As I’ve gotten older I’ve had this increasing sense of nostalgia of my childhood. I’ve decided to capture some of my favorite and most memorable people, places, and things from my early life. And contrary to popular belief, there is no such place in Detroit referred to as ‘South Detroit’. But I am from Southwest. This is an ongoing project.
The cross streets of my block. My mother allowed me to only ride my bike from one street to the other, until I was maybe 10. So I suppose one could say I know them well. It’s a very, very short run.
There was once a two-family flat that stood here. I called it ‘home’. There was an old man that lived down the street. His name was Tex. He ran a garage, and had very few teeth. We liked him because he taught us how to fix bikes. His sons all had slick hair, and Cadillacs with gold laced rims. They would always ride through the alley to get to the garage. I would watch them from my backyard, as they blasted music. It is how I heard N.W.A. for the first time.
I used to come here for daycare. It was around the corner from my house. The problem is, no one remembers this except me.
Probably wasn’t my favorite court to play on, but I will never forget how special Speedy Walker Basketball Camp made the neighborhood feel. Every crisp early summer morning we would go right down the street to Speedy’s Camp with dreams of the NBA Draft in mind. The stands were full. It was always sponsored by FILA. One year BJ, DJ and I won the 3 on 3 tournament. We each got a fresh pair of FILAs for our feat. I picked the M Squads. I didn’t wear them all summer because I wanted them to be fresh out of the box when school started. I never saw DJ and BJ again, but I always wanted a cool initial based name like DJ or BJ.
The little catholic school on 23rd Street. We wore uniforms, and the best thing you could do for ‘Dress Up Day’ was add a pair of Air Jordan 5s to the ensemble. The boys and girls played on opposite sides of the street during recess. Sister Leonard had a glass eye and always carried two things with her. One was a gigantic paddle for disciplinary reasons. The other was a bell, which when rang signified ‘Pop n Chips’ or the end of recess.
My crew was Dennis Wheeler, Charles Toland, and Darryl Gaymond. We all had high-top fades and we called ourselves the 23rd Posse (23P for short). I played for the basketball team, which meant I thought I was cool. I wore number 12. Nancy Norwood was a cheerleader and an 8th grader. She danced with me once to SWV ‘Weak’. It’s still one of my favorite songs.
Miss Kajder was my Kindergarten Teacher. She had big hair like Peggy from Married with Children, and lived across the street from school. She was lovely.
When I was 5 or 6 we used to take school trips to the YMCA just down the street. It was swim day and they were teaching all us munchkins how to swim for the first time. They did that by pushing us straight into the deep end and coached you to make it across. What?! I made it to the other end where waiting for me was a rather large woman cheering me on. She was wearing a 1 piece bathing suit with a giant picture of a cat on it. After that I mistakenly went into the girls locker room. I still hate the YMCA. A few years later joined the Boys & Girls Club instead. I will always maintain that the Boys & Girls Club probably saved my life, and made me who I am. I eventually learned how to swim there.
Before we would head to the gym, we’d always get Bona’s Pizza. It was $1.50 for a small pizza. For some reason I would have weird allergic reactions after playing basketball. It wasn’t until college that I made the connection to pizza. Turns out I’m allergic to fresh oregano, but only when my blood gets flowing. Weird. Bona’s had fresh ingredients I guess.