Virginia Tech

My prayers go out to everyone effected in the tragic event that happened yesterday. I wish all the students, faculty, and parents the best in the coming year; and I hope they all find a way through it. I do agree that the student body will unite and come back in the fall stronger than ever before. God Bless.

Summer Movies

Kick Ass movies to see this summer(07):

1. Spiderman 3
2. Ocean's Thirteen
3. Transformers
4. Pathfinder
5. 28 weeks later
6. Pirates of the Carribean: At worlds end
7. Fantastic Four
8. Hot Fuzz
9. Hostel Part II
10. Fracture
11. Shooter
12. Vacancy
13. Evan Almighty
14. Knocked Up
15. Harry Potter
16. The Reaping
17. The third Bourne film

Blades of Glory!!!!!

"Wow", thats all i can say after this movie. This movie was freakin awsome! Most of the time it seemed just like Talladaga Nights but it was still one of the best movies ever. The way Will Ferrell says things is just hilarious. He is one of the funniest people of all time. I cant think of a movie he was in that was bad. I would definetely recommend this movie to everyone! One of the funniest movies of the year.

What I've Learned So Far From My Research

So far from my research I have learned a great deal. I have read everything that has to do with this issue of a new park. I know the size of the park, and the size of parcel of land that the city is trying to acquire. I also know that Novi tried to get this state grant last year, but was denied. They are trying again this year, but I havent noticed any extra attention towards it. This means that the city and community members are not putting an honest effort towards getting the construction of this park started.

I also found out that the same state grant that we are fighting for just issued our city almost $900,000 to preserve an entirely different area by creating a park. Thats right, they gave us money but to use on the construction of a different park; one that is very close to all the other parks in Novi. We needed this money to go to the creation of the park that is suppose to be on 10 mile and Wixom rd. This is a developing area with lots of new homes that need a park nearby for the kids to play.

Second Blog Draft

As of right now my tentative thesis would be that the residents of Novi need to increase their effort for this park. The state grant for the park is very attainable, they just need to put in a better effort to show the state how bad they want this park, and how important the park is to the city.

My opinion is that this park would be very beneficial to the city because of population growth, and because there is no park near the area where they want to build this new one. After reviewing some of the council minutes, I saw that there wasn't anyone attending who was really pushing for this park. If no one in the city is really putting in a big effort for the park, then the city will not concentrate on the issue as much as the other issues which are being pursued by a lot of community members. The community needs to up its participation in this issue so that they can get the state grant, and start building the park.

Sources:
Free Press
Detroit News
Michigan.gov
Along with these articles, I will be using some of the statements that were said during city council meetings. I will be getting these sources from the city council minutes archive which is found at the Novi City Website.

Novi Wants Another Park (Final Draft Photo Essay)

The city of Novi has had an eye on a semi-large piece of land where the city would like to build another park. Last year, the city applied for a state grant in order to fund the project but was denied. The city plans to try again for the grant this year.

This is a picture of the area that the city of Novi is trying to get a hold of, for the construction of the park.

If Novi got the grant, they would use it to build a 269 acre park that would have hiking, and other recreational activities. Novi already has three public parks and numerous recreational facilities that belong to the schools. I do not see what one more park will bring to the city, that the other three parks don't already have. The three parks that belong to Novi offer tons of recreational activities to the public, which is why Novi does not need to build another park.

This is a picture of the huge wooden play-sturcture that is right at the entrance of CSP.
Inside CSP there are nine baseball diamonds, and durring the summer there are always baseball games being played on all nine diamonds.

Power Park which is the second park in Novi is a little smaller than CSP, but it still has six baseball diamonds, two volleyball courts, two play-structures, and a trail for walking through the woods.

This is a picture of one of the six baseball diamonds located in the center of the park.

This is a picture of the beginning of the trail that goes through the woods. In the foreground is the pond that is located inside of the park.

Rotary park is a smaller and more quiet park then the other two, but still has a play-structure, a picnic area, and a couple of tennis courts.

Right at the entrance to Rotary Park is this boardwalk, which runs along 9 mile road, and offers a change to the usual concrete sidewalks.

This is just a picture of one of the playgrounds that belong to the Novi School District. These playgrounds also add to the number of recreational facilities that Novi already offers.

