Today’s Daily Prompt: Viral

“The New York Times is going to feature your blog on its home page, and you’ve been asked to publish a new post — it’ll be the first thing tens of thousands of new readers see. Write it.”

Detroit=Blight?

Do you associate Detroit with blight? If your answer is yes, you are not alone. Most associate Detroit with crime, blighted neighborhoods, illiteracy, high unemployment and we can now add bankruptcy to the list. While all of those problems do exist in the city, the shocking truth is that there is more to Detroit than graffiti riddled vacant homes, political corruption, and financial woes.

People from all over the world come to Detroit to take “artistic” photos of the abandoned homes (like the photo pictured above), vacant lots with overgrown grass and trashed neighborhoods.

I recently stumbled upon 2 French female tourists with backpacks and cameras taking pictures of blight on the east side. Consequently, the world doesn’t see the neighborhoods that are still intact and thriving despite the turmoil that the city is going through.

Beauty Still Exists In Detroit

I started this blog out of a need I saw to balance the image of Detroit. To show that well cared for homes, immaculately manicured lawns, and people who care about their community do exist. Many would be surprised to know that the photos in my post on the recent pond and garden tour were taken in Detroit.

Detroit has many battles to face as it climbs its way out of the depths of despair. Change won’t happen overnight, but just like a parent should never focus only on the negative behaviors of their child, its incumbent upon those that don’t live in Detroit to know that there is still a beautiful city amid the rubble.

Check out these photos that show a side of Detroit most never see:

I am closing out this post with a poem from the late Tupac Shakur. I chose this poem because I think it perfectly describes present day Detroit.
The Rose that Grew from Concrete

Did you hear about the rose that grew
from a crack in the concrete?
Proving nature’s law is wrong
it learned to walk without having feet.
Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams,
it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long live the rose that grew from concrete
when no one else ever cared.

Tupac Shakur