American Corner Yerevan

Detroit: City of Ruins, or Renaissance?

2:00pm 19.10.2011

On October 19, 2011 the American Corner in Yerevan organized "Americans at the American Corner" public lecture entitled "Detroit: City of Ruins, or Renaissance?" presented by guest speaker and U.S. Fulbright Scholar, Steven Usitalo.

Mr. Usitalo began the lecture with a short video clip to illustrate the city of Detroit. He presented its brief history mentioning the glorious past of the city and the ruins that now illustrate the city. He discussed how many families, his own included, moved from Detroit to find welfare in other metropolitan areas, in other states, or even other countries. He elaborated that the city population dropped from its peak of around 2 million to 700 thousand in 2010. Steven also discussed how there were once many factories, schools, churches, and stations that are now deserted as illustrated in Eminem’s video “Beautiful”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgT1AidzRWM. Detroit is most notably home to America's 'Big Three' automobile companies; General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.

Mr. Usitalo also mentioned the issues of crime and disparity between blacks and whites, which make it a very dangerous city. He also spoke about the schools which had once been very accomplished, but currently student arrests and dropping out of school are serious issues. Usitalo mentioned several American authors, business figures, and musicians who started their professional career in Detroit. Mr. Usitalo also named several people who are currently trying to restore Detroit’s past and help it return to its glory days.

The speaker asked the participants questions about Detroit and presented IIP journals to those who could answer them. The attendees learned many new facts about the city, previously only knowing Detroit to be a large industrious city.