The Frederick Douglas Academy for Young Men(Frederick Douglas Academy for Young Men 2024)  is operated by Detroit Public Schools, and located at 9026 Woodward Avenue Detroit, MI 48202. It is the only boys only school in the state, and provides free college preparatory education to all students. I was drawn to this site because of my role as an elementary school teacher, and how dreary the grounds appeared echoing the esthetic of much of Detroit. Following the 1967 race riots in downtown Detroit the National Advisory Commision on Civil Disorders was established to investigate what happened, why it happened, and how it could be prevented from occuring again.  

"The Kerner Commission stressed the denial of equal treatment as the fundamental cause of urban violence. African Americans were tar geted for abuse by the police, denied opportu nities for education, and unable to compete fairly in the labor market because of discrimi nation. Underlying these racial inequities was the denial of opportunities in the housing mar ket. Racial residential segregation, imposed largely by discriminatory practices and abetted consistently by federal and local government policies, allowed police to target African Amer icans, kept blacks out of areas where the new jobs were emerging and ensured that black children went to inferior and less well- financed schools. The Kerner commissioners viewed residential segregation as a linchpin maintaining the racial dominance of whites."(Farley, Detroit Fifty Years After the Kerner Report: What Has Changed, What Has Not, and Why? 2018) 

This article informed my understanding of my Flâneury, and the history of Detroit through the author Farley's exploration of recurring themes such as the compare, and contrast of access to high quality education, and employment rates of Black, and white people in Detroit. As a Ontario Certified Teacher I can understand that many school buildings shift to the local demographic over time, and the needs of the community. Because of environmental racism Detroit's has transformed into a space where the majority of the Black population that are impoverished are residing in the downtown area, and the white population is nestled in the surrounding suburbs. Employment rates have steadily declined since the 1967 race riots in Detroit. Over time the motor city would see many automobile manufacturing factories closed their doors due to bankruptcy leading to massive job losses to a sector that was over represented by members of Detroit's Black community. Educational initiatives, and funding are now primarily supported by local businesses, and not-for-profit companies as opposed to a strong local government. 

The initial reason I had for visiting the state of Michigan with my family was to see a newly opened immersive exhibit that my daughter Kathryn has modelled for. The artist Esmaa Mohamoud hired her as a model for a statue she was going to create to reflect her childhood as a young Black girl growing up in Kitchener, Ontario, and the racism that she endured within the public school system. The exhibit features a life sized figure made of shea butter, and charred bone, and stands behind an 18ft white fence symbolizing looking up, and in the distance on the other side 6000 steel butterflies are suspended from the ceiling. I pulled into the Michigan University grounds when my daughter started shouting that she saw this enlargement of the figure advertised outside of the Eli, and Edyth Broad Art Museum(MSU Broad Art Museum). 

We first met Esmaa Mohamoud in Toronto back in April where she had a stylist recreate the twists, and bobbles hairstyle she wore as a little girl on Kathryn. The following day we met in Etobicoke at a 3-D printing studio, and Kathryn would enter into a pod that had 350 camera's capturing her body from all angles. These images were then used to create molds, and test figures until the final piece was perfected. I have left with a profound appreciation for the role my child has played in this commissioned work, and that while she isn't able to yet fully understand the story that is being told in the same way I have Esmaa Mohamoud has instilled dreaming into my little girl, and reaffirmed the power of her identity in a way that I believe will contribute to disrupting intergenerational trauma, and foster hope, and spirit healing. For my son to see his sister transformed into this figure before him I hope that he left feeling proud of her role in this exhibit, and knowing how important it was for us to show up as a family, and make this long trip to see the exhibit for the first time. Walking through the gallery that day I'll never forget observing a steady stream of folks who came to see the exhibit, and would remark about how impressive, and detailed the figure of the little girl was. Standing within an ear shot away I smiled to myself as I watched them glance up at the fence in the same way, and stare at the butterflies floating in the distance. 

