Publisher’s Note: The publisher has had no role in editing this column, which is published as the writer submitted it with the intention of publication in BEACONS.
By Carly Newton
Stephen Henderson won a Pulitzer Prize for his columns about the city of Detroit while working at the Detroit Free Press.
Henderson’s columns were insightful because of his unique and personal view of the city. Because he grew up in Detroit, moved away, and then moved back, Henderson has an insider and outsider perspective of the city’s problems and how they should be fixed.
Henderson’s first column “Leases? Sales? City must find cash to get out of choking debt” is a complicated read for any person who does not have the first idea about a Detroit financial review team report. But the more you read, the more Henderson does a good job of making sense of all the gibberish. If you can get past the first column, it really is worth the read.
“It's not about Detroit's budget … It’s about Detroiters’ lives: City leaders have forgotten what really matters” begins with a sad story about a young boy who died in a house fire because of the city’s “depleted ambulance corps.” As well as an elderly woman’s house burning to the ground because the closet fire department was 20 minutes away. It seems odd that these situations are happening in the United States. There is no reason a country that is as developed as the U.S., ambulances and fire departments could ever be in a shortage. Sadly, Henderson points out that this has become a reality for the city of Detroit.
Henderson’s leadership approach in “Hollow protests are wasteful – find real ways to effect change” was powerful. The protestors he refers to in this column want to fix Detroit’s problems by themselves and they do not want outside help. He does not belittle the people of Detroit for wanting to protest, but he criticizes how they are protesting. By blocking traffic, he believes they are looking for attention and he mentions other, more impactful ways of protesting — such as cleaning up trash on streets that are covered in it or staffing recreation centers in Detroit.
This was the most impactful column because Henderson listed several different ways the protestors could help the city instead of blocking traffic and crying for attention. This is the kind of writing that obviously deserves a Pulitzer Prize. Time and time again, Henderson is not afraid to tell it how it is.
“You didn’t need a tour to get Orr’s message,” “Bill has come due for our bad decisions” and “A better future for Detroiters” discussed a man named Kevyn Orr. Orr is important because he has a plan that “touches on all of the city's financial dysfunction and managerial chaos.” Orr is an integral figure to the future of Detroit and Henderson does a great job at explaining what he does and what he will do to help with the finances of a city in shambles.
Henderson got political in his column “Wake up, White House, get in the game.” In this piece, he calls out the White House for not knowing how to help Detroit, while also laying the groundwork for then President Obama on what he should do to help the city. It is sad to see that a journalist had a better plan to help Detroit than the President of the United States.
The column “Finally, dispelling the myths behind Detroit’s decline” by Henderson, discusses how crucial it is to not blame Detroit’s problems on one factor. For example, saying Black leadership ruined Detroit or high taxes caused Detroit’s demise.
Henderson argued that headlines like this are wrong and they overlook what caused Detroit to file bankruptcy. He points out that it was a cumulation of factors over many years, and it should not be blamed on one factor. Henderson is wise and insightful in this column as he speaks from the heart about the root of his hometown’s problems. He would make a great politician.
Henderson’s column “Race plays a complex role in Detroit election” discussed the issue of race in elections. He uses personal anecdotes from a previous mayoral campaign in Baltimore to discuss and compare it to the mayoral campaign in Detroit.
The Baltimore mayoral campaign was between a White man and a Black man, and Henderson, who is a Black man, believed that the city of Baltimore should have a Black mayor to better represent the constituents within the city. Henderson believed this until he was scolded by a fellow Black friend who told him “You're using race as a crude tool for simple analysis. I wish you could see that it's more complicated than that.”
Henderson, remembering the conversation he had with his friend, urged his readers to look beyond the skin color of the two candidates running for mayor in Detroit — one Black man and one White man. The two campaigns were similar and Henderson’s comparison of the two was powerful. He was able to put his bias aside and realize, without thinking of skin color, who would be the best candidate for Detroit. More people should learn to think critically like Henderson did in this column.
In Henderson’s column “Detroit needs help, and this is the start” he explains what bankruptcy means for the city and he does this in a way most people would be able to understand. Despite the complicated topic, Henderson is able to describe the benefits of bankruptcy and how this move would give the city more money for much needed services like police and fire. These services could then help the very housing projects that Henderson grew up in and are now filled with crime and unsafe environments for families.
Henderson’s transparency in this column makes it more personable and emotional. His ability to relate to the people he wants to help makes the rest of his columns more authentic and genuine.
There is a lot to learn in Henderson’s columns about Detroit. His columns could make any reader feel for the people of Detroit who deserve better than what they have gotten from their government. Henderson, being both a journalist and a constituent, had the ability to bring attention to the problems of Detroit and he did. Henderson is exactly what it means to be a journalist.
Comments