Detroit honours US Covid-19 victims with public park memorial

Photos submitted by families displayed to reveal the crushing breadth of the virus.

A procession of vehicles drive past photos of Detroit victims of Covid-19 on Belle Isle in Detroit. August 31, 2020.
AP

A procession of vehicles drive past photos of Detroit victims of Covid-19 on Belle Isle in Detroit. August 31, 2020.

Detroit has turned an island park into an extraordinary memorial garden for residents who died from Covid-19.

Cars packed with families slowly passed hundreds of photos remembering them.

Mayor Mike Duggan declared a Detroit Memorial Day to honour the 1,500-plus city victims of the pandemic. Hearses led solemn all-day processions around Belle Isle Park in the Detroit River after bells rang across the region at 8:45 am.

AP

A procession of vehicles drive past photos of Detroit victims of Covid-19 on Belle Isle in Detroit. August 31, 2020.

“It is our hope that seeing these beautiful faces on the island today ... will wake people up to the devastating effect of the pandemic,” said Rochelle Riley, Detroit's director of arts and culture.

The “memorial was designed to bring some peace to families whose loved ones didn't have the funerals they deserved,” Riley said in opening remarks. “But it may also force us to work harder to limit the number of Covid-19 deaths we’ll endure in the coming months.”

“It is our hope that seeing these beautiful faces on the island today ... will wake people up to the devastating effect of the pandemic,” said Rochelle Riley, Detroit's director of arts and culture.

AP

A procession of vehicles drive past photos of Detroit victims of Covid-19 on Belle Isle in Detroit. August 31, 2020.

The “memorial was designed to bring some peace to families whose loved ones didn't have the funerals they deserved,” Riley said in opening remarks. “But it may also force us to work harder to limit the number of Covid-19 deaths we’ll endure in the coming months.”

AP

A procession of vehicles drive past photos of Detroit victims of Covid-19 on Belle Isle in Detroit. August 31, 2020.

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Families donate photos of loved ones

More than 900 photos submitted by families were staked like billboards around Belle Isle, revealing the crushing breadth of the virus.

The pictures show people in better times: Darrin Adams at college graduation; Daniel Aldape catching a fish; Shirley Frank with an Elvis impersonator; Veronica Davis crossing the finish line at a race.

AP

A procession of vehicles drive past photos of Detroit victims of Covid-19 on Belle Isle in Detroit. August 31, 2020.

They had "dreams and plans and a story," Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said at Belle Isle. “They weren’t finished yet.”

Detroit has roughly seven percent of Michigan's population but 23 percent of the state's 6,400 Covid-19 deaths. The city is nearly 80 percent Black.

“The virus exposed deep inequities, from basic lack of access to health care or transportation or protections in the workplace,” Whitmer said. “These inequities hit people of colour in vulnerable communities the hardest.”

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