Vito Jesus Valdez
Title
Vito Jesus Valdez
Description
Vito Jesus Valdez talks in this interview about life in Southwest Detroit, being an art educator and community activist.
Publisher
Detroit Historical Society
Date
3/16/2019
Rights
Detroit Historical Society
Language
en-US
Video
Narrator/Interviewee's Name
Vito Jesus Valdez
Brief Biography
Vito Jesus Valdez was born in 1952 in Wyandotte, Michigan. He grew up in Southwest, Detroit where he attended Sainte Anne's church. He's now an art educator and community activist
Interviewer's Name
Heba Alkhatib
Interview Place
Detroit, Michigan
Date
3/16/2019
Transcriptionist
Heba Alkhatib
Transcription
Heba Alkhatib: Hello, my name is Heba and today is March 16, 2019. This interview is for Detroit Historical Society’s neighborhoods where Detroit Lives Oral History Project. I’m in Detroit Michigan and im sitting down with
Vito Valdez: Vito Jesus Valdez
HA: Thank you so much for sitting down with me today. And what was your name? Can you say it again?
VV: Vito Jesus Valdez
HA: Can you spell it?
VV: V-I-T-O
HA: V-I-T-O
VV: J-E-S-U-S and V-A-L-D-E-Z
HA: Alright. And where and when were you born?
VV: I was born in Wyandotte, Michigan, 1952.
HA: And do you know what attracted you and your family to Detroit?
VV: Well, my family, my mother and father, migrated to Detroit from El Paso, Texas, and it was for economic reasons for employment in the north.
HA: And what neighborhood did your family settle in?
VV: Southwest Detroit
HA: What did your parents do for a living?
VV: My father, an autoworker, my mother worked for the government.
HA: What did she do?
VV: She was an administrative personnel office.
HA: And do you have any siblings?
VV: I do.
HA: How many?
VV: Well, let me think here. Raymond, Henry, then I was born. You count me too? Or no no, just my siblings. Okay then, Rosie, and Suzie. So four. Four others.
HA: And they all were here living with you guys?
VV: Oh, I forgot Steve! I’m sorry. That’s… Yeah. And… Can I start over?
HA: Yeah, go ahead.
VV: Do you know why? Because I have step-brothers. Okay so… Five.
HA: Five! Wow, big family! And what schools did you go to?
VV: In elementary, I was at Sainte Anne’s school right here on Sainte Anne’s Street. That was my first school.
HA: And then where’d you go for middle school?
VV: And then we moved to Melvindale, so that was in Melvindale. Like, middle and then highschool, and I graduated from Melvindale High.
HA: And what was your neighborhood like growing up?
VV: It was like, well… which neighborhood? In my early age before we moved to the suburbs? Or both?
HA: Both.
VV: Both! Okay so yeah. In southwest Detroit, it was a real tough urban neighborhood that I lived in and my older brothers, well my one especially, older brother Raymond became involved in gang activity, that type of thing, so at an early age, I saw crime, violence, and I kind of stayed away from it. I was afraid of it and didn't like it. But then moving to the suburbs, relatively lighter in that respect, but we continued to come into the city.
HA: Okay. And what stores did you go to growing up?
VV: Pardon me?
HA: What stores did you go to growing up?
VV: Stores? Grocery stores, the earliest would be in southwest Detroit would be the Mexican restaurants. Primarily close to the international border. And that’s what I think I remember the most, you know, the little, the grocery stores. Later on of course, you know, the bigger stores, departments, I never liked shopping so.
HA: Are there any stories that you’d like to share from growing up in the neighborhood? Like what you would do for fun.
VV: Which one? There’s a millions of stories that I could tell you. Okay, is there anything particular [unintelligible] stories?
HA: No just like what you and your friends would do for fun, or like interesting stories in general.
VV: Some fun stories that as a youngster that I really like were like ice skating, going to Belle Isle, snow activities, back, way back then I used to like skating and sledding and then when it was warm out, in a canoe. In sports I was [unintelligible] baseball I liked when I was very young.
HA: Okay, so growing up did you tend to stay in your own neighborhood or did you venture out into the city?
VV: I ventured out quite a bit. I was always an adventurous person, still am.
HA: What would you do?
VV: Well, get on a bus, or get a ride, go to like an amusement park that was like 10 miles away or something.
HA: Would you go like with your friends or your family?
