Very good essay, Lester. I agree on most points except one: And even though Detroit's suburbs have a vested interest in helping Detroit (as Detroit goes, so goes suburban Detroit), they are too blinded by short-sighted concerns tied to racism to truly engage in the help that the city needs.
I don't think that Detroit's suburbs (generalizing here...) are interested in anything but the stadiums and casinos downtown. The main factors are that the majority of jobs are not located in Detroit but in the suburbs so unless you really enjoy hockey, baseball, or gambling there really is no need to go to Detroit (understandable). I'm not saying the avoidance of Detroit is conscious in any way, but if you take away the need to interact with downtown, you ask yourself what's down there that I can't do a couple of miles from home? There are many cities in the U.S. that are thriving without casinos to foot the bill and turn their downtown into a shitty version of Las Vegas. Go a couple of blocks from the Motor City casino and you're in an area most people wouldn't be caught dead walking through. Back in the day when the RenCen was built there were a lot of complaints that it segregated itself with the infamous wall and created a virtual bubble with the rest of downtown Detroit. These casinos have done the same thing. A positive example of rejuvenation was (yes, was) Trapper's Alley in Greektown. Before the renovation, it was literally an alley of cobblestone with some antique shops and a historical landmark. At its peak (84-86), this was the place to hang, shop, eat, buy music on the top floor, they even had a club in there. The point is, it was an attraction for suburbanites as well as locals without alienation of either group. Casinos will never be the answer. They do not provide enough of a service the community, other than taxes, to be a positive addition. As far as Kwame goes, I think that's a good thing. I went to Cass Tech with him and it's really cool to see one of my classmates as mayor, but strange as well. It will be good to see what a fresh young mind will bring to the table. Our last 2 mayors have put the city in the position it is now. It's a shame and a disgrace, it really is. Peace, Alex www.fulcruminn.net -----Original Message----- From: Lester Kenyatta Spence [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, January 25, 2002 12:51 PM To: 313@hyperreal.org Subject: [313] The Future of Detroit As some of you know, Detroit recently elected a 31 year old as mayor of Detroit. Although we are not "friends," we are colleagues of a sort...so I went to the Inaugural in order to support his installation. I wrote this essay in response...and though it is tangentially related to the list, I think the kicker at the end is directly related. Take a look...and send to others if you wish. peace lks -------------------------------------------- > Lester Kenyatta Spence 314-935-5814 off > Assistant Professor 314-935-5856 fax > Washington University [EMAIL PROTECTED] > One Brookings Drive > Department of Political Science Box 1063 > St. Louis, MO. 63130-4899 > -------------------------------------------- > I was blessed to be able to attend a couple of inaugural events for Kwame Kilpatrickand I've been trying to think of a way to put my feelings and thoughts on his election into words. A discussion I had last night with St. Louis' first black mayor Freeman Bosley (now a business owner and talk show host) help crystallize many of these thoughts into something that should be relatively coherent. First I'll talk about the events themselves. I got a chance to attend both the Inaugural Ball and the Club Crawland to a certain extent these events represented a stark departure from the previous mayor's events. Not so much in the type of event, but moreso the crowd. To give you a brief examplewhen Dennis Archer St. was first inaugurated, a party geared for the younger crowds was held for him at the State Theater. I attended along with my wife, and though we were glad we went, the first thing that jumped out at us was the crowd. Even though the event was open to the public and advertised as such, the only people there seemed to be related through a number of black upper-class networks. The men and women there either knew each other through Jack and Jill, or through a number of prestigious private and public schools (University of Detroit, Cranbrook, Country Day, Cass Tech, Renaissance), or through a number of prestigious universities (Northwestern, University of Michigan, Harvard Law School). I was lucky enough to almost literally sneak into the University of Michigan, but I got the feeling from that event that if I would have gone to Wayne St. instead, I would not have attendedor if I had attended I would not have known anyone there. As the author of "Our Kind of People" (a journalistic account of the black upper class) notes, it was indeed like the black upper class had finally gotten "their" kind of person into the mayoraltyand they came out in full force to recognize his (and their) ascension. Kilpatrick's eventseven the Ball with ticket prices at $100/headdid not have that kind of feel at all. The Michigan folks were there in full effectbut along with them I saw people representing the Shrine of the Black Madonna, the InnerCity Sub Center, the Community Coalition, and a number of other working class organizations and institutions. Furthermore, I also saw brothers and sisters who most likely didn't make it to college period much less an institution like Northwestern or Michigan. And I saw a mixture of people from the East side of the city and the West side. Now I didn't see too many white men and womenso arguably Kilpatrick's events weren't as racially integrated as that of his predecessorbut these events were definitely more integrated by class. The same vision was apparent at the club crawlall sorts of black men and women came out to see the new mayor. There were conservative lawyers dressed in Armani, there were gangsters dressed in Coogi, and a host of people in between. Truly a microcosm of Detroit came to celebrate the new mayorand it was a beautiful sight to see. The power of Detroit lies within the souls of its black folkand in these events it seemed as if the new mayor was very cognizant of this factand perhaps no more so than the end of the night of the Club Crawl event. The last DJ to perform was Biz Markiean old school hiphop head who now spends more of his time dj'ing than he does in the studio. As Biz Markie played his own most memorable song "the vapors" the mayor of the tenth largest city in Americaarguably the blackest city in North and South Americabegan to sing with the song. Until that momentI didn't know how older men and women in Detroit felt when they finally elected Coleman Young. But when I saw thatI got it. We'd finally elected one of our own. We'd truly made historynot only by electing a man with a strong working class consciousness, but electing a young man with such a consciousness. A man who, if he wasn't known, could easily fit the profile of "America's most wanted" presented daily in the papers and on tv. This was a majestic momentwhich brings me back to my conversation with Mayor Bosley. The hardest thing for Bosley was never running and winning, even though the odds were stacked against him. The hardest thing