The artist website, and more information on the gallery can be found here.(I'd soar to the Sun and look down at the sea, then maybe I'll know what it feels to be free 2024) 

Throughout the various strolls, and drives I noticed the lack of tall condos, sky scrapers, and apartment buildings I often find in Toronto. You don't realize how much of our naturistic landscape is missing until you go somewhere else that isn't as densely populated, and see how other communities have used urban planning in ways that do, or do not consider changes to future demographics. Dlamini continued this theme of storytelling where they challenged the reader to think about the past histories of urban development in What is Really New in the "New" Urban Environment(Dlamini, What Is Really New in the “New” Urban Environment? 2011) with the reflection of "yet in our closer examination of our  insider/outsider status, we come to  understand  that  all  geographical  spaces, no matter  how intimately we come to experience and understand them, are always fraught with both nostalgic ambiguity for the old space we once called home and apprehensive excitement as we move forward and away into a new community." 

I considered the post war era, and wondered how life was for Black people who were targeted, and segregated in the way that they were able to gain employment, access education for their children, and purchase homes. The intersectionality of their race meant that they experienced racism in areas that contributed to their determinants of health. This image shows a new townhome development on the right, and cleared land to the left presumably for more developments in the future. Historically Black people in Detroit are found residing in marginalized communities where they're unable to secure meaningful employment. Men traditionally were seen as labourers in the automotive factories, and have seen stark decreases in their employment rates while women have done slightly better obtaining jobs within the education system, and medical fields. Thinking of the Kerner Report(Farley, Detroit Fifty Years After the Kerner Report: What Has Changed, What Has Not, and Why? 2018) these stats have served as a guide to identify the negative outcomes that occured after the race riots in the 1960's. Specifically police officers were stationed in schools, and with low employment rates for Black men the United States has overly high representation of Black men, and youth in their prison systems. In writing this I am thinking about the act of policing in Toronto that was documented in Policing Black Lives(Maynard & Johnson, 2019) which I read in one of our earlier classes. In her text she stated "State violence is rarely prosecuted as criminal, and usually not perceived as violence", and in considering the role that government, and legislation has played not only in my city but in Detroit we can see a greater system that has devalued, and dehumanized Black people in ways that continue to perpetuate trauma, and disadvantages so many years later. In an act of resistance we saw the community that formed in the race riots to call out these injustices, and challenged anti-Blackness. 

Throughout the weeks leading up to, and after my visit I was also reading The New Jim Crow(Alexander & West, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness 2020). This text provided an American perspective, and left me feeling unsettled about the fact that one in four Black men in America will be incarcerated within their lifetime. Alexander explored the role of different administrations from Obama, to Trump, and then Biden, and how they have reestablished modern day slavery with the use of open air prison systems, electronic monitoring, and use social media to spread inaccurate, false, and racist messages to the masses. Yet again I found myself situated within another story that offered comparisons of the past, and present, and identified the ways in which anti-Blackness continues to be rampant in our present time. The role of mass incarceration meant that Black men were no longer getting married, unemployed, and Black women were left to step up as head of the household to manage the visible, and invisible duties. Familial systems for Black people, and their children continue to reflect the incarceration rates, and allows a system of control even outside the walls of the traditional prison system.

This urban residential street was just one of many I saw that boasted a variety of detached single family homes. Developed in the 1950's these homes were sold post war through a government loan system that prioritized white veterans, "and only served to exacerbate the real estate practices of blockbusting and earlier redlining, which segregated Detroiters along racial lines and accelerated the movement of people out of the city. This legacy is still very much a part of the Detroit housing landscape(Grunow, A Brief History of Housing in Detroit 2015) ." Many of the homes I saw were lived in with siding falling off, missing shingles, and boarded up windows. I felt guilty snapping photos of the homes as a form of documentation for my Flâneury and so in the overall curation of this assignment I wanted to make clear that these spaces are still a home for someone, and their family. I do not know the stories that precluded my visit but I was able to come home, and through research better understand the elements that have contributed to their existence. Because of the racial divide in home ownership, and employment the inner city of Detroit was over represented by Black people, and yet when I went north to a Trader Joes in the Berkley neighbourhood my husband, and I quietly commented to ourselves the demographic shift we observed from the moment we parked our vehicle. The shoppers were primarily of white, and Asian decent, and it was as busy in there as our local Costco. The shops I visited closer to the city weren't as populated, or well maintained. 

