Hello, Detroit--By Sammy Davis Jr.


Thursday, October 16, 2008

Jerome Bettis: The Bus Ride to Victory


Jerome Abram Bettis, nicknamed "The Bus" (born February 16, 1972), is a former American football halfback for the NFL's Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams and Pittsburgh Steelers. Bettis is considered one of the best big backs ever due to his amazing footwork and sheer power, and is fifth on the National Football League's all-time rushing list. Bettis weighed at a solid 275lbs at 5-10. He retired in 2006 after a Super Bowl victory. Bettis attended Mackenzie High School in Detroit, and the University of Notre Dame.

Bettis was picked in the first round (10th overall) of the 1993 NFL draft by the then Los Angeles Rams. A star even in his rookie year, he rushed for 1,429 yards in 1993, and was named Offensive Rookie of the Year. He quickly earned the nickname "The Battering Ram." He rushed for over 1,000 in his second season with the Rams.

The Rams moved to St. Louis for the 1995 season, and coach Chuck Knox was forced out in favor of Rich Brooks. Brooks favored a more pass-oriented attack as opposed to Knox' ground-based game, and Bettis all but vanished from the offense. When the Rams let it be known that they wanted to draft oft-troubled running back Lawrence Phillips, it was obvious Bettis' days in St. Louis were numbered.

Meanwhile, the Steelers needed a running back: Bam Morris, their featured back in the 1995 season, had pleaded guilty to marijuana possession and was cut by the team in June 1996. Bettis was traded to Pittsburgh on draft day (immediately after the Rams drafted Phillips) with a third round draft pick in exchange for a second round pick in 1996 and a fourth round pick in 1997. While Bettis became the Steelers' rock at running back for almost a decade, Phillips' off-field problems led to the Rams cutting him in the middle of the following season. The Rams wouldn't have another featured back until trading for Marshall Faulk in 1999.

Bettis rushed for over 1,000 yards in each of his first six seasons with the Steelers between 1996 and 2001. Included in that run were three campaigns of over 1,300 yards. In 1997, Bettis rushed for a career-best 1,665 yards in the team's first 15 games. However, because the team had already wrapped up its playoff position, he was rested for the regular season finale and finished 25 yards short of the team's single-season record.

Bettis was leading the league with 1,072 rushing yards in 2001 when he suffered an injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the regular season. Injuries would also cost him part of the 2002 season and he then began the 2003 season as a backup to Amos Zereoue. Despite regaining his starting role midway through the 2003 season, Bettis again found himself a backup to start the 2004 season, this time to Duce Staley. But when an injury took Staley out of action mid-way through the year, Bettis stepped in and gained 100+ yards in six of the next eight games and would have likely topped 1,000 yards for the season if not for the decision to rest him in the Steelers' meaningless final regular season game. The remarkable late season effort led to the sixth Pro-Bowl berth of his career.

Bettis spent the 2005 season as a full-time short yardage running back, but managed two memorable games along the way: First, a 101 yard, two touchdown effort in a pivotal week 14 win over Chicago (his second-to-last game in Pittsburgh) that is often remembered for a play in which he ran over Bears' linebacker Brian Urlacher on the goal line during a heavy snow squall. And then second, his three touchdowns in a win over Detroit to clinch a playoff berth on the last day of the season (his last game in Pittsburgh). He would finish the season and his career as the NFL's 5th leading all-time rusher.

Bettis was also at the center of one of the most controversial calls in NFL history. During a Thanksgiving Day game with the Detroit Lions on November 26, 1998, Bettis was sent out as the Steelers representative for the overtime coin toss. Bettis called "tails" while the coin was in the air but referee Phil Luckett declared that Bettis called "heads" and awarded possession to Detroit, who would go on to win the game before Pittsburgh had the chance to have possession. After reviewing the incident, the NFL changed the rule and declared that the call of "heads" or "tails” would be made before the coin was tossed rather than during the coin toss and that at least two officials would be present during the coin toss. Some have jokingly referred to the new procedure as the "Jerome Bettis Rule". The readers of ESPN voted the incident as the #7 on its list of the top ten worst sports officiating calls of all time.

In another unique occurrence, Bettis later put together one of the most bizarre single game stat lines in NFL history. In the 2004 season opener, he carried the ball five times for a total of only one yard, a 0.2 yards per carry average. However, he scored 18 points on those carries with three touchdowns.

During that 2004 season, Bettis and New York Jets running back Curtis Martin dueled for position on the all-time rushing yards leaderboard. Bettis entered the season in 6th place all-time and 684 yards ahead of Martin in 9th place. Because Bettis was the backup in Pittsburgh for the start of the season, Martin was able to pass Bettis in week 13 until the Steelers played their game later in the day and Bettis retook the lead by 6 yards. When the Jets traveled to Martin's home town of Pittsburgh to play the Steelers the following week, both backs would cross the 13,000-yard mark, making this the first time two players crossed the 13,000 yard mark (or other similarly high yardage milestones) in the same game. Their combined career totals were also one of the biggest combined career totals for opposing running backs in history. At the end of the game, Martin would lead Bettis by 9 yards. Two weeks later in week 16, Bettis would again pass Martin and establish himself with a lead of 81 yards. In doing so, Bettis passed Eric Dickerson for 4th place on the all-time list. Bettis sat out the final week of the season, and when Martin rushed for 153 yards that week he passed Dickerson and Bettis for the final time.

After the Steelers' defeat in the 2004 AFC Championship Game on January 23, 2005, Bettis announced that he was considering retirement, but would not make a final decision for several months to prevent the sting of the defeat from clouding his judgment. Later, Bettis agreed to stay with the Steelers for another season. He stated he would love to play in the Super Bowl in 2006 since it was to be played in his hometown of Detroit. His wish came true as the Steelers played in, and won, Super Bowl XL (40) against the Seattle Seahawks 21-10 on February 5th, 2006.

Bettis finished his 13 NFL seasons as the NFL's 5th all-time leading rusher with 13,662 yards and 91 touchdowns. He also caught 200 passes for 1,449 yards and 3 touchdowns. He was named to the Pro Bowl in 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, and 2004. Bettis won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award in 1996, and in 2002 he was the recipient of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. While Bettis finished with 1,542 more yards than Franco Harris on the NFL's all-time rushing list, Harris remains the Steelers all-time leading rusher on account of 3,091 of those yards coming while Bettis was with the Rams, which do not count towards the Steelers' all-time totals with the team.

