Revisiting the Motor City

At the dawn of the 20th century, Detroit took over the automotive industry under the power of Henry Ford with the assembly line. Detroit was transformed into one of the nation's most prosperous cities. People from all over the globe came to Detroit to take a piece of this wealth and become on step closer to achieving the American Dream. The city grew with many achieving the dream; rows and rows of middle-class housing covered the city. Unfortunately, due to a multitude of reasons Detroit did not keep up this momentum. From systemic racism to economic factors, the same jobs that had brought life to the city began to leave. Jermaine, a Detroit-born African American male, grew up in this hostile environment where he began to be engulfed by the sharks of Detroit contributing to adversity and continuous trials and tribulations. Jermaine worked in the fast-disappearing auto industry but along with many saw his job leave. Jermaine was then forced into working construction. Fast forward to 2023, Jermaine begins to see the comeback of his city and wants to contribute to the revamping effort of New Detroit. Although the Downtown area is actively being revitalized, there is still much neglect towards the abandoned, dilapidated houses and forgotten communities. To fix up his own house, Jermaine is assisted by his granddaughter Willow as she has come back to Detroit at the call of her grandfather from Ann Arbor after needing a topic for her research thesis as a grad student in social work. What better place than the place she calls home which has been shrouded in misconceptions since its decline? Follow Jermaine and Willow as they tackle the issues of modern-day Detroit while trying their best to contribute to Renew Detroit.