. This city has provided me with a lifetime of fascination - from its hidden histories to its people, who make it a super creative place and always speak their mind. I’m always learning and finding out more things to be appreciative of in this city.
For me, as an artist, it’s been the fuel of inspiration for a lot of my work. And that is what I thought about when I thought of creating a work for the theme A More Perfect Union. I thought of the journey that we have been on as a city and community over the years and the people who have contributed to it. That’s what you see in Justice Work.