Most people think Bettis acquired the nickname The Bus from legendary Steelers radio color commentator Myron Cope; but Myron only popularized the nickname after hearing a brother of a fellow Notre Dame alumni call Jerome "Bussy" in Green Bay. Although some would think otherwise, the nickname had no association with wearing a black and gold uniform; it actually comes from his ability to carry multiple defenders on his back, like a bus ride, during his carries. It was during the Green Bay broadcast that Cope starting using the nickname "The Bus." Jerome credits someone at the Notre Dame school newspaper with first using the now famous nickname.

Another lesser known nickname for Bettis was "the closer". He was given this nickname by former Steeler head coach Bill Cowher because whenever Pittsburgh was ahead and was ready to close out the game Cowher would send in Bettis to run out the clock. This was due to Bettis' very low fumbling percentage and the fact that he was difficult to tackle.

The road to Super Bowl XL
Shortly after the Steelers lost the 2004-2005 AFC Championship game to the eventual Super Bowl XXXIX champion New England Patriots, Ben Roethlisberger approached Bettis. He promised Bettis that if he came back for one last season, he would get him to the Super Bowl. Apparently, it was this promise that got Jerome Bettis to play one last season. In 12 NFL seasons, Bettis had reached the playoffs 5 times, but had never been in the Super Bowl.

In week 17 of the 2005 NFL season, Bettis rushed for 41 yards and three touchdowns against the Detroit Lions. The Steelers won 35-21, and thanks to Bettis's three touchdowns, they clinched a playoff berth. When Bill Cowher pulled Bettis from the game late in the fourth quarter, he was given a standing ovation from the Steeler fans. This game would be the last home game (not including the neutral-site Super Bowl) for Jerome Bettis.

Bettis contributed 52 yards and a touchdown in the Steelers' wildcard playoff victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on January 8. After their wildcard win, Ben Roethlisberger revealed to the team that he promised to Bettis that he would get him to the Super Bowl, in order to get him to come back for the 2005 season.

On January 15, 2006, Bettis was the center of one of football's most memorable endings in a divisional playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts. While the Steelers offensive attack was mostly pass driven during the game, Bettis ran well, taking in 46 yards on 17 rushes, including one touchdown. When the Steelers took possession of the ball on the Indianapolis 2 yard line with 1:20 remaining in the game, leading 21-18, the outcome seemed almost certain. The first play from scrimmage went to the surehanded Bettis, who had not fumbled once the entire year. As Bettis ran towards the end zone, Colts linebacker Gary Brackett popped the ball out of Jerome's hands, where it was picked up by cornerback Nick Harper, (seemingly another sign of the Sports Illustrated cover jinx) who was stopped from returning the fumble all the way for a touchdown by Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Ultimately, however, Bettis's mistake did not result in a Steelers loss, as Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt missed a 46-yard game-tying field goal, ending the game with a 21-18 Steelers victory.

The next week, the Steelers were set to face off against the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game. Bettis, who had never been to a Super Bowl in his storied career, delivered a rousing speech to his teammates the day before the game, asking them to "Just get me to Detroit," his hometown, where Super Bowl XL was to be played. Bettis's wish was granted, as he and the Steelers advanced to Super Bowl XL with a 34-17 win over the Broncos, led by Ben Roethlisberger's arm and Bettis's 39 yards on 15 carries, including a touchdown. After the game was over, Bettis found his parents in the crowd and mouthed the words "We're going home" to them.

In front of a crowd that was estimated by NFL analysts in attendance to be "80% - 90% Steeler fans" (as evident by the influx of "Terrible Towels" seen waving in the crowd), Pittsburgh would go on to defeat the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL, 21-10. Bettis rushed for 43 yards on 14 carries; an average of 3.1 yards per carry.

Asked about the possibility of retirement, Bettis announced, "It's been an incredible ride. I played this game to win a championship. I'm a champion [now], and I think the Bus' last stop is here in Detroit." Thus, Jerome Bettis officially announced his retirement standing on the champions' podium, holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Hines Ward, the MVP of the game, said during the Super Bowl commercial; "I'm going to Disney World and I'm taking The Bus!"

After retirement
On 31 January 2006, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and the City Council presented the key to the city to Bettis and declared the week "Jerome Bettis Week" for being "a shining example of what a kid with a dream from Detroit can accomplish with hard work and determination."

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm of the State of Michigan declared 1 February 2006 to be Jerome Bettis Day.

In February 2006, at the 2006 Winter Olympics, NBC Sports announced that Bettis had been signed as a studio commentator for NBC's new Football Night in America Sunday night pregame show.

Pittsburgh's Bettis to work as NBC studio analyst

On Tuesday, April 18, 2006, Bettis and his parents teamed up with Don Barden, chairman and chief executive officer of PITG Gaming LLC, in order to get a casino called the Majestic Star, on Pittsburgh's North Side. Their plan would aid the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins with funding for a new ice arena. Barden said that he would give $7.5 million a year for 30 years to help build a new arena.

Bettis opened a restaurant called "Jerome Bettis' Grille 36" on June 5, 2007 on Pittsburgh's Northside.

On May 21st, 2006 Bettis received an honorary Doctoral degree from Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan for providing remarkable benefits to young people. He will be awarded the Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa, recognizing his leadership in founding the innovative “Cyber Bus” program that to date has enabled some 120 Detroit middle and high school students to both build and use the latest computer technology.

Before the Steelers' home opener of the 2006 NFL season, a large school bus drove onto the field, and Bettis stepped out to a massive crowd ovation. He was one of several Steelers players being honored as part of the celebration of their five Super Bowl victories; Lynn Swann and Franco Harris were also present.

Bettis makes a cameo as himself in season 3 of the NBC comedy series The Office. Signing autographs at a paper convention, Michael Scott tries to invite him to a room party, which Bettis declines. Later, Michael claims Bettis is nicknamed "The Bus" because he is afraid of flying.

Bettis also appeared in a commercial for Sunday Night Football, where he's handed the keys to a bus that happens to belong to John Madden.

