{"id":17191,"date":"2016-09-28T16:42:14","date_gmt":"2016-09-28T16:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/?p=17191"},"modified":"2016-09-28T16:42:14","modified_gmt":"2016-09-28T16:42:14","slug":"evolution-detroit-told-bathroom-graffiti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/evolution-detroit-told-bathroom-graffiti\/","title":{"rendered":"The Evolution of Detroit as Told By Bathroom Graffiti"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week I heard the phrase \u201cNew Detroit\u201d for the first time. Well actually rather than hear it, I saw the phrase scribbled across a cement block in the bathroom of a bar in Detroit. Written side-by-side was the opinions of two different people about the phrase. The first said, \u201c\u2019New Detroit\u2019 makes me want to inspire others and teach them what\u2019s up in the real world.\u201d Far from the typical \u201cSarah hearts David\u201d post, this gra\"graffiti\"ffiti immediately caught my attention. The phrase \u201cNew Detroit\u201d initially sounds like the inspirational title of a city rising up from adversity to become a new shining beacon of success, but with further thought it\u2019s easy to see how this phrase can be offensive and combative to the life-long residents of Detroit who\u2019ve not only lived through the city\u2019s complex history, but had a hand in it. At least this was the opinion of the second set of handwriting. This person wrote, \u201cNew Detroit makes me want to VOMIT<\/u>. I used to like living here. I used to be able to.\u201d<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t expect to find such poignant words scrawled across a bathroom stall that didn\u2019t even have a door, but as I\u2019m slowly learning Detroit has a way of surprising and inspiring people when they least expect it. As a Challenge Detroit fellow who is not a native Detroiter, I have to walk the fine line between being a perpetrator of the \u201cNew Detroit\u201d mindset and working to build up and empower the existing city in tandem with current residents.<\/p>\n

I have found moving to a new city to be an exciting and slightly nerve-wracking experience. Some days I find myself at a gallery exhibition rubbing shoulders with the art elite of Detroit, and others I find myself playing pool with a woman named Crash in a dive bar. To some, it may seem like these two events are complete opposites, just like the bathroom graffiti, but to me they are the heart and soul of the evolution of Detroit. Don\u2019t get me wrong, there is certainly a semblance of dichotomy between life-long Detroiters and the new young professionals moving into the city. On paper, they contrast each other in most of their outside features that would be recorded in a Gallup poll, but deep down we all have something in common\u2014hope for Detroit. We all have different strengths and backgrounds, and they cause us to interpret and act within our environment in our own unique way. The trick for Detroit is finding equal ground where new residents can work with Detroit lifers to mold the development of the city together. Each group is a resource in its own way, and should be seen as a valuable commodity.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, new city residents like myself have to be especially aware of the factors at play. The phrase \u201cNew Detroit\u201d does not take into account the years of history and triumphs over adversity that this city and its people have experienced. The world doesn\u2019t need a New Detroit. The residents don\u2019t need a New Detroit. What this city needs is passionate people, from within the city limits and from far beyond, that understand the importance of preserving its history and communities. I hope that after this year, I can say that I am one of those people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week I heard the phrase \u201cNew Detroit\u201d for the first time. Well actually rather than hear it, I saw the phrase scribbled across a cement block in the bathroom of a bar in Detroit. Written side-by-side was the opinions of two different people about the phrase. The first said, \u201c\u2019New Detroit\u2019 makes me want […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,1],"tags":[196,95,257],"class_list":["post-17191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-livedetroit","category-uncategorized","tag-challengedetroit","tag-community","tag-gentrification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17191\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}