I'm writing this on behalf of the city of my birth, because in the many months prior to this, I've not seen one cogent defense of my city. People who write about it have never lived there or if they have, they've often lived on the outskirts of the city. I've had a 34 year history of living in the city and attending Detroit Public Schools for my entire K-12 experience. I've never been to a magnet school or otherwise "gifted and talented" program. I'm just a regular muthafucka with the majority of my life spent in the city's boundaries.
I've heard silly muthafuckas talk about the deserted nature of the city, the desolate nature of the neighborhoods and downtown, the economic abandonment, the political mismanagement, and the scapegoating that often epitomizes discourse in the city. I'm not writing to apologize for any of it, because there is truth and elements of the truth in all of it.
The City of Detroit is not the mayor, nor is it the city council. It is not the schools nor the transportation system. It is not the loudest person at the public meeting nor is it the homeless mental patient wandering the street.
Detroit, by and large, is a product of it's people. Detroit is this nation's id. It is unadulterated emotion and passion. I'm not afraid of the city. I am the city.
The City of Detroit consists of the largest majority African American city in the nation. It shares a border with Windsor, Ontario and is home to the largest border crossing responsible for the transporting of goods in North America. There is also the home of the gateway to all of the Great Lakes, The Detroit River.
By playing up the first part, largest majority African American city in the nation, there are hopes that the other parts are forgotten. See, the other parts of the equation make Detroit extremely valuable real estate. The longest devaluing campaign in the history of this nation is being enacted right before our eyes. The less value we, the owners, see in the city, the less we'll be willing to sell for. People with means will buy for cheap, and build value into the property we gave away for peanuts. Detroit is both not as bad as you've been led to believe and in worst shape that you've been led to believe, all at the same time.
I believe the mayor is a performance artist, creating a situation where public opinion will move to such a position that the only way the residents believe they can be "saved" is through electing a mayor that doesn't look like them. I believe that what we are seeing is the packaging of one of the largest land swindles in the history of the United States. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I've seen it close up. I've never witnessed such a willingness to destroy something that you claim you love in all my life, by all the "important" players.
I'm watching residents be willfully dumb, willfully uneducated, and willfully manipulated because they are too lazy to do their homework. Or those are at least the ones who get to speak on camera.
You don't have to like Detroit or live in Detroit. But know of what you speak before you speak on my shit.
KZ
17 comments:
AMEN! I truly love the D and it makes me both proud and sad to still love the place that I'm from.
That's right man! Ride for your city! I ride for Chi every chance I get and I am saddened by the all the violence and shootings that have been on the rise recently back home.
People sleep on the Midwests ability to churn out greatness and it doesn't help when our cities suffer because of the dumb actions of a few street and corporate Squirrels.
I live in Indpls. I love visiting Detroit and me and my husband go quite often as we have friends that live there. I totally agree with your assessment of what is happening in Detroit and really in any major city USA. In my opinion only the people who live there can give a true assessment of what's happening. I'm glad you spoke out about your love for the city of Detroit because everytime I visit, it's all love. I really want to see Detroit on the come up!!!!
"I believe the mayor is a performance artist, creating a situation where public opinion will move to such a position that the only way the residents believe they can be "saved" is through electing a mayor that doesn't look like them. I believe that what we are seeing is the packaging of one of the largest land swindles in the history of the United States."
I didn't say that. The best damn Conspiracy Theorist said that shit. He speaks truth. Recognized...
I have been to Detroit several times. I must admit by the way, I miss the old Tiger Stadium.
But the reason I like Detroit has nothing to do with politics, boarder crossings, or economic value. It's is something far more important.
Around my wrist I wear a metal band. It has a name on it. The name of Anthony Brown. It also has inscribed on it the town Anthony grew up in. Detroit, MI.
I wear it because Anthony was my Friend. I wear it because Anthony was an exceptional person. I wear it because on Oct. 23rd, 1983, Anthony died in a far away land fight for his country's interest.
That's why I like Detroit. Because it produces men like my friend Anthony. And men like Zed.
And that's all the reason in the world I need.
A city is it's people. Not it's politics.
you hit the nail on the head when speaking in terms of transporting goods. Oakland has the forth largest port in the country and is the first port on the west coast...one of the busiest ports in the country and yet they haven't been able to pick up from an earthquake in 1989?
