Detroit and Canada don’t just share a border; we also share a love of hockey that runs deep. Detroit and Windsor are connected at the hip, so to speak.
The USA beat Canada in men’s hockey last night at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. My allegiances were torn before the game began. Do I root for my country, that I love, or do I support Mike Babcock and Steve Yzerman of the Detroit Red Wings?
As soon as the game began I found my answer and it wasn’t just because Team USA scored in the first 41 seconds of the game. My heart belongs to the United States and my immense love of the Detroit Red Wings wasn’t going to change which country I was rooting for.
North Americans Need to Stick Together
I might be a true-blooded American but that doesn’t detract from the fact that Canada is the best neighbor you can have. They’re the ones who’ll shovel the snow off your drive just because they’re doing their own.
While in Dublin, on my very first trip across the pond, I became friends with a Canadian guy named Jamie. We lost contact shortly after my trip but something he said while we were in Dublin has always stuck with me. “Us fellow North Americans need to stick together,” he said.
I don’t know why but I never thought of myself as a “North American” before that point. I never saw it from a continental point of view.
South (of) Detroit
Detroit is an international city and our shared border with Windsor, Ontario not only connects us but it makes both cities stronger.
And I’m sure the Windsorites share our frustration with the lyrics from ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ by Journey. If you are born and raised in south Detroit you are Canadian and from Windsor!
Last November I took my husband to Windsor for the first time. We both marveled at the fact that we were standing in another country looking at the Detroit skyline. It hovers over Windsor in the most beautiful way.
After returning from Windsor I found out about the Cross-Border Communication project from Broken City Lab. From their website:
Broken City Lab is an artist-led interdisciplinary creative research group that tactically disrupts and engages the city, its communities, and its infrastructures to reimagine the potential for action in the collapsing post-industrial city of Windsor, Ontario.
In November of 2009 they reached out to us Detroiters, lending their support and hoping to open up a dialogue between the two cities. They did this by projecting images in Windsor that could be seen from across the river in Detroit.
Hello!
It's better than being alone.
OK, what's up?
I hope so.
I always have hope.
Yes!
I saw the images and my heart leaped. Yes, I want to be friends! Yes, I want to engage and start a dialogue between our citizens. We are lucky to have each other to lean on in difficult times. Detroit and Windsor need to be best friends forever!
So, what do you think Detroit? Can we come together with our friends across the river to make a positive impact in both communities?
All photos courtesy of Broken City Lab.