Blog & FAQ
How the Rabbit Hole Began
Posted Jan 10, 2023 • Written by John Sippel
Let me try to some things up in just a few paragraphs.
This journey began after months photographing around Detroit and Michigan at large in 2020. With the state of America becoming more tumultuous as the months, weeks, and days went by I found myself coping with all of it by getting out with my camera to talk to people and share their stories. Trying to understand the perspectives from not only people in my own communities in Detroit but people that have different perspectives all across Michigan. All in the hopes to share some sort of common ground and understanding during the difficult time. For the better part of a year I met with first responders and organizers during the lockdown, documented over 100 days of continual social and political protests in Detroit, and documented a whole array of campaigns and rallies across the political spectrum. It was along this journey that I met Dwane Taylor, one of our protagonists in the documentary.
A few months after initially meeting Dwane, he reach out and asked if I wanted to come hang out and photograph a Guns Down, Gloves Up street fighting event he was putting together in Southwest Detroit. My interest was sparked to say the least.
From that day on, I spent every other Sunday for a course of a Summer photographing and being a part of what was building. It started small with a group of friends mostly from Southwest who were putting on gloves in solidarity and just letting off some steam. But each Sunday the crowd grew little by little to where dozens of people were coming together to show support, let off some steam, fight out specific animosities, and just join the block party. We had 4 or 5 Sundays of this but naturally Michigan was doing its skip Fall and go straight into Winter thing so we had our last fight night of the season. Many of us kept in contact, especially Dwane and I. For no reason other than people get busy with life I wasn’t sure if Dwane and the crew was going to start it back up. That’s just how these things can often go. But low and behold, one Sunday in 2021 the forecast was calling for sunshine and I got a text from Dwane. The 2nd season was kicking off. The usual crew showed up and the collective energy in the street was so happy to be back together and out of hibernation. It was like no time had passed. People were ready to get back in the ring and reconnect.
Sure enough the following Sunday was even bigger. It was on that day I also met our second protagonist in the documentary: Michael Futrell or better known as DMike. Flyers were starting to get shared around the city and on social. Families started to come, people from the suburbs started to come, and then people across the state and beyond joined this unique Sunday service. We packed a small isolated street in the far remote corner of the Delray neighborhood with people of all ages, communities and circumstances. Being back with all these people I realized that this is larger than just a place to box, let out some anger, or watch the spectacle. This is a movement that is uniting people and giving not only the organizers but also the attendees a real sense of purpose and hope. I certainly felt this way. People who would otherwise never be together, due to a whole list of reasons, were uniting and quite literally putting guns down and gloves up. The act of using fighting as a tool to try and lift up oneself, one another, and one’s communities was really beginning to take shape in a beautiful organic way. It was a place to kick back. It’s a place to air out afflictions, grievances or resentments in a way that always ended in understanding. As a fighter perfectly stated “two guys for a week and a half could be talking about taking each others damn heads off, and after this they’re gonna hug. They’re gonna go have a 20 minute conversation about it.”
By the 2nd Sunday I made the full switch from photos to video. I initially was just thinking of capturing the Detroit Guns Down Guns Up movement and wrapping it all up in a nice 10-15 minute package to share the power of what was growing. Keep it more contained and centered around the street fighting. So, naturally I met Dwane and DMike at their homes and separately filmed each of them to get their perspectives on the movement. After about a 2 hour conversation with each of them, I realized that there is something far deeper and connected to their individual relationships with fighting. Though the two young men only really knew each other in passing, they were both at a very similar cross roads. They both were at a point in life where they had to take a crucial leap of faith to go after their dreams, all the while provide for their young, growing families. Dwane - knew that it was now or never to finally go after his dream of becoming a professional boxer. DMike - who was training all ages wrestling and boxing out of his garage had a deep desire to take this out into the larger community. All the while both were at a place trying to navigate their traumas associated with family, loss, and their relationship to the streets. From that point on I joined Dwane and DMike as they took that leap.
A few months into the journey, after both men already achieving great triumphs and facing significant internal and external conflicts, one word just kept swirling around in my brain: legacy. Both Dwane and DMike so heavily influenced by their own family legacy are now entering a significant crossroads as they embark on a major chapter in their own story and the story of their growing families. Not to mention the inherent legacy of Detroit. This in and of itself has a profound impact on both of them as they try to maneuver the shifting tides of the city they care so deeply for. So over the course of the next few months the documentary organically evolved from just what they were doing in the streets of Detroit to a much larger rabbit hole of legacy. This set the documentary on a course of profound understanding of what it means to be human that I deeply believe so many walks of life can identify and connect with.
Onward.
- John