Novi has three parks that offer almost every activity you can think of. They offer baseball diamonds, soccer fields, picnic areas, and trails for people to go walking. There is no need for the city of Novi to construct another park especially one that is 269 acres.

First Blog Draft

I decided to do my final research paper on the same topic as my photo essay. Basically there is a large piece of land located on 10 mile and Wixom rd in Novi, and the city wants to get a grant from the state so that they can build a park that will offer recreational activities like biking and hiking. The city applied for the grant last year but was denied. They plan to try again this year, and held a public meeting to sign a petition for the park. When a city applying for a grant gets a petition, it forces the state to spend a little more time on the decision, and will increase Novi's chance of getting the grant.
I will change up my stance on the issue for the research paper. In the photo essay I argued against the park, but in the Research paper I will argue for the park. As I was doing some searching for information on the grant, I found an article stating that Novi is building another park which is right by the three other parks that they have. I will argue for this FIFTH park because this park would be further away from the other three, and will benefit the residents in that area. They should not have to drive further to get to a park, just because Novi built four parks all within 2 miles of each other.

If you are interested in further information about this topic please visit this site, and let me know what you think about the whole situation.

I think I Love My Wife

So I went and saw "I think I love my wife", and I realized how much i like chris rock. its been a while since i have seen one of his movies, but it was hilarious. i would definitely recomend the movie to anyone who hasnt laughed in a while, because this movie will definitely make you laugh out loud. despite being funny it also has a good moral lesson to it.

Last Assignment

I don't know about anyone else, but it seems like it would be really hard to find 8 sources on the topic that i chose for my photo essay. Hopefully we can use sources that don't have to do directly with the topic, but that help clarify one of the points or statements we are making. If all 8 sources do have to be directly tied to the topic, then i better find a new one.

Novi Wants Another Park(photo essy, rough draft)

The city of Novi has had an eye on a semi-large piece of land, where the city would like to build another park. Last year, the city applied for a state grant in order to fund the project but was denied. This year, the city is holding a public meeting in order to increase its chances for the state grant.

This is a picture of the area that the city of Novi is trying to get a hold of, for the construction of the park.

If Novi got the grant, they would use it to build a 269 acre park that would have hiking, and other recreational activities. Novi already has three public parks and numerous recreational facilities that belong to the schools. I do not see what one more park will bring to the city, that the other three parks don't already have. The three parks that belong to Novi offer tons of recreational activities to the public, which is why Novi does not need to build another park. CSP, or Community Sports Park, is the biggest of the three parks in Novi. CSP is located on 8 mile rd. and Napier rd. This is a picture of the picnic area available to the public inside of CSP. It is also the location of one of the many restroom facilities located inside this park. This is a picture of the huge wooden play-sturcture that is right at the entrance of CSP. This playground is always jam packed with kids in the summer. This is a photo of the basketball courts which are found right next to the picnic area, and huge playground. Inside CSP there are nine baseball diamonds, and durring the summer there are always baseball games being played on all nine diamonds. This is another picture of one of the baseball diamonds inside of CSP. CSP also has about 14 soccer fields which are across from the baseball diamonds. Unfortunately they were taken down for the winter, so I could not get a picture of them.

Power Park which is the second park in Novi is a little smaller than CSP, but it still has six baseball diamonds, two volleyball courts, two play-structures, and a trail for walking through the woods. Power Park is located on 10 mile rd., between Novi High School, and the Novi Police Station.

This is a picture of one of the play-structures inside of Power Park. In the background you can see one of the two baseball diamonds which are primarily used for girls' softball games.

This is a picture of the other play-structure. In the foreground you can see the sand that makes up the volleyball courts in the summer.

This is a picture of one of the four baseball diamonds located in the center of the park. These fields are usually home to baseball games, but in the late afternoon they all hold softball games for adults.

This is a picture of the beginning of the trail that goes through the woods. In the foreground is the pond that is located inside of the park, which is nicknamed "piss pond".

Rotary Park is the third park that belongs to Novi, and is located on 9 mile rd. Rotary is a smaller and more quiet park then the other two. This park still has a play-structure, a picnic area, and a couple of tennis courts.

This is a picture of the play-structure located insided of Rotary Park. On the very right side of the picture you can see part of the tennis courts.

This is the picnic area which could easily seat 40 people, if you had a big family outing. The picnic area is conveniently located right next to the play-structure and tennis courts.
Right at the entrance to Rotary Park is this boardwalk, which runs along 9 mile road, and offers a change to the usual concrete sidewalks.

