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Top: United Artists Theater, from 'The Ruins of Detroit'
by Y. Marchand and R. Meffre
(The above link is to a slide show of selected photos of Detroit's
fallen buildings from 'The Ruins of Detroit.'
A second collection of photographs 'Theaters' shows images
of grand and splendid theaters, some converted into warehouses
for mattresses and sneakers.)
Bottom: Still from Chrysler commercial (Youtube posted below)
showing the Fox Theater interior.
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There's a TV ad that's now showing for Chrysler, shot in Detroit, saying that Detroit "has been to hell and back." I think it is a great sign that rather than advocating for government handouts, which have been part of Detroit's economic structure for several decades, ads like this are saying that there is a chance to bring the earlier resourceful, manufacturing spirit back into Detroit.
I still remain skeptical. The article linked to above is also promoting philanthropists who are donating millions "to help educate the children." I think that means kindergarten through high school, and let's also add college and university to that kind of education. Vocational training seems the most promising, and productive, route to take in the case of Detroit.
I once had a conversation with a young black man. I was still in college then, and I understood the sadness in his voice. He said that everyone invested in him to go to college and study engineering. He wasn't doing that great, I think he had repeated a year, and wasn't even sure if he would finish (or if he wanted to finish). "By now, if I had followed what I wanted to do, I would have had a job, and even a house," he said quietly.
He had wanted to be a mechanic. Instead, he was in some four-year college program, fulfilling the philanthropic dogma of some donor, receiving all the checks he needed, until at some point when they get "strict" and discontinue them, leaving him tangled and confused. I asked him why he just doesn't go back to mechanics, since he'd learned quite a bit already in his mechanical engineering courses, and it should be easy. His answer had to do with pride. There's his family, the donors, and everyone else who will say, another young black man who failed.
"Imported from Detroit"
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Camera Lucida posts on Detroit:
"Detroit's Horrors"