VV: Oh yeah, friends, you know, hitchhiking. Back then we could hitchhike.
HA: When it was still safe yeah.
VV: Yeah.
HA: And why did you pick this neighborhood to move to?
VV: Why did I pick this neighborhood? Well, originally I had no choice. I was born and raised in the area. Now, when I mentioned I was born in Wyandotte, we were living here in southwest. That’s just my mom’s, you know, her doctor.
HA: Oh okay.
VV: So, just to clear that up. So, I was born and raised here, particularly in southwest.
HA: And what was the makeup of your neighborhood growing up? Like the economic makeup, racial makeup, ethnic.
VV: Well, I think predominantly Latin American, Mexican, and African American.
HA: Oh okay.
VV: So, I had a diverse neighborhood and I think at an early age I kind of knew and felt the need to learn about each other’s differences and their culture.
HA: Okay, and did you feel comfortable in your neighborhood?
VV: Yeah, I made sure it was safe by having, you know, friends, you know, in case you’re bullied or whatever.
HA: So, as the decades progressed, did the makeup of your neighborhood change?
VV: Yeah, sure, well, I was living here close to the ambassador bridge, on Vinewood and Lafayette, and then the riots happened, the rebellion, and you know, that’s when my folks, like many others decided to leave the city, and so we moved to Melvindale, a suburb of Detroit, just south of where southwest is, not that far from it.
HA: And was that the moment that you recognized a change?
VV: Oh yeah.
HA: And as the decades progressed, has your opinion of the neighborhood changed?
VV: Well, I kind of, I moved away. And as soon as I was 18, I left home and I was drafted in the Vietnam era, and so I kind of moved away and then when I came back, I didn’t quite move back here to this area per say, I was in the suburbs. So, I’m not sure if that kind of, will cover that.
HA: Okay, and did you ever think about moving away from this area.
VV: Yeah, yes for sure I did! I left the country! I moved away yeah.
HA: How often did you like come back? And like what made you come back?
VV: My daughter.
HA: Your daughter? Okay. What makes your neighborhood unique?
VV: Southwest Detroit?
HA: Yeah.
VV: Well, I’d have to put that into perspective, going back to the, when I moved away. So, I left the country so I was living in Montreal, and then went to Europe for a little bit, and then, when I came back, I really didn’t want to move particularly in this part of town, because I had to go where work was. So I’m an artist and an educator. So I moved to the Cass Corridor, which is outside of southwest Detroit. I was living close to the Detroit Institute of Arts, where I was working. So I really liked that, and I probably would’ve stayed around there if not for a girlfriend. So in saying how I was... what was the last question?
HA: What makes your neighborhood unique?
VV: Well, so my neighborhood used to be not in southwest, right? So that’s why that I mentioned living in the Cass Corridor. So, I moved back here, so now I could say how it’s more unique to me.
HA: You see it now
VV: Because I rather liked other places to live. And i only was brought back here because I had a girlfriend who wanted a house right up the street here on 18th and Bagley, and we’re only like two blocks away, with this recording. So, I have a different perspective. And because I initially didn’t want to be here. In fact, I would’ve stayed in Canada or Europe, if not having to come home for my daughter. And now that I’m here, yeah it’s, I really like it, but it needs work, so.
HA: Okay. And what does the term neighborhood mean to you?
VV: I’m a community activist, and I have been focusing on something that deals with community specifically, and the work that I do. So, I’m a public artist, I do murals, sculpture, so I chose to do many of them primarily here, on the border in southwest Detroit. So, in order to do that work, you have to be very much aware of what community is, where it’s going, what it’s doing now, does it need help? What areas do you need to help it? So, in doing public art, it’s a voice for people. Community is communication.
HA: Yeah… okay and you mentioned that you realize that there’s a lot of things that need to be done in this city, what do you think it is? Like what’re the issues right now that you see?
VV: Economic depravity in certain parts of the city that really need to be helped. And there needs to be kind of a sharing of wealth across the board. And there’s inequities in that, you look at downtown, and you look at how it’s thriving and growing and gentrification and all that. But yet, on the outskirts of town, and even fairly close by, homelessness, you know, brownfields, you know, streets that still don’t have street lights, that type of thing.
HA: Okay. And if you could do one thing in your neighborhood, what would it be and why?
