Motown Makeover
In a city whose politics have long been dominated by race, Rep. Hansen Clarke defies easy definition—in his person as well as his aisle-crossing politics.
For decades, the people of Detroit have been looked down upon by their more prosperous neighbors. But at the mission, Clarke had a startling message for his audience: in the face of economic hard times, they had something of great value to offer the suburbanites. “The people out there were making six figures a year and now a lot of them are in foreclosure,” he said. “They think this is the end of the world for them, but you and I know better. People like us are strong, not despite what we have been through, but because of it.”