http://www.freep.com/article/20140601/NEWS01/306010088/French-artist-murdered-Detroit?fb_action_ids=578397158936397&fb_action_types=og.comments&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582
Until there is a conviction this young man from a foreign land will simply be, to Detroit, another case file number. A number who did not know how to live here among the thieves, punks and, thugs who need money for drugs. His death is no more or less tragic than any other in Detroit, the man shot outside of JB Music store on Fenkell, an unintended target, turned from being a living breathing human to just another folder in a file cabinet. At least the conditions of his death are known.
Them that killed this young man could give two hoots and a holler less about his ideology, his talent, his desire to know...they wanted whatever items he had on him that could be used for their own gain and when they put one in his face and he fell, he fell from life in Detroit to death in Detroit. It is that simple.
Blame the case number on the mightily shrunken police force, blame the case number on the fact that the chief wasn't here yet telling Detroit to legally arm up and defend yourselves because DPD can't do it. Or blame it on what it is, Detroit a largely lawless place where the fun is counted in the amount of alcohol drunk, the number of joints smoked, the loudness of the music in the cars, the number of petty and grand thefts that can be accomplished, the amount of money that can be made from making even more vacant homes unlivable and only good for demolishing. Parents that do not give a sh it how their children behave as long as they do not bother them while they are getting high.
This case file sits on a pile of thousands of others that stretch back years and eventually will be featured on one of the broadcast media news hours to try to give $2500 to anyone with information ($3500 id called in before midnight on the day of broadcast) who calls Speak-up for money. Never because it is the right da mn thing to do but let's get you paid if you know who, how, why, or where.
There are beacons of light shining in the darkness that is Detroit, the media is endlessly telling us what a wonderful job the Ilitch' and Gilbert' of the area are doing, which is fine for an extremely small section of Detroit. This case file was not generated in the "safe" Detroit. This case file was generated in the known by all who live here in the lawless lands of Detroit. The lawless lands a large portion of residents want it to remain; a lawless alley where they can do whatever they want, to whomever they want, and be assured there will be no repercussions for those actions.
While it is a sad thing for the living who remember this case file as a man, it is just another day in the "D," the American Mogadishu, where death is a common thing and the life only has the value of what is in the pockets of the soon to be case file number.
Until there is a conviction this young man from a foreign land will simply be, to Detroit, another case file number. A number who did not know how to live here among the thieves, punks and, thugs who need money for drugs. His death is no more or less tragic than any other in Detroit, the man shot outside of JB Music store on Fenkell, an unintended target, turned from being a living breathing human to just another folder in a file cabinet. At least the conditions of his death are known.
Them that killed this young man could give two hoots and a holler less about his ideology, his talent, his desire to know...they wanted whatever items he had on him that could be used for their own gain and when they put one in his face and he fell, he fell from life in Detroit to death in Detroit. It is that simple.
Blame the case number on the mightily shrunken police force, blame the case number on the fact that the chief wasn't here yet telling Detroit to legally arm up and defend yourselves because DPD can't do it. Or blame it on what it is, Detroit a largely lawless place where the fun is counted in the amount of alcohol drunk, the number of joints smoked, the loudness of the music in the cars, the number of petty and grand thefts that can be accomplished, the amount of money that can be made from making even more vacant homes unlivable and only good for demolishing. Parents that do not give a sh it how their children behave as long as they do not bother them while they are getting high.
This case file sits on a pile of thousands of others that stretch back years and eventually will be featured on one of the broadcast media news hours to try to give $2500 to anyone with information ($3500 id called in before midnight on the day of broadcast) who calls Speak-up for money. Never because it is the right da mn thing to do but let's get you paid if you know who, how, why, or where.
There are beacons of light shining in the darkness that is Detroit, the media is endlessly telling us what a wonderful job the Ilitch' and Gilbert' of the area are doing, which is fine for an extremely small section of Detroit. This case file was not generated in the "safe" Detroit. This case file was generated in the known by all who live here in the lawless lands of Detroit. The lawless lands a large portion of residents want it to remain; a lawless alley where they can do whatever they want, to whomever they want, and be assured there will be no repercussions for those actions.
While it is a sad thing for the living who remember this case file as a man, it is just another day in the "D," the American Mogadishu, where death is a common thing and the life only has the value of what is in the pockets of the soon to be case file number.
shot and thrown off an apartment building...
ReplyDeleteits a sad tale...
i am sure batman/superman is generating a little income there...
at least now you have superheroes in your city, right?
Wrong
DeleteYou paint a picture of pure Hell on Earth, with Detroit as the sinful Capital.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is the great SuperPower known as America. Sad, very sad.
Philip the America writ large by them who fought WWI, endured prohibition, the depression, went to war again in Europe and Asia while them that did not enlist built massive amounts of armaments and then after the war built the worlds largest economy is a far cry from the America and Detroit of today.
DeleteOur leaders were murdered en masse, our cities ripped apart by tensions and loss of jobs, education is over priced and devalued, and work that was done by a hundred through mechanization is now done by 5.
Medgar Evers 1963
Emmet Till 1965 (12 years old lynched)
JFK 1963
Martin L King 1968
RFK 1968
Malcom X 1965
P. Wellstone 2002
We have sold our governments or mismanaged them by allowing unfettered lobbying.
