But if we're not screaming our story from the mountain tops for all to hear then someone else is. And what if their message is contradictory to ours? What if what they're saying makes it seem like our work doesn't even exist? What if this person that is narrating our story, for all to hear, is the mass media with national, maybe even global, platforms?
But can Detroit really rebound without national support?
Locally, it's easy to find a positive story about Detroit. Our local reporters are good at being fair and supportive of the changes taking place in the City. But when you start looking at national news about Detroit, it's all destruction and despair.
National news coverage is fighting against Detroit's revival, tooth and nail. The City has come so far, and sure we still have a very long way to go, but for every national news story that bashes Detroit the further we're set back from becoming a respected success story.
For example, take this Weather.com post that was published late last month, on October 29, 2014--a promo for a Weather Channel show called Secrets of the Earth. It describes a place of destruction, "a battlefront in the eternal war between man and nature" caused by "the exodus of people and business" which according to them "has left thousands of abandoned buildings now being reclaimed by nature." Intrigued? I was... this sounds like a mix of two of my favorite TV shows Life After People and Revolution, a little bit documentary a little bit sci-fi.
However this piece is titled "The Earth Reclaims Creepy, Abandoned Buildings of Detroit" and it is indeed about the City of Detroit.
It includes a short video plus 30 photos of specific locations they claim to being abandoned and being reclaimed by Mother Earth. Sadly, some of these claims are true however many are accusations that undermine the blood, sweat, and tears (not to mention money) of a bunch of do-gooders.
The Weather Channel Should be Ashamed
First off, Detroit is not an "exodus of people and business." A mere three days before this story was published Fifth Third Bank announced it was moving it's headquarters to downtown Detroit to join the droves of other big businesses including Quicken Loans and Blue Cross Blue Shield, just to name of few.
In addition, of the 30 locations of Detroit featured in this Weather Channel piece, here are the most alarming misrepresentations along with proper pictures to accompany them:
A property so big, they had to list it twice! Just days before Weather.com posted this article, construction began at the massive, abandoned Packard Plant on Detroit's east side as part of an estimated $500 million redevelopment, which is expected to take 10 to 15 years to complete. It has taken a very long time to secure a developer to under take such a huge job and a lot of time and money is being put forward into cleaning up this factory, restoring the historic Albert Kahn design, and creating a functional space.
The photo of Wilbur Wright High School featured by the Weather Channel is embarrassingly old. In 2010 the Wilbur Wright High School at Rosa Parks and Grand Boulevard in Detroit was demolished and the site was cleaned up. All that remains now is a grassy field.
This one I'm not entirely sure how it made the list, as it was only abandoned for only a few years. In 2007, the decision was made to close Jane Cooper Elementary School, in which asbestos abatement began in the summer of 2009 and by 2010 the school was completely demolished.
This one has a sad story. This what was once a glorious, castle-like building, turn abandon building caught fire back in 2010 after which it was immediately torn down and no longer exists. I guess if you consider the whole ashes to ashes, dust to dust thing being reclaimed by nature then sure, this one could make the list.
Yes, this school is vacant and it has been vacant for some time, but it's not abandoned and it is definitely not being reclaimed by nature. Initially the owners of the church wanted to convert it into a senior citizen home, but have not yet done so. Church members keep a close eye on the school, securing it as best they can and keep the inside clean of debris regularly. The auditorium still retains much of its original beauty, though the paint has started to peel and some plaster has fallen. The hallways and classrooms are always swept clean. This isn't abandonment, this is a group of people doing the best they can with what they have available.
This is one of the most disturbing implications. The picture featured by the Weather Channel came from the old Cass Tech High School which closed its doors when the new Cass Tech campus opened next door. The old school remained vacant while the property was slowly demolished. This picture undermines what a great, world class school this is. Cass Technical High School is a four-year university preparatory high school. Cass offers eleven advanced placement courses including language composition, history, chemistry, calculus, and physics. Students are required to maintain a 2.5 grade point average, which is well above the average for other Detroit schools. Cass Tech students' strong academic performances draw recruiters from across the country, including Ivy League representatives eager to attract the top minority applicants. It is a crown jewel of Detroit Public Schools.
