Once upon a time, there was a city that thrived and provided a decent place for families to earn a living and raise their children. Sure there was crime, but not nearly at the levels that would be see in this city's future. There was opportunity for the masses - maybe not quite like we wanted it to be, but at least you could make enough to feed your own. During this time, there were active neighborhoods, and a bustling downtown area - that believe it or not, was quite the shopping mecca. There were department stores and places to dine and be entertained in grand style. I remember the holidays being a really special time in downtown Detroit; Hudson's would create a magical environment - rivaled only by the huge department stores of the Big Apple. Children loved visiting downtown during the holidays - it was a special time.
Now, don't misunderstand me; Detroit was by no means a paradise. Wages were at the bare minimums, police were racial profiling (long before the term was coined), people of color dare not wander into the wrong areas, a number of us lived in an impoverished area of the Eastside called "Black bottom," and murders, drugs and prostitution were alive and well. But, in a very weird and almost unexplainable way; this was a simpler and (dare I say) a more prosperous era. I think the best way that I can sum it up is that (though they was hardship & struggling) there was more Honesty & Realism.
Maybe a good comparison is the old-fashioned typewriter compared to the very computer that I'm using to write this post. While this laptop might be more efficient, and has the ability to store untold numbers of documents; my first typewriter used a simple mechanism to place letter after letter onto a real piece of paper that I could see and touch - not just a series of pixels emanated by thousands of ones and zeros.
Food for thought.
Now, don't misunderstand me; Detroit was by no means a paradise. Wages were at the bare minimums, police were racial profiling (long before the term was coined), people of color dare not wander into the wrong areas, a number of us lived in an impoverished area of the Eastside called "Black bottom," and murders, drugs and prostitution were alive and well. But, in a very weird and almost unexplainable way; this was a simpler and (dare I say) a more prosperous era. I think the best way that I can sum it up is that (though they was hardship & struggling) there was more Honesty & Realism.
Maybe a good comparison is the old-fashioned typewriter compared to the very computer that I'm using to write this post. While this laptop might be more efficient, and has the ability to store untold numbers of documents; my first typewriter used a simple mechanism to place letter after letter onto a real piece of paper that I could see and touch - not just a series of pixels emanated by thousands of ones and zeros.
Food for thought.