Not Impossible: A call for racial justice (June-August) | Kalamazoo 2020 in Photos
Days after the murder of George Floyd, I was watching rallies from across the country when I heard the noise of a large crowd, overpowering the TV. I walked outside my apartment and saw hundreds, if not thousands, of people walking down Westnedge Ave with the same message: Black Lives Matter.
I’ve been at many protests and marches in Kalamazoo over the past decade and knew immediately that this was unlike anything that had happened before.
That day began a series of marches and rallies in Kalamazoo demanding social and racial justice. There seemed to be one every few days, organized by different organizations, and the numbers of people kept growing and growing. Injustice had been in Kalamazoo like other parts of the country, and it was time to address it and change it.
What was different than previous rallies was that it felt like things could actually be different. We had already seen monumental change in our society this year: If you would have said in January of 2020 that there would be a global pandemic and most everything would be closed for over a month, everyone would say that is impossible. But it happened. So when we all saw the murder of a man, whose neck was pressed by the knee of a police officer for seven minutes, we realized that change which seemed impossible in the past could happen now.
Looking back at images from this time, it wasn’t just the outpouring of people in the street that defined the moment, but the response of our institutions. As some peaceful rallies had moments of violent and property destruction across the country, there was fear that it would happen in Kalamazoo. At that first march, there was a heavy presence of police in riot and tactical gear that raised tensions. A few nights later, there was some minor property damage downtown. The response was strong: police shut down downtown, the next day most all windows were boarded up, the National Guard came to town, downtown was blocked off and city leaders ordered a curfew. It was a response of force unlike anything I have seen, and it’s not clear how effective it actually was.
The call for racial justice continued, and more and more people came out to show their support. The boarded up storefronts became canvases for local artists and messages for the movement. A Black Lives Matter mural was painted downtown as a visible sign of our community’s support. In an already difficult year, something incredibly special was happening across the country and in Kalamazoo. The fact that so many people came out to call for racial justice during a pandemic showed how uneven things are.
But the ugly face of racism appeared late in the summer when the Proud Boys, a White Supremicst group, descended on Kalamazoo for a march in order to provoke violence. The previous police response from earlier was replaced with a hands off approach. Officers were nowhere to be seen as violence broke out for five minutes downtown. They marched, chanted, claimed these streets were theirs, even though most of them came from outside the city and state. It was ugly, sad and frustrating. But that night, a group marched, continuing the message and calling for accountability.
As summer came to a close, the marches became less frequent and attended. The pandemic spiked again in second and third waves. People continued to adjust to what is commonly called “The New Normal.” The hope is that everyone who marched and demanded justice will continue to believe that it’s possible to make our community safe and prosperous for everyone.
“New Normal”: Living with change (September-December) | Kalamazoo 2020 in Photos
The past few months have been different than the rest of 2020.
They’ve felt… normal.
We’ve adapted to social distancing, to wearing masks, to interacting with people in different ways. When bigger things happen, like new restrictions on indoor dining, they aren’t as big of a shock as the were in the first wave.
Life continues on. College football came back, but without fans. The election happened, but more people than ever voted by mail. Holidays were celebrated, mostly without the traditions we are used to. It’s not the same, but doesn’t feel like the monumental shift that occluded in the Spring.
The biggest event this season was the election, but that faded away from our conscious rather quickly. Other struggles continue and in many ways they’ve intensified. Businesses, bars and restaurants are having more difficulty than ever. People are still struggling with their mental health, especially around the holidays.
But Thanksgiving and Christmas are markers of how we’re living in this new world: we still celebrate, even though it’s different, and what we can do matters more than ever.
These recent images of our journey in 2020 aren’t as stark or bold as the previous galleries, but they reflect how our lives have continued after six months of the pandemic. I’m sure looking back they might seem odd, but they feel like the “new normal” everyone is talking about. As we take some time at the end of the year to reflect, I hope they serve as a reminder of everything we’ve gone through together. It’s to forget just how much has happened.
Whether this is the end of our hard times or a prelude of more to come, we’ve gone through something together. Hopefully we can be more kind to one another and realize that all of our small, individual actions can add up to something greater. If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that the impossible can actually happen: we should be prepared for it and also work to turn our dreams for this world into a reality.
Closed: Responding to COVID-19 (March-May) | Kalamazoo 2020 in Photos
The world was moving incredibly fast when everything shut down. So much was happening as we were learning and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was like watching a movie.
But walking downtown Kalamazoo that first weekend after all bars, restaurants and businesses were closed, the magnanimity of it all set in. It was right around St Patricks’s Day and Oberon Day, when people would be breaking out of their winter hibernation. A 9 p.m. on a Saturday was as empty as 4 a.m.
While we couldn’t really see how other people were responding to the pandemic, downtown was a visual representation of what was happening. There’s a lot of things looking back that seem like an over reaction, such as closing down Bronson Park, but we didn’t know what was happening and were doing the best to contain a virus we didn’t fully understand. Fear and uncertainty were reflected in the darkened windows.
