Our city has suffered. Suffered severe injuries. Each time she has been wounded it never seems that she receives the proper care and attention.
She has multiple cuts and gashes from news reports and inaccurate depictions as a city of no promise. She has internal bleeding from the constant pitting of Detroit against the rest of the state. She has reopening wounds from a declining population, depreciating neighborhoods, a school system on the brink of a complete collapse and stalled negotiations of the Cobo Hall expansion. Her heart rate fluctuates with the spiraling of the automotive economy. Sometimes it seems as if the only thing holding her up are crutches of support from continuous efforts to revitalize downtown and the burgeoning cultural district.
We need her healthy. Not just patched up. Healthy. Spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically and financially.
To become healthy our city must heal. Detroit needs a mother's love. The unconditional mother's love that gives children of all ages the ability to dust themselves off and pick themselves up once they have been knocked down. A mother's love that is comforting and reassuring. A mother's love that is stern and offers discipline when it needs to. But most importantly is the aspect of unconditional love. Unconditional loves allows us to be honest, respectful and work for the greater good.
Do we want to leave the next generation with the same set of problems before us now? Or will this be the time and place marked in the history annals as when Detroit turned the corner? The time when citizens in metropolitan Detroit chose not to throw stones but banded together to help the city rebound in a major way. Most of us do care. If we didn’t care we wouldn’t have had such vigorous debate over the city’s leadership and the direction of the city.
We need Detroit to heal so that she can continue on the road to becoming whole again. We must all wrap her in a comforting embrace and hold her tight. We must have the patience to not just apply some quick band-aids, instead to nurse her back to health so that she is stronger than ever.