He lives in a suburb of Atlanta, Roswell, Georgia. He and his family also maintain a home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

In July 2006, Bettis married his long time girlfriend, Trameka Boykin, in Montego Bay, Jamaica. The couple has a daughter, Jada, and a son Jerome Jr., together.

Bettis had made political donations to both Democratic and Republican candidates; specifically the Congressional campaigns of Democratic U.S. Representative Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick and Republican President George W. Bush. On March 29, 2008, Bettis accompanied Barack Obama on a campaign visit to the United States Steel plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania.

Off the field
--Bettis is currently the host of The Jerome Bettis Show on WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh, airing Saturdays at 7:00 PM and 1:00 AM.
--He used to reside in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania during the off season
--He began a charity called the Bus Stops Here Foundation to aid underprivileged children in 1997. --He did a commercial that was a remake of
Joe Greene's famous commercial where Jerome shows an asthmatic boy that Jerome also is asthmatic yet he is able to play professional sports and so can the boy with proper treatment for his asthma. Or as Bettis says at the end, "Asthma doesn't stop the Bus, and it doesn't have to stop you."
--His book, Driving Home: My Unforgettable Super Bowl Run, came out in September 2006, published by Triumph Books.
--He is now a commentator for the
NFL Network and an NBC studio analyst for Football Night in America.
--He owns a restaurant on the Northshore of
Pittsburgh called Jerome Bettis Grille 36.
--He has achieved a "Perfect 300" in bowling and was considered one of the best bowlers in the
National Football League and even got inducted into the celebrity bowling hall of fame. On Sundays growing up, Bettis and his family were not watching the one o'clock football games. His family of bowlers was out at the lanes each Sunday in Detroit.
--He is part-owner of several minor league baseball teams - the
Altoona Curve, State College Spikes, and Myrtle Beach Pelicans.
--Named his son Jerome Jr.
--He shares the distinct honor of being the recipient of the key to the city of Detroit, MI

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Fact of the Week: 10/5/08--10/11/08


Frederick Law Olmstead, the famous landscape architect who designed Central Park, also designed Belle Isle. The city paid $200 for Belle Isle in 1879, which many at the time thought was too expensive.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Fox Theatre Detroit

Built for William Fox (1879-1952) and the Fox Theatre chain, the Detroit Fox is the largest and most exotic eclectic Hindu-Siamese-Byzantine theater of the golden age of the movie palace (1925-1930). The Fox stands today, along with its 1929 twin, the Saint Louis Fox Theatre, as one of the relatively few remaining movie palaces in the country. It epitomizes the opulence and grandeur that characterized the era.

Designed by C. Howard Crane and built in 1928, the Detroit Fox Theatre is the culmination of flamboyant movie palace architectural design. Crane, who had designed over 250 theaters by 1928, considered the Fox his best effort. In its size, ornate decoration and mechanical systems it was the premier example of what a movie palace could be. A 1928 Detroit Free Press article stated, "Detroit's Fox Theater has the largest clear span balcony in the world. The stage proper is larger than the Roxy Theater in New York, and has the largest and finest projection room and equipment of any theater in the world." Today, the Fox holds the distinction of being the largest continually operating theater in the country.

The Fox Theatre near Grand Circus Park in downtown Detroit, Michigan was designated a National Historic Landmark on June 29, 1989. From the Roaring Twenties, it is one of the first theatres to feature live sound. Located within the Theatre in Detroit, this ornate performance center has 5,048 seats, (5,174 seats if removable seats placed in the raised orchestra pit are included). It is the second largest theatre in the country after the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The Fox was fully restored in 1988.

History
The Detroit Fox is the largest of the Fox Theaters. Built in 1928 for William Fox, founder of 20th Century Fox, it was the first movie palace to have live sound. The architect, C. Howard Crane, designed a lavish interior blend of Burmese, Chinese, Indian and Persian motifs. There are three levels of seating, the Main Floor above the orchestra pit, the Mezzanine, and the Gallery (balcony). The exterior of the attached 10-story building features an Art Deco facade, which at night is illuminated and can be seen for several blocks. The Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri is its architectural twin with about 500 fewer seats.

The Fox remained Detroit's premier movie destination for decades. By the 1970s the theatre was a grimy venue reduced to showing horror and Kung fu movies. Unlike other downtown theatres in the 70s like the Michigan, United Artist and Capitol the Fox managed to remain open. The 1980s brought new hope for the Fox when in 1984 Chuck Forbes, owner of State and Gem theaters, brought the prospect for renovation; however, he didn't complete his plans.

In 1988, the theatre's new owners, Mike and Marian Ilitch, fully restored the Fox at a cost of $12 million. Ilitch Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in the Fox Theater Office Building. The area of downtown near Grand Circus Park which encompasses Fox Theatre is some referred to as Foxtown after the theater . In 2000 Comerica Park opened and helped to revitalize the area along with Ford Field in 2002. The Fox is Detroit’s top venue for Broadway shows.

Productions
The Radio City Christmas Spectacular was an annual favorite from 1997 through 2005. The theatre was host to the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on March 31, 2007, the night before WrestleMania 23, being held at nearby Ford Field. As well as The Condemned World Premiere the night before on March 30, 2007. Other live productions have included Sesame Street Live: Let's Be Friends, David Copperfield, Blue's Clues' Live! as well as show tours, such as Donny Osmond, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Dora The Explorer! Live, and in April 2007, Go! Diego! Live! with Liz Coscia, after Sesame Street Live productions, in 1998-2008.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Detroit Fact of the Week: 9/29/08--10/4/08


The Marriott at the Renaissance Center is the tallest hotel in North America. When it was built in 1977, it was the tallest hotel in the world.

Ford Auditorium and Black history

An open letter to Detroit

By Paul Lee

The following is excerpted from a proposal submitted to Detroit City Council member Jo Ann Watson and president Kenneth V. Cockrel, Jr., on Sept. 12, 2008.

I learned from Mayor Kilpatrick’s resignation speech last week that the Henry and Edsel Ford Auditorium is scheduled to be demolished next month.

I was deeply grieved to hear this because, as you know, Ford Auditorium has played an important role in the history of Detroit. However, few Detroiters, and particularly our youth, are aware that it also played a special role in the history of African Americans.