was always governanceactually running the government of the city of St. Louis. Why? Not simply because of the problems St. Louis faced as a decaying citynot simply because of the problems presented by white supremacybut also because black people weren't totally prepared for governing! What he meant here was that the people who helped run his campaign, and get him elected were not as ready to take over the truly daunting task of remaking a city. What they were ready for was "payback." As in "I helped elect younow it's time for you to pay me back." People came to Bosley left and right with hands extended outward, determined to make St. Louis work for them the way they thought it had previously worked for whites. Though this is understandableBosley found that it was often hard to get members of the St. Louis community working in the spirit of altruism because they expected government to give them something that the St. Louis government was not particularly prepared to give. I mentioned the events I attendedI also had a number of conversations with people in their twenties and thirties about the campaign-people who were in on the campaign from the ground floor. One of the common themes I heard was "access." As in "now that Kwame's in, maybe now we can get some access to government which will help us get paid." Again this is understandableright or wrong there was the perception with the previous mayor that access was not his strong suit, particularly when it came to Detroiters. And it is particularly understandable given the belief in Detroit that the current administration presents the best opportunity for young men and women to truly take the reigns of power. But I think that such short sighted ideas really miss the point. What we should be about now is not increasing our own level of material, or our own personal interests. What those of us interested in the Metropolitan Detroit area should be about is simple-creating the 21st Century City. Nothing less will do. Why? A few reasons stand out. First is simple-though cities were created largely to serve as a central geographic site for labor, manufacturing, and service deliveryit is clear that cities no longer serve this role. Just this week Ford announced that it is laying off literally tens of thousands of workers in cities all across the country, and in the wake of the 9.11.01 attacks other corporations have been following suit. It is simply no longer possible for a migrant from Alabama to get off of the train, and go straight to the plant for a job that would offer security, high wages, and benefits. Cities like Detroit today serve as entertainment hubs for the suburbs (casinos, stadiums, etc.)and as internment hubs for large numbers of poor and working class men and women who cannot (or will not) move out into the suburbs. In order for cities like Detroit to survive and thrive, they need to recreate themselves in a way that will be sustaining and vibrantand that literal re-creation has to happen soon. The second is also simple-no other population will engage in this mission. So called "corporate-citizens" such as Ford are interested in working with cities, but given the current economic context, this partnership is being truncated even as we speakwith corporations cutting the level of community service funding left and right. And even though Detroit's suburbs have a vested interest in helping Detroit (as Detroit goes, so goes suburban Detroit), they are too blinded by short-sighted concerns tied to racism to truly engage in the help that the city needs. Finally, many of the current local "leaders" are simply too old and tied into old visions of the city to be able to think outside of the box. What the city needs are people with the enthusiasm, the vision, and the competence to make this vision a reality. No other population fits this criterion better than the twenty and thirty somethings represented by the mayor. The third reason is also simple. Give to the city, and it will give back a thousand fold. Most people in Detroit are familiar with Don Barden's storyColeman Young awards him the rights to wire Detroit for cable and he parlays that company into a number of multi-million dollar ventures. What many people do not know is that his wife, Bella Marshall, is also independently wealthy. She worked in Coleman Young's administration, and was able to parlay her knowledge of the inner workings of city government into her own development corporation. It is common at all levels of government for people to give service at various levels, then use that service afterwards to great individual benefit. Rudy Guiliani for example, now commands $100,000/speech after stepping down as New York's mayor. The former mayor of Detroit is now the head of a prestigious law firm. These examples and many others make it very clear that if you approach the business of governance seriouslyyou WILL be rewarded. And in this case, given the task we have at hand, I think the reward will be a lot greater than simply material or prestige. The fourth and final reason may not be clearbut it should be. We should work for the city BECAUSE IT IS RIGHT! Many of us are now entering that period in our lives where we are getting married and starting families. Others of us are now starting to get some degree of responsibility on our jobs. And a select few are (like Mayor Kilpatrick) blowing up the curvebecoming law partner at 32, or getting tenured at 30. In no small sense these accomplishments come not just from our own man(woman-)hood, our own scholarship, our own perseverancebut also from the sense of uplift that men and women before us had-that sense that caused them to knock the door down so it wouldn't be closed when we came through. It is now our duty to truly give backnot just in the sense of going to our old elementary school and talking to kids, or in the sense of making a political decision to move back into the citybut in the real sense of putting our TRUE resources to bear in grappling with the problems the city faces. We can no longer look at the world through the eyes of children ("what did I get for Christmas?") As we are now men and women, we have to act in the world as real men and women dowith an eye towards building a foundation for others. Towards getting in the mix rather than standing aloof on the side. So if you're going to make a call to Kwamedon't make a call looking for a meetingmake a call asking "what can I do?" Or better yet, take the initiative to do something yourself. Even though I'm in St. Louis (and will be here for a while)I firmly plan to do whatever I can to help the City of Detroit because I believe firmly that the center of America (not just black AmericaALL of America) doesn't lie shattered beneath rubble in New York City. The center of America lies at 1515 Broadway (old home to the Music Institute). It lies at the base of the monument to Joe Louis on Jefferson Ave. The center of America is in DETROIT. And if Detroit doesn't get fixedif Detroit doesn't changenowhere will. The battle for the heart of the 21st Century begins and ends in Detroit. And you can either be downor you can stand on the sidelines talking about how Mayor Kilpatrick doesn't have any time for his boys anymore. Which is it to be? Lester K. Spence, Ph.D. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
