Was Gabriel Wortman born in Cleveland at the height of the Glenville Shootings, that city’s worst ever racial violence ?

The audio recordings of Paul Wortman, Gabe’s father, speaking to FRANK MAGAZINE, has him mentioning him living in the roughest toughest neighbourhoods of Cleveland just at the height of the racial troubles. In particular he mentions living near the HUFF AREA.

There were three distinct periods of heights in racial tension in Cleveland between 1966 and 1974  : the Hough riots in July 23rd 1966, the April 6th 1970 Cleveland school riots and the worst of all : the Glenville shootings of July 24th 1968.

Now you should know the the HOUGH AREA is always pronounced locally as the HUFF AREA. You have to be a local or living there for a time, to remember that 45 years later.

Paul was in Moncton, signing his eldest brother’s wedding certificate for the first date. For the second date he is in Fitchburg MA finalizing giving up his second baby, Jeff, for adoption.

That leaves July 1968.

Yes its after the Hough/Huff Riots, but not long after  —- and a new, worse, one is coming soon.

In any case, the two riot areas were at best two miles apart - in a city as big as Cleveland it was all the same, black, neighbourhood.

We know that Paul was nowhere to found in Canada, unavailable anywhere to be enumerated for the June 25th 1968 federal election : so  him and his new wife Evelyn living in Cleveland  in July 1968 looks like a good bet.

But July 1968 was not just the time of deadly riots in Cleveland : it was also the month Gabe was born !

It really calls to mind that old Rolling Stone lyrics : about “being born in a crossfire hurricane and howling at the morning rain”.

For there was literally the frequent sounds of crossfire exchanges in those rough tough black neighbourhoods around the time Gabe’s mind was still plastic and receptive to new experiences, good and bad....