Statues of Downtown Detroit

If you're ever in the mood to do something interesting, go to the nearest large city, park your car, and spend time walking around and investigating the statues that are placed around your town.

Statues serve a variety of purposes for us, but more often than not, I notice statues in the center of our public places that serve as monuments or reminders of things past, people lost, or important figures in society.

Most importantly, if you think of public places that you visit, the sculptures and statues are often the things you take pictures of. The importance of the natural landscape with our manmade structures makes a park more than just green grass. The statues often serve as our memento from the area. I can remember even visiting Italy that the first thing I did in most piazzas was to take a photo of the statue, obelisk, or fountain that served as the rallying point in the plaza. It was the grounding point and the thing that provided a sense of place for us as humans.

It is easy to get lost in our urban landscapes, but statues and public spaces are a major piece of the urban picture to provide balance and an anchor. Today, I ventured around Detroit to find a variety of statues. Some were easy to see, others were fairly difficult. I've done my best to capture why the statue exists.

The first statue is 'The Spirit of Detroit.' Most people are familiar with this statue as it is situated in front of the municipal center on Woodward and Jefferson at the heart of the city. It also serves as the unofficial symbol for the city and is often decorated with a jersey if one of the Detroit teams wins a title. Sadly, its been naked for a few years now.

Next is naturally the Joe Louis Fist on Jefferson Boulevard at Hart Plaza. This is right up there with 'The Spirit' in terms of recognition and symbolism. However, this fist also has caused great controversy in the city since it was erected in 1987. Many people feel that it doesn't convey the true spirit of what Joe Louis meant to Detroit. From an outsiders perspective, the fist seems to represent Detroit's resiliency. In that sense, I'm okay with it. 

This is Joe Louis as the boxer and this statue can be found inside Cobo Hall at the main entrance. I couldn't find much information about this statue, other than it was dedicated in late 1987, according to the plaque on the statue. I do know that many people dissatisfied with the fist prefer this statue just down the road. 

This is the Detroit side of the International Underground Railroad Memorial. This sits right on the Riverwalk at Hart Plaza and faces Windsor. The memorial is actually a two part memorial with the other part residing in Canada. As it turns out, Detroit was one of the top gateways for leaving the country because of its proximity to Canada. This memorial was dedicated in 2001. 

This is the Michigan Soldiers and Sailors Monument that sits in Campus Martius Park. This statue is pretty old. It was actually commissioned to honor the Michigan soldiers who died in the Civil War and was dedicated in 1872. On the front side which you can view in the picture there is actually a time capsule that was buried in 2004, when Campus Martius Park was dedicated. The capsule is to be opened in 2014. The other piece I found interesting about this monument is that it has been moved from its original location when the park was designed. Old photos of Detroit show the monument in the middle of a chaotic traffic pattern, which is both cool and slightly terrifying. 

This was the first little monument that is not entirely familiar and one that I've walked past numerous times without noticing. It is the John Judson Bagley Memorial Fountain which was built in 1887. It resides now on Cadillac Square just east of Campus Martius. Apparently, it used to be on Campus Martius. It also served as Detroit's first public drinking fountain. No water was running today, and I assume it has been disconnected from the water supply. 

This is the Russell Alger Memorial Fountain in Grand Circus Park. If you see behind it, it is very near Comerica Park and thus home to many panhandlers these days. The statue itself is not Russell Alger, but a roman figure that is supposed to symbolize the State of Michigan. I don't see it. At any rate, Russell Alger was a longtime Detroiter and Michigan resident who actually served as Governor of the state, Secretary of War for President McKinley and US Senator for a time before he died in office. There is an Alger County in Michigan way up in the U.P. For any birthers out there, Russell Alger is not a native Michigander as he was born in Ohio, but thanks to his contributions, I guess he can keep the statue. 

