Learn about our Wailing Wall Coasters July 09 2014

Children by wall

There is a wall in Detroit near 8 mile and Wyoming – 6 feet tall, a foot wide, and half a mile long –erected after WWI. Some people call it the Wailing Wall; others, a mini Berlin Wall.

The reality is that the wall was constructed to keep Black people on one side and White folks on the other. A developer in 1940 built the wall in order to secure a federally backed loan. At that time, the Federal Housing Administration’s policies prohibited loans to integrated neighborhoods. Over time the wall has been covered with graffiti. 

Our Cass Green Industries’ coasters feature a sample of the graffiti painted on this wall. The product is made from recycled glass and repurposed wood.

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Not only does the production of our coasters provide jobs at Cass Community Social Services, but it has also begins a discussion about race in Detroit.  Below are two employees at Cass Green Industries who make our coasters standing in front of the graffiti covered Wailing Wall.

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