Going Home

CJR story

Jon and I have been sweating this day for months.

Would the Columbia Journalism Review accuse us of high crimes against our industry because of this blog or tell us it’s OK to stay the course?

You be the objective judge:

Click here to read “Crossing Lines: In a bombed-out Detroit neighborhood, a new blog works to rekindle a community.”

[More:]

An excerpt from the article:

Happy speaks — and writes — with a sincerity that is almost anachronistic. He commonly refers, without irony, to miracles. His sleeve bears not only his heart, but also his humor and his joy and his anger. ("That Mike Happy,” his childhood friend Jim Morey puts it, “you know he means it.") Happy came of age in a time and place where Elks Clubs and Cub Scouts were the norm, and when a neighborhood was distinguished by more than just geography. He spent eight years in the Navy. Community, to him, is not a goal, but an assumption.

Thank you, Megan Garber. I’m absolutely flattered to be viewed that way. The description fits most people who call Detroit home, which – I guess – makes me authentic.

Better yet, the City of Detroit initiated the process of replacing the fence around Fletcher Field today; more blighted houses started to come down on Mt. Olivet; and Inner City Exposure – an organization whose mission is to use baseball as the vehicle to enhance the quality of life in the community by developing the mental, physical and leadership skills in our young people – began to use the baseball diamond at the park for its program.

As Shield of Faith minister Imogene Johnson always says: Onward and upward – but with even more jump in my step tonight.

After all, our “blatant agenda-mongering” – trying to heal Detroit one park, school, house, block, neighborhood at a time – is now on the national radar.

Comments, Pingbacks:

Comment from: d.p. [Member]

I should probably re-read the piece before commenting, but I would imagine you have to be thrilled by the overall tone. I wouldn't overfocus on the article's attempt to offer a perspective on journalism that differs from your own - there are usually two sides to every story.

If anything, I thought the article slighted the importance of the blog needing the occasional "remember when" posts. Without posts of this nature, I wonder if you would have the readership you currently enjoy.

So, I guess the article validates your chosen path. Somehow I believe you would have continued "onward and upward" regardless of this validation. Kudos to you and Jon. Have another beer.

Permalink 07/02/08 @ 09:36

Comment from: bluegold [Member]

I'm not a journalism major, so I'm not certain - but IMHO this sounds like more than just "peeing in the wind" (as this initiative was previously summed up as). In fact, it sounds like much more to me - perhaps setting a new bar for the future of journalism and simultaneously launching the rebirth of one of Detroit's most struggling neighborhoods? Perhaps more appropriately dubbed "Happy's jetstream of positive change for the future of mankind (and the media too;)

Permalink 07/08/08 @ 17:59