On the left side, William Maybury, former mayor of Detroit. On the right side, Hazen Pingree, former mayor of Detroit and Michigan governor. These two adorn each side of Woodward in Grand Circus Park and are passed by thousands of tigers fans on a regular basis without much notice. What's so fun about these two is that they were political rivals back in the day and really despised each other. Now they sit and stare at each other every single day, laughing as pigeons drop stool on the others' face. They both seem like pretty tough politicians, but perhaps my favorite fact I found was that Hazen Pingree threw a new year's party in the Michigan House on December 31, 1899 which was attended by future president Teddy Roosevelt. Later, Pingree died while on safari with Roosevelt in Africa. I can only assume this guy was so awesome that he was mauled by a lion while fighting off a cheetah, but sadly it was peritonitis,  an inflammation of the inner wall of his abdomen. 

No city is complete without a statue of Abraham Lincoln. Sixteenth President, guy that kept the country together during the Civil War, on a five dollar bill and pennies, yeah, that guy. Turns out this statue which is now downtown in front of the Detroit library behind the old Hudson's Building was originally at the Lincoln plant in west Detroit starting in 1919. After the plant closed, the city obtained the statue and moved it downtown.

Up above on the left is a small scale replica of the state capitol building that was in Detroit when Michigan became a state back in the 1820s. On the right is our first governor, Stephens T. Mason. Turns out that this guy was 19 when he was appointed territorial governor of Michigan. Besides being the first governor, he helped guide Michigan through the Toledo War, the war that we had with Ohio over the rights to Toledo. Ohio 'won' in getting Toledo, but in exchange we received the entire Upper Peninsula. With the conflict behind us, we were approved for statehood and Stephens T. Mason became governor of the state. His statue resides in Capitol Park, along with the building replica in Detroit. 

This is Alexander Macomb, General during the War of 1812. He was from a wealthy family here in Detroit that owned most of Macomb County, Grosse Ile, and Belle Isle. And they were friends with John Jacob Astor. This statue was actually designed by the same guy that did Mayor Maybury's statue up at Grand Circus Park. General Macomb stands at Washington Boulevard and Michigan Avenue, right outside the Cadillac Book Westin Hotel. 

This is General Casimir Pulaski. Never heard of him? Me either. He stands across Michigan Avenue from General Macomb, but from what I could tell they aren't associated with one another. According to the plaque on the statue this General died in Savannah, Georgia in 1779 during the American Revolution. This statue was dedicated in September 1960 on behalf of Americans with Polish descent. I imagine Detroit's large Polish population probably had something to do with this. 

I know Detroit's Polish population had something to do with this statue of General Thaddeus Kosiuszko. The General is another Polish hero of the Revolutionary War and apparently fought with General Washington. His statue was a gift from Krakow, Poland and commissioned during the American Bicentennial. The statue was dedicated in August of 1978 and sits in its original location at Michigan Avenue and Third Street just outside the MGM Grand Casino. Sadly, what I think was the most impressive statue is hidden on the edge of downtown in a difficult location to walk to. 

Did somebody say George Washington? Yes, we have one of those too. This is definitely a statue that most people probably miss as he sits in front of the Mariner's Church on Jefferson right at the entrance to the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. Interesting to note that this statue of Washington has him with his masonic symbols across his waist. 

The final statue I found was actually a bust dedicated by the Italians of Detroit of Christopher Columbus. I intentionally allowed the tree branch to be in front of his face so as to hide the shame of getting lost at sea, wiping out an indigenous people, and then getting a holiday for it. Sorry Italians of Detroit, it is a very nice bust. If you'd like to see it, it is on Randolph Street at Jefferson facing the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. 

There are other statues hidden throughout downtown Detroit and many more scattered throughout the city. And its possible one day soon that a Robocop statue with be erected to guard the city from unwanted criminals. 

Restorante El Barzon

Wow, did I eat a great dinner tonight.

Have you ever been to Restorante El Barzon? I hadn't either until tonight, and wow am I impressed. The restaurant, located at 3710 Junction Street in Southwest Detroit, is a mexican/italian kitchen and tastes great!

If you know about Junction Street, the area surrounding El Barzon is a bit seedy. The restaurant is just off the corner of Michigan Avenue and Junction Street, packed in with several severely dilapidated buildings. However, this allows for ample street parking and there is a small private lot for the restaurant. When I arrived, the restaurant was packed and I was forced to park well down Michigan Avenue to enter.

