Clay, Kenneth
Interviewer:
Cunningham, Wesley Sawyer
Transcription available:
no
Series:
Black Arts in Louisville
Interview Number(s):
2017_74_5
Summary:
Ken Clay talks about his experience growing up in Louisville. He performed in choirs as a high school student at Central High School and studied at Bellarmine, eventually working for the Kentucky Center for the Arts as a producer for many years. He discusses his experience creating programs for African American youth in Louisville and the positive impact these programs had. He founded the Renaissance Development Corporation in the mid-1970s. Clay also discusses the significance of Walnut Street as a cultural hub in the West End of Louisville and the negative impact of urban renewal on Black businesses. He talks about the store he ran for several years called the Corner of Jazz which operated not only as a store but as a cultural and intellectual space for conversation related to the national Black movement. Clay witnessed a large riot near his store during which a police car drove into a crowd gathered on Walnut Street.
Topic(s):
African Americans, Artists, Urban renewal--Kentucky--Louisville, 1968 Parkland Uprising, African American neighborhoods--Kentucky--Louisville
