Gwangju International Center

· Date: January 7th, 3 p.m. ·
Subject: Detroit - The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of a City · Speaker: Krysta Hand (ESL Instructor)

Detroit: the rise, fall and rebirth of a city - Review
Written by_Sohaeng Seo (GIC Intern)
Editted by_Hughie Samson (GIC Volunteer)
Before this talk, I did not know much about Detroit. This lecture gave me the information about the city how citizens’ voluntary efforts can help change a place. It is said that Detroit had been through a rise and a fall in its history, but the speaker also shared with us the fact that the city has been getting better thanks to people who want to be better and voluntarily are making their efforts to rebuild it Since Henry Ford established his automobile company in 1903, the city had been very prosperous. Other automobile companies also contribute to this prosperity. Many people moved to the city to get jobs in the auto industry. The number of people increased until World War 2. After the war, highways were constructed and people began to leave the city and live in suburbs. This eventually led to racial segregation. The “great migration” had led to many African Americans moving to the city from the south to get jobs, but they were not able to live in the suburbs as other European Americans did after the highways were made. Afterwards, a vicious cycle was established, which led to an increase in the rate of crime inside the city, which European Americans had left behind. It is true that Detroit has experienced much decay, but now some positive changes are happening and people, particularly the youth are wanting something new. The speaker showed us several examples. I was astonished to learn about things like urban gardening and the Heidelberg Project. Urban gardening is an initiative that lets people grown their food with their own hands, because there are few grocery store; Heidelberg Project was initiated to fill neighborhoods with art to draw attention to them to prevent crime. Now, this small movement has spread out and many talented young artists join the reconstruction. During the talk, I was really touched by a quote: We hope for better things; it shall rise from the ashes. The changes that have been made in Detroit show that if many people want something to get better, things can get better and change can occur.