This just a picture of one of the playgrounds that belong to the Novi School District. This is one of two jungle gyms that belongs to this elementary school, and Novi has five elementary schools, not to mention the middle school and high school.

Novi has three parks that offer almost every activity you can think of. They offer baseball diamonds, soccer fields, picnic areas, and trails for people to go walking. There is no need for the city of Novi to construct another park especially one that is 269 acres. If Novi just wants to spend money, then they should work on the upkeep of the three parks that they already have.

Photo Essay Topic

I finalized my thought process and decided to do my photo essay on Novi wanting a state grant for ANOTHER city park. Novi applied last year for a state grant to fund the building of another park, and was denied. They are starting a petition, and will try again this fall to get the grant. My essay will basically show all the parks that Novi already has, and how they don't need another one. If anything they should just spend a little money to fix up a few things that are starting to fall apart in the parks that we already have.

Graffiti

I thought this example of graffiti was unique, because it is not what people would usually think of when they think of graffiti. Most people would think of some type of picture that is painted or drawn on a wall. This example shows a person's form of graffiti by carving this in cement. This is a very unique form of graffiti.

This example of graffiti, is the more negative type. This type would not appeal to very many people, and doesnt look like it serves any point. It looks like someone had no time, so they drew a few letters on a brick wall. With the way that the numbers are very vague and edgy, it looks like the artist drew it in a matter of minutes. It also looks like this example is more destructive than the typical example of graffiti. I feel if you are going to destroy someone's property, at least make kind of point with it; don't just do it because you have no time.

This example of Graffiti is the type that most people probably think of when they think of the word Graffiti. This example is very bright, and has lots of colors. It looks like the artist of this piece spent a lot of time on it, even maybe days on it. I think this depicts the more positive side of graffiti and what it looks like. It also does not look like it was done on someones property, it looks like an abandoned place.

Graffiti: Tunnel Notes of a New Yorker

I did not really think too much of this article. It never really grabbed my attention, and I thought bits of it were very confusing. I did notice that it was very descriptive and visual throughout the whole paper. He used his real life examples to back up most of his claims. He was also very descriptive with his real life examples. I also liked how he mentioned the positive and negative aspects to graffiti. For the most part he talked about how it only caused rage and anger and disruption; but he did touch on how he sometimes saw the initials inside of a carved heart. This example displays a more positive and loving side of graffiti.

Also towards the end he did mention the HUGE fact about people who are all concerned with graffiti. This fact is that graffiti never killed anyone, and that there are bigger problems in cities then graffiti. I agree completely with this statement. When I look at the bigger picture and all the other problems with cites and urban decay, I really don't give a shit about graffiti and probably never will. I would much rather see someone get angry and go write it on a wall, then get angry and go kill somebody.

Detroit Free Press

1. Besides Comerica Bank and Tara Grant, the issues getting the most coverage are American Idol's Lakish Jones who is from Detroit. This article is to update people who are interested in her progree so far. The other issues that are taking up the space are related to sports. There is one article that has to do with the death of an old coach of MSU basketball star Drew Neitzel. It is about how Drew had a very close relationship with his coach who died of Lou Gehrig's Disease, and how Drew dedicated the game against Wisconsin to him; which they won by the way. The other sport related issue is about the Detroit Lions and how they are seeking running backs again.
2. While browsing the top issues being covered on www.freep.com I did not really see any emphasis on drama in the issues. I thought that most of the issues had emphasis on getting the facts across to the reader. The only issue that might have had some emphasis on human emotion, and trying to relay that to the reader was the article on Drew Neitzel and the death of his former Basketball coach.
3. In Oakland County, the Silver Dome was released to the city of Pontiac to be sold. The freepress doesn't have any issues that are related to Novi. The only thing that they have is 5 questions they asked Novi's Park and Recreation supervisor about beating the winter blues. When I go to other websites I find information like the Michigan Golf show is comming to the Rock Financial Showplace, and that upgrades are needed in our many elementary schools due to a lack of space and equipment.
4. I do not know what I want to write about at this point. So far I have not found an issue that is happening in Novi or Oakland County. Everything seems to be centered in Detroit, or the immediate surrounding cities of Detroit. Plus I am still unsure of how we can make a photo essay of a local issue. It doesnt make sense to me how we are suppose to photograph an issue; especially numerous photos. There is one article about a possible girls catholic school comming to novi, which is interesting because Novi just allowed Catholic Central to move to Novi. These are examples of how Novi is a developing city, that might be doing to much. There arent to many places left that havent been touched in some way by the city. Novi feels like it could get very crowded very fast.

