I was up north at my in-law’s cottage for Memorial Day when I heard that Gil Scott-Heron had died.  Shitty stuff always happens up there,  not in the cottage itself – the warm and friendly hub for the American wing of my family – but in the rest of the world. Terrorist attacks, deaths, injuries, all seem to be announced when we are in the snoozy warm hug of the cottage,

I “discovered” Gil and his glorious voice – with its bass laden boom, gramophone crackle, and gravel pit depth – last year.  His latest record “I’m New Here” blew me away with it’s raw emotion, and helped me shovel lashings and lashings of freshly delivered Michigan snow.

Here in sleepy Milford Michigan we are utter slaves to Comcast. When will someone come and save us?

The consensus amongst those in the know in Fleet Street was that England would flounder – that we’d have a horribly inadequate squad and also that there was no youth coming through. On the eve of the last Premier League games I can say they they were horrendously wrong. We can be positive again, England has youth and plenty of it.

Tonight I watched the feature length documentary “Mugabe and the White African”. This highly emotional film covers the plight of Michael Campbell and his family as they fight against Mugabe’s thugs for the right to stay on their farm. From the beginning there is no doubt that Campbell is in the right, he employs hundreds of locals, works the land, and is successful. During the documentary, which is a beautifully shot film in its own right, you are struck by Campbell and his son in law’s bravery. A wonderful, tragic, poetic film that shows Mugabe to be a racist thug desperately clinging to power.

Joe Louis IS Detroit, from the Kronk Gym – a haven for boxers that churned out stars, to the stadium where The Redwings play you see Joe Louis at every turn in Motown. If you stroll past Jefferson Ave & Woodward you’ll be greeted by a massive fisted hand; a sculpture tribute to Joe Louis. The clenched iron fist is bare, without a glove, and is aimed at both his enemies inside and outside the ring.

Joe Louis became a strong symbol, for second chances and against the sheer stupidity of racism when he battered The great white Nazi hope Max Schmeling in his second fight against the German, ripping into him in a frenzied blur. He’s a true Detroit legend.

The first time I saw the Guardian Building I was in the back of my history professor’s car. He had offered to give me a guided tour of Detroit, a town he was obviously very proud of, and I gladly accepted.

The lavish beauty of Detroit’s Guardian Building is arresting and unexpected – it is a gorgeous Aztec Art Deco skyscraper. It rivals New York’s Chrysler Building, maybe even betters it, but it is an unknown pearl. This ornate, pre-Wall Street crash, Babel is a 36 floor ode to the possibilities of a blank chequebook – but also a reminder that the sky is no longer the limit; a building of such glaring opulence couldn’t be built today.

Motown, the United States, the whole world in fact, was glued to TV screens for the Royal Wedding on Friday but what some Detroiters might not know about is our connection to the Royal Family.

“Special” Relationship?

With the current levels of Royal hype in America you’d be forgiven for thinking that the “special” relationship between the USA and England has been around for a long time. You’d be wrong. The US in the 1930s had a very different mindset toward its former colonial motherland, with immigrants from Europe looking back over their shoulder at a Britain that was seen to be a fusty feudal relic – and precisely what they had left Europe to get away from.

To make matters worse America saw Edward VIII’s abdication as a very personal slight. In Britain upper class chins wagged about how the King had to abdicate because the woman he wanted, Wallace Simpson, was a divorcee. In America though, the belief was that he was forced to abdicate because he was marrying an American. In truth, both were factors in Edward’s abdication. What was even more injurious to American perceptions of the Royals was that Edward, dashing playboy that he was, was succeeded by Albert – a stuttering shambles of a man. Not only was Albert considered un-regal but even his name was awkward, sounding far too German – so he was crowned George VI. His wife, a royal fixture, who later became the queen mother , was also seen as dowdy and overweight. Together they were the worst combination, a couple without a stately feel and an ugly one to boot. Elizabeth was so stung by the press abuse that she went on a diet for 6 months before she crossed the Atlantic.

Detroit.

As they crossed Canada, and then headed back towards Niagara Falls, Elizabeth made a point of pulling her husband away from distant stages and platforms and into crowds. Attitudes changed swiftly, and by the time their train moved through Windsor Ontario, they could look over to Detroit for their first glimpse of the United States. The Motown skyline welcomed the Royals with a huge sign. The King had seen the US before as a young man – but his wife, “Bettie” her first viewing of America – indeed the first time a Queen had seen the United States – was of Detroit.