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nordstina's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
Black Detroit is an ambitious book, which I think may have been trying to do a bit too much. Detroit has a deep history of Black excellence and Herb Boyd tracks the earliest settling of the city (clearly there were already indigenous people there) and the first enslaved individuals who came with the settlers through the relatively recent times. There is so much to highlight and I felt like Boyd was trying to capture it all, when I think the book may have been benefited with fewer, but more in depth times in Detroit's history. At times, it became almost a laundry list of events, acronyms, and individuals that was hard to keep track of. Perhaps highlighting one event, or one family to stand in for a movement may have been more effective. While I did learn new things, I felt this ended up sort of brushing the surface of events in order to capture the long time period.
pr727's review
4.0
Interesting person and subject oriented in chronological order. As a Michigan native, I was somewhat familiar with some of the individuals and their stories; others were new to me. Easy to listen to.
Narrator James Shippy has a deep voice that is not difficult to understand once I became accustomed to his voice and excep when he occasionally drops his voice and "swallows" the last word or two of a sentence. He pronounces some words and names differently than this Michigan native is accustomed to, specifically Walter Reuther, Alan Trammel and Joseph Campau. Not sure how that got past the editors and makes me wonder whether Mr. Boyd was involved in the production of the audio book.
Narrator James Shippy has a deep voice that is not difficult to understand once I became accustomed to his voice and excep when he occasionally drops his voice and "swallows" the last word or two of a sentence. He pronounces some words and names differently than this Michigan native is accustomed to, specifically Walter Reuther, Alan Trammel and Joseph Campau. Not sure how that got past the editors and makes me wonder whether Mr. Boyd was involved in the production of the audio book.
jazzypizzaz's review
a straightforward account of notable names and events... and therefore unfortunately dull. I can't pay enough attention to bother finishing, though I am interested in the topic.
ohladysamantha's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
5.0
If you're a Detroiter, born and raised, or a transplant, this is a must-read. I learned so much. Boyd does an incredible job of giving a scope of the history of Detroit through the Black lens. While I will say that it felt like the more recent history could have had more time to breathe and dive deep, this was a very well-written history of Detroit.
robconner88's review against another edition
4.0
Okay, so I am going to come into this review with some baggage. I am a native white Metro-Detroiter (Born in Detroit, raised in Metro) whose parents were Native Detroiters who fled in the 70s after the riots. Growing up, the name Coleman Young was always spoken to me with derision and spite and I didn't really know a lot about the History of Detroit until I was in college. I will try to be as unbias while also recognizing my family's role in the city and our biases as well.
With that out of the way, I have to say I actually enjoyed this book quite a bit. I've read some lukewarm reviews that basically say that Boyd didn't do a good job because he was name dropping 10 people a chapter and not really diving into the city itself. I think that is a bit unfair. When you pick this book up, atleast when I did, you kind of expect it to be a story of Black Detroiters who overcame adversity and rose up to lead in the city. It isn't very much unlike other works of History in that regard. So I think some of the detractors of the book came in with unrealistic expectations.
I will say my only criticism is how it focused on uplifting accomplishments vs. realistic portrayals of people in the city. When it comes to Detroit, there is a lot of Racial animosity and outright racism to confront. I know from growing up that my parents definitely feel a certain way towards the city they grew up in. So I know that I got one version of History growing up that almost certainly was not the objective (or even really factual) version of events. However, having grown up when Kwame Kilpatrick was Mayor, I can say there is a lot of things happening in the city that the book seems to brush over in some ways.
Basically what I am trying to say is, I can't attest to whether the book is brushing over unsavory facts about Coleman Young or not, but I can definitely say that it's portrayal glosses over corruption from Kwame Kilpatrick. I get it. The book is written to be a celebration of African Americans in the city and to list the accomplishments in the city up to the present day. But it literally felt like we were talking about race conflict in the 1960s then Coleman Young in the 1970s, then next thing you know they are talking about the resurgence of Detroit in the 1990s. Didn't something happen there in the 70s and 80s that we missed?
I know that something is White Flight, and I also know that the loss of Maufacturing jobs was also something we dealt with. But what I am trying to say is that it felt like they Cities downturn wasn't given as much time to examine as it's upturn.
As I mentioned above, I felt like this was double the case with Kwame Kilpatrick which the book describes as "Detroit's Hip Hop Mayor". It mentions lavish parties and how Kwame was unapologetic in flashing his money. Then it mentions how Ken Cockrel replaced him and how Dave Bing tried to clean up the cities corruption. But wait! What corruption? I mean, I am being a tad facetious because I already know the corruption, but aren't we going to atleast address his faults as well as his accomplishments? It just felt disingenuous to gloss over the issues the city had with him and other members of the City Council because we wanted to move on to the successes of Dave Bing.