VV: Well I’m doing it right now, to tell you the truth. Get involved. Which is what I’m doing. I’m involved in the schools because I’m an educator, and a mentor, so working at the museum, I offer to a lot of the schools, and to a lot of the groups. Field trips, bussing, and I’m involved in a lot of different campaigns in the neighborhood for improvement, fighting blight. Yeah, okay.
HA: And, you said you’re an educator, so an educator in what sense? What do you do?
VV: I’m an art educator
HA: Art educator?
VV: So, I’ve been an artist for 30 years, and primarily my work deals in issues, so in doing public artwork is a perfect vehicle for communication to everyone. Because when public art is out there it’s for people, it’s free, they get to view it, see it, can engage with it, what’s going on with it, you know, and it communicates, you know, something. So I do positive communication through these works.
HA: Okay. Alright, thank you so much! It was a pleasure speaking with you!
VV: Okay!
Track 1 ends; track 2 begins
VV: Oh is it on?
HA: Yeah
VV: Oh so we’re talking?
HA: Now it is.
VV: Okay, so you want to catch some of this. Alright, so when I was talking about the layers of, thinking about community and neighborhoods, when we were talking here, we were really concerned southwest, [unintelligible] than I’m talking about it. I’m talking about right at the Canadian-U.S. border, that’s my concentration, because this is where I spend most of my time as a young person. And so the memories are rich and full, but I moved away and I really didn’t want to come back here, you know, because there’s a whole world out there. You know when I went to live in Canada, which I had always loved you know going over as a child, we would go to the parks there, Point Pelee. You ever been there? But there is a beautiful country and there is a whole different way of living. The poverty rate and crime is so, just a multi-, you know, such a strong difference, I mean, when you cross over into the neighborhood. And, interesting, when you do cross over the bridge, you come into Mexican town. Isn’t that interesting? Because the other border that I knew is in El Paso. El Paso is a town right on the the border. [unintelligible] is right on the other side, and that’s my, where my folks came from. So we would migrate back and forth to El Paso all my life. And I still love it, you know, and I just saw that in Mexican town [unintelligible] that was going on on that side, you know. Because El Paso, Texas town, you know, so you had like the cowboys and that business, you know, right? And, but then, so, the Mexican culture that I grew up in, at first we spoke Spanish fluently, but somewhere, in the early 60s, my father and mother they said “No mas,” only English in this house. And we’re like why, you know, and they said no no you have to. Kind of, basically they were saying, you know, you have to lose the, maybe, the accent? And it didn’t hit me till years later. There was across, all through the neighborhood, it seems, a lot of their families were trying to say let’s talk English because I think they felt second class. Being in the streets and saying “oh no hablo ingles,” you know, like that, and you’re like well you come from the border, you come from mexican, that immigration thing was starting to kick in back that. We migrated here for work, not only us but African Americans from the south [unintelligible] there was work here. So, and I think maybe in the back of my mind too that was something. Why would I come back here when I could live in Montreal where I was like in France, they speak French. But, I think part of it, a lot of my life was controlled of the fact that I was an artist. Even at an early age, I had great hunger to learn, and I excelled in the arts. And part of that was Sainte Anne’s Church, right here, where ironically I live right up the street from there. And the church, it’s a historic church. Sainte Anne’s Church is the second oldest in the United States continually [unintelligible]. So, being an artist, of course, a city like Montreal, and then I went on to go and show in France and Germany, Belgium, Cuba. So, having moved around and looking at what’s in the world and you have to go for where your work is, right? But I came home because my daughter. At 18 she became pregnant in Brussels, Belgium and I get a call from my ex-wife saying… Could this be in the history? In the oral history? Are we on track here? Or am I going too far?
HA: Just talking about Detroit and like how you got here
VV: So now it’s personal, real personal. Are you okay with that?
HA: Sure, yeah.
VV: Alright so, I think that could be an example of how people can kind of be drawn back home. Even though in some part of the world, their family...
HA: They have ties here, yeah.
VV: And so my daughter is very important to me, she was my only one. And I was a part-time dad when she was young, but I had to go with my work. But, and till this day she’ll say “dad, and I know, I missed you,” but I would take her, Chicago and Toronto.
HA: So she saw these places too.
VV: Yeah and I, always fashions and stuff, so I was paying, but I had to work hard, to pay the bills, you know, when you have a child.
HA: What does she think of Detroit, and this area?
