The Soul of the City workers each got copies of David Ritz’s “Divided Soul” which, in addition to the BBC documentary on his life, was their primary source of scholarship material. In the clips below, you see them reading from relevant passages from Ritz’s book, which has been called the #1 rock biography of all time.

MARVIN GAYE PARK

Many neighbors still know this 1.6-mile-long wooded trail in Northeast Washington as Watts Branch Park. That was its name before it was rededicated as “Marvin Gaye Park” in 2006. (Another nickname was "Needle Park" due to rampant drug use within its borders.) In recent years, the park has been reclaimed by neighbors and volunteers who have removed millions of pounds of trash and thousands of hypodermic needles. More than 1,000 native trees have been replanted and the city closed down a nearby methadone clinic in 2008.

house of marvin gaye

Like many Washington families, Marvin Gaye grew up in several places, including public housing in Southwest,  the area in Northeast known as Simple City, and this site at the former East Capitol Dwellings, at #12 60th Street, NE.

When the city announced plans to raze the 2-story apartment where the Gay family lived in 2003, many activists called for saving Marvin Gaye’s family unit and turning it into a museum. However, the entire housing development was torn down to make way for a housing development. 

When Soul of the City workers visited the still razed site in July 2014, there was a shiny new “market-rate” housing development across the street, as well as plans for a new WalMart.  Many Soul of the City workers have also been impacted by constantly shifting housing policies. In this video clip, they give their thoughts about the destruction of public housing all over the city. 

Simple city (benning terrace)

Marvin Gaye’s Simple City was a backwoods place, far from the cosmopolitan city D.C. is today. Here, Soul of the City workers read from the passage in David Ritz’ biography “Divided Soul” in which Gay talked about what his Washington like. In this video clip, SOTC workers compare their experiences with family living in Simple City (Benning Terrace) today.

cardoza senior high school

Gaye did not like school and felt negatively impacted by growing up under segregation. Here, Soul of the City workers stand on the rooftop of his former high school the newly renovated Cardozo High School, and read from a passage in Ritz’ biography in which Marvin spoke of admiring the Washington monuments from that same rooftop and finding it out of reach. In this video clip, Soul of the City workers give their thoughts on how much education in D.C. has changed since then.

howard theatre

Marvin Gaye said that the Howard Theatre was his “real high school,” where he studied all of the iconic black artists who played at the nation’s first black theatre built in 1910. It thrived for decades until it fell into extreme disrepair in the 1980s and was shuttered. After decades of abandonment, the Howard Theatre was finally renovated and reopened in 2012. In this clip, watch Soul of the City workers read Marvin’s memories about the theatre and tell how they feel about its renaissance.