Detroit is vital. Energetic. Optimistic.
That's how a promotional film, "I Am Detroit," describes the city in 1971.
The color, 16mm promotional film was made for Detroit Renaissance by the Tom Blanchard Company. (It's posted on YouTube by the Detroit Historical Society).
It's interesting to look back at see the message the city tried to convey just four years after a devasting riot that sent things on a downward spiral for decades.
Interestingly, the message isn't that much different than a 2017 promotional video -- "Detroit. Move here. Move the world" -- produced in 2017 by a committee that Dan Gilbert led to lure Amazon's second headquarters .
Here are both videos:
