Renaissance High graduate Chandra Fleming calls it "the dreaded question," and she puts fellow Michigan State students on notice: "Please stop asking me if Detroit is 'really as bad as they say it is?'"
The freshman journalism major, a reporter at The State News campus daily, pushes back in an opinion section column:
When it comes down to saying where I'm from, the reactions vary. Either we continue the conversation, or they ask me the dreaded question: “Is Detroit really that bad like they say it is?"
I see my city differently. I live there, my family lives there, I went to school there. . . . I see my city just as I see any other city that has its positives and negatives.
Chandra Fleming: "Detroit is an experience." (Photo: Facebook)
Fleming drops shouts to Bucharest Grill, Sweetwater Express, Lafayette coneys, Kuzzo's Chicken and Waffles, Big Sean and three older music legends, Belle Isle, three Cultural Center attractions and more.
Detroit is an experience. You're bound to see something interesting or unusual. . . . It’s the culture of any other big city – fast, busy and destined to be surprising, and I personally enjoy it that way.
I think of all the positive things and attributes. Yes, some areas are bad, but that's with any big city. It's a matter of knowing your surroundings, hanging with the right crowd and staying out of trouble.
The aspiring journalist, who wrote for The Stentor student paper in high school, offers a suggestion for new friends who're genuinely curious about the city she appreciates:
I could take you on an adventure and allow you to develop your own opinions about it. I will show you the good and bad.
-- Alan Stamm
