Christal
Cooper 818 Words
UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL
United We Stand, Divided We Fall is attributed to
the Greek
Philosopher Aesop in his fable
The Four Oxen and the Lion.
“Then join
hand in hand, brave Americans all!
By uniting
we stand, by dividing we fall!”
John Dickinson in 1768
“United we
stand, divided we fall. Let us not split into factions which must
destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.”
Patrick Henry in March
of 1799.
“For united
we stand, divided we fall
And if our
backs should ever be against the wall
We'll be
together, together, you and I.”
Tony Hiller and Peter Simmons in 1970
Sheri Wright spent a pleasant week from
January 10th to January 18th of 2014 in the French
Quarter of New Orleans on 141 Charles Street, the corner of Chartres and
Iberville Streets. The birds were
singing, the sky was blue, and the sun was shining; but in Wright’s mind things
were very somber, holy, sacred, and overwhelming.
“All
I could say was, “Holy Shit! I’m really
doing this!’”
Wright
is on a mission to complete her documentary film Tracking Fire on the
Upstairs Lounge Fire, the largest mass murder in LGBT history, that happened
over forty years ago on June 1973 where 32 people, all gays and one mother,
died from a fire caused by an alleged arsonist, an angered patron who was kicked out of
the bar earlier that night.
Sheri’s mission goes back to September of 2012 when she watched "Ghost Hunters" about investigators going into the Upstairs Lounge to contact the spirits. She was appalled to the lack of response to the fire by officials and
the community and to her ignorance of the event. Why didn’t she know about this, especially,
since she was gay herself?
She made a commitment to herself, her subconscious,
and her higher power, that she would do a documentary film about the fire, the
victims’, and the survivors.
This has been a great adventure – scary and
filled with anticipation – for Sheri.
Sheri’s background is that of photographer, poet, and teacher. She has never done a documentary film before.
During that January week in New Orleans, as
Wright walked the same stairs, into the same room the victims walked in forty
years ago, where they lost their lives due to a door-sized fireball of 2000
degrees, she had an epiphany: “This is what I was born to do!”
What Wright is supposed to do is two-fold: to
make this film and to give voices to the victims and the survivors.
One person who has been etched in her
mind is Reverend Bill Larson. Perhaps it
is due to that photograph of him dead, his hands grasping the window ledge; his
body stuck between the 14-inch gapped bars of the window, covered in an ash
blanket, his own burial clothes.
“I
can’t get that image out of my mind.
They could have covered Reverend Larson’s body, but they let it sit
there for hours and hours because he was gay and they wanted to make a
statement. It is a disturbing image, but
I think it needs to be seen.”
Reverend Larson was a Christian minister
of the Metropolitan Community Church, the first gay church founded in October
of 1968 in Los Angeles by Troy Perry, who presided over one of two memorial,
services held for the victims in July of 1973.
Reverend Larson was at the Upstairs
Lounge on the second floor to discuss with other church members an upcoming
fundraiser for children who were crippled, and to also enjoy a meal and a glass
of beer.
The reports that Reverend Larson was
holding church services that sweltering June night are wrong.
“MCC
was not holding their meetings that night.
Reverend Larson was allowed to use one of the back rooms to hold
meetings for MCC until they found more suitable space. At the time of the fire they already located
a more permanent space”
Reverend Larson and his fellow patrons
were singing “United We Stand” which was fitting considering this night, June
24, 1973, was the last day of Pride Weekend Celebration.
The fire was discovered at 7:56 p.m. when
one of the patrons opened the door to find the front staircase engulfed in a
huge fireball.
Since Reverend Larson, like most of the
patrons, was not aware of the fire exit door in the back, he tried to squeeze
through the barred windows only to get stuck, burning to death, his spirit singing,
“United We Stand, Divided We Fall.”
Thus Reverend Larson’s motto of “United
We Stand Divided We Fall” is Sheri’s motto.