A few examples among many follow:

Black History @ Ford Auditorium

1) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., addressed 2,500 persons on “the new Negro of the South” as a guest speaker at the Delta Sigma Theta sorority’s annual national convention on Dec. 28, 1956.

This was exactly one week after the U. S. Supreme Court upheld the legal victory of the historic bus boycott at Montgomery, AL, led by Dr. King, which catapulted him to international fame.

2) Malcolm X addressed the First Annual Dignity Projection and Scholarship Awards ceremony at Ford Auditorium on Feb. 14, 1965, sponsored by the Afro-American Broadcasting and Recording Co., which was founded and headed by our dearly departed mentor, attorney and later Rev. Milton R. Henry.

Early that morning, Malcolm X’s home at Queens, NY, was firebombed by Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam (NOI), an attack that just missed incinerating Malcolm X, his wife and their six young daughters, including a six-month-old baby.

Nevertheless, Malcolm X decided to fulfill his commitment to his dear friend and traveled to Detroit. Unbeknownst to Malcolm X and Henry, the FBI was so concerned about this program appealing to African Americans that it initiated a “counterintelligence” (COINTEL) action to discourage the ceremony’s sponsors, which included the Hudson’s department store and the Chrysler and Ford motor companies, from supporting it.

The bureau’s efforts might have been partly responsible for the low turnout that evening, which Malcolm X commented on in his historic “Last Message” to Detroit, which Henry later released as a popular long-playing record.

A week later, Malcolm X was assassinated at Washington Heights, NY, by a NOI “special squad” from Newark, NJ.

3) The Citywide Citizens Action Committee (CCAC), a militant coalition of local black organizations that was formed in the wake of the 1967 Detroit Rebellion, hosted “African-Soul ‘68” at Ford Auditorium on Dec. 10, 1967.

The chairman of CCAC was Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman, then known as the Rev. Albert B. Cleage, Jr., the founder and pastor of Central United Church of Christ, soon to be renamed Shrine of the Black Madonna #1.

The program was organized by bookstore owner, griot and mwalimu Ed Vaughn, who advertised it as “A Mammoth Variety Show to Launch the Black Cultural Revolution.”

It featured many local artists, including the Jazz Nationalists with Michael Abbott; the Concept East Theatre, which included actors David Rambeau and James E. Wheeler, the nation’s leading authority on blacks in film, television and theatre; Motown saxophonist Thomas (Beans) Bowles; popular poet “Slick” Campbell (later Abdul Jalil); and the Central Church choir.

(Indeed, it was Vaughn, a member of Central Church and the chairman of its Black Heritage committee, who conceived of arranged for the painting of the 18-foot mural of a Black Madonna and child by Glanton Dowdell, which still graces the church’s chancel.)

“The Culture of Black people predates that of any other people,” Vaughn wrote in the handsome printed program. “Needless to say, our History and our Culture have been stolen from us, but we are regaining them. We must now increase this momentum with revolutionary Zest and Zeal.”

Sadly, black people in this city, like black people thruout the nation, seem to have little regard for our history.

This is graphically demonstrated in Detroit by the number of historic structures, including businesses, churches, auditoriums, theatres, etc., which are razed every week — with no regard to the possibility of memorializing the great and tragic story of black people in Detroit or they might be used to teach our youth about this — their — precious heritage.

I suppose that it’s too late to do anything about Ford Auditorium, but I would be privileged if you could arrange for me to address the Detroit City Council to speak about its history in reference to our people, using it as a “teachable moment” that might save other properties in future.

Connexions
If granted this opportunity, I would also like to highlight some interesting connexions re Malcolm X’s appearance, such as the following:

1) Malcolm X was picked up at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport by Milton and Richard B. Henry. Three years later, as Abiodun Gaidi and Imari Obadele, the brothers co-founded the Republic of New Africa (later Afrika, RNA).

2) Backstage in the green room with Malcolm X was Jaramogi Abebe.

3) Two carloads of NOI members drove down from Chicago to assassinate Malcolm X at Ford Auditorium. After the program’s organizer’s alerted the police to this threat, they asked the NOI members to sit in the balcony, where they could be monitored. When Malcolm X failed to appear on time (he was sleeping backstage after a doctor administered a sedative), the Muslims left.

4) The physician who gave Malcolm X a sedative was Dr. E. Warren Evans, the father of Wayne County Sheriff Warren C. Evans. Dr. Evans was a brother-in-law of Jaramogi Abebe, married to the latter’s sister Gladys.

5) Dr. Evans was advised as to the appropriate sedative and dosage by Dr. Louis J. Cleage, one of Jarmaogi Abebe’s brothers, who did so by phone from Idlewild, MI.

6) After Malcolm X’s talk, he was greeted by Mother Rosa Parks — their first and last meeting. I have her account of this, in which she states that she agreed with his position on self-defense.

7) Among those who reportedly volunteered to protect Malcolm X was General Baker, Jr., a member of UHURU, the radical Wayne State student group; the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM), headed by Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford); and the Fox and Wolf Hunt Club.

The latter group took its name from a metaphor used by Malcolm X in his famous “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech delivered at King Solomon Baptist church on 14th Street on April 12, 1964. This speech was also recorded by Milton Henry and released as a LP.

Paul Lee is the director of Best Efforts, Inc. (BEI), a professional research and consulting service that specializes in the recovery, preservation and promotion of global black history and culture. He could be contacted at .

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Hotel St. Regis Detroit


Last Wednesday, I had the pleasure of having lunch at the Hotel St. Regis in a restaurant called La Musiq and I must say the food was good. However the Hotel St. Regis is a diamond or a gold mine within the city of Detroit because it has so many attractions and on Thursday it has a live jazz concert from 5p.m.-9p.m. with drink specials within the restaurant. However with La Musiq within the St. Regis and the rooms of the St. Regis as well as the gorgeous, radiant and beautiful woman on staff. This is a premiere hotel with tons to offer to visitors and guests who patron the Hotel St. Regis . Now don't take my word for me but here are a couple of other things that the Hotel St. Regis website says about itself. (http://www.hotelstregisdetroit.com/)

Welcome to one of southeast Michigan's top hotels. In fact, few Detroit hotels can rightfully boast of a history as rich as ours. The Hotel St. Regis has played host to such diverse and notable travelers as Martin Luther King and Mick Jagger. Today that heritage of unequaled hospitality, comfort and privacy is newly burnished. Located in Detroit's New Center area, the Hotel is surrounded by prominent buildings including the Albert Kahn-designed Fisher Building, home of the Fisher Theatre; Cadillac Place, home to State of Michigan government offices; and the world-class medical facilities at Henry Ford Hospital.