We have been in a near continuous state of war somewhere in the world since Dec 8, 1941.
We did not heed Eisenhower in his farewell address on 1 17 1961 and allowed our military marry our industry to the point where our military now consumes near 50% of our GDP. Why?
We spy on our own citizens and kill them with impunity if the government declares it necessary.
We for the first time in our history have 3 full divisions stationed on American soil for use against American people in case of unrest for natural disaster, so far they have been deployed twice. This is a violation of our constitution.
We have Supreme Court justices that give the appearance of being bought and paid for by billionaires (Thomas and Scalia).
We have 534 members of our upper and lower house and more than 1/2 are millionaires most minted after they came to office. those same elected officials have exempted themselves from laws (like insider trading information) that would get an average citizen thrown in jail.
It takes a sitting US Senator to raise $15,000 per day to retain his seat.
We have state governments whose sole function is to drag the state so far conservative as to break the back of every union and reduce the middle class to poverty, to change social policy and go back to their interpretation of christianity and impose a moral code on people who do not want it.
Detroit for decades has been either 1,2,or 3 as the most violent city in America, with more murders per capita than Chicago, LA or NYC. these are not gang related murders in most cases. We do not have a huge gang problem in Detroit. 1874 was the worst year with 734 murders now its usually between 300-400 per annum.
Detroit once has a population of 1.9 million souls within its borders, now it is 635,000 and still falling. We pay the highest property tax +income tax in the entire state and still only average 1 cop for every 725 citizens. We have closed down so many firehouses that if they are already occupied or are more than 10 minutes away your house will burn.
Detroit 8 months ago filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy ever in America. The total debt is 18 billion dollars, about 2/3rds through misfeasance or flat out theft. Now people like me who are both a resident and disabled retiree are being told that depending on the circumstances our pensions could fall from every $1000 per month (mine is $970) to either $800 or $650. Our employer paid healthcare has been taken away and that costs a family about $1200 per month, i am fortunate i can go to the Veterans Administration for health care but my wife's is a minimum of $6500 per year.
DeleteAnd those values are just the minimum amounts, they could be reduced further depending on finances going forward.
The downtown area which is all that is seen on television during any event comprises roughly 10 sq miles, Detroit itself is 140 sq, miles. there are at last count 88,000 vacant abandoned buildings in differing states of disrepair. Most have been swooped down on by vultures that eat scrap metal. Neighborhoods like mine if no gun fire or body is involved will not get a police response, not even a drive by for a minimum of 3-7 hours.
Detroit graduates roughly 25% of HS seniors but of them 50% are functionally illiterate and place no value on education. The real effective unemployment rate in Detroit is 47%. That leaves an awful lot of young men with nothing to do but get high all day or find money to get high. many people like Detroit because the police presence is so small and when there is an event like the Grand Prix AND a music festival downtown like there were this weekend every precinct had to send 50% of their squad cars downtown to ensure visitor safety.
My OPINION is the nation is now being run by oligarchs who have been working since 1905 to retake the economy away from government oversight, and begining with 1980 and Ronald Reagan they have won the battle with his massive deregulation and union busting. Alan Greenspan was the world wide architect of the final collapse of 2007-2009.
Detroit and Michigan collapsed in 2000 and never recovered, except for the wealthy.
For me personally--I am 60, we have a fixed income, our home is paid for, there is nowhere that would be safer we could afford and i for one do not want to be paying 25-35% of my income for a mortgage payment until i am 90. or leave my wife saddled with that debt if I pass.
This is not the same America I enlisted for in 1972 and it is not the same America I walked around from '75-79/ It is what it is but I will ever take a side because to do otherwise would be to let the oppressors trample the oppressed even more.
The Chamber of Commerce just revoked your membership for speaking the harsh truth... and I am no longer going to apply for a "homestead home" they were offering writers a few months back and wondering why I need to be over there for several days mid-month. Thanks for sharing even if it is ugly. (If you are up for a beer the evening of the 15-17, let me know).
ReplyDeleteA terrible thing happening to a once great city. Very sad indeed.
ReplyDeleteAnd you are the chronicler. . . . Detroit's humble gem
ReplyDeleteALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
=^..^=
...this sounds like your average day in South Africa. A life for a cellphone, a mugging for drugs. And nothing gets done. The cops are too busy. The judicial system overloaded to a grinding halt that it's easier to release a criminal for 'lesser' crimes than follow up and close the case...
ReplyDeleteSo incredibly sad.
ReplyDeleteDetroit is so sad.
ReplyDeleteA sad story among the many others.
ReplyDelete"Y2K" really did happen in Detroit and Michigan, as it turned out.
Detroit is ... everywhere
ReplyDeleteMark-I can't even defend Detroit. Our business was practically ran out and being an attempted carjacking victim has left me totally indifferent about it. I hate what is happened to your neighborhood and retirement. Totally sucks. xo
ReplyDeleteWe do it a little different here in Montana. We have a case where a German exchange student was killed when he went into a local's garage without invitation. The local had been having problems with teenagers stealing stuff from him. When he heard a noise, he simply opened the adjoining door and fired without looking.
ReplyDelete