Because Sheri has never done a documentary film before she has made sure to surround herself with experienced people in the industry; which includes hiring experienced musicians, poets, professional videographers, cinematographers, editors, and narrators.
She views this film as not her film but one that belongs to the entire community: “This is a community project. It is not my project. This film belongs to the community.”
Photo Description and Copyright Information
Photo 1
Hellenistic statue claimed to
depict Aesop, Art Collection of Villa Albanie, Rome.
Public
Domain.
Photo
2
John
Dickinson (1732 – 1808)
Oil
on canvas.
Attributed
to Charles Wilson Peale
Public Domain
Public Domain
Photo
3
Patrick
Henry (1736-1799)
Oil
on canvas.
Attributed
to Thomas Sully and George Bagby Matthews
Public
Domain.
Photo
4
Album
cover of Brotherhood of Man “United We Stand”
Fair
Use Under the United States Copyright Law.
Photo
5
Signs
of Chartres and Iberville Streets.
Copyright by Sheri Wright.
Copyright by Sheri Wright.
Photo
6
Sheri
Wright giving a poetry reading.
Copyright granted by Sheri Wright.
Copyright granted by Sheri Wright.
Photo
7
Poster
for Sheri Wright’s documentary film Tracking Fire.
Photo
8
The
aftermath of the Upstairs Fire.
Copyright by Landov.
Copyright by Landov.
Photo
9
Memorial marker with all the names of the victims lost in the fire.
Copyright by Sheri Wright.
Photo 10.
Memorial marker with all the names of the victims lost in the fire.
Copyright by Sheri Wright.
Photo 10.
Sheri
Wright with her camera.
Copyright granted by Sheri Wright.
Photo 11
Copyright granted by Sheri Wright.
Photo 11
Post
from Sheri Wright’s documentary Tracking Fire minus the sidebars
Photo
12
Survivors
of the Upstairs Fire being attended to by firemen and medical personnel.
Copyright
by Landov.
Photo
13
Reverend
Bill Larson’s corpse.
Copyright by Landov.
Copyright by Landov.
Photo
14.
Reverend
Bill Larson at the pulpit.
Copyright by Landov.
Copyright by Landov.
Photo
15
Reverend
Troy Perry delivering a sermon at the Metropolitan Municipal Church in
Rochester, Minnesota.
September 18, 2006
September 18, 2006
Attributed
to Jonathunder.
CCASA 3.0 Unported License.
CCASA 3.0 Unported License.
Photo
16
Patrons
of the Upstairs Lounge, including Reverend Bill Larson, second from the left.
Copyright by Landov.
Photo 17.
Copyright by Landov.
Photo 17.
The
Reverend Elder Nancy Wilson with the Metropolitan Community Church logo in
front of the altar at a regional conference of the church denomination at All
God's Children MCC in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
July
18, 2008
Attributed
to Jonathunder.
CCA-SA 3.0 Unported License and GNU Free Documentation License.
Photo 18
CCA-SA 3.0 Unported License and GNU Free Documentation License.
Photo 18
Rainbow
Flag.
October 5, 2008
October 5, 2008
Attributed
to Ludovic Bertron
CCA-SA
2.0 Generic License
Photo
19
Sheri
Wright giving a poetry reading at the even music and poetry event 1000 Poets
For Change.
2012
Copyright granted by Sheri Wright.
Photo 20
2012
Copyright granted by Sheri Wright.
Photo 20
Image
of the Upstairs Lounge second floor as it appears today. The window second from the right is the same
window that Reverend Larson clasped as he burned to death.
Copyright by Landov.
Copyright by Landov.
Photo
21
Sheri
Wright judging a poetry event.
Copyright granted by Sheri Wright.
Copyright granted by Sheri Wright.
Hi Chris, I thank you for sharing these pictures. I am also a bit disturb seeing that image of late Rev. Larson. What a sad story. I felt sorry and very sad to all the victims of that massacre.
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