Detroit

My wife and I are traveling to the US around Christmas, first staying a couple of nights at Sonder Gabriel Richard in Downtown Detroit before heading on to NYC. We were initially unbothered by what we considered overblown and outdated stereotypes about the area.

Now my wife is hearing from coworkers and family, including family who live in Detroit, about the grave danger she's in if she stays in downtown.I'm irritated by the anxiety these people have spawned out of nothing. Maybe I'm naive but my gut still says that they're blowing things out of proportion, and at worst it's a little seedy around there.

Would any locals like to comment on how poor a choice we made staying in downtown Detroit as first time travellers to the US? We're Australian if that matters somehow.

If you live or have lived in metroDetroit™ or follow the goings-on of southeast Michigan, you've surely seen some of Max Ortiz's photographic work, from the purely didactic or ceremonial to seemingly "fly-on-the-wall", images captured by Ortiz's sharp eye that would have been missed in those blink-of-an-eye moments.

~Max~ ~Ortiz~ ~hangs~ ~expensive~ ~Detroit~ ~News~ ~video~ ~camera~ ~inches~ ~from~ ~the~ ~ground~ ~while~ ~filming~ ~the~ ~Dream~ ~Cruise~ ~along~ ~Woodward~ ~Ave,~ ~Aug~ ~17,~ ~2006.~
~Photo:~ ~David~ ~Guralnick,~ ~Detroit~ ~News~

Max Ortiz passed away at the all-too-young age of 58 on May 31, 2024 and the News [and we here at !detroit] pays tribute to staff photographer and more, a California native with transplanted roots long grown in Royal Oak, MI.

Alt links for your convenience via archive.is:

• The Detroit News : Max Ortiz, award-winning photojournalist, dies at 58
• Detroit News photo gallery: Max Ortiz remembered as talented, caring Detroit News photojournalist

What We Want Now
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metroDetroit™-related article: Deal.

From the "Things-I-Still-Can't-Fathom Dept."…

“White Lives Matter Michigan permeated[?] censorship to obtain three roadside billboards throughout Southeastern Michigan to dog-whistle morale boosting messages to pro-Whites for this 4/20 Day of Action!” the group tweeted Saturday.

A billboard on John R Road in Hazel Park, for instance, read, “Happy birthday, Uncle Adi. 88 climbs! Hugs & Kisses to HT, GDL, & GTV.” Next to it is a semi-silleauted [em. mine -- r^2^ ] face with Hitler’s distinctive peaked hat.

A trivial aside: can anyone tell me what silleauted means or is that a typo for silhouetted?

A billboard near the Gibraltar Trade Center in Mount Clemens read, “Go back to Africa!” and disguised itself as a congratulatory message to “Tryone” [sic] for earning a trip after scoring 1350 on the SATs. “1350” is a racist code that references an alleged FBI study that claimed 50% of crimes are committed by Black people, who represent 13% of the population.

And yet, the billboard leasing company claimed that these hateful, poisonous billboards escaped their eagle-eye filtering process. I guess with enough zeroes, advertising requests may be submitted in Braille.

Billboard4Me said the deceitful messaging was discreet enough to make it past the company’s filters [em. mine -- r^2^ ] and that the messages were purchased by “an organization that disguised itself and its purpose with deceptive imagery and wording.”

From the White Lives Matter comuniqué to the Metro Times…

“Whites face inevitable genocide if the current trend of brown immigration, anti-White hatred, and White victimization continue,” the representative wrote. “It’s openly stated that Whites will be minorities in their own nations within decades."

Why does this disgusting rhetoric remind me of a certain, indefensible Michigan House Representative and his recent online activities? Why does this disgusting rhetoric even exist in the 21^st^ century? Will we never be able to move forward as a nation?