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Hadia Haider

Dr. Martin

HON 1000-505

9 November 2016

Essay 2: The Fist and the Spirit of Detroit

Both the Fist and the Spirit of Detroit have long stood strong in the heart of Detroit for

decades and have each continued to stir controversy on their meaning until this day. I wanted to

analyze these sculptures because of their controversial nature and the different ways they can be

interpreted. Being in the heart of Detroit right next to the road, they are hard to miss by any

passersby, whether that be in car or on foot, causing them to become symbols for the city itself.

As we discussed what the statues could be a symbol for, Huda Rabbani argued that they hold a

nonviolent message founded upon the black peoples inability to obtain steady jobs causing them

to turn to sports as an avenue to express their creative energy. She also emphasized that family

allows for unification. While I agree that both the Fist and the Spirit of Detroit are nonviolent in

nature, I interpreted the symbolism of each differently.

I argue that the sculptures together have been a reminder of topographical and social

strength for the oppressed black community in the city. By the middle of the 20th century, the

literal fist had become a symbol of hope and strength for the black people. Black Power, the

political slogan of self-determination symbolized by the fist, grabbed the minds of black people

just as they grabbed the city. During this time, there was a continuing, indeed accelerating,

movement of people from one society to another, or from the city to the suburbs (Capeci 121).

Those who did not have the means to be mobile were restricted to the city. Because black people

were in more of an economic struggle than the whites due to segregation in the workforce, they
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were the ones left behind during the journey to suburbia and the city became the heart of black

poverty (Martelle 162). Therefore, the race took hold of the city as others deserted it. Not only

does the Fist strengthen the unified black people in the city and allow them to see it as a

metaphor for the way they grabbed the city, but also reminds them of their roots in the South.

The Fist itself points south; I argue that making it point in this cardinal direction was intentional

because it tells the black people to remember their origins, to remember the hardships they

fought in the South, in order to give them hope and build a stronger future. Furthermore, the

Spirit of Detroit holds the nebula, which I argue symbolizes God and religion, in the mans left

hand which is south and closer to the fist than the right hand that holds gold humans, which

represent family. This cardinal orientation of the Spirit of Detroit tells the black people that

taking hold of religion and having faith is what is going to create and maintain a strong,

resonating spirit in the city. The left hand is also higher than the right, which shows it is more

important than what is on the left. My group members do not agree with this specific assessment

and argue that family is just as important, if not more; however, my interpretation is that both of

the sculptures stress unity of the people of Detroit as a whole and not based on the family unit

individually. In this way, the sculptures together not only strengthen the morale of the black

people, but also send a message of what should be done on the journey towards equality. I agree

with my group that the sculptures are nonviolent because the black people did not force anyone

out of the city. However, the sculptures have less to do with sports and family as my group

members argue, especially because the Fist does not wear a boxing glove and the right hand of

the Spirit of Detroit points north and is lower than the other. Instead, the Fist and the Spirit of

Detroit strengthen black morale by metaphorically showing how they have grabbed hold of the

city and literally showing how they need to remember their roots in order for that morale to
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resonate. Thus, the sculptures in the heart of the city topographically and socially symbolize

black empowerment in Detroit.

The Fist and the Spirit of Detroit helped the black community in the mid-to-late 20th

century see who they are as a group of people fighting for equality and was an excellent

representation of where they were going with the metaphorical message of taking hold of the city

because of suburbia. The specific topographical decisions and the statues relationships to the

city is specific to the black community that not everyone is a part of. The we as conveyed by

these structures is specific to the black community in Detroit. While the Fist and the Spirit of

Detroit were good representations of where the black community was going, they have become

less and less applicable as that destination of equality gets closer and closer. However, the

message of strength and unity in taking a hold of something one is fighting for can be

generalized and applied to all cities around the world, such as New York with Gatsbys fictional

quest for Daisy symbolized by the green light across the bay (Fitzgerald 21) or Chicago with its

historic increase in multiethnic and multicultural workforce in the 1920s (Cohen 7).

My interpretation of the Fist and the Spirit of Detroit was optimistic in nature. However,

contrary to what my group and I agreed upon, those against equality interpret the fist as a symbol

of violence of the black community, blaming the black community for the civil disturbance

caused by the most massive of the urban black uprisings, (Fine 123). The Ossian Sweet case as

described by Dean Herron as a story of a house is an example of how whites manipulate

conflict against blacks even though, Dr. Sweet wasmore accomplished than most of the

whites he encountered, (Boyle 20). That manipulation can be fought like Clarence Darrow

legally did with the Ossian Sweet case. However, Clifford Baldowskis cynical cartoon depicts
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perception of black people at time. These conflicting interpretations of the sculptures are what

continue to make these sculptures controversial.

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Images