Hotel St. Regis is just minutes from all the major downtown attractions including sports stadiums, casinos, COBO Convention Center, museums, theatres, nightlife and the busiest international border crossing for commerce in the world—to Canada.

125 stylish guestrooms and suites are located on five floors. Each room has been newly remodeled and features inviting color schemes, marble vanities and superior bedding.

Our signature restaurant, La Musique, a Cajun restaurant, serves an inspired menu in a hip and elegant room that features stage costumes and memorabilia from past Motown hit makers. The adjacent Lounge is a perfect place for cocktails and entertainment.

Through an exclusive arrangement, guests of Hotel St. Regis may also dine at some of Detroit's top restaurants and charge the meal to their room. With prior arrangement, you can dine at Sweet Georgia Brown, Seldom Blues, The Woodward Restaurant and Grill, The Cuisine Restaurant and Detroit Breakfast House.

Need a car? Our exclusive Stay and Drive program with Enterprise Car Rental saves our guests the hassle of charging their credit card countless times while traveling.

To make your stay at Hotel St. Regis memorable and complete, we offer concierge service, a library and business center as well as complimentary membership to a full-service fitness center just one block away. Dry cleaning services and full-service car wash are always available. Guests can also take advantage of complimentary high-speed wireless Internet service in throughout the hotel.

The Hotel is just three miles north of the Renaissance Center on the Detroit River, home to General Motors’ global headquarters, which is also Detroit's tallest building. Also nearby are the city's entertainment districts, sports stadiums and convention center. This is where you'll find Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers; Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions; Joe Louis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings; plus three casinos—the MGM Grand, the MotorCity and Greektown casinos—and COBO Convention Center. Our Chief Concierge can secure the best available seating to any major sporting or musical event in the city.

Our immediate neighbors include a nationally renowned healthcare institute, Henry Ford Hospital, and all major state government offices are located across the street in Cadillac Place. We're connected by skywalk to the Fisher Theatre, Detroit's premier theatre for touring Broadway productions. Just a few blocks west of the hotel is where Motown was born. Visit Hitsville USA and the Motown Museum to see where it all began for such stars as Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and so many others.

The University Cultural District—Located just ½ mile from the Hotel is where you can tour world-famous institutions all within walking distance of one another including the Detroit Institute of Arts—the nation’s fifth-largest fine arts museum, The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History—the largest of its kind in the world, the Detroit Historical Museum and the New Detroit Science Center.

Detroit Fact of the Week


When Michigan became a state in 1837, Detroit was its capitol. The first state capitol buidling was located in what is today Capitol Park.

Friday, September 12, 2008

New Center Detroit


The New Center is a commercial district located in Detroit, Michigan, approximately three miles (5 km) north of the city's downtown, and one mile (1.6 km) north of the Cultural Center. The area is centered just west of the intersection of Woodward Avenue and Grand Boulevard, and is approximately bounded by Virginia Park Historic District on the north, the Ford Freeway on the south, John R. on the east and the Lodge Freeway on the west.

The heart of the New Center was developed in the 1920s as a business hub that would offer convenient access to both downtown resources and outlying factories. Some historians believe that the New Center may be the original edge city—a sub-center remote from, but related to, a main urban core. The descriptor "New Center" derived its name from the New Center News, an automotive-focused free newspaper begun in 1933 that continues to operate under the name Detroit Auto Scene. From 1923 to 1996, General Motors maintained its world headquarters in the New Center (in what is now Cadillac Place) before relocating downtown to the Renaissance Center; before becoming a division of GM, Fisher Body was headquartered in the Fisher Building. Both Cadillac Place and the Fisher Building are National Historic Landmarks. In addition to the business/commercial district along Woodward and Grand Boulevard, the New Center includes mixed industrial and commercial areas in the southern section, and primarily residential areas to the north.

In 1891, Detroit mayor Hazen Pingree broke ground on the construction of Grand Boulevard, a ring road that wrapped around the city of Detroit. The Boulevard ran for 12 miles, curving from the Detroit River on the west to the river on the east and crossing Woodward Avenue at a point approximately 3 miles from downtown. The Boulevard was originally thought to represent the absolute limit of the city's expansion, although tremendous growth at the beginning of the 20th century quickly pushed the city limits far beyond Grand Boulevard.

In the 1890s, major railroad infrastructure known as the Milwaukee Junction was built just south of Grand Boulevard to facilitate industrial expansion in the city of Detroit. To take advantage of the rail line, industrial plants were built in this area on both sides of Woodward Avenue, with the automotive indistry prominently involved. Part of this area east of Woodward is now the Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District, while the area west of Woodward and south of the railroad tracks is the New Amsterdam Historic District. Most notably, in 1904, Burroughs Adding Machine Company built a large factory on Third, and the following year Cadillac built an assembly plant just to the east of Burroughs.

Grand Boulevard, along its entire extent, was an attractive residential address at the beginning of the 20th century. This was also true in the area that was to become the New Center. At the turn of the century, a number of private homes were built along Grand Boulevard and in the neighborhoods to the north, notably including what is now the Virginia Park Historic District on the northern edge of the New Center. Interspersed in the area were small apartment buildings. Larger apartment buildings were constructed in the area in the 1920s to serve the population of workers and visitors to the area after larger office buildings had been built on Grand Boulevard.

In the late 1910s and early 1920s, the automobile industry in Detroit grew rapidly. The economic surge made land in downtown Detroit difficult to obtain. The lack of suitable parcels frustrated William C. Durant in his search for the optimum location for his planned General Motors headquarters. Durant looked to the north, and settled on a location just west of Woodward Avenue on Grand Boulevard. A the time, the area was a residential district of private homes and small apartment buildings.

Durant hired Albert Kahn (architect) to design his building, and ground was broken in 1919. The building was originally to be called the "Durant Building," but Durant left the company before the building was completed, so when it opened in 1922, the building was called the "General Motors Building." As General Motors continued to grow, the company required more space. In the later 1920s, they built a second building, the General Motors Resarch Laboratory (also known as the Argonaut Building), also designed by Kahn, directly south of their headquarters. THe building was built in two phases, and was completed in 1930.