Representing Urban Decline

After reading this article I couldnt help but think of the news that Comerica is moving its headquarters to Texas. It also made me think that Detroit better start doing something, and start doing it fast. Detroit will already lose tons of money because of this decision. They need to start taking actions before another major company does the same thing. It also made me think of what would happen if they did not do anything and just let the companies keep leaving. I realized that basically Detroit would completely fall, and deteriorate. There would be no money to spend on the city, and there would be no one that they could tax in order to get the money. Basically detroit would cease to exist.

Oakland County news: Pontiac

While I was browsing through the news in Oakland County, I read that a man in pontiac stabbed two people for walking through a neighbors yard. He stabbed a man that latter died, and a woman who survived. He stabbed both of them repeatedly after arguing with them about walking through his neighbors yard. He will be guilty of murder, and the police all agree to how ridiculous this was. He stabbed people who were walking through a yard that was not his.

Restaurant Review...again

So I wrote my essay and i was re-reading it and i realized that i suck at this whole detailed, sensory image stuff. Im just glad that i can get my girlfriend to help me because she is awsome at that stuff. But seriously my paper is lame so far. (Didn't know what to blog about)

Detroit Sports

I just herd that the Detroit Lions traded Dre Bly for Tatum Bell and on offensive lineman. I think that this is either going to be a really great or really bad move depending on the outcome of Kevin Jones' injury. Also the Detroit Tigers are back to their winning ways with their first pre-season win. Gary Sheffield hit a home run in his first game as a Tiger.

All said and done

My restaurant review went great. I had an awsome burger with curlie fries and a chocolate shake. The perfect 50's meal. My girlfriend had a more contemporary meal with a tuna fish sandwich and some potato salad. The whole restaurant was decorated with 50's memorabilia. These ranged from elvis to cadillacs to babe ruth tobacco. The floor was also a unique black and white tile; which is very reminescent of the 50's. And to top it all off the waitresses were dressed in the classic pink dresses that are very unique to the 50's. Our lunch for the two of us was around $17 dollars.

Restaurant Review

I believe that I will do my review on Don's of Traverse City. It is a small restaurant that looks like an old fashioned trailer. They have the whole 50's theme going on in the whole restaurant; not to mention the old fashioned food that tastes awsome. They are mainly known for their incredible ice cream shakes; one of these shakes has enough calories to last you a week. I plan to go their and review the restaurant on Monday.

Restaurant Review

I thought Jane Slaughter did a wonderful job in her restaurant review of Tango Bravo Argentine Grill. The way she described the foods, and still added the names as they appear on the menu was very good. She made me want to eat things that I have no idea what they are or look like. She choses her words very well and makes you mouth water, especially when you are hungry.

Plan for Community Member Essay

Here are my plans for revising my essay:

• Add some background information to the beginning of my essay.
• Fix some of my quotes so the reader knows who is saying them.
• Add some more visual details to the essay, along with the background information that I will be adding.
• Fix my reference citing. I did not know what format to do in the beginning.

I Just Wanna Be Average

I did not understand a single part of this essay. I thought the title was very misleading; I had no connection between the title and the actual essay. This made it very hard to read since I was expecting something totally different. I still understood what was happening, but it all seemed so random. I did not understand why he was writing what he wrote. It seemed like there was no point to what he was writing about. It was just another story. In my opinion this was the worst reading so far in the class.

Damn!

WOW! I don't know how anybody could survive this. These two cars just get crushed by a semi with two trailers. I honestly think these are the luckiest people in the world. I don't understand why the car didn't just explode or something.

Lack of Online Material Again

For the second of two times I have run into a lack of online material. Don't worry I'll be fine because I managed to find exactly three sources. I would of sworn that there would of been a lot more online sources. They were all notes from city meetings; which made me very surprised that there werent any online newspaper articles about the petitions. Any way I just wish essay writing was a lot easier.

