From a distance, Detroit’s problems seem all too clear and simple to understand: The street lamps don’t work; houses by the score lay abandoned; and the city is broke. Listen to the people, and you quickly understand that the situation is complicated and that it didn’t sneak up on them.
Renaissance Journalism has played a key role in organizing a bold, collaborative effort by nine news organizations to provide ongoing coverage of the financial crisis that has engulfed the city of Detroit and other public agencies in Michigan.
Another confession: My wife and I are infatuated with Hawaiian music and hula. At its heart, hula is about storytelling. Through dance, chants and music, performers can tell stories about anything from the courtship between two lovers to the epic myth of the creation of the Hawaiian islands at the beginning of time. And the best performers do it with an almost spiritual reverence to their history, culture and traditions.