Around the same time, the Fisher Brothers of Fisher Body followed General Motors to the area. They broke ground on their eponymous Fisher Building in 1927, located across Grand Boulevard from the General Motors Building. The Fisher Brothers also hired Kahn, and spared no expense to construct their headquarters building. The followed this up with the construction of New Center Building (now the Albert Kahn Building), completed in 1932. The Great Depression, however, forced the Fishers to break off their plans to construct a complex of buildings in the New Center, including a grandiose three-towered version of the Fisher building.

The New Center has had a strong retail section, primarily along the Woodward and Grand Boulevard corridors. Retail along Grand Boulevard developed with the construction of the General Motors and Fisher buildings. While these buildings were being built, there was a thriving retail presence along Woodward. A retail strip still exists south of Grand Boulevard along Woodward; some businesses in the district have existed at their current location since the 1920s.

Henry Ford Hospital has continued to expand. The hospital has built numberous additions to their campus since its inception by Henry Ford, from the Clara Ford Nursing Home in 1925 to their high-rise clinic in 1955 to hospital apartments in 1976. In 1992, Henry Ford purchased the old Burroughs headquarters to the south and renamed it One Ford Place. The building is now the Henry Ford Hospital corporate headquarters.

In 1967, the Hotel St. Regis was built on the north side of Grand Boulevard near General Motors' headquarters. In 1988, the hotel was doubled in size. In 1980, General Motors built another addition to the heart of the New Center, New Center One, located across Grand Boulevard from their headquarters. The new eight-story building housed retail stores, offices, and some divisions of General Motors.

In 1977, General Motors began refurbishing some of the residential neighborhoods north of Grand Boulevard. The result was the "New Center Commons," a collection of refurbished single-family homes on the north side of the New Center. With the revitalization of Virginia Park, the New Center has two distinct historic residential neighborhhods within its boundaries. General Motors also facilitated the rehabilitation of some multi-family dwellings. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, new townhomes and condominiums were constructed in what had been empty areas of the New Center, including a section along Woodward just north of Grand Boulevard. Additional loft renovation (as well as the TechTown research incubator) took place at the same time within the New Amsterdam Historic District.

The New Center served as a kind of corporate campus for GM for 70 years. However, the company left the area in the 1990s, moving their headquarters to the Renaissance Center downtown. The old General Motors Building -- Now Cadillac Place -- is occupied by the state of Michigan.

Currently, the New Center hosts the CityFest, a five-day street festival held around Independence Day.

The Guardian Building


The Guardian Building, designated a National Historic Landmark on June 29, 1989, is a skyscraper in downtown Detroit, Michigan. Today, the building is owned by Wayne County, Michigan and serves as its headquarters. Built in 1928 and finished in 1929, the building was originally called the Union Trust Building and is a bold example of Art Deco architecture, including art moderne designs. At the top of the Guardian Building's spire, is a large American Flag, complementing the four smaller flags atop nearby 150 West Jefferson. The building has undergone recent award-winning renovations.

The main frame of the skyscraper rises 36 stories, capped by two asymmetric spires, one extending for four additional stories. The roof height is of the building is 496 ft (151 m), the top floor is 489 feet (149 m), and the spire reaches 632 ft (192.6 m). The exterior blends brickwork with tile, limestone, and terra cotta. The building's interior is lavishly decorated with mosaic and Pewabic and Rookwood tile. The semi-circular exterior domes are filled with Pewabic Pottery; Mary Chase Perry Stratton worked closely with the architect in the design of the symbolic decorations. (See Savage, infra.) Its nickname, Cathedral of Finance, alludes both to the building's resemblance to a cathedral, with its tower over the main entrance and octagonal apse at the opposite end and to New York City's Woolworth Building, which had earlier been dubbed the Cathedral of Commerce. Native American themes are common inside and outside the building. Wirt C. Rowland, of the Smith Hinchman & Grylls firm, was the building's architect while Corrado Parducci created the two sculptures flanking the Griswold Street entrance. The building includes works by muralist Ezra Winter. Roland's attention to detail was meticulous. He supervised the creation of bricks to achieve the desired color for the exterior and designed furniture for the bank's offices. His attention went as far as designing tableware, linens and waitress uniforms for a restaurant in the building.

Col. Frank Hecker and Michigan Senator James McMillan were both founders of the Union Trust which built the Guardian, nicknamed the Cathedral of Finance. During World War II, the Guardian Building served as the U.S Army Command Center for war time production with Detroit being called the Arsenal of Democracy. The Guardian served various tenants as an office building in downtown and was restored in 1986.

On July 18, 2007, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano announced it has entered into an agreement with current owners to purchase the Guardian Building to relocate its offices from the Wayne County Building. The deal is reportedly part of a larger deal worth $33.5 million in real estate purchases in downtown Detroit.

The Fisher Building


The Fisher Building (1928) is an ornate skyscraper in the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan constructed of limestone, granite, and marble. Its roof was once adorned in gold which was removed for the air raid black outs during World War II. Designated a National Historic Landmark on June 29, 1989, the building was designed to house the automotive company Fisher Body of the Fisher brothers (Frederick, Charles, William, Lawrence, Edward, Alfred and Howard).

Standing on the corner of West Grand Boulevard and Second Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, the Art Deco skyscraper lies in the heart of the New Center area of Detroit. The office building rises 30-stories with a roof height of 428 ft (130.5 m), a top floor height of 339 ft (103.6 m), and the spire reaching 444 ft (135 m). The building has 21 elevators. Designed by Albert Kahn and Associates with Joseph Nathaniel French as chief architect, it has been called Detroit's largest art object. and is widely considered Kahn's greatest achievement. The year of its construction, the Fisher building was honored by the Architectural League of New York as the year's most beautiful commercial structure. The opulent three-story barrel vaulted lobby is constructed with forty different kinds of marble, decorated by Hungarian artist Géza Maróti, and is highly regarded by architects.