As a tourist I often look for places to visit, and souvenirs to bring back with me. Since I was only on a short trip I was able to use my time to visit the local grocery stores, and Walmart allowing me to blend in with the local community(as long as I wasn't speaking to anyone exposing my Canadian accent), and experience life as a Michigander. The Environmental Justice Framework as described in Environmental Racialization(Teelucksingh, Environmental Racialization: Linking Racialization to the Environment in Canada 2007) can be applied to the urban communities that exist in Michigan. The complexity of race, and racialization isn't limited to any particular group but for this discussion I am thinking of Detroit's Black community, and their existence within a space that has been historically controlled by white colonialist. Environmental racism exists within Michigan as a state that has historically targeted, and segregated the Black community because of their skin colour which has led to the establishment of environmental racism as a broader issue impacting these communities today. 

I will conclude the summary of my walk with the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History(The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History 2024). This was the first ever African History Museum to exist in the world, and orginiated in the basement of Dr. Charles H. Wright. He wanted all Black people to know their roots, and where they came from. Once inside there were four exhibits featuring the works of local Black artists, and the permanent exhibit- We Rise which was an immersive exhibit taking the viewer from the space of the earliest Black people in Africa to the present day. Visitors were prohibited from photographing anything within the gallery which allowed you to set aside your phone, and focus on understanding the experience of those who were enslaved. I was able to make it about a third of the way through before I felt warm tears streaming down my face. I found meaning in my visit, and learned a lot about the histories that have shaped my own identity. I left feeling that I had just walked through one of the most intentional, and well thought out museums I have ever been to. This is a space that everyone should have an opportunity to visit at some point in their lifetime to understand the role of colonialism, and enslavement of Black people. 

In the video Black, and Indigenous Alliances(Bennet, I., & Dion, S., Black and Indigenous Alliances 2020) established the need for being intentional in our reflective practices by acknowledging our biases, and continuing to have critical conversations of race, and identity to better understand the intersectionality, history, and structural transformations needed to foster a better future for Black people in Canada. Unfortunately because of colonialism these teachings can also be applied to what exists, and shaped Michigan, and the United States today. The recent re-election of Donald Trump has triggered Canada to tighten up their border in preparation of an influx of Americans as people consider fleeing to nearby regions in response to his racism, and hatred. Detroit is nestled just mere kilometers across from Canada with the Detroit River running underneath the Sarnia border crossing. Their land is flat, and vast with the potential to be as bustling of a city again as Toronto is today. The artworks within the museum helped the viewer to reflect, and share their thoughts on the ways racism is seen, and unseen within our communities. A gallery wall was positioned in a few of the rooms with hooks, and small note cards for people to leave their reflections for others to read. On a nearby stand stood a mirror for you to look into. The left side of the wall was labelled SEEN, and the right side labelled UNSEEN. 

The ones that stood out the most to me read:

"A girl who works hard for herself, tries to be a better person everyday, and misses her mama dearly! I love you mama!"

"The answer to someone's prayers- but to others? A token. A comfort that they are not racist. :("

"I see someone who loves herself, and currently learning how to love the younger version whom needed it the most. I see a beautiful black woman who NO LONGER will Allow my trauma to define or control me".

"A mask covering my exhaustion, and sadness of current society, and worry for my Black children."

All of the authors here are unknown. As I read through some of the hundreds of cards on display inside of the museum I realized that others also felt the same world shifting experience I had when I entered the We Rise exhibit. My own children hurriedly grabbed a card, stared in the mirror, and began writing away about the important qualities they possessed. 

One child wrote:

"I can fly

I was on a swing,

I jumped and I was

flying it was so fun!"

and the other:

"I am cool. I am a little black boy".

Seeing the way they were able to consolidate their experiences with this simple task let me know that they were in a space where they were seen, heard, and valued. Exploring every sculpture, painting, and photograph all captured by a wealth of Black artists in a building with an all Black staff, on a land that that was once the site of immense racial divide, and oppression. We left that day feeling pain, gratitude, and reflective of the life we have today, and a deeper understanding for the history of the people within our community.