VV: Well, I mean, she knows about it and she comes here. She loves Mexican food, so that’s one thing, but she had to go with where her husband, where he works, and what he does. So they’re now living in Dallas. That’s where I just came back from, from seeing them.
HA: Okay, I think that concludes it.
VV: Okay!
HA: Thank you so much again!
VV: Great!
Vito Valdez: Vito Jesus Valdez
HA: Thank you so much for sitting down with me today. And what was your name? Can you say it again?
VV: Vito Jesus Valdez
HA: Can you spell it?
VV: V-I-T-O
HA: V-I-T-O
VV: J-E-S-U-S and V-A-L-D-E-Z
HA: Alright. And where and when were you born?
VV: I was born in Wyandotte, Michigan, 1952.
HA: And do you know what attracted you and your family to Detroit?
VV: Well, my family, my mother and father, migrated to Detroit from El Paso, Texas, and it was for economic reasons for employment in the north.
HA: And what neighborhood did your family settle in?
VV: Southwest Detroit
HA: What did your parents do for a living?
VV: My father, an autoworker, my mother worked for the government.
HA: What did she do?
VV: She was an administrative personnel office.
HA: And do you have any siblings?
VV: I do.
HA: How many?
VV: Well, let me think here. Raymond, Henry, then I was born. You count me too? Or no no, just my siblings. Okay then, Rosie, and Suzie. So four. Four others.
HA: And they all were here living with you guys?
VV: Oh, I forgot Steve! I’m sorry. That’s… Yeah. And… Can I start over?
HA: Yeah, go ahead.
VV: Do you know why? Because I have step-brothers. Okay so… Five.
HA: Five! Wow, big family! And what schools did you go to?
VV: In elementary, I was at Sainte Anne’s school right here on Sainte Anne’s Street. That was my first school.
HA: And then where’d you go for middle school?
VV: And then we moved to Melvindale, so that was in Melvindale. Like, middle and then highschool, and I graduated from Melvindale High.
HA: And what was your neighborhood like growing up?
VV: It was like, well… which neighborhood? In my early age before we moved to the suburbs? Or both?
HA: Both.
VV: Both! Okay so yeah. In southwest Detroit, it was a real tough urban neighborhood that I lived in and my older brothers, well my one especially, older brother Raymond became involved in gang activity, that type of thing, so at an early age, I saw crime, violence, and I kind of stayed away from it. I was afraid of it and didn't like it. But then moving to the suburbs, relatively lighter in that respect, but we continued to come into the city.
HA: Okay. And what stores did you go to growing up?
VV: Pardon me?
HA: What stores did you go to growing up?
VV: Stores? Grocery stores, the earliest would be in southwest Detroit would be the Mexican restaurants. Primarily close to the international border. And that’s what I think I remember the most, you know, the little, the grocery stores. Later on of course, you know, the bigger stores, departments, I never liked shopping so.
HA: Are there any stories that you’d like to share from growing up in the neighborhood? Like what you would do for fun.
VV: Which one? There’s a millions of stories that I could tell you. Okay, is there anything particular [unintelligible] stories?
HA: No just like what you and your friends would do for fun, or like interesting stories in general.
VV: Some fun stories that as a youngster that I really like were like ice skating, going to Belle Isle, snow activities, back, way back then I used to like skating and sledding and then when it was warm out, in a canoe. In sports I was [unintelligible] baseball I liked when I was very young.
HA: Okay, so growing up did you tend to stay in your own neighborhood or did you venture out into the city?
VV: I ventured out quite a bit. I was always an adventurous person, still am.
HA: What would you do?
VV: Well, get on a bus, or get a ride, go to like an amusement park that was like 10 miles away or something.
HA: Would you go like with your friends or your family?
VV: Oh yeah, friends, you know, hitchhiking. Back then we could hitchhike.
HA: When it was still safe yeah.
VV: Yeah.
HA: And why did you pick this neighborhood to move to?
VV: Why did I pick this neighborhood? Well, originally I had no choice. I was born and raised in the area. Now, when I mentioned I was born in Wyandotte, we were living here in southwest. That’s just my mom’s, you know, her doctor.
HA: Oh okay.
VV: So, just to clear that up. So, I was born and raised here, particularly in southwest.
HA: And what was the makeup of your neighborhood growing up? Like the economic makeup, racial makeup, ethnic.
