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The Metro: If ‘Detroit Never Left,’ who wrote the comeback story?
If you have lived in Detroit for a while, you’ve heard the city’s revival narrative. The magazines, the national news, the awards —they proclaim Detroit is back. Many Detroiters have bristled at this. Back from where? They never left.
That phrase — “Detroit never left” — is the counter. It is emblazoned on T-shirts, stickers, and murals. Detroiters utter these words to take back the narrative. But from whom?
In her new book, “Detroit Never Left: Black Space, White Borders, Latino Crossings,” Nicole Trujillo-Pagán makes the case that powerful outsiders have long defined Detroit’s problems at the expense of residents.
She argues foundations, banks, the state, and national media used words like “blight” and “vacancy” to define the city’s problems in ways that benefited themselves while excluding Detroiters.
She joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss how Detroit’s comeback has looked different depending on where you stand.
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