“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” -Gandhi

Welcome to my first blog post for Challenge Detroit! In this post I want to talk about the rebirth happening in the grand city of Detroit. In case you were under a rock for the last century, Detroit was once one of the most impressive, wealthy, beautiful and successful cities in the world. We built the model for a sustainable middle class, which lead to the prosperity of the 1920s thru the 1950s (minus the Great Depression). We became home to the first mile of concrete road, the first shopping mall, the first traffic light, the first urban freeway (Davison), the first pop (Vernors; being from Detroit I refuse to say soda), the first city to assign individual telephone numbers and birthplace of organized labor to name a few. In my opinion, the creation of the affordable automobile and organized labor are arguably the most influential factors to the success of not only Detroit, but the country as a whole by giving the world greater mobility and creating fair wages for the working class. Needless to say, Detroit just may be the best city to have ever existed in the history of life! (I may be a little bias.)

Now the downside. I once heard a quote from this random scientist guy named Isaac Newton, you probably never heard of him. He stated, “What does up, must come down.” This simple statement describes in a nutshell the scope of 20th century Detroit. What started as a beacon for the machine of capitalism eventually saw its demise from the detriments of that same machine. Corporate policy shipped jobs, the same ones needed to sustain the city’s work force and tax base, to foreign areas. Racial tension led to riots, revolts and white flight, leaving Detroit one of the most segregated cities in the nation. As a result crime and poverty grew, matured and had children named Despair and Desolation. With all these factors taken into account, Detroit fumbled a couple times, threw a couple interceptions and a pick 6 here and there (Is it obvious I was watching football this weekend?) but the game is far from over. Designs are in place to rebuild our infrastructure, economy and population. When more of us begin to live by the Gandhi quote above, Detroit will become even greater that it once was and be a guide to other cities who have suffered the same fate. WE will ALWAYS rise from the ashes.

In conclusion, I would like to share another quote that will be the theme of Detroit for the 21st century. It is from a man named Aubrey Graham a.k.a. Drake (you have probably heard of him, he is much more famous than that Newton guy) and it states, “Started from the bottom, now we here.” WE have a chance to reshape this great city and I for one will strive to be the change I wish to see in Detroit.

Belle Isle