Mix Tape of Songs

1. Little Man by Alan Jackson- This song talks about the small stores that were owned by one or two people until the "Big Money" came around and put them out of business. Novi is full of these huge corporations and very little stores that are owned by one person.
2. My Town by Montgomery Gentry- This song is about all the little moments they remember in their town, and that they are proud to belong to their town. I am also proud to belong to my town. There are incidents that people probably think are wierd but when I look back on them, I just laugh and shake my head because It's My Town.
3. Graduation Day by Head Automica- This song is about all the wonderful things that happen after you graduate High School, and how you don't know what is going to happen to people after they graduate. I chose this because I remember my High school being very concerned with academics, and their graduation percentage. Basically school was a big deal in my community.
4. Rockstar by Nickelback- This song is all about how everyone wants to be just like all the famous rockstars, except it has a twist and shows how all the "great things" arent really good at all. I chose this song because when I was in high school all the bands that were trying to get noticed were Rock bands, and they all were trying to imitate this lifestyle that they wish they had.
5. 8 Mile by Eminem- This song rebresents my neighborhood because i live one mile from 8 mile. Obviously not the part of 8 mile that Eminem talks about, but it still runs through my community.
6. Stuntin' Like My Daddy by Lil' Wayne and Birdman- I chose this song because the majority of the population in Novi is very rich and they spoil the shit out of their kids with clothes and cars. This song is about Lil' Wayne trying to live rich like his dad.
7. Get Stoned by Hinder- I chose this song because tons of kids get stoned every day after high school, and if they get caught they barely get a slap on the wrist by their parents and the cops. The cops are afraid to get the extremely rich kids in a lot of trouble because they would here about it from all the parents in Novi who are rich. This song is just all about getting stoned.

Our Next Fun Essay

I'm thinking of doing a community member who is not widely known throughout Novi, but one that takes a lot of stances on issues effecting the community. I would like to interview someone who takes action and doesnt just let the politicians talk over them. While just browsing through a few articles about proposals by the city of Novi, I have stumbled over the same name a few times. There is a woman named Monika Jackson who has faught everything from a cell phone tower being built next to the high school football field, to a gun range being built right behind a subdivision for the police station. It seems like this woman is at every public councel meeting asking for every detail of each proposal for the city. I feel like she would be a great interviewee because it looks as if she has a very strong opinion toward everything that goes on in the community, and she acts on her opinion making sure that she is heard.

Winter

Winter to me is very negative, I really dont like winter at all. It reminds me of every monday and wednsday when I get out of my last class which ends at 5:50. This is the perfect time to catch a last glimpse of the sun and freeze to death. Once my class ends, I bundle up as if Im walking through Alaska only to get hit in the face by the wind which seems to say, "Ha Ha not enough layers sucker". After getting hit by the wind, I realize the long walk ahead of me to my car since there is never parking in a one mile radius of the building. As I walk every step is one step closer to my car, but also one degree colder than the last. After walking in the fridged cold for what seems like 30 minutes, I finally reach my car only to find that my car is no warmer than it is outside. To me, this experience that I face twice a week is the worst thing I can ever remember doing in my life. This is the reason for why I hate winter with an unbelievable passion. I dread this experience each and every day as I wait for the weather man to say "70 degrees and sunny for today".

I think this is a wonderful idea to try and increase the popularity of Detroit. If they tried to incorporate this new symbol of Detroit into most of the events taking place in Detroit; then I think they will have a lot of success. They should try and incorporate this symbol into events like the Tigers', Lions', and Red Wings' games. They should also use this marketing technique whenever they have a special event that ties into this new symbol.

As far as the symbol goes, I like it but....I would of liked it more if it looked more like the Tigers' old english "D". I dont know if its just because i'm a sports guy or what, but ever since the Detroit Tigers made a pendant run, I have loved seeing the old english "D". To me the old english "D" represents Detroit because it has been the symbol for the Tigers since the begining of time. It was their symbol during the good times in the 80's and during the bad times in the late 90's. To me this would fit Detroit because the city has had its good and definetly its bad times, and this would symbolize how Detroit is still here and is making a comeback. See the Full Story behind Detroit's new symbol right here!

Lack of Online Material

I have started to write my essay, and I am also trying to finish my research on twelve oaks mall. the only problem is that I can only find one online article on twelve oaks mall, that serves me a purpose. The only other site I found was wikipedia which from thursday's class is now out of the picture.