The front entrance is a bit small, and I imagine it gets a bit crowded, but once you get inside, the atmosphere is one of a lovely little place. There are several white, soft lights that surround the rooms, a nice bar, and several tables with cloth napkins waiting for the guests.

I ate with a friend of mine who works in Detroit and the one who recommended the place. Any great meal is made better with great conversation and we were never short of topics. Nick had just gone on a trip to Hungary, Greece, and Italy, and had so many great things to talk about. We talked about all kinds of topics and struggled over what we wanted to order.

When there are two sides to the menu, Mexican or Italian, the choices are hard. We each spent 15-20 minutes dissecting the menu and deciding what we wanted. Our choices were made easier after we decided on drinks. Nick had a beer and I had a glass of chardonnay, mainly because I've haven't had a glass of wine with dinner in quite some time.

I ended up choosing a mushroom and meat ravioli with creme sauce and Nick chose steak enchiladas with rice and refried beans. Both of these meals seem pretty standard, and the side of chips and salsa seems like there is no great reason to visit this restaurant. Let's start with the salsa.

The salsa was both red and green. I liked the red best because it was a little bit thicker consistency, but not a pico de gallo consistency or a chunky consistency, but almost a ketchup like thickness with a great kick. The green was also good, but thinner and less kick. As for my meal, I loved it from the first bite. I almost didn't want to eat it because it was so delicious. The creme sauce was what did it for me, as the sauce was thick and creamy and was almost like a melted cheese. The filling of the ravioli was tasty and perfect with the sauce.

As for Nick, I didn't get to taste his dish, but the slices of steak and the sauce that was on his enchiladas looked outstanding. There were no complaints and we were incredibly satisfied. I must say that I was a bit underdressed, though I don't think it was bad to wear jeans and a collared shirt. It may have been the large numbers of parties there, but most people were a bit fancier than my jeans. The price was also a bit more than your typical restaurant. My ravioli cost $19, with lunch prices less than that. However, I think the price was totally worth it as the food tasted wonderful, the quality was outstanding, and the atmosphere was wonderful. You forget that you're in Detroit when you venture into El Barzon. I would highly recommend it and can't wait to go back!

Valuing the Wrong Things

Things I learned today:
1). Never eat Little Ceaser's and attempt to go for a run.
2). Never eat Little Ceaser's. Ever.
3). When the stars align, it is possible to hear the same song on four different radio stations.
4). The rate of dislike of a song increases exponentially for each additional radio station the song is heard on.
5). While I have faith in people to do the right thing, right now I believe that we as a community are valuing the wrong things.

More on that last one here:

A while back I wrote about Robert Kennedy. I honestly don't remember what I wrote about, so I don't recommend going back to find it, but trust me, I read a memoir about him and wrote about it.

At any rate, RFK came back into my mind as I started to think about the things we value in America. Let me take you to the start of this thought process. This weekend I ventured over to Family Video to rent a few films. I've been doing pretty well with my goals and wanted to spend some time just hanging out. I rented 'Midnight in Paris,' which I think is a wonderful flick that helps to feed the imagination. Plus, I really like Woody Allen movies and the characters that show up in his films.

At Family Video, there is an anniversary sale going on. I've been there twice now and still don't entirely understand the sale and what movies are at a discount, but I knew that I could get two new releases for a good price. So, perusing the aisles I found one copy of a movie called 'American Teacher.' Its a documentary by Vanessa Roth, narrated by Matt Damon, and starring several teachers from a variety of schools across America. Exhibit A of how we are valuing the wrong things: there are multiple copies of all three Transformers movies and 'American Teacher' had one single copy that was not checked out late on a Saturday night.

The main premise for the film is to shed some light on what the life of a teacher is really all about, showing how teachers use much of their own salaries to get supplies, many sacrifice their own family time to help these kids, and how many are taking part in a variety of other jobs to make ends meet. It seemed to take particular aim at mud slung from pundits calling for education reform and refute the suggestion that teachers are lazy and only looking to have summers off.