Initially, Kahn planned for a complex of three buildings, with two 30-story structures flanking a third tower twice that height. However, the Great Depression kept the project at one tower.
The Fisher brothers constructed the building across from the General Motors Building (Now Cadillac Place). General Motors had recently purchased the Fisher Body Company. The two massive buildings spurred the development of a New Center for the city, a business district north of its downtown area.

Radio
The top of the building was gilt and topped with a radio antenna. One of the building's oldest tenants is radio station WJR, whose broadcasters often mention that their signals are broadcast "from the golden tower of the Fisher Building." Two other radio stations, WDVD-FM and WDRQ-FM, also broadcast from the building. On St. Patrick's Day, the golden tower is lit up with green light to celebrate the holiday instead of the traditional orange color. In recent years, to celebrate the NHL playoffs, the tower is lit with red light in honor of the Detroit Red Wings.

Theatre
The building also is home to the Fisher Theatre, one of Detroit's oldest live theatre venues. The theatre originally featured a lavish Aztec-themed interior in the Mayan Revival style, and once had Mexican-Indian art and banana trees and live macaws that its patrons could feed. After the Depression, the theatre operated primarily as a movie house until 1961. Originally with 3,500 seats, the interior was renovated with a 2,089-seat theatre that allowed for more spacious seating for patrons. The decor was changed to a more simple mid-century design (which some feel is now far more "dated" in appearance than the grandiose art deco foyer). The Fisher Theatre is owned and operated by the Nederlander Organization and now primarily features travelling productions of Broadway shows.

Art
Befitting to the Fisher Building's history in association with art, there have been three nationally recognized Fine Art Galleries that have been located in the structure including the Gertrude Kasle Gallery and London Fine Arts Group.

Gertrude Kasle Gallery: Located in Suite 310 of the Fisher Building from 1965-1976 was a nationally recognized Fine Art Gallery hosting exhibits for some of the most highly respected artists of the second half of the 20th century including Willem de Kooning, Jim Dine, Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Goodnough, Adolph Gottlieb, Phillip Guston, Grace Hartigan, Ian Hornak, Ray Johnson, Robert Motherwell, Lowell Nesbitt, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg and Jack Tworkov.

London Arts Group: Located in a large portion of the third floor of the Fisher Building during the 1970’s and 1980’s, London Fine Arts Group acted as an internationally recognized publishing company assisting in producing limited edition art works for many internationally recognized artists including Yaacov Agam, Karel Appel, Arman, Romare Bearden, Gene Davis, Don Eddy, Alberto Giacometti, Ian Hornak, Lester Johnson,Alex Katz, Richard Lindner, Roberto Matta, Lowell Nesbitt, Robert Rauschenberg, Donald Sultan, Victor Vasarely and Larry Zox.

Cadillac Tower, Cadillac Place, or Cadillac Building


For the downtown Detroit, Michigan office tower known as "Cadillac Tower", see Cadillac Tower.
"General Motors Building" redirects here, for the office tower in New York City with that name, see General Motors Building (New York).

Cadillac Place is an ornate high-rise office building in the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan constructed of limestone, granite, and marble. Originally the General Motors Building, it had housed the company's world headquarters from 1923 until 1996. In 1996, GM moved its world headquarters to the Renaissance Center and sold the magnificent building which is leased by the State of Michigan on a long term basis. The building was renamed Cadillac Place. The building takes its present name from Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, the founder of Detroit.

Cadillac Place rises 15 stories with the roof height at 220 ft (67.1 m), and the top floor at 187 ft (57 m). The building has 31 elevators. Originally constructed with 1,200,000 square feet (111,000 m2), and was expanded to 1,395,000 square feet (129,600 m2). Designated a National Historic Landmark on June 2, 1978 it is an exquisite example of Neo-Classical architecture.
Designed by noted architect Albert Kahn, each of the four parallel 15-story wings connects to a central perpendicular backbone. Kahn used this design to allow sunlight and natural ventilation to reach each of the building's hundreds of individual offices. The stately structure is crowned with Corinthian colonnades. In 1923, it opened as the second largest office building in the world (behind the Equitable Building in New York City).

In 2002, the building was thoroughly renovated for the State of Michigan and renamed it Cadillac Place. Architect Eric J. Hill participated in the 2002 redevelopment. Cadillac Place currently houses over 2,000 state employees including the Michigan Court of Appeals for District I. The building's executive office serves as the Detroit office for Michigan's governor. It houses State offices for the Detroit area and a State Court of Appeals. Directly across from the Fisher Building to which it is connected by an underground pedestrian tunnel. Cadillac Place constitutes a formidable complex. The Detroit St. Regis Hotel adjoins the Fisher Building across from Cadillac Place.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Detroit Fact of the Week: 8/31/08--9/6/08

Campus Martius is Latin for "Field of Mars." Mars was the Roman god of war, so the military training ground, both in ancient Rome and here in Detroit, was called Campus Martius. The Point of Origin for the city of Detroit is located in Campus Maritius Park. If you've ever wondered where 8 Mile Road is 8 miles from, the answer is the center of Campus Martius Park.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Stevie Wonder: An American Icon


Musician. Born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan. A premature baby, he was blinded by receiving too much oxygen in the incubator. He began playing the harmonica at an early age and was signed to a long-term contract with Motown Records in 1960. In 1963 he released his first album, Little Stevie Wonder: The 12 Year Old Genius, and its single release ‘Fingertips - Pt. 2’ became his first million seller.


During the 1960s, while attending the Michigan School for the Blind, he had many hit records in the classic Motown rhythm-and-blues style. On his 21st birthday, he renegotiated his contract and gained full artistic control over his work.


Throughout the 1970s he became proficient in the use of synthesizers and electronic keyboards, and he released a series of innovative, commercially successful albums featuring a fusion of progressive rock and soul, biting social commentary, and sentimental ballads. He signed a contract with Motown (1976) for $13 million, the largest negotiated in recording history at that date.


In the 1980s and 1990s he was increasingly engaged in children's and civil-rights causes, and he led the campaign to make Martin Luther King's birthday a national holiday. He was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. A Time to Love, Wonder's first new album in ten years, was released in 2005 and featured the hit single "So What the Fuss" with Prince and En Vogue.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Detroit Fact for the Week: 8/24/08-8/30/08

Detroit has the second largest theater district in the country with over 13,000 seats in just a two block radius. So if you like theater, plays, dramas, opera and the works than you might want to come to the city of Detroit and spend your next vacation here. If the theaters don't thrill you than there are 123 bars and restaurants within the one square mile of downtown Detroit. So don't believe the hype I'm giving but come to Detroit and see it yourself. Now if you are already from Detroit than go downtown and see all of this for yourself as you become marveled my the great downtown that our city has.

