USA, Detroit

The heart of darkness has left Africa and now lives in Detroit.

In Boulder the tulips are blooming and the snow is gone. It has taken three months and a change of seasons to give me the courage to think about my February sojourn in Detroit. It is hard to picture Detroit as a city that ever possessed vitality, happiness or joy. The people living there meander from place to place in a dead landscape of crumbling buildings, colorless skies and defoliated trees.

“Where are you staying?” The concerned host asked.

“Just down the road. Why?”

“Good. What ever you do, don’t go wandering around, and don’t even think about going downtown.”

“What’s up with downtown?” I asked.

“Nothing is up with downtown but if you go there you will probably be shot.”

My host was not joking and only after he was certain that I was taking him seriously did he crack a smile, “Ya know other cities have more shootings than Detroit but we still have the most murders. We’re better shots.”

I believed him.

Wanda smiled at me as she eased her double sized butt into her single sized office chair, “I’m gonna teach you to speak black.”

Me, the educated white boy with the ponytail had nothing more intelligent to say other than “Huh?”

“That’s right. Gonna get you a black name and teach you to speak black.”

“OK, I’ve been teaching you software all day. Teach me how to speak black.”

“Ya first word is ‘elsen.’”

“Elsen?”

“Ya know, like don’t be hatin’ on my skills, elsen I be kickin’ your ass.”

“OK, I can learn that. So what’s my black name?”

“Cleetis.”

The name Cleetis had been discussed before it was officially unveiled to the owner. From across the room, “YO Cleetis! Get your butt over here. What is this damn computer doing to me now?”

Cleetis moved with the same speed and determination he had used when he first arrived in Detroit. He had tried to cheat frostbite by running from the car to the hotel lobby. The wind had made the cold worse and his heaving lungs instantly froze in place. Running in the Detroit is not a good idea unless you are inside and responding to your new name.