For me, the movie was satisfactory, though I must admit, I lost a bit of interest as the film dragged on. This was due mostly because I felt the point was made well before the final say of the movie, which is to say, teachers have it rough, and if we all thought about valuing teaching and education more, many of the problems we face could be righted. At the very least, the profession itself would be viewed with more respect, a point I found personally impactful as this very day a student came to my office looking to change from education to something where she could get a job and make some money. (While we left without a conclusion, I think I convinced her to stay in education.)

For critics, I think the movie was a bit lack-luster. The reviews I read seemed to allude to a desire for this movie to be the kryptonite to 'Waiting for Superman,' a task that this movie did not accomplish. However, I don't believe that was the goal of the movie. While 'Waiting for Superman' seemed to think it had all the answers through demonizing the wrong things and showing flashy statistics, 'American Teacher' was simply a look at the life of a teacher in the city, rural America, urban center, and the impact that a teacher who left the profession had on a community. It showed some statistics, but it was more a story about the teachers and the well-being of our educators and the young minds they educate.

There has long been a push to reform education. Supposedly, it is one of the important issues for 'we the people' that we want corrected. But, it seems that we don't really want to have to do anything or change our ways in anything to make reform happen. Which, if you think about reform, this is very paradoxical. As long as it doesn't cost us any extra, as long as it doesn't require more effort from me, and as long as the comforts and qualities that I am used to are still there tomorrow, I'm all for it. At least, that's how I view the standard view on education.

I don't claim to have a silver bullet to any problems, and I can't say that anyone has argued they do have the silver bullet (though 'Waiting For Superman' and Fox News seem to think they know what's best.) But, from where I sit, it looks to me like there is a crisis in what we truly value. As a solution to really addressing any issues, we have turned to numbers: test scores, college acceptance rates, graduation rates, and overall a small portion of education that seems to be all that is measurable. And it appears that at least in some cases, we know how to manipulate these numbers. Schools have been smart in adjusting to the mandates that have been thrown on them, by inflating test scores, teaching to the test, and overall succumbing to the demands of people who don't know much about education, but do know that if we make the numbers higher on certain data points, it looks better overall.

But, I question if that is really what we want to be focused on. Data is helpful to a certain extent. I work in an environment where everything is data driven and major decisions are based on data that has been received. But, to base our entire education system on data that conforms everything to be the same for every school and every kid seems a bit contradictory. Don't we want to help all our future generations have a chance at doing something different? Don't we want our kids to have basic skills to take what we know and turn it on its head? I often fear that because I grew up in a time when education was so test driven and critical thinking void that I may end up being a mindless drone for the rest of my life.

'American Teacher' didn't offer concrete solutions. What it did suggest is a refocus of what we truly value. We all agree that teachers are a huge part of the success of a school and the success of a student. But, teaching is a laughable profession. And it goes well beyond trying to pay teachers doctors' salaries. Most teachers aren't in it for the money, which is a very good thing. What the increased pay would do, or at least increased pay as the career developed, is help make the profession reputable and allow teachers to sustain a living. It only makes sense that the people in charge of educating the next generation should be valued above all else. Yet here were are paying doctors, lawyers, and business people the highest pay of all. And naturally, what do kids (and kids' parents) want to do with their lives? They follow the money. And for what? Protecting our mortality? Protecting our assets? Its no wonder that we are all suffering from information overload, our best and brightest are continually finding ways to infiltrate our markets with ads because, well, we're paying them to do it!

The point 'American Teacher' was making, and a point that I must agree with, is that we seem to have it all backwards and upside-down. The things we value, at least in my opinion, are very self-motivated. While we all agree we want better schools and less poverty and less homelessness in the world, we put our money, which is speech according to the Supreme Court, in all the wrong places. We all feel quite trapped in needing to spend our money on gadgets and cars and houses, but it seems to me that we still do have the power to say what we want. We don't have millions of dollars, but if we all started to buy local foods, the demand goes up, the price goes down, and the food industry starts to produce better food for us. With better food the number of diseases and obesity cases falls and we have less need for doctors. With less need for doctors we can start to encourage students to go into education and use their smarts to encourage other kids to pursue their dreams.

