Hello Detroit!

You know, I travel quite a bit.  And of course the people I work with or meet always ask where I’m from.  Answer: Detroit (No, it’s not Deeee-troyt.   It’s “Deh-troyt”).    And the range of responses is shall we say, interesting.  From Oh, OK, to Oh tough guy, gangster, or if I already have a good relationship with that person, I can reply “yeah, don’t fuck with me!”

Detroit is one of those funny places that I don’t think the rest of the country “gets”.  Our heritage is rich.  Our reputation sucks.  We burn cars when our sports teams win championships.   Halloween used to be a license to set fire to any structure standing.  We don’t help ourselves. Honestly IMHO, if you’re not from here, there is no good reason to move here.  If you’re from here, your loyalty is true.  You have something in your heart.

But the bottom line is Detroit sucks.  One of the highest crime rates in the nation.  Unemployment is out of control.  Welfare, step right up!  While other rustbelt cities revitalize, we kind of just hang around.

Our people are good, hardworking, Americans.  We were the arsenal of democracy during WWII.  We put the country in wheels, thank you very much.  Gateway to Canada for the underground railroad for slaves that wanted to escape before emancipation. Yeah, we’re tough.

So, why the speech?  Coming home today, at baggage claim if you are flying into our not so fair city, you are greeted with this mural.  A testament to what essentially has taken us down.

A testament to the leaders of the city?  Corrupt liberal Democrat politicians and corrupt union leaders?  Coleman Young, really? Are you actually saying this is your tribute?  No wonder we’re in the shit.  The only person on that mural that deserves tribute is Rosa Parks.  And she wasn’t even born here.

So, let’s keep kidding ourselves. Detroit will never come back.  We’ll hang around.  But as long as we continue to follow the lead of the mural, we might as well add Kwame’s picture.

Enjoy Sammy’s tribute to a corrupt city… my hometown…