Eastside Detroit, a Third World Entity in itself?

Been driving around on the lower east side of Detroit recently. I have been teaching a class there and the construction work on East Jefferson Avenue can be hard on the traffic. Currently I am not too crazy about the asphalt resurfacing of the street, and hate that our county government will not do concrete repaving instead like they seem do every five to ten years on West Eleven Mile Road between Coolidge and Greenfield in Oakland County. After seeing that asphalt resurfacing owner sell his company and share some of the profits with his employees some years ago, I know that asphalt is the cheaper (and very guaranteed job security!) route. While this is going on, at times I had to sit there until someone lets me out. When I got lucky this time, I had to take the picture!!! I got my repaired camera back recently and is taking pictures for fun and just to document things. There are times I feel our city looks like the poor section of a Third World nation (like Lagos) or an area reeling from a war.

I will be glad when this political drama with Mayor Kilpatrick is over. I pray that the U.S, the State of Michigan, and our city will recover from this low social, economical and political tailspin that we are in now. At times I am reminded of the high and lows in the Bible story of Joseph.

I see so many that seem not to care or that lost hope a long time ago. I try to keep hope alive because I have no choice. It is part of survival for me. It is important to me that I do it for my children and my mother. Yes, it would be easy to flee, as the option has been suggested to me so many times, but it is also beneficial to hang in there. Yes, Virginia, times do get better.............

Closed long ago, this place which has potential, just sits.

I wish that I could buy, renovate it, and open it back to the public.

Like many others, a guy is selling his stuff on the corner.........

I remember when this place was occupied. Although someone is trying to renovate it, they are struggling with vandals and the metal strippers.

A shadow of her former self.....

I may get razzed about this, but I still sometimes can not help but feel sorry for Christine Beatty as I see the Mayor move on with his life. Her life seems to be somewhat on hold, and the future is very uncertain for her. She was a fool in love, and now seems to be very much alone. The prosecutor and the media has encouraged her to turn on the Mayor, which I doubt she will do. Hopefully she will reconsider it when the case gets to trial. Once in a major position of power as the Mayor's Chief of Staff, according to the Metro Times' Jack Lessenberry , Christine Beatty is now a shadow of her former self. He saw her at the NAACP Freedom Fund dinner in Cobo Hall last week, and made some observations regarding her in his weekly column.

“....Seen on the sidelines:

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick spoke briefly at the Freedom Fund dinner. His remarks were fairly brief and unremarkable. He didn't mention his own trials, upcoming or otherwise, though he did subtly attempt to place himself in a tradition of heroes and martyrs stretching back to Emmett Till.

In a slightly bizarre touch, he referred to the Rev. Wright as a "verbal acrobat," which made me wonder how much the mayor himself understood the meaning of this man. The crowd's reaction to the mayor was interesting too. He received what you might call "polite" applause (the person sitting next to me called it tepid.)

Dennis Archer, who was honored a few minutes later, got a much bigger hand. There was a feeling of mild tension when Kwame was on stage, as if his presence reminded people of things they didn't want to think about. He made a point of reminding people that his wife Carlita was there. Then somebody nudged me; look.

Standing in the entrance to one of the hall's sections, apparently all alone, was a somewhat drawn-looking Christine Beatty, the mayor's former chief of staff and lover, whom he discarded like an old fish wrapper last winter, in an effort to save his own political skin.

Gone was any trace of the famous arrogance that used to be on display. Occasionally people — women, mostly — would come up and offer her a few words, shake her hand, give her a hug.

She neither glanced in the mayor's direction (she was more than a football field away) or, as far as I could tell, looked at the monitor while he spoke. After half an hour or so, she slipped quietly away.”

Regarding the Mayor and Mrs Kilpatrick's speech on January 30, 2008

As usual, Mayor Kilpatrick still showed his true colors, (No Manners, No Class, No Social Graces) soon after arriving at the church. All I could wonder was where was the influence of his mother, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, who is an astute experienced politician that rarely had any public problems while she has held office. But unfortunately, even with many advisers around him at that hour, Mayor Kilpatrick still exhibited the thug-like behavior that was expected of him. Is there anyone with any common sense or backbone in his camp?

