DETROIT – There is much to brag about in the city of Detroit, but at the same time much work remains to revitalize the city's poorest neighborhoods. Blight, crime, and a lack of jobs are endemic.
Drugs and guns go hand-in-hand. Too often, they lead to shootings and death. While robberies and carjackings are down in the city this year, Detroit is experiencing more murders and shootings in 2015 compared with 2014.
The Defenders went into some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Detroit to see if they are starting to see any kind of comeback. What we found were neighborhood residents who feel forgotten. They have little hope of ending the cycle of poverty and violence.
From Downtown to Midtown, Corktown to the riverfront, sections of Detroit are bustling like we haven't seen in the city for decades. Detroit's "comeback" is celebrated by many who work, play, and live in the city.
Left out of the comeback conversation are residents of neighborhoods that have not seen things improve.
"What neighborhood have you ever been to where you see this many burned up houses? Burnt up to the shell," said one eastside Detroit resident who didn't want to give his name, but was happy to give us an education into life in city neighborhoods.
He drove through east side neighborhoods, showing how drugs have obliterated once healthy neighborhoods. He also explained what a flycatcher is—a gun, basically, in case someone dangerous flies up, you can catch them before they catch you.
"My people started getting robbed," he said. "People started getting killed, so everybody put flycatcher on them. It's like you gotta have a flycatcher."
When someone new to the neighborhood shows up, many residents instinctively keep a hand on their flycatcher. Unfortunately, with so many people carrying and distrustful, too often people shoot first and ask questions later.
There are fewer than 700,000 residents in Detroit, but in 2014 the city had 45 more murders than Los Angeles—a city of 3.8 million people.
Murders are up this year in Detroit. So are shootings. In the just 123 days there have been 95 murders and 265 non-fatal shooting victims. That works out to about three shootings every day in Detroit, usually in these oft-forgotten neighborhoods.
We caught up with this baby-faced local rapper who caught our eye with his AK-47—he's just 17—to ask him about his neighborhood.
"It's either make it out, or stay in Detroit and be a statistic," he said bluntly.
He tells us he and his friends spend their days playing dice, hanging out, but mostly making rap music with the hope of making it big and then hitting the road.
"Basically, everyone doing music or hustling, ain't nobody trying to take the real way," he said. "They're not going to college, and there are no jobs coming to them."
They have buried and will continue to bury friends: "In the past three years I lost nine of my friends."
They don't intend to be next.
"Some people could ride up and they don't even know what's going on or nothing. They think we're somebody else, start shooting as us cause they think we're somebody else and shoot out all those bodies for nothing. That's what happens in Detroit every day."
If you would like the Defenders to visit your neighborhood or if you have a program that is helping your neighborhood please email or call us 313-222-0691.