In October, alongside a group of eager volunteers, I journeyed to New Orleans. Our team visited all of the local hot spots. Partying on Bourbon Street. Scarfing down some of the best seafood you’ll ever eat in your life. Marveling at the fact that the city is below sea level and gawking at what still appears to be an inadequate levee system.
One emotional discussion with locals after another unveiled terrifying tales of torment and unbelievable acts of courage. Many of those affected by Katrina have been to hell and back, and stuck around to tell the story. Their land and their bodies physically carry the scars acquired during the immeasurable devastation produced on those dark days in 2005.
Most visible to the untrained eye, was the trail of torn and tattered homes left behind by the temperamental storm. While most storms are ephemeral in nature, for many, the rains from Katrina have yet to stop falling; the violent winds have not yet ceased. Block after block. Story after story. It became clear to me what it meant to make it through a natural disaster. I grew certain that only a special kind of person could be strong enough to come back to the scene of the incident and work relentlessly to piece their own, and the lives of others, back together.
The experience was an eye-opening one and gave me the chance to fall in love with the city. Yet, oddly enough, throughout the duration of my trip I couldn’t help but to think of other American cities that have coped with devastation. Hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural disasters quickly grab attention the world over. But other, more systematic, forms of social shock/collapse fail to grab headlines in the same way.
Case in point: Detroit, Michigan
A bustling metropolitan area once boasting a population of nearly 2 million, is today, only half of what it used to be. Over-dependence on a singular industry and corporate/racial flight prompted significant population shifts and the erosion of a strong working-to-middle class tax base that helped the city flourish. As America’s automobile industry shifted into park, Detroit’s drive towards prosperity was thrown into reverse.
Today, the city copes with all of the same issues one can expect a major American city to cope with. However, it has yet to recreate the necessary conditions for attracting and retaining the key inputs required for making a city thrive financially, as well as culturally.
There was no storm to report on the evening news. There was no sudden rattling of a defenseless population. There is just the status quo. A series of decisions made in years past have produced outcomes in Detroit that are less than pleasant. Unfortunately, there is no united call to arms by everyday people across the country, or around the world, rallying to light a spark under Detroit.
However, this doesn’t mean that work isn’t being done! It just means that we don’t know much about it. To help combat our ignorance, myself and a few good BRUTEs will be putting on our winter coats and traveling east. We’re looking for the movers and shakers in Detroit that can teach us a thing or two about the grassroots efforts aimed at rebuilding greatness.
Traveling to New Orleans lit a fire under me. The Gulf Coast region is undoubtedly one that will need ongoing internal and external support. Yet, I feel it’s high time that we begin to jog the collective memory of a nation that has seemingly forgotten about a city that was once great, and can be great again.
If you’re in the Detroit area from January 13th through January 17th, 2011, please let me know. Shoot an email to dontae@brutelabs.org. I look forward to hearing from you and meeting you soon!
Posted by Dontae Rayford, BRUTE Core
One emotional discussion with locals after another unveiled terrifying tales of torment and unbelievable acts of courage. Many of those affected by Katrina have been to hell and back, and stuck around to tell the story. Their land and their bodies physically carry the scars acquired during the immeasurable devastation produced on those dark days in 2005.
Most visible to the untrained eye, was the trail of torn and tattered homes left behind by the temperamental storm. While most storms are ephemeral in nature, for many, the rains from Katrina have yet to stop falling; the violent winds have not yet ceased. Block after block. Story after story. It became clear to me what it meant to make it through a natural disaster. I grew certain that only a special kind of person could be strong enough to come back to the scene of the incident and work relentlessly to piece their own, and the lives of others, back together.
The experience was an eye-opening one and gave me the chance to fall in love with the city. Yet, oddly enough, throughout the duration of my trip I couldn’t help but to think of other American cities that have coped with devastation. Hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural disasters quickly grab attention the world over. But other, more systematic, forms of social shock/collapse fail to grab headlines in the same way.
Case in point: Detroit, Michigan
A bustling metropolitan area once boasting a population of nearly 2 million, is today, only half of what it used to be. Over-dependence on a singular industry and corporate/racial flight prompted significant population shifts and the erosion of a strong working-to-middle class tax base that helped the city flourish. As America’s automobile industry shifted into park, Detroit’s drive towards prosperity was thrown into reverse.
Today, the city copes with all of the same issues one can expect a major American city to cope with. However, it has yet to recreate the necessary conditions for attracting and retaining the key inputs required for making a city thrive financially, as well as culturally.
There was no storm to report on the evening news. There was no sudden rattling of a defenseless population. There is just the status quo. A series of decisions made in years past have produced outcomes in Detroit that are less than pleasant. Unfortunately, there is no united call to arms by everyday people across the country, or around the world, rallying to light a spark under Detroit.
However, this doesn’t mean that work isn’t being done! It just means that we don’t know much about it. To help combat our ignorance, myself and a few good BRUTEs will be putting on our winter coats and traveling east. We’re looking for the movers and shakers in Detroit that can teach us a thing or two about the grassroots efforts aimed at rebuilding greatness.
Traveling to New Orleans lit a fire under me. The Gulf Coast region is undoubtedly one that will need ongoing internal and external support. Yet, I feel it’s high time that we begin to jog the collective memory of a nation that has seemingly forgotten about a city that was once great, and can be great again.
If you’re in the Detroit area from January 13th through January 17th, 2011, please let me know. Shoot an email to dontae@brutelabs.org. I look forward to hearing from you and meeting you soon!
Posted by Dontae Rayford, BRUTE Core
Labels: detroit, dontae rayford, new orleans
1 Comments:
I think Detroit should look towards other Rust Belt cities to determine how to save itself. Cities like Cleveland and Pittsburgh has reinvested in new industries like education and health care (UMPC, Cleveland Clinics, Case Western, Carnegie Mellon, etc). These industries are always needed, therefore jobs are always needed. Real Estate is dramatically devalued and people are eager to work, so it's a prime place to rebuild.
But for right now, I think Brute Labs should start somehow training Detroit's people in an industry America is struggling to employ it's own citizens: IT/Programming. High-paying, relatively low educational requirement, and all you really need to teach it is a computer. Plus most of you are developers by trade so it wouldn't be much of a stretch to share your knowledge.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home