Light it up!

Haven't had a chance to write an entry since I was busy with so many projects and schoolwork...and work 0_o

Long story short, I had the urge to go out and take pics with my friends...It was kinda cold out the other night but I still took some nice shots of the city all decked out in its holiday stuff, everything looked so nice...it's just missing people and a few businesses, I was imagining how nice it would have been if there were street vendors out there selling stuff and if some of these buildings were open for business instead of  being just decked out in holiday stuff, but hey it still looked great

You can see the YMCA 

 Similar shot but I took this to show how empty the area was that night...

 Good ol' Greek Town

 Dun dun dunnnn

 The effect from the night fog was amazing

What we need are more people in the city. We have the remnants of a major city, what we're missing are good people to fill the gaps and to help bring it back...any takers? I'd love to be a part of something that brings the city back.

Changes...

As a Detroiter I feel this song is the epitome of what we're going through in my city, it also has the solution that will help us all move forward.

The inspiration for this post came from a song called "Changes" by Tupac Shakur

"It's time for us as a people to start making changes
lets change the way we eat
lets change the way we live  
and lets change the way we treat each other 
you see the old way wasn't workin so its on us to do what we gotta do...to survive" --Tupac Shakur

Now look at it this way:
Let's change the way we eat...yes I read that article that named us the fattest city
Let's change the way we live...we have to step up and maintain our streets as much as we can
Let's change the way we treat each other...stop the violence, its not getting us ahead in any way
Lets change the way we treat each other because the old way wasn't working...We need a new approach to everything in this city, the way we've been doing things isn't getting us out of this hole we've fallen into.


I feel Tupac was my first "social problems" professor, (before I took the actual sociology class coincidentally...his song Changes was my inspiration for this post also).
I see the problems in my city firsthand, I go through it like everyone else and I know how close I've come with the negative side that exists around me and many of my friends, my inspiration to stand up for my city and fight within the city to change the problems we face today come from this song and from a lot of the hip hop music I listen to and my own experiences. (Please note that Lil Wayne is not a representation of hip hop, never was, never will be, nor are many of these other artists out there like waka flocka whatever, and gucci mane)


People aren't being realistic with themselves. The problem doesn't lie with the people just inside (and outside) of our city but the problems we as citizens are facing in our area every single day, things some of us can't see or notice. From the violence and crime, to the drugs and illiteracy. 


We as citizens need to attack this all head on, but Where do we start?!

My suggestion is to first attack illiteracy and the rest will follow...


"According to estimates by The National Institute for Literacy, roughly 47 percent of adults in Detroit, Michigan -- 200,000 total -- are "functionally illiterate," meaning they have trouble with reading, speaking, writing and computational skills. " 


Here's the link for more of the statistics
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/07/detroit-illiteracy-nearly-half-education_n_858307.html


All of these major problems correlate.  This city wasn't just brought down by one thing, but the culmination of a GROUP of things, illiteracy is one of them. The illiteracy leads children to grow up uneducated, or the adults to stay the same which in turn leads them either to drugs and crime because that is all that they are left with. The violence that ensues is just spilling over from the illiteracy and its effects over time.


Yes there are programs but these programs need more volunteers, those high school students and even graduates and college students, our adults and anyone else that can read and write needs to step up to the plate and share this knowledge.


Everyone spends their time with concerns on the superficial things in life. Let's spend an hour of that time giving back and imagine what we can do collectively.  


 "Too many young folk have addiction to superficial things and not enough conviction for substantial things like justice, truth, and love." - Dr. Cornell West

No you don't need to volunteer at a school and teach, it would be very helpful if you did (and easier for you to find the people who need help)


What you can do is...approach a friend or someone you know who has trouble reading and writing even and help them out when you can, this person can be your neighbor, or someone you see here and there and know well enough to offer help. Find a neutral and safe area to help them if you don't know them well enough, a local library or school if possible.


Imagine the affect you can have on a person's life who finally learned to read or write? Think about the doors you've opened up for them, maybe a better job? They can help their child with homework? Who knows! 


A few weeks ago I bought this random kid pencils at CVS, he didn't have money for it and neither did his mom, it was a buck, I figured this little thing might have an impact on him one day (at least I hope it does), I told him to grow up and become a doctor (He said he wants to be a basketball player...I should have got his name for follow-up lol) 


I hope I've opened some of your eyes and even changed some points of views.