Walking around in the quiet was strangely calming, something I’ve never experienced in the city center. All of the storefronts were dark, the sidewalks were empty, the only sign of light and activity came from the electronic billboard on Michigan Ave with messages encouraging people to stay home and stay safe.
Each day, really, felt new. We had no idea what could happen and greeted each morning without the routines we had built up over the years.
Looking back at these images of the height of the closure, I’m reminded by how empty downtown was actually. There was no one around and nothing happening. When I would see other people walking, we kept out distance. While there was a strange calm about it all, it was became depressing when thinking that every empty building was a business managed by someone who was trying to support their employees, who suddenly had their income stop.
While everything seemed to come to a immediate halt, the natural world kept on progressing. Spring was in full bloom, and focus shifted to the budding trees and greening foliage. Nature seemed as beautiful as ever, since the business of the day was gone.
These images are part of what Kalamazoo experienced in the first months of the pandemic. It’s hard to fully capture the sense of fear and silence that flowed down the streets at night and during the day. But as we learned more about the virus and honed in our response, things began to reopen with the coming of Spring.
Kalamazoo 2020 in Photos: 20 images from our community
Here are more images from the year:
An empty downtown Kalamazoo at 8:26 p.m. on March 28, 2020, the first Saturday where bars and restaurants were closed to help combat the spread of COVID-19.
The Green Top Tavern would have been filled with patrons on March 28, 2020, the first Saturday where bars and restaurants were closed to help combat the spread of COVID-19.
Another view of an empty downtown Kalamazoo, no cars or pedestrians to be seen.
A discarded glove sits in a puddle reflecting an electronic billboard with information from the CDC on COVID-19, March 28, 2020.
The Arcadia Festival Site, like many public parks, were closed in the early months of the COVID-19 response, May 7, 2020.
The streets and churches are empty on Sunday, March 29, 2020 at 10:25 a.m., save Judy Sarkozy driving her van delivering bread. Sarkozy Bakery stayed open throughout the pandemic.
The first virtual meeting of the Kalamazoo City Commission on March 31, 2020, seen on Zoom outside of an empty City Hall.
“We are in this together” — one of the many signs of encourage downtown Kalamazoo. April 10, 2020 outside of V&A Bootery on the Kalamazoo Mall.
Empty rooms at the Raddison Hotel have lamps turned on to make the shape of a heart, April 22, 2020.
A march for racial justice, downtown Kalamazoo, on May 30, 2020, five days after George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis, setting off protests throughout the country.
Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officers set up a perimeter downtown Kalamazoo after a large protest on June 1, 2020 (Photo taken at 1 a.m. on June 2).
A broken window at Lana’s Boutique on June 2, 2020, after multiple groups of people smashed windows downtown.
Memebers of the National Guard set up a parimiter downtown Kalamazoo on June 2 after some vandalism the night before. City leaders established a curfew that night.
Hundreds of people take a knee at Bronson Park during a racial justice rally on June 6, 2020.
A Black Lives Matter mural was painted on Juneteenth, 2020, downtown Kalamazoo.
Opening Day at the Kalamazoo Growlers, July 1, 2020.
Hundreds of people continue the call for racial justice in Kalamazoo on July 11, walking past boards that were used by businesses downtown and were turned into artwork.
A protester gives two middle fingers to members of the White Supremacist group the Proud Boys, after they came to Kalamazoo from out of town to hold a rally on August 15, 2020.
An empty patio outside Tap House on the Kalamazoo Mall on December 6, 2020.
A discarded mask downtown after a rain storm, December 13, 2020.
What will we make of 2020?
In previous years, the end of December has been a time to reflect: think about the highs and lows of the past 12 months, the things we’ve done, places we’ve traveled, how we and those around us have changed. We look back and hope to give some meaning to the often random events in our lives.
But how can we process 2020?
So many of the year’s defining issues have been shared by everyone across our country and world: a global pandemic, a reckoning on racial justice, embittered politics and the response of our institutions to them. While in previous years we may have looked to places outside our community to track the change, 2020 has brought them home.
In Kalamazoo, we’ve experienced it all within a few blocks: fear, anger, love, care, struggle. Throughout the year, I took thousands of photos within a square mile of my apartment to document this pivotal year. I didn’t know what significance the images would hold when I shot them, or what they will mean going forward, but I know it all meant something and deserved to be documented.
Today, I’m kicking off my look back at 2020 with 20 photos from Kalamazoo. Next week, I will publish four additional galleries:
- Closed: Responding to COVID-19 (March-May)
- Not Impossible: A call for racial justice (June-August)
- “New Normal”: Living with change (September-December)
- Signs of the Time: 2020 told through signs.
These galleries primarily focus on downtown Kalamazoo, its businesses and the events that occurred on its streets. While they mostly follow the themes laid out above, I’ve included photos of the beauty that remains in our world, which became more important than ever. These photos do not represent the full story of what happened in our community, but I hope it throughly tells the story of one part of it, a place where many of us spend time and have some kind of attachment.
Thank you for reading and viewing my pictures. I look forward to sharing the rest of them with you in the week to come.
Frost underfoot
Sunset trail