If anyone has any sites or articles they just happen to find online, please let me know. The one article that I found was on how the mall is expanding and adding more space. Other then this small problem, my essay is going great (not really).

Progress on Artifact Essay

I just finished my interviews for our artifact essay, and I got very similar answers to my questions. I interviewed a shopper at Twelve Oaks Mall and an employee of Twelve Oaks Mall. Both said that the reason they work/shop their is because it is conveinent. They also both agreed that it is a big part of Novi history.

Very Nice Eye

In the Detroit Funk blog site, the blogger made a very nice observation in one of the images of the Aquarium. The blogger took a photo of an old dusty storage closet, and pointed out how the architecture used in the room was very ancient and unique.

The blogger pointed out how most people would see the image for just another picture of Detroit, when in fact it shows how beautiful and important the city once was. He also comments that instead of turning it into a storage closet, they should have worked to restore the room and the architecture.

Response to Detroit blogs

My first thought in response to the Detroit Blogs was how they showed all the images of run down buildings and trashed streets, but in the same picture there was an image of either a newly built building, or of the beautiful architecture that the run down building exhibits.

Most of the grotesque images of dirty rooms or trashed buildings, were actually showing the architecture and how amazing and ancient it is. Many of the bloggers commented how Detroit should work to restore these buildings to show people how beautiful Detroit once was.

All the other images of Cobo Hall, Tech Town, and the other newly constructed buildings had a grotesque image in the background or foreground reminding us that the whole city looked new at one point in time; but eventually they all remained unused and abandoned.

List of Artifacts

• Twelve Oaks Mall
• Main Street
• Fountain Walk
• Novi Town Center
• Novi High School
• Novi Bowl
• "Piss" Pond
• Civic Center
• Town Hall
• Extremely Old Barn
• Dirt Road
• Baseball Diamonds
• Football Field

Response to Homeplace

For the most part I agreed with this essay. I thought that the author tied the essay together nicely in the last page. Throughout the whole essay she made many strong arguments, and i agreed with most of them. I agreed with her interpretation of the black female; she described how hard their lives were and how they barely had energy for their own familes. This seemed entirely true along with how important it is to create a "Homeplace". I also agreed with her assesment on how the sexist views of male African Americans caused a little friction with their fight for racial freedom. It seemed that not having the views of the women would hurt their cause greatly.

Their were some parts that I did not agree with however. Through the essay I felt like she had the attitude that African American women did nothing wrong. It seemed like she thought they were perfect and that they were just treated wrongly. I agree that they were treated wrongly, and feel ashamed of my ancestors, but I doubt that every African American female was perfect.

Overall I thought it was a very good essay, and although I was unsure of the topic of the essay in the begining, I soon found it out the more I read.

Artifact Essay

My initial idea for the artifact essay was to write about Twelve Oaks Mall since I am from Novi. My view for why this mall is a symbol of Novi, is because it is one of the main reasons why people visit Novi. Novi is a huge tourist attraction, and everything that they build tries to bring in tourists someway. Twelve Oaks mall is one of the biggest attractions of Novi, but it is just one of the many revenue generating businesses of Novi. I see the whole city of Novi, as trying to draw tourists which is why I would choose to write about Twelve Oaks Mall; the mall definitely draws tourists to Novi. Almost everyone has been there some time.

Class Discussion on Niki's Window

After our discussion on Niki's Window I realized how it did seem that the author was bias against a new Detroit. It seemed as if the author wanted Detroit to stay the old Detroit is has always been. I don't think the author realized that if it werent for the Greektown Casino or any of the other attractions there wouldn't be any Detroit. He probably does't realize that the Casino is there to keep Detroit going, and not to take away from the city's history.

"Nikki's Window"

In this essay Herron is arguing how the classic Detroit is not gone forever. He describes how in Greektown they put on shows trying to impress tourists, when it is the moments like the century old writing on Nikki's Window which are the true prizes. At the same time he agrees that the good ole' Detroit will never be back, but there are still parts that seem as if they are from the past.

In his essay he uses "pastness" to mean what Detroit was like in the past. He is referring to Detroit 50-80 years ago.
In his essay he uses "nostalgia" to refer to how Detroit is like a home to him, and how he wants to return to Detroit when it was a place of pride not shame.
In his essay he uses "humiliation" to refer to how people feel now saying that their from Detroit. He refers to how people around the country look down on Detroit and the people who live there.