My random memories from this year...NOW IN COLOR! :D

Well here are some random shots that I found on one of my flash drives that I left in my coat pocket today (thank goodness I checked it before dropping it off for cleaning)

This room was really interesting, it was in the basement of a thrift store in Ann Arbor, the colors were really interesting and it stuck out to me because of how weird it was to see it right next door to all the clothes...It looks like it belongs in a scene from Napoleon Dynamite

The Renaissance Center, I grew up admiring this building as a kid, I still remember when I first saw it when my dad took me to his job, I even got to work here for 2 years so it was pretty cool, plus I was around all the car's and whatnot...great times

This was taken during the Red Bull: Art of Movement Competition...(fancy word for Parkour)

This was on my way to the Red Bull competition, the building's shape was really cool to me, also the coloring of the light at that time of day was wicked

This is from the Woodward Dream Cruise, I did some editing to the camera and did some on the spot editing for this selective coloring effect for one of my favorite cars which was also in my favorite color

First Post: What are you thinking?!

First post! Finally did it...

Well I talked about making a blog for a while and here I am (finally), I won't just blog, I plan to also post some of my photography also and whatever else I'm interested in, this thing hasn't really taken on much of a form since its the first post so yeah...right now I'm really enthralled by some of the occurrences in the city which is why I wrote the following yesterday...




Real question for the Detroit Police Department...WHY?

Here's a simple rundown for those who don't know, The City of Detroit is really close to a budget collapse, we're on the brink of bankruptcy and they might end up deep in the red by spring time if nothing is done about it. In order to avoid an emergency financial manager taking over the city and cutting even deeper, the Mayor (Dave Bing) decided to cut all the city workers pay by 10%, those who have had their budget cut once already this year are safe from this from what I've read and heard on the news.

Well it sounds fair enough right? I mean look at the condition of the city, and our economy, let alone DETROIT's economy, we're not in the best of shape as a country, the city is in even worse shape and it makes sense to make a few sacrifices for the betterment of the city. Nothing comes without a price. Everyone in the city needs to realize that, not just the lawmakers and employees but the citizens also, the excess spending that some of the people in power commit (I'm looking at you right now Mr. Ficano), the neglect of city owned properties, it all correlates (duh).

Back to my main point, the Detroit Police Department. They have their hands full, especially with all the bad press and the crazy crimes committed in the city thanks to the bad economy, recently they've been out in full force taking back the streets, and I commend you brave men and women for this work, it's not easy but take it from a citizen, I SEE the work you have been putting in, your work is being noticed by me and other citizens in my area thank you. But the actions by one of your departments recently, (the Northeast Precinct to be exact), really disappointed me. I live within the limits of this precinct and when I heard that nearly a whole shift  decided to have a "sickout" and not show up to work, well as you can see I wasn't too happy about it.

For starters, you are civil servants, the public relies on you, your services are needed and required for a reason. I know money is a HUGE issue but you don't have a protest while on the job, I'm sorry but a 10% cut in your pay does not mean you can just walk off on the job like that because you don't agree with it. Our city is in a fragile state, things like this are very detrimental to the work you and your colleagues and many community leaders have worked so hard to fix. You are not only hurting the citizens that are supposed to be protected but also you endanger yourselves by letting the progress you have made suddenly stop.

In addition to that, wouldn't you rather have a 10% pay cut or would you rather be out of a job altogether in a few months because the city can't pay you?
I have been working since I was a 16 years old in high school. I lost my first job nearly a year later due to budget cuts, I knew since that time that my work life would have to include compromises if I wanted to work in this country, Hell! If the DHC offered me a 10% pay cut I would have took it because the amount of money I'm not making doesn't outweigh the amount I was being paid (which wasn't much anyways).

My current jobs (I hold 2 currently), also included pay cuts, and pay limits, my raises have been cut to 2% at one of them..Seriously..but I realize that the company I work for needs to stay in good health to keep going, yes unfair to me and many of my co-workers who feel underpaid for what we put up with but times are tough and we suck it up and move on.

What I'm saying is the DPD needs to find a better way to fix this and voice its opinion, not by walk outs while ON the job, that's irresponsible and it shows how much care they have for its citizens. Protest it, go to the media, speak out, speak up, get the community behind you, if that all fails find other sources of income, I know a lot of officers do security work on the side, you have other opportunities to make money along with the city job, but don't pull a stunt like this that risks the lives of a whole district that is under your service and protection.

Ok, well I'm done here, kinda sucks that my first post had to be kind of a rant but I really had to get this off my chest since the news here doesn't seem to notice the problem which is why this is unscenedetroit.


Peace