Our former Mayor bought up most of our real estate at a rock bottom price thru a ghost company and he's just sitting on it, letting it bottom out and then slowly rebuilding it at his own pace..he's out of office, and Oakland has a black Mayor now, but unfortunately the Black Mayor is running a city he doesn't own!
Great post dude!
As a Chicago brother that does one quarter of his business in the City Of Detroit, has family, friends and frat either from the D or still embedded in various spaces and places there and as a frequent visitor and satellite resident, I say that you have said all there is to be said on it.
And whomever doesn't believe you can look at Baltimore, Washington DC and Philly. all of them convinced inner city residents that the Devil (crime)was coming to take their mortal souls. They uped and ran, and Massa's people came in and bought their town for pennies on the dollar. Now they displaced can't ever afford to move back.
AMEN!!!!!!!
Said it better than I could.
I hear you repping for your hometown but the biggest swindle ever has taken place in Brooklyn.
My friend bought a brownstone five years ago in Bed-Stuy for $150K. The "folks" had convinced the residents that the N*ggs were going to rise up and kill each other. All the progressive black families upped and moved to places like the New Jersey suburbs, Atlanta and Maryland.
Yup they swooped in and started snatching up that prime, Brownstone real estate. Five years later, my friend sold her Brownstone for over a million dollars and bought another one, even larger. Now, there are a plethora of whyte faces in the heart of Bed-Stuy.
They are selling hoplessness to our people in an effort to hopefully line their own pockets.
Great post Zed.
Let's also not forget New Orleans where the circumstances were a little different but the result is very similar.
@1969 - Sayin' I left and came back, and all these 'cousins' are posted up in Harlem, South Bronx and Brooklyn in Condos... with security guards out front! Thank God some of the churches and civic groups bought some of the property before it all flipped. With that mortgage crisis though, everybody is affected and that balloon is about to pop.
@Zed - Havent been here for a while. LUUV this post. Got family on both sides living in Detroit. And everybody should rep where theyre from... except maybe people from Boston...
Anyway, I feel differently about New York City and the South Bronx. I love New York, that's where I was born, helped me to become the resourceful, politically aware, insane, angry b*tch I am today. But if other folks dont like it, think its too dangerous and dirty, hate the Yankees, whatever, f*ck 'em. Give us our rightful share of the tax dollars for the infrastructure and get the h*ll out!
Great Post! Ill be back.
you feel the same why i do about mississippi. i can bad mouth it...i can bash. because i live here and experience it on a daily basis. if you don't you can't tell me a thing i don't know. are there things i would love to change about my state? hell yes, but i love it. i try my best to work hard from the inside to effect some change.
great post zed :)
and what is it about these mayors? ours is running around wanting to be everything. he has calmed down some, but i know that joker is foaming at the mouth to reek some havoc.
You ain't the only one. We just moved to St. Louis and the SAME thing is happening here, right in the area where we moved too. Exactly what you said. Ain't no CONspiracy in truth.
Great, great post. And that's coming from a Clevelander. = )
What's funny is that when I first started reading your blog I knew w/o a doubt that you were from the D. I could tell by the way you wrote. Can't really explain it...
Preach my brotha, preach!
Not only is a land grab on, but the white flight that has defined the makeup of the Detroit Metro area since the end of WWII seems to be reversing. They coming back in now! Don't be surprised if the population goes back over a million soon!
This post represents most metropolitan cities with a large black population...
Harlem's history is about a black Renaissance... however, this is the "new" Harlem where white faces out number the black ones, a Harlem with a huge LDS church on Lenox Avenue and a Scientology mausoleums being built on the 125, and Columbia taking over 35 acres of Harlem for it's racist institution. LDS church believing that blacks would only make it to the first tier of thier 7 heavens as slaves to white gods...and the other being rooted in the belief that aliens walk amoung us and rule our world.
$3.5 million condos sitting lovely at the top of Central Park...and $5million brownstones that the city couldn't give away back in the 80's.
We got Rangel in office who wouldn't even know how to give the black man's handshake and a billionaire as mayor who hides the crime rate in Harlem so the white people move in and hides all the community monies so the black ppl will move out...
It's happening all over.
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