Detroit: Damaged but Not Forgotten

A new film project has been circulating the world wide web known as Detroit Lives. It was produced by Vice Media and Palladium Boots, with Jackass star Johnny Knoxvile as its host. This documentary-type film shows Detroit in a more positive and optimistic light than what the mass media tends to show.

Throughout the film you see abandoned buildings that are featured in magazines and news pieces, but instead of simply showing the abandoned buildings and saying "Well, this is what Detroit has become," the film also documents the things people are doing to invoke change.

Both my mom and grandmother on my dad's side spent their childhood and part of their adulthoods living in the heart of Detroit. They both lived in the inner-city until they got married and moved to the suburbs, and although they lived in two differing generations, they both had similar stories of living in the once magnificient metropolis.

When talking to my grandmother about her memories of Detroit, she told me of the great times she spent at Hudson's Department store during Christmastime. The store, founded in 1881, was the second tallest department store in the United States until the early sixties. She told me that during the Christmas rush, people were everywhere and she remembered a police officer would always be directing traffic outside using a loud speaker system. People would come all over to see Hudson's decorative Christmas displays.

When visiting Detroit today, the roads are always so abandoned, giving Detroit a ghost-town-like vibe. It's hard to imagine a time when so many people were downtown that a loud speaker was necessary to direct them all.

My mom also listed Hudson's as one of her favorite Detroit memories. She also loved trick-or-treating downtown and going on trips to Belle Isle, the once very popular place for swimming, biking and hanging out.

In the film, many people were very optimistic about Detroit's future, citing young adult involvement as a huge factor in getting the city back on its feet.  Both my mom and grandmother agree that Detroit's rise is possible, but it will take time and patience. "In my lifetime it probably won't," my grandmother told me, "and maybe not in yours, but eventually Detroit will repopulate and become a great city again."

My mom, a true Detroiter at heart said that, "To me it's still a jewel, but it's been mismanaged and needs to be re-organized," which is exactly what the whole Detroit Lives project is all about. I really think think this film will help spark interest in the city, which in time will hopefully invoke improvement and change.

Detroit is far from the dead and damaged city that the mass media likes to portray. It has hope and a heart and will soon be on its way to great things once again.