Before the televised speech at the church, as the Mayor exited the Cadillac Escalade, he was rushed by news reporters and photographers. Channel 7's (WXYZ) investigative reporter Steve Wilson, one the major media thorns in the Mayor's side, immediately asked him who was Christine Slowski, the woman that was allegedly to have been with the Mayor while he gave a speech in North Carolina during the MLK holiday. Mayor Kilpatrick's reaction was to shove Mr. Wilson and then knock back the camera of Free Press photographer Mandi Wright, thus striking her in the face with the camera. Channel 7 displayed the incident on last night's broadcast and Ms. Wright's video footage is also on the Detroit Free Press website. If I had been the Mayor's Security Chief, I would have already had a wall of security in place for the mayor and his wife to pass through as they walked into the church. If I had been his lawyer, I would have seriously instructed and demanded that the mayor Say or Do Nothing that would display any of the arrogance that he has been charged with by certain folks and the media.

As I watched Mayor Kilpatrick and his wife address the city last night from his church, the Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ on the northwest side of Detroit, I could not help but feel sorry for Mrs. Kilpatrick. You could tell that their speech was rehearsed and that they were reading from a teleprompter. Their body language was very stiff and impersonal, especially exhibited when their hands touched, which should be expected under the circumstances. However my view has not changed regarding Mayor Kilpatrick after last night's speech. His leadership of this city has had too many problems, and I still want him to leave office, although he has emphatically stated that he will remain as Mayor of Detroit. We still will have to deal with him for a while longer.

During that broadcast, I could sense Mrs. Kilpatrick's feelings of helplessness and even despair, since she is caught up in a web of deceit, and has a lot to lose. The potential impending outcome for Mrs. Kilpatrick could be dealing with her husband being charged with perjury, resulting in conviction and jail time. Her life could dramatically change and she may have to uproot her children from the area that they have grown to know. Some may say that Mrs. Kilpatrick is complicit in this affair, either unknowingly or maybe because she could have been involved in some of the incidents. Or some may believe that she may have chosen to tolerate or to turn a blind eye to her husband's illegal and extramarital affairs because she enjoyed the lifestyle that his position afforded her. I just hope that she can stay strong, and keep herself together for the sake and well being of her children.

However, the parties that I feel for the most, are the children. The family's 2007 Christmas card is being featured on Ebay. I know for a fact from my own personal experience, that children can be cruel. I can only imagine the ribbing, teasing, and insults that the Kilpatrick and Beatty children will have to endure in the future. No matter how much protecting/sheltering and care is taken by the school officials and their parents, those children will receive some taunting and hear some ugly comments from some schoolmates and folks on the street.

Below is the transcript of the Mayor and Mrs. Kilpatrick's address of the city with links.

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT: Private pain the focus

January 31, 2008

This is the complete transcript of the televised speech Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his wife, Carlita Kilpatrick, gave to Detroit on Wednesday night:

KWAME KILPATRICK: "Good evening, Detroit. I want to start tonight by saying to the citizens of this great city, I'm sorry.

To all of you who have believed in what we've been doing here since 2002, to all of you who have believed in me, in my leadership, to all of you who have stuck with me through very difficult times, to all of you who prayed for me: I'm sorry.

For the embarrassment and the disappointment the events of the past few days have caused you, for what you as my supporters, many of you, have had to hear as you traveled around our city to beauty shops and barbershops, what you had to hear when you were in church this past Sunday from people who know that you have supported me.

For those of you who have not always been Kwame Kilpatrick supporters, but who lift up our city, who live in our city, who support this town in various ways, I truly apologize to each and every one of you individually and to the whole city.

Most of all tonight, I want to make a public apology to my entire family, and specifically to the four people who I love the most in this world.

First, I want to apologize to my sons, Jelani, Jalil and Jonas. For the first time in my life, I had to have a conversation with my 12-year-old twin sons about very grown-up things. It was, without a doubt, the hardest conversation that I've ever had in my entire life.

Finally, and most importantly, I want to make a public apology to my wife, Carlita, who I fell in love with when I was 19 years old. We decided to build a family together, and we did that.

Our marriage has not been perfect, but it has been great. Now, I put her in a situation which many couples deal with in the privacy of their own homes, but in our case, it's on the front page of the newspaper. This dynamic, strong, caring woman has been forced to go through this very difficult experience because of me. I truly apologize to you.

As many of you know, I'm not the type of person who displays my emotions in public, but I have to tell you I've felt more emotion in the last week than I have in the past 20 years. I've been truly hurting. I've been hurting because I know that many of you are hurting. And most of all, I've been hurting because I know my family is hurting. And I'm responsible for that.

Over the past few days, there's been some speculation about who is in charge of the city. Make no mistake about it, since 2002, I have been in charge of the city.

There have been ups and downs, there have been hills and mountains and valleys, but through it all, I remained in charge of the city. I believe we built a team here that understands the mission and focus and commitment that we must have to serve our citizens. We've done some amazing things, but we have a lot of work left to do.