I felt like this was a disservice to the book. Look, I know Detroit gets a real bad rap in the national consciousness. It is the butt of so many jokes and racism from the suburbs and other parts of White America. So Boyd is writing his book, in part, to recast the narrative. More power to him for that. But let's give a full and honest portayal of Detroit. Let's address the Elephant in the room, and let's admit to the faults AND success of the leaders and residents of Black Detroit. It not only paints a clearer and more comprehension picture, but it makes the success brighter in light of the struggles.
In the end, I felt like this book was well written and has well intentions but ultimately leaves a bit of the more recent struggled of Detroit post 1970 on the cutting room floor. I found it very informative as a former worker in Detroit and someone who has a lot of family history in the city. I understand that Detroit, in a lot of ways, is a city that has been struggling the last 50 years but it was nice to read of what was and what could be. I only wish the author had shined a light on those later struggles rather than pretend as if they did not exist. I think the book, and the readers, would have been better informed if he did.
With that out of the way, I have to say I actually enjoyed this book quite a bit. I've read some lukewarm reviews that basically say that Boyd didn't do a good job because he was name dropping 10 people a chapter and not really diving into the city itself. I think that is a bit unfair. When you pick this book up, atleast when I did, you kind of expect it to be a story of Black Detroiters who overcame adversity and rose up to lead in the city. It isn't very much unlike other works of History in that regard. So I think some of the detractors of the book came in with unrealistic expectations.
I will say my only criticism is how it focused on uplifting accomplishments vs. realistic portrayals of people in the city. When it comes to Detroit, there is a lot of Racial animosity and outright racism to confront. I know from growing up that my parents definitely feel a certain way towards the city they grew up in. So I know that I got one version of History growing up that almost certainly was not the objective (or even really factual) version of events. However, having grown up when Kwame Kilpatrick was Mayor, I can say there is a lot of things happening in the city that the book seems to brush over in some ways.
Basically what I am trying to say is, I can't attest to whether the book is brushing over unsavory facts about Coleman Young or not, but I can definitely say that it's portrayal glosses over corruption from Kwame Kilpatrick. I get it. The book is written to be a celebration of African Americans in the city and to list the accomplishments in the city up to the present day. But it literally felt like we were talking about race conflict in the 1960s then Coleman Young in the 1970s, then next thing you know they are talking about the resurgence of Detroit in the 1990s. Didn't something happen there in the 70s and 80s that we missed?
I know that something is White Flight, and I also know that the loss of Maufacturing jobs was also something we dealt with. But what I am trying to say is that it felt like they Cities downturn wasn't given as much time to examine as it's upturn.
As I mentioned above, I felt like this was double the case with Kwame Kilpatrick which the book describes as "Detroit's Hip Hop Mayor". It mentions lavish parties and how Kwame was unapologetic in flashing his money. Then it mentions how Ken Cockrel replaced him and how Dave Bing tried to clean up the cities corruption. But wait! What corruption? I mean, I am being a tad facetious because I already know the corruption, but aren't we going to atleast address his faults as well as his accomplishments? It just felt disingenuous to gloss over the issues the city had with him and other members of the City Council because we wanted to move on to the successes of Dave Bing.
I felt like this was a disservice to the book. Look, I know Detroit gets a real bad rap in the national consciousness. It is the butt of so many jokes and racism from the suburbs and other parts of White America. So Boyd is writing his book, in part, to recast the narrative. More power to him for that. But let's give a full and honest portayal of Detroit. Let's address the Elephant in the room, and let's admit to the faults AND success of the leaders and residents of Black Detroit. It not only paints a clearer and more comprehension picture, but it makes the success brighter in light of the struggles.
In the end, I felt like this book was well written and has well intentions but ultimately leaves a bit of the more recent struggled of Detroit post 1970 on the cutting room floor. I found it very informative as a former worker in Detroit and someone who has a lot of family history in the city. I understand that Detroit, in a lot of ways, is a city that has been struggling the last 50 years but it was nice to read of what was and what could be. I only wish the author had shined a light on those later struggles rather than pretend as if they did not exist. I think the book, and the readers, would have been better informed if he did.
kelseymangeni's review against another edition
4.0
This book covered evvverything! Education, Race Relations, Motown, Kwame, the Big 3, Rosa Parks, the Underground Railroad, the 1967 Riot, Urban Farms, Joe Louis, the Heidelberg Project, and on and on!
Sooo well researched. It was right in the brink of being almost too dense and over my head for nonfiction, but I powered through and found that the more I engaged with it (colorful mildliners, tabs and post-its) the more I took in and appreciated this book. Switching between paper and audio was also a GAME CHANGER!
Sooo well researched. It was right in the brink of being almost too dense and over my head for nonfiction, but I powered through and found that the more I engaged with it (colorful mildliners, tabs and post-its) the more I took in and appreciated this book. Switching between paper and audio was also a GAME CHANGER!
vittoria_ann's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting and very thorough history of Detroit, which is defined by its Black residents. The book is strictly chronological, so the chapters vary widely by topic, jumping from music and theatre, to manufacturing, to politics and more. I found this structure harder to follow and wished that the chapters arranged by topic. All in all a critical history to one of the country's most resilient and unique cities.
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