VV: Well, I think predominantly Latin American, Mexican, and African American.
HA: Oh okay.
VV: So, I had a diverse neighborhood and I think at an early age I kind of knew and felt the need to learn about each other’s differences and their culture.
HA: Okay, and did you feel comfortable in your neighborhood?
VV: Yeah, I made sure it was safe by having, you know, friends, you know, in case you’re bullied or whatever.
HA: So, as the decades progressed, did the makeup of your neighborhood change?
VV: Yeah, sure, well, I was living here close to the ambassador bridge, on Vinewood and Lafayette, and then the riots happened, the rebellion, and you know, that’s when my folks, like many others decided to leave the city, and so we moved to Melvindale, a suburb of Detroit, just south of where southwest is, not that far from it.
HA: And was that the moment that you recognized a change?
VV: Oh yeah.
HA: And as the decades progressed, has your opinion of the neighborhood changed?
VV: Well, I kind of, I moved away. And as soon as I was 18, I left home and I was drafted in the Vietnam era, and so I kind of moved away and then when I came back, I didn’t quite move back here to this area per say, I was in the suburbs. So, I’m not sure if that kind of, will cover that.
HA: Okay, and did you ever think about moving away from this area.
VV: Yeah, yes for sure I did! I left the country! I moved away yeah.
HA: How often did you like come back? And like what made you come back?
VV: My daughter.
HA: Your daughter? Okay. What makes your neighborhood unique?
VV: Southwest Detroit?
HA: Yeah.
VV: Well, I’d have to put that into perspective, going back to the, when I moved away. So, I left the country so I was living in Montreal, and then went to Europe for a little bit, and then, when I came back, I really didn’t want to move particularly in this part of town, because I had to go where work was. So I’m an artist and an educator. So I moved to the Cass Corridor, which is outside of southwest Detroit. I was living close to the Detroit Institute of Arts, where I was working. So I really liked that, and I probably would’ve stayed around there if not for a girlfriend. So in saying how I was... what was the last question?
HA: What makes your neighborhood unique?
VV: Well, so my neighborhood used to be not in southwest, right? So that’s why that I mentioned living in the Cass Corridor. So, I moved back here, so now I could say how it’s more unique to me.
HA: You see it now
VV: Because I rather liked other places to live. And i only was brought back here because I had a girlfriend who wanted a house right up the street here on 18th and Bagley, and we’re only like two blocks away, with this recording. So, I have a different perspective. And because I initially didn’t want to be here. In fact, I would’ve stayed in Canada or Europe, if not having to come home for my daughter. And now that I’m here, yeah it’s, I really like it, but it needs work, so.
HA: Okay. And what does the term neighborhood mean to you?
VV: I’m a community activist, and I have been focusing on something that deals with community specifically, and the work that I do. So, I’m a public artist, I do murals, sculpture, so I chose to do many of them primarily here, on the border in southwest Detroit. So, in order to do that work, you have to be very much aware of what community is, where it’s going, what it’s doing now, does it need help? What areas do you need to help it? So, in doing public art, it’s a voice for people. Community is communication.
HA: Yeah… okay and you mentioned that you realize that there’s a lot of things that need to be done in this city, what do you think it is? Like what’re the issues right now that you see?
VV: Economic depravity in certain parts of the city that really need to be helped. And there needs to be kind of a sharing of wealth across the board. And there’s inequities in that, you look at downtown, and you look at how it’s thriving and growing and gentrification and all that. But yet, on the outskirts of town, and even fairly close by, homelessness, you know, brownfields, you know, streets that still don’t have street lights, that type of thing.
HA: Okay. And if you could do one thing in your neighborhood, what would it be and why?
VV: Well I’m doing it right now, to tell you the truth. Get involved. Which is what I’m doing. I’m involved in the schools because I’m an educator, and a mentor, so working at the museum, I offer to a lot of the schools, and to a lot of the groups. Field trips, bussing, and I’m involved in a lot of different campaigns in the neighborhood for improvement, fighting blight. Yeah, okay.
HA: And, you said you’re an educator, so an educator in what sense? What do you do?
VV: I’m an art educator
HA: Art educator?
VV: So, I’ve been an artist for 30 years, and primarily my work deals in issues, so in doing public artwork is a perfect vehicle for communication to everyone. Because when public art is out there it’s for people, it’s free, they get to view it, see it, can engage with it, what’s going on with it, you know, and it communicates, you know, something. So I do positive communication through these works.
