I've never posted "My Story" here, at least not all in one place.
Here's a little bit about my childhood.
I grew up in Detroit, MI.
I was born at Deaconess Hospital in July of 1961 (delivered by my great uncle Roy, an OB GYN).
The umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck as I came out-- luckily my Uncle Roy had delivered so many babies, he figured out what was going on, literally pushed me back in, unwound it, then pulled me back out.
(things like fetal heart monitors and ultrasound didn't exist back in 1961)
My brother (Roy, named after my great uncle) was born in April 1966.
A year later (1967), when my little brother was 1, we moved to a new house, just off Alter (see red dot on map).
That was the summer of the 1967 Detroit Race Riots.
I don't really remember any of it-- just that my parents were really scared (I had just turned 6).
I remember my dad telling me, years later, about the National Guard, and the tanks, and all of the fires.
And how close it all was to where we lived.
My dad worked at Active Tool & Mfg, a supplier to the Automotive industry. See Blue dot on map.
His route to work each day was the blue dotted line.
He wasn't able to go to work during those tense few days when President Johnson called out the military and the National Guard.
While I didn't experience the terror and the trauma of these riots personally (I was too little to realize what was going on), I grew up in a place that very much carried these wounds. People were scared of what had happened-- didn't matter what color they were-- everyone had been scared.
As I get older, I'm coming to realize just how much these events shaped my life, and my attitude towards people who are different than me.
If you've been on these forums for a while, you know that the one thing that tweaks me, really hard, is intolerance. Bigotry. Prejudice. In part b/c I grew up with these things-- both from my friends/peers (many of whom were overtly prejudiced), and my family (which was, for the most part, passive/quiet about it, but it was there).
So if you tell an off color race joke, or a gay joke, or a political joke, or even a dumb blond joke-- I may get all medieval on your *ss.
Same goes for jokes about those who have different religious or cultural beliefs.
I've made the comment a few times that kids died just a few blocks away from where I lived.
But until tonight, I'd never really mapped it out.
Below is that map.
Our house (red dot) was about 1/2 mile from the edge of the war zone-- the area that had all kinds of fighting, shooting, and arson.
I remember driving past a row of burned out houses, and wondering what they were.
We all are products of our environment. For me, the race riots had a deep, long lasting effect on how I looked at the world.
Not in a bad way. It kind of woke me up to see that someone being different was not a bad person.
I share this w/you all because I know sometimes, my temper flares when I hear someone put down another group of people. It just triggers me.
I don't think that's a bad thing. I'm OK w/being this way.
It's something I believe in. Deeply.
Here are a few links from my home town, talking about those times:
Memories of the 1967 Detroit Riots
Less than a year after the riots, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at my High School (just 3 weeks before he was killed). Here is some info on that, including a recording of the speech.
I've attached a .pdf transcript of Dr King's speech, below.
We share our stories so others may gain greater insight into who we are, and where we come from.
I hope this does that.
-Russ H.
Here's a little bit about my childhood.
I grew up in Detroit, MI.
I was born at Deaconess Hospital in July of 1961 (delivered by my great uncle Roy, an OB GYN).
The umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck as I came out-- luckily my Uncle Roy had delivered so many babies, he figured out what was going on, literally pushed me back in, unwound it, then pulled me back out.
(things like fetal heart monitors and ultrasound didn't exist back in 1961)
My brother (Roy, named after my great uncle) was born in April 1966.
A year later (1967), when my little brother was 1, we moved to a new house, just off Alter (see red dot on map).
That was the summer of the 1967 Detroit Race Riots.
I don't really remember any of it-- just that my parents were really scared (I had just turned 6).
I remember my dad telling me, years later, about the National Guard, and the tanks, and all of the fires.
And how close it all was to where we lived.
My dad worked at Active Tool & Mfg, a supplier to the Automotive industry. See Blue dot on map.
His route to work each day was the blue dotted line.
He wasn't able to go to work during those tense few days when President Johnson called out the military and the National Guard.
While I didn't experience the terror and the trauma of these riots personally (I was too little to realize what was going on), I grew up in a place that very much carried these wounds. People were scared of what had happened-- didn't matter what color they were-- everyone had been scared.
As I get older, I'm coming to realize just how much these events shaped my life, and my attitude towards people who are different than me.
If you've been on these forums for a while, you know that the one thing that tweaks me, really hard, is intolerance. Bigotry. Prejudice. In part b/c I grew up with these things-- both from my friends/peers (many of whom were overtly prejudiced), and my family (which was, for the most part, passive/quiet about it, but it was there).
So if you tell an off color race joke, or a gay joke, or a political joke, or even a dumb blond joke-- I may get all medieval on your *ss.
Same goes for jokes about those who have different religious or cultural beliefs.
I've made the comment a few times that kids died just a few blocks away from where I lived.
But until tonight, I'd never really mapped it out.
Below is that map.
Our house (red dot) was about 1/2 mile from the edge of the war zone-- the area that had all kinds of fighting, shooting, and arson.
I remember driving past a row of burned out houses, and wondering what they were.
We all are products of our environment. For me, the race riots had a deep, long lasting effect on how I looked at the world.
Not in a bad way. It kind of woke me up to see that someone being different was not a bad person.
I share this w/you all because I know sometimes, my temper flares when I hear someone put down another group of people. It just triggers me.
I don't think that's a bad thing. I'm OK w/being this way.
It's something I believe in. Deeply.
Here are a few links from my home town, talking about those times:
Memories of the 1967 Detroit Riots
Less than a year after the riots, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at my High School (just 3 weeks before he was killed). Here is some info on that, including a recording of the speech.
I've attached a .pdf transcript of Dr King's speech, below.
We share our stories so others may gain greater insight into who we are, and where we come from.
I hope this does that.
-Russ H.
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