RFK spoke in 1968 about how the GDP measures all the wrong things. The GDP doesn't calculate the well-being of people. Perhaps we have allowed these types of measures to drive us for so long that we forgot that we still do hold the power. We've relinquished so much that it won't be easy to get it back, but if we hold what is valuable in a position of true value; if we demand that the things we truly think are important get the attention they deserve, then maybe we can start to make great changes for the future. Listen to RFK's speech here and think about how his words are still true today.

A Week of Achievement

Wow. What a week. This week was a whirling, massive mess. I've been at my goals for about 10 days now and I have to say, its a bit harder than anticipated.

To begin with, I didn't accomplish all my goals. I gave myself extra time this first week so I could build the goals into my schedule (and start a Sunday to Sunday schedule), but yet I still failed. And it felt like failure for a brief moment.

But, I took a quick personal check and found that while I did indeed fail in the goals I laid out for myself, failure is not always a bad thing. And there are many things that can be accomplished while failing. I will add that I have several excuses for why I failed, but excuses are simply excuses and not something that I want to use as a reason for not accomplishing everything.

So what did I accomplish? Well, I managed to write a page for 7 out of the 10 days. The last three days or so I didn't write anything in my book. However, my seventh day was a backtrack from the first six. I put together an outline for my book, something that should have been done first, but needed a few days of just gushing words to get to where I needed to be. That has been marinating.

I talked to someone interesting. I spoke to a husband and wife in my office about their time spent in San Francisco. It was great to speak with them about a place I had recently visited. I counted this because I knew talking to new people would be difficult. And I spoke to them on the first day of my goals. But, I'm proud to say that today, after dragging my feet for a bit, I talked to three very interesting people at Detroit Beer Company this afternoon. My longest conversation, with Caitlin, was about her personal drive toward becoming a psychologist. She has had several back surgeries and run-ins with narcotic addictions and thus wants to dedicate her life toward helping get others off narcotic addictions. It was a compassionate tale and one that had real purpose and meaning behind it. She was excited to share it.

I've blogged fairly consistently this week. And in addition to it all, I've been ill and still coordinated one of our largest events on campus, the Spring Open House, to a rousing success. I'm pleased, to say the least.

What I failed at, was practicing guitar for five hours during the week and making a movie, that is until today. I'm not super thrilled with the movie and realize that trying to make a movie every week is going to be incredibly challenging, but nevertheless, I am happy to report that the movie I post here is the movie I accomplished for the week. No academy awards are coming my way, but I had a fun time thinking about shots for the film.

The other long-term goals are also on the back-burner. What I can say is that I knew my goals were ambitious. And what I take from all of this is that it isn't really important if I complete the goals or not. Really, what I am working towards is creating a habit of talking to new people, doing something creative, and really thinking about the time I have in a day. There is far more than each one of us thinks there is. And if we have objectives we want to complete, the TV, internet, and other distractions become less and less of a priority and more and more of a mindless pleasure.

I can be proud of the process I've had for the first week and will continue to try to reach my goals. However, for the first time in my life, I am not disappointed in myself for not completing something. I feel that if I would have tried to accomplish everything I had on my list, I only would have made each thing a chore instead of something pleasurable, which is what this whole experiment is really about anyway.

Enjoy my short film:

San Francisco

While this winter hasn't been particularly harsh here in Michigan, any chance I have to escape for a while I relish the opportunity. This past weekend (and then some) I got to visit a place that's been on my bucket list for quite some time: San Francisco.

I am lucky enough to have a friend who now lives in Berkeley, which if you're unfamiliar, as I was, Berkeley is across the bay from San Francisco, practically a suburb. If San Francisco were Detroit then Berkeley would be, well, Berkley.

I had a quick trip, flying in late on Saturday night and leaving early on Wednesday morning, but the few days were enough to make me yearn for the bay area even more.