HA: Okay. Alright, thank you so much! It was a pleasure speaking with you!
VV: Okay!
Track 1 ends; track 2 begins
VV: Oh is it on?
HA: Yeah
VV: Oh so we’re talking?
HA: Now it is.
VV: Okay, so you want to catch some of this. Alright, so when I was talking about the layers of, thinking about community and neighborhoods, when we were talking here, we were really concerned southwest, [unintelligible] than I’m talking about it. I’m talking about right at the Canadian-U.S. border, that’s my concentration, because this is where I spend most of my time as a young person. And so the memories are rich and full, but I moved away and I really didn’t want to come back here, you know, because there’s a whole world out there. You know when I went to live in Canada, which I had always loved you know going over as a child, we would go to the parks there, Point Pelee. You ever been there? But there is a beautiful country and there is a whole different way of living. The poverty rate and crime is so, just a multi-, you know, such a strong difference, I mean, when you cross over into the neighborhood. And, interesting, when you do cross over the bridge, you come into Mexican town. Isn’t that interesting? Because the other border that I knew is in El Paso. El Paso is a town right on the the border. [unintelligible] is right on the other side, and that’s my, where my folks came from. So we would migrate back and forth to El Paso all my life. And I still love it, you know, and I just saw that in Mexican town [unintelligible] that was going on on that side, you know. Because El Paso, Texas town, you know, so you had like the cowboys and that business, you know, right? And, but then, so, the Mexican culture that I grew up in, at first we spoke Spanish fluently, but somewhere, in the early 60s, my father and mother they said “No mas,” only English in this house. And we’re like why, you know, and they said no no you have to. Kind of, basically they were saying, you know, you have to lose the, maybe, the accent? And it didn’t hit me till years later. There was across, all through the neighborhood, it seems, a lot of their families were trying to say let’s talk English because I think they felt second class. Being in the streets and saying “oh no hablo ingles,” you know, like that, and you’re like well you come from the border, you come from mexican, that immigration thing was starting to kick in back that. We migrated here for work, not only us but African Americans from the south [unintelligible] there was work here. So, and I think maybe in the back of my mind too that was something. Why would I come back here when I could live in Montreal where I was like in France, they speak French. But, I think part of it, a lot of my life was controlled of the fact that I was an artist. Even at an early age, I had great hunger to learn, and I excelled in the arts. And part of that was Sainte Anne’s Church, right here, where ironically I live right up the street from there. And the church, it’s a historic church. Sainte Anne’s Church is the second oldest in the United States continually [unintelligible]. So, being an artist, of course, a city like Montreal, and then I went on to go and show in France and Germany, Belgium, Cuba. So, having moved around and looking at what’s in the world and you have to go for where your work is, right? But I came home because my daughter. At 18 she became pregnant in Brussels, Belgium and I get a call from my ex-wife saying… Could this be in the history? In the oral history? Are we on track here? Or am I going too far?
HA: Just talking about Detroit and like how you got here
VV: So now it’s personal, real personal. Are you okay with that?
HA: Sure, yeah.
VV: Alright so, I think that could be an example of how people can kind of be drawn back home. Even though in some part of the world, their family...
HA: They have ties here, yeah.
VV: And so my daughter is very important to me, she was my only one. And I was a part-time dad when she was young, but I had to go with my work. But, and till this day she’ll say “dad, and I know, I missed you,” but I would take her, Chicago and Toronto.
HA: So she saw these places too.
VV: Yeah and I, always fashions and stuff, so I was paying, but I had to work hard, to pay the bills, you know, when you have a child.
HA: What does she think of Detroit, and this area?
VV: Well, I mean, she knows about it and she comes here. She loves Mexican food, so that’s one thing, but she had to go with where her husband, where he works, and what he does. So they’re now living in Dallas. That’s where I just came back from, from seeing them.
HA: Okay, I think that concludes it.
VV: Okay!
HA: Thank you so much again!
VV: Great!
Search Terms
Southwest, Detroit, Oral History, Sainte Anne's, 1967 riots, art educator, community activist
Collection
Citation
“Vito Jesus Valdez,” Detroit Historical Society Oral History Archive, accessed May 19, 2024, http://detroit1967.detroithistorical.org/items/show/729.