Driving Detroit: The Quest for Respect in the Motor City

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments I owe debts to many people who contributed to this book. But in the absence of one particular person, this book would never have been written: Professor Judith Martin of the University of Minnesota. Had it not been for her brilliant idea for a Metropolitan Portraits book series and her persuasive argument that I needed to write the volume on Detroit, I would not have attempted it. She demonstrated saintly patience as I assembled background materials at a glacial pace, fitfully revised already revised chapter outlines, and all-too-often let other, less important projects distract me. Her advice on drafts was unerringly on the mark. My thanks to Judith for this precious opportunity and not-to-be ignored challenge. It is a pity that she did not live to see the book in print. I wish to thank many who generously granted me permission to quote their poetry and song lyrics, thereby making this a much more nuanced portrait of Greater Detroit: “Solidarity Forever,” © Alpha Music Inc, All Rights Reserved; poetry selections from Murray Jackson, “Growing Up Colored” and “Eight Ball, Side Pocket” from Bobweaving Detroit: The Selected Poems of Murray Jackson, edited with a postscript by Ted Pearson and Kathryne V. Lindberg; Copyright © 2003 Wayne State University Press, quoted with the permission of Wayne State University Press. All other poetry is quoted with the permission of the authors holding copyright. Robert Lockhart, Alison Anderson, and the staff of the University of Pennsylvania Press provided excellent support and editorial guidance as the book was being produced. Many faculty colleagues from several departments at Wayne State University generously shared their thoughts and research with me. I wish to thank Steve Babson, Tim Bates, Robin Boyle, Jorge Chinea, Mike Goldfield, Jerry Herron, Charles Hyde, Nate Israel, Rusty McIntyre, Gary Sands, Anna Santiago, Mike Smith, and Avis Vidal. Jason Booza of the Wayne 304 Acknowledgments State University Department of Family and Community Medicine was extremely gracious with his copious supplies of demographic statistics and maps of Greater Detroit. Ann Slawnik helped shape my perspectives by involving me in her insightful Detroit Orientation Institute. Indeed, all the students, staff, and faculty in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at Wayne State University implicitly assisted in the creation of this book by sharing their experiences and hopes, thereby helping me better understand this place called Motown and those who live here. Several students at Wayne State University worked with me as Research Assistants for this book. Dan Beard, Nina Butler, Andy Linn, Lonnisha Thomas, and Noah Urban not only excavated the facts for which I asked, but contributed innumerable suggestions and insights for which I was not clever enough to ask but they were clever enough to provide gratuitously. I am indebted to the Clarence Hilberry Professorship for financially supporting these Research Assistants and for supporting my work in many other ways. I was fortunate to be graced by innumerable insightful, vignette-laden conversations about Detroit from the “inside” by three long-time residentactivists . A special tip of the hat and wink to Sheila Cockrell, eternal institutional reformer and former City Councilor of Detroit, Eugene Kuthy, formerly the Michigan Banking Commissioner and perpetual community organization board member, and Peter Zeiler, formerly of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and now of the Charlotte (NC) Planning Department. Joseph Kassab and Mary Romaya of the Chaldean Cultural Center, Heidi Mucherie of Community Legal Resources, Erica Raleigh of Data Driven Detroit, and Sally Serrano of First English Lutheran Church graciously provided information that also proved invaluable. Stefan van der Laan Bouma, Michael and Nell Darcy, Wenda Doff, Hartmut Häussermann, Lina Hedman, Ade Kearns, Sako Musterd, and Dirk Strijker provided keen questions, observations, and photographs of Detroit that only the fresh eyes of international visitors can perceive. I deeply appreciate their sharing of sights and insights. Many neighbors, both in the immediate environs of my City of Detroit Palmer Woods neighborhood and in Greater Detroit, played a critical role in shaping this book, though unwittingly. Special thanks to Cleo and Jim Hamilton and Ann and (the late) Gerald Smith for their enlightening conversations and access to their vast interpersonal networks. Living among such people since 1996 has not only been a personal pleasure but a source of inspiration. They have taught me what it means to care deeply about a place Acknowledgments 305 and invest heavily in it financially and emotionally, often against all...