Black culture of Detroit in the Black Bottom neighborhood. By Emily Veccheoni. The Black Bottom neighborhood was once a cultural hub for the African-American population of Detroit. Home to great migrationers and beyond, the Black Bottom, though often referred to as Paradise Valley, became a must stop for jazz startup. Its destruction devastated the Black community, further contributing to the tense and even hostile relationship between white and black Detroiters. Recent efforts to promote the rich cultural heritage of African-Americans in Detroit reflect the healing of decades of targeting African-American neighborhoods such as the Black Bottom. The Great Migration and the Creation of the Black Bottom. The Great Migration culturally changed cities all over the Northern United States. Detroit was greatly affected due to the influx of automobile industry jobs and Henry Ford's 1914 promise, all employees will make at least $5 per day. The African-Americans who migrated for these jobs needed a place to live and they found homes in a former German ghetto called the Black Bottom, originally named for the rich dark soil on which early settlers farmed. The neighborhood was defined by Verner Street on the North, Hastings Street on the East, Madison on the South, and John R. on the West with Grash Road cutting across the middle. The increase in Detroit's Black population was extreme, going from 5,741 to 1910 to 4,838 and 1920 and then skyrocketing to 120,066 and 1930. In 1922, approximately 3,500 African-Americans were moving to the city each month, changing the cultural climate of the city. These African-Americans dealt with extreme racism, discrimination, and needed a safe haven in order to establish happy, fulfilling lives. Neighborhoods became communities and the Black Bottom quickly became the cultural hotspot for Detroit Blacks. Life in the Black Bottom By 1937, the Black Bottom was one of the most popular neighborhoods for Detroit's Black communities. Commercially, the area was extremely successful, with restaurants, shops, music stores, hotels, and most importantly, 17-night clubs lining Hastings Street. These bars and clubs created an atmosphere in the Black Bottom similar to that of New York City's Harlem in San Francisco's filmore. Famous clubs such as the 606 Horseshoe Lounge, Henry Swing Club, Club 666, The Forest Club, and Club Plantation all attracted Black entertainers from all over the country as did the famous Paradise Theatre. I was walking down Hastings Street. Hey, what body was talking about? Henry Swing Club! Because of the fame the Paradise Theatre brought to the Black Bottom, the named Paradise Valley was often used to describe the area. The jazz and blues movement boomed in Detroit, and musicians like Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Philly Holiday, and countless others all played the Valley. The nightlife of the neighborhood became a melting pot for blacks and whites to drink, dance, gamble, and be entertained side by side. However, this harmony didn't last. In 1939, a suicide occurred and a note was left, informing city officials about the city activities of the Valley. By 1942, gambling investigations were underway, and the neighborhood developed a stigma in the white community, intensifying racial distrust. The homes of the neighborhood were proclaimed as past-lighted expectancy, and eyesore stood steady during the time of the investigation. In the summer of 1943, a riot occurred, flashing out at the Black population for infringement on white jobs and public space. Things continued to go downhill after that, due to the racial tension and further discussed the city behavior and uncivilary appearance of the city. In 1950, Detroit elected Mayor Albert Kobo, and the Black Bottom was condemned as unlivable. The residents were left displaced and devastated after the leveling of the neighborhood in 1954. Mayor Kobo hoped this area would be highly in demand for renewal but was incorrect. The area remained untouched for two years, earning the nickname, Mayor Kobo's Ragweed Acres. The passage of the Highway Act of 1956 finally provided a plan for part of Ragweed Acres, and construction of I-75 began. Famed Chicago architect, Mies Van der Rohe, was also hired this year and began construction on Lafayette Park and Lafayette Towers, a high-rise housing community that was economically unfit for the blacks who were displaced from the area. By the 1960s, the construction of Lafayette Park and Towers was finished and racial tension all over the country was at an all-time high. In the summer of 1967, Detroit blacks outraged by discrimination through police brutality and displacement, poor housing, and cultural destruction, rioting the wrong people and tires. The riots gained national attention and added to the negative connotation associated with Detroit. The riots of 12th Street were so violent and out of hand that Governor George Romney called for the National Guard. Federal troops arrived in Detroit two days after the riots began and the troops made thousands of arrests, put out countless fires, and patroled the streets for weeks in order to assure the safety of Detroiters. Legacy of the Valley and revitalization. Culturally, black Detroit has been in recovery mode from the moment the Civil Rights Act was passed. The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History located on Warren, Northwest of Lafayette Park, opened in 1965. The museum features exhibits about genealogy, African American art, music, scientific discoveries, and other history both about the general black experience in America and that specific to Detroit. The Wright Museum, annual Detroit Jazz Festival, and hitsville USA Motown Museum, not only promote and revitalize black culture, they also represent the culture of Detroit, a city that is always in need of positive press. After the riots, much of Detroit went into decline. However, Lafayette Park remained fairly unscathed. The integrated neighborhood fought the white flight to suburbia that was occurring around the city, and due to the constant integration efforts, the neighborhood is still considered one of the most diverse in Detroit. The area has never been segregated and original buyers often bought or rented there in order to avoid segregation and discrimination. Ruth Blue stated, when I was looking at Lafayette Park, I asked, can black people live here? And I heard yes, so I thought, good, I want to live here, because I had a lot of black friends and colleagues wanted to be able to bring them around. The townhomes and apartments of Lafayette Park and Lafayette Towers are very characteristic of Mies Bandero. Featuring loading staircases, floor-to-ceiling windows, lush surrounding landscape, and other modern architectural touches. As of 2010, the neighborhood seemed fairly immune to economic strife of suffering Detroit, almost unaffected by the population and job loss. However, something changed, for all was not well in former Paradise Valley. In July of 2012, the Department of Housing and Urban Development wore clothes Lafayette Towers and put the property up for auction with a list of mandatory repairs costing $10 million. Detroit Business Mobile Gregory Jackson purchased the properties so that he may provide for the city that he loves and renovate the towers. Jackson, a self-made billionaire, is extremely active in Detroit's African-American community and has high hopes for reestablishing the glory of Lafayette Towers, the cultural legacy of the black community, and the city of Detroit.