This is the third installment of the Detroit Stories series. If you haven’t already done so, check out the background of Detroit Stories and the the first two installments: an interns take on Detroit and Motown to Manhattan.
This is a guest post by Craig Hennigan. I met Craig through his comments on this site, following him on Twitter and connecting in real life.
I’m Craig Hennigan but on here or on twitter you might know me as Toka313. I feel honored and privileged to write to you my story of coming into the city of Detroit. I am presently a PhD student and debate coach at Wayne State University, and before I came into the city proper, I was a city councilperson in Madison Heights.
After the Madison Heights city council meetings, most of the councilmembers and the Mayor go out to dinner at the Master’s. As I sat at the table thinking about my near hopeless re-election prospects, I was deciding about what my future would hold.
“If I don’t win this election, I think I’m going to move to Detroit.”
The councilmembers stared at me, almost aghast, and one chimed in,
“Good God, why?”
And my reply was quick:
“Because none of you are gonna do it, and somebody has to.”
It turns out that it was the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. I’ve been here a year now, and “Becoming a Detroiter” has been an adventure in learning about a very unique culture.
I was rather anxious being the ‘new guy’ in the neighborhood, but the place I moved into was quite possibly the perfect opportunity for someone new to the area to live. I live in a house with 4 others, the owner and his girlfriend being two of them. She works at Inside Detroit, so every weekend—every day even—I had the opportunity to know something more about the city that I never would have known otherwise. I thought I knew Detroit when I lived in Madison Heights. I had only scratched the surface.
Another roommate worked at the Hub of Detroit, so getting a bicycle was a first priority upon moving in. The bicycle culture here in the city is larger than I had imagined. From Critical Mass to Tour De Troit, to the Bikes and Murder Slow Ride to Slow Jams, to the Full Moon bike ride from Fender Bender, there is not a lack of people who are willing to take a ride on a nice day (or a rainy/snowy one!)
When does one “Become a Detroiter?” It’s a question I had asked myself over and over again during the early time I was here. “You aren’t a Detroiter because you haven’t been here long enough.”
So I thought giving myself an arbitrary temporal milestone would give me justification and I changed my twitter and other online ID’s from Toka248 to Toka313 only after I lived in the city for one year. But it wasn’t the in timing that made me a Detroiter.
I had one of the kids I work with tell me, “You aren’t a Detroiter because you don’t live in the ‘hood.” This was funny because she lived in Saline and considered herself a Detroiter.
Others can say “You aren’t a Detroiter because you grew up in the ‘burbs.” I just have a hard time believing that only those who grew up in the city have exclusive rights to the term Detroiter.
I think the real turning point for me is showing genuine concern for the community around you. That is how you “Become a Detroiter.” Whether it was volunteering for urban debate leagues, protesting to save the Catherine Ferguson Academy, farming and shopping locally or participating in local events; it is in those moments that I felt truly invested in the city and became the real Detroiter that I am today.
Detroit isn’t just a place where you live, it is a place that you are. Now that I am a Detroiter, the only focus is to become the best Detroiter that I can be. Yes, I'm a booster. No, I am not blind to problems in Detroit that are similar to problems in many aging cities. But when you start doing your part to keep this city the best in the world to live in, you also will know what it means to “Become a Detroiter.”
What do you think makes someone a Detroiter?
Follow Craig Hennigan on Twitter.