John Sinclair (Detroit Portrait series)
Artist
Kurt Novak
(American)
Date2003 - 2005
MediumArchival pigment print on cotton rag paper
DimensionsPaper Size: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Frame Size: 22 1/2 × 26 1/2 in. (57.2 × 67.3 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Object numberUAC6108
DescriptionDetroit in the 1960s was the perfect springboard for disparate and diverse youth to make a difference, and John Sinclair’s youth in Detroit was the origin of his turbulent and radical journey from neophyte poet to the face of a revolution. Seeing his own values reflected in the raucous sounds of MC5, John Sinclair became manager for the rock band while simultaneously serving as a founding member of the White Panther Party and advocating for alternative press outlets such as the Detroit underground newspaper, Fifth Estate. Sinclair was famously arrested in 1969 for marijuana possession and given a ten year jail sentence. The asperity of his sentence and his activism in the Yippie community inspired protests at the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival, a song by John Lennon, and the immensely populous “John Sinclair Freedom Rally” held in Ann Arbor at the Crisler Center in 1971. The actions of his friends and fellow activists helped expedite Sinclair’s sentence, and he was released early, serving three and a half years of his ten year sentence. Sinclair currently resides in Amsterdam where he continues to write and host his own radio show, The John Sinclair Radio Show. Collections