I've always envisioned myself as a person who would enjoy the west coast, particularly San Francisco northward. Los Angeles is still not attractive to me, but I'm sure one day I'll visit. After visiting the bay area, I can't imagine life without it, and my desire to move west has increased tenfold.

It was one thing to wake up every morning to a crisp temperature that you knew would warm during the day, unlike February mornings in Michigan where that temperature at seven a.m. may well be the high temperature for the day. It was another thing to venture into my friend's parking lot and peer down the foggy mountainside for the mysteries below. It was another thing entirely to turn around and see the bay laid out before me. While trees prevented complete views of the entire bay area, the little sliver of view was more than enough.

I had a fair amount of time to explore the city and major attractions on my own and a bit of time to have a guide in the shape of my resident friend. While there were so many things to see and enjoy, the three most prominent things I noticed were the multiculturalism, the sense of community, and the integration of all these different cultures. Naturally, I am forced to compare my experience with my experience of living in Detroit.

I generally feel that Detroit has a large sense of multiculturalism just as San Francisco does. What I found to be quite different was that San Francisco generally celebrated these differences in areas such as Chinatown, North Beach (the Italian neighborhood), French roadsigns, and of course the 'hippie' area in Haight-Ashbury. Each neighborhood was distinct and yet integrated into the landscape. It was never something that you felt like you were in a new city or encroaching into another culture, but that each of these cultures was what made the city thrive.

In my experiences in Detroit, this is a very different idea. While you can certainly experience different cultures, its like the neighborhoods were established to maintain identity and keep a stark border, not to celebrate our differences. This is the main part of that third thing I noticed; a stronger integration of cultures in San Francisco. This integration, both in race and culture, seems to be missing from the multiculturalism in Detroit.

It was my last day in San Francisco when I noticed while riding in the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) that the collection of people in my car was very widespread. Being the entry port of Asia there were naturally many Asian people, but also African-Americans, all of us whities, and a wide variety of languages being spoken. And what was more interesting to me was the large number of multi-racial couples that didn't garner weird looks. And being San Francisco there were many same sex couples as well. People weren't eyeing each other through sideways glances and people weren't clumped with people who looked like them, everyone was just riding to work or school or wherever they were going.

This to me is the starkest different between San Francisco and my experiences in the Midwest. Its not that Detroit doesn't have different people and its not that the Midwest doesn't have culture, but the wide acceptance of different peoples doesn't seem to be as present. We have our neighborhoods and we have our sections of the city where people live, but there doesn't seem to be much co-mingling. Keep in mind  this is based solely on observation and not on any other hard evidence. I'm sure a quick search would tell me if San Francisco deals with many similar problems of segregation, but the perception for this outsider is that they have it right. People are people, no matter how they look.

The final observation and the one that makes me most attracted to the area is the strong sense of community. Its possible that it was so stark for me because I live in Detroit, a place where each suburb tries so hard to be distinct from the next and where borders are incredibly important. Its also possible that it was simply where I was or who I was with, but regardless, I felt a sense of community that doesn't exist where I live. I took a walk one night through my friend's neighborhood and saw many people on the streets and in their yards who would say hello or were simply out enjoying the wonderful evening. Cars flew by with a friendly sense of acknowledgment that I was a pedestrian, unlike in Detroit where if you don't have a car you're more likely to get a honk or some stare downs instead of respect on the roadway. Cyclists integrate seamlessly with traffic and while some are bolder than I could ever be, there is a respect that these people, like you, are just trying to get somewhere.

I have a hard time capturing what this feeling of community really was. Because I feel that the Midwest still has a warmer hospitality than California, but the community and acknowledgment that we're all in it together seemed to be stronger in the bay area. And this was a feeling not just in San Francisco, but also in Berkeley and in the towns near Berkeley and the towns north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge. And it seemed to transcend neighborhoods that were high tourist and neighborhoods that were slightly off the beaten path.

Again, I only observed a very small slice of the bay area, but the fact that I felt this in this small sliver leads me to believe that it is evident throughout the area.

I had a wonderful trip. The sights are gorgeous and the city is moving. I felt like a part of something there and I was there for just three short days. I can only anticipate the next time I shall return.