Over the past few days, there has also been a lot of speculation about me resigning from office. Let me be clear tonight: I would never quit on you. Ever. We've got a lot of work to do, and with your help, I'm going to continue to lead this city in getting the work done. I am truly blessed and grateful that my wife is beside me tonight, and she has some personal remarks of her own to make."

CARLITA KILPATRICK: "It is very difficult for me to talk to you at this moment, but I want to let you know what is on my heart tonight.

Like all marriages, ours is not perfect. Like all people, we are not perfect, but through our commitment to God and each other, my husband and I will get through this. Yes, I am angry, I am hurt and I am disappointed. But there is no question that I love my husband. With the help of our pastor and others, we have been having very difficult, very frank discussions to work through some very painful issues.

Most couples who work through problems in their marriage are able to do so privately. Unfortunately, that option is not available to us. Our family has endured the most painful and intrusive week of our lives. Our most intimate issues have been laid out for all to see, for all to comment on, for all to dissect and analyze. However, this private matter is between me, my husband and God. We are deeply committed to working through these issues together as a family. As his wife, I know how committed my husband is to the City of Detroit. I am asking the citizens of this city to be committed to him, and our family, and to the continued growth of our city.

Allow our family the space and the privacy that is essential to anyone when they work through these very personal issues. Lastly, I would like to thank each and every one of you for all of your prayers and your uplifting words. Thank you."

KWAME KILPATRICK: "This has been a very difficult time for my wife and my family. I would ask, from this point forward, that if you have to attack someone, attack me. I would ask that you don't follow my wife, you don't film my kids going to school. I ask you not to have helicopters flying around our home. I ask that you leave them alone. I am the mayor. I made the mistake. I am accountable.

Because there are legal matters pending at this moment, unfortunately, I am unable to discuss any of those issues at this time. But I do have some personal words I want to share with you tonight:

Over the past week, our marriage has been opened up for public view. This has been a situation where, yes, it's been embarrassing, yes, it's been painful, but through all of that, through the grace of God, we've also had a feeling of thankfulness and freedom. We have committed to moving forward together, to make our marriage better and stronger.

Last week was the first weekend since I took office in January 2002 that I just put everything aside and focused only on my family. I know people have been wanting to hear from me, but I needed to do that first. I want to thank the people of Detroit for their patience in allowing us to have that time. We as a family needed to do that. I told my sons this past weekend that when you make a mistake, you learn from it, you get up, you dust yourself off and you keep moving forward.

Detroit, I am determined that we will keep moving forward. I am determined to continue the tremendous progress we are making in this city, in the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression.

Detroit, together we have managed to do great things. We have paved more streets than ever, we have built more new houses than ever. We have balanced our budget and wiped out a $300-million deficit.

We have developed 75 buildings downtown, large and small, we have built seven new hotels, we have built three new rec centers in neighborhoods that have not seen rec centers in 20 years. We are building out our riverfront, and we are not stopping now.

Detroit, please continue to pray for our family, for our city and for our continued progress. God bless you, Detroit. I love you, and I'll see you at work tomorrow.”

Free Press transcription of Kilpatrick's speech as broadcast on WDIV- Local-4

NAACP Glitz along with reality...................

Yesterday afternoon, I dropped my daughter off downtown to attend the NAACP annual Fight for Freedom Dinner. Our church sponsored her and other youth, and I was determined that she make it there as I walked her into the COBO lobby. After she went in the main hall, I stayed for a while and observed the prominent folks and the bigwigs coming in. I ran into a woman that I met on my first cruise, and even seen a former classmate from school. I also saw Martha Reeves, the Motown singer, now councilwoman there also. There were some lovely dressed women down there and even seen some couples that were coordinated in African themed garb. My eyes feasted on some beautiful green printed fabric worn by an African couple, and she had a lovely turban wrap also. I was elated that my daughter was able to attend the dinner, and I hope to go when she will be working there next year.

But a question bugged me as I walked back to my car, rode through the city, and thought about the folks that I watched swarming into the event. How many of those folks attending the NAACP's dinner that came to see former President Clinton speak, actually live in the city? It just reminded me of the hypocritical nature of folks. When I found out that several prominent ministers who are over some big congregations in the city, really do not live in the city, it just reminded of how the city is being sucked dry. The sad thing to me, is that they do not understand that there are others that are now investing their livelihood and even putting themselves out there by living in the city. When will they understand that when those with the means (Money, Connections, & Knowledge) hang in the trenches, the war can be won? It is just too easy to dip your feet in the water, and step back when things are not comfortable. I find it disappointing that those folks and others feel it is easier to live outside the parameters of Detroit, and still not hesitant to feed off of what the city has still has to offer without putting some real substance back into the city.