Resurfacing The Streets of Detroit

City of Detroit Street Maintenance workers hard at work on a humid summer day.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Derrick Coleman--One fo Detroit's Best Athletes


Derrick D. Coleman (born June 21, 1967, in Mobile, Alabama) is a retired American basketball player in the NBA. Coleman grew up and attended high school in Detroit, Michigan and attended college at Syracuse University. He was selected first overall in the 1990 NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets.

Throughout his career, the left-handed Coleman has been an effective low post scorer with a reliable perimeter shooting touch, averaging 16.5 points and 9.3 rebounds through his career. He enjoyed his best years as a member of the New Jersey Nets, where he averaged 19.8 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. However, despite those impressive numbers, Coleman is often regarded as a poster boy for unrealized potential. When Coleman entered the NBA, he was compared to elite power forwards such as Karl Malone and Charles Barkley, and expected to put up similar numbers. Instead, his career was overshadowed by his questionable attitude (lack of work ethic resulting in excessive weight gain, plus alcohol abuse and general disruptive behavior), and his penchant for injury which saw him play 70 or more games in only four of his 15 NBA seasons. A Sports Illustrated reporter once remarked that "Coleman could have been the best power forward ever; instead he played just well enough to ensure his next paycheck."



Coleman was drafted in 1990 after a successful college career that was also fueled by controversy due to his reckless behavior. However, he had a solid rookie season and went on to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in 1991.




Coleman went on to improve during the 1991-1992 season, averaging close to 20 points and 10 rebounds a game. The Nets were an up and rising team as well, with young players like Coleman, Kenny Anderson, Chris Morris and Mookie Blaylock teaming up with solid veteran players like Sam Bowie, Chris Dudley, Terry Mills and Croatian Drazen Petrovic, the Nets top player who looked to be on his way to becoming an NBA legend. The addition of coach Chuck Daly, who took the Detroit Pistons to win two NBA championships, was enough to get the Nets a winning record and into the playoffs during the 1992-1993 season. The 1993-1994 season was the peak for Coleman and the Nets during his reign. The Nets made it to the playoffs for the third straight season, while Coleman averaged his second straight 20 points, 10 rebounds season and was selected to represent the Nets in the All-Star game along with teammate Kenny Anderson. It would be the only All-Star game that Coleman would ever play in during his NBA career. He played for the US national team in the 1994 FIBA World Championship, winning the gold medal.



The 1994-1995 season saw the Nets luck start turning downward. Daly left the team and new coach Butch Beard replaced him. Petrovic died in a terrible car accident during the summer of 1993, leaving a huge void in the leadership and shooting guard position for the Nets to fill. Many of the veteran players that were so essential to the Nets success either were traded away, left for other teams through free agency, or retired. Instead, the team was loaded with misfits and lazy players. Coleman was not much help in this department. Expected to step up as a leader and as the new leading scorer in place of Petrovic, Coleman had another 20 points, 10 rebounds season, but seemed to be gliding by in games and not giving a full effort. He had a turbulent relationship with Beard, who criticized Coleman for his lazy work ethic in practice and his ignorance of the conduct and team rules. At the start of training camp one year with the Nets, Beard advised his players to adhere to a dress code or be fined. Coleman outraged Beard by simply handing him a blank check to cover all the fines he promised to pile up. He also had a rocky relationship with teammate Anderson, who felt he wasn't getting enough scoring opportunities because of Coleman. His behavior caused him to be traded away to the Philadelphia 76ers at the beginning of the 1995-1996 season for center Shawn Bradley.

During a 1995 game featuring Coleman's Nets and rival Karl Malone's Utah Jazz, Coleman went so far as to call Malone an 'Uncle Tom'.




Coleman's numbers decreased more and more after his trade from the Nets, and while being a solid role player for the 76ers, the Hornets, and the Detroit Pistons, he was known more for his weight gain, lazy attitude, conduct problems and injury proneness. He also gained a reputation as a "clubhouse cancer", and during the 2000-01 season, when Coleman missed more than half the season through various injuries, the Hornets performed significantly better without Coleman in their lineup (12-22 with Coleman, 34-14 without him).

Coleman's career ended during the 2004-2005 season, when he was cut by the Pistons during the season. His Syracuse jersey number, 44, was retired on March 5, 2006. He is currently working as a developer and entrepreneur in Michigan.



Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derrick_Coleman

Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) By Marvin Gaye



Dah, dah, dah, dah
dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah
Dah, dah, dah, dah
Dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah
Dah, dah, dah

Rockets, moon shots
Spend it on the have nots
Money, we make it
Fore we see it you take it

Oh, make you wanna holler
The way they do my life
Make me wanna holler
The way they do my life
This ain't livin', This ain't livin'
No, no baby, this ain't livin'
No, no, no

Inflation no chance
To increase finance
Bills pile up sky high
Send that boy off to die

Oh, make me wanna holler
The way they do my life
Make me wanna holler
The way they do my life

Dah, dah, dah
Dah, dah, dah

Hang ups, let downs
Bad breaks, set backs
Natural fact is
I can't pay my taxes

Oh, make me wanna holler
And throw up both my hands
Yea, it makes me wanna holler
And throw up both my hands

Crime is increasingTrigger happy policing
Panic is spreading
God knows where we're heading
Oh, make me wanna holler
They don't understand

Dah, dah, dah
Dah, dah, dah
Dah, dah, dah

Mother, motherEverybody thinks we're wrong
Who are they to judge us
Simply cause we wear our hair long

Detroit's Downtown


Don't Look Back Detroit, Keep on Pushing



Detroit as the Temptations hae said, we have to keep on pushing and not look back. We have to leave all our troubles behind us and look forward to a brighter future for not only the citizens of Detroit but the city of Detroit. We have to keep on walking Detroit and keep on pushing forward as we leave our past behind. Stall Tall Detroit and look for a future of Greatness as we as Detroiters strive and survive together.