The picture featured from the Weather Channel is of the National Bank of Detroit building which is now known as The Cube. The Cube is the Quicken Loans' operations center. In April 2011, Quicken Loans bought the building, renamed it the Qube, renovated it into an amazingly colorful and innovative workplace, and relocated 4,000 of the company's employees to the facility. In August 2014, the Southfield-based ABC affiliate, WXYZ-TV, moved into the Qube; its new location now includes satellite studio and newsroom facilities. Quicken founder and chairman Dan Gilbert is huge supporter of Detroit's business economy.
For this one to have made the list, I'm sure was shocking to anyone who had been paying attention to Detroit news over the few days prior. It was announced the week prior that the 19-story David Whitney Building, built-in 1915 and vacant since 1999, had been undergoing an extensive $92 million remodeling to restore it to its former glory and was nearing completion and they unveiled pictures of the restored lobby. I'm sure making this list was a huge blow to morale. Read more about the renovation here.
The beautiful David Broderick Tower (my favorite of the Detroit skyline) is in the middle of a more than $50 million restoration to the 34-story tower to bring luxury living to the heart of downtown Detroit. It is far from being reclaimed by nature.
#30 An Abandoned Woodward Avenue
Anyone who has ever spent any time in Detroit should know that Woodward is one of the most vibrant and bustling areas of Detroit thanks to professional sports at Comerica Park and Ford Field, the events at Campus Martius, gorgeous apartments and lofts, and plenty of shopping and restaurants. They've even began construction on a street car system for mass transportation that moves along Woodward. This street is anything but dead.
Yes, we have blight. Detroit is filled with abandoned buildings but we are also home to brilliant thinkers and doers who are transforming Detroit into a better place, corporate headquarters for world renowned companies, the automotive industry, Hockeytown, and a tech industry that is outpacing national hubs like Silicon Valley. There are a lot of people and companies here that are working very hard and spending a lot of money to turn Detroit around.
All this article did was undermine the hard work of many and perpetuate a negative stereotype—for that, the Weather Channel should be ashamed.
Changing the Conversation In Order to Succeed
In order for Detroit to truly succeed, we need to change the conversation that is taking place about Detroit. It is one thing to give our "elevator speeches" to strangers we come across on the street to try and change their perception about Detroit but we need strive for a national platform.
If members of national media actually visited Detroit, rather than Google image searched Detroit, they would find that we are much more than run down buildings and corruption. If the Weather Channel would have even spent a day in Detroit they would have realized how wrong their segment on Detroit is and what damage it is doing to the City's reputation. But the media isn't visiting Detroit so it is up to us to change the conversation.
Detroit is rebuilding, physically and emotionally, and it is time to stop being humble. We need to share our stories with the world. We need that national and worldwide attention. We need others to view us how we view ourselves.
We need their help in rebuilding our reputation because at the end of the day it doesn't matter what we think about ourselves, it's what others think of us.
Go forth and say nice things about Detroit.
If members of national media actually visited Detroit, rather than Google image searched Detroit, they would find that we are much more than run down buildings and corruption. If the Weather Channel would have even spent a day in Detroit they would have realized how wrong their segment on Detroit is and what damage it is doing to the City's reputation. But the media isn't visiting Detroit so it is up to us to change the conversation.
Detroit is rebuilding, physically and emotionally, and it is time to stop being humble. We need to share our stories with the world. We need that national and worldwide attention. We need others to view us how we view ourselves.
We need their help in rebuilding our reputation because at the end of the day it doesn't matter what we think about ourselves, it's what others think of us.
Go forth and say nice things about Detroit.
