DIY Detroit by Kimberley Kinder

Kimberley Kinder’s book argues that in cash-strapped cities, residents have two options; either they handle their civil needs on their own, or they suffer from the lack of it. Detroit is her main example of a city where the residents are on their own to pick up garbage, maintain abandoned properties, and even to perform law-enforcement duties.

The idea of local residents having to handle everything on their own is nothing new. In parts of Vermont, you have to take your trash to the depot yourself, because there’s no trash pickup. In order to have public trash collection, the property taxes would have to be raised, which nobody wants. However, Vermont is full of pig farms, and the trash can be fed to pigs, so that offsets the cost. It would not work in a city like New York or Chicago. While services like ambulances and fire departments can be staffed by volunteers, as they are in small towns, it would not be feasible in a large urban area.

The chapter “Seeking New Neighbors” has the residents padlocking vacant houses and finding buyers themselves, rather than risk having the place sit empty. The empty house phenomena is one of Detroit’s biggest blights, because they obviously attract drug-using squatters. Some banks are open to this, because it saves them having to constantly replace stolen pipes and boilers. Others are not open this idea, and the houses become an eyesore. Though not mentioned in this book, there is a concept called “attractive nuisance,” where a property owner can be penalized if his property attracts trespassers. For instance, let’s say you own a house with a pool, but you’re way for a week at a time, and teens keep sneaking in to use it. The Sheriff can call this an attractive nuisance because of the hassle it causes him, but the property taxes pay for him to keep it safe. Detroit, however, lost its tax revenue, so the police can do nothing. It’s up to the neighbors.

Further chapters deal with urban farms, neighborhood watch, street lighting, and land use. With the city government practically non-functional, volunteering is vital. However, I’m not entirely sympathetic to everything in this book, starting with the handling of the empty house problem. Volunteering to maintain a property is great, but why aren’t the residents lobbying to have them demolished? So few people are moving into the city, so why would anyone think the houses will sell. The “Seeking New Neighbors” chapters discusses the foreclosures, and how residents walk away from $50,000 mortgages and pay $10,000 cash for the home next door. The residents could easily seek out an area with better police service, offer a pittance for a county-foreclosed home, promise to start paying the taxes, and there you go. Blocks of foreclosed homes could then be torn down and turned into farms.

Some of the problems here were discussed in an earlier book called The Metropolitan Revolution. It cites Detroit as an example of the “fractured municipality,” where the mayor and the selectmen can’t agree on what to do. Public works end up stalling, and the community decays. The role of the politicians is mostly avoided in DIY Detroit, and I don’t fault the author for it. I doubt they’re of much help, especially not after Mayor Kilpatrick spent the city’s money on his girlfriends.

Witness: A Hunkpapha Historian’s Strong-Heart Song of the Lakotas

The value of these journals is that they were written by a Native American, but using western writing style that Americans could understand. Josephine Waggoner came from the Lakota tribe, but she was educated at the Hampton Normal school. She writes about the organization of the tribes (and sub tribes) along with their history, customs, and mythology.

Waggoner discusses how the tribes were divided into groups that remained near rivers and hunting grounds, rarely going far from their familiar territory. When settlers began moving in, the various groups were forced to move, and though she doesn’t expressly say it, the migration probably crowded the territory. That would’ve put a strain on the hunters’ supply of game.

The most fantastic story in the book is called Hampton and Back to Standing Rock. Two boys get into a dispute with a farmer, he tries to beat them, they beat him back, and off they run. These boys travel over mountains and rivers with meager food, all the way to Chicago, then join Hobos on a train ride home. Then they get taken in by Sitting Bull, who rails at an Army Major for conning the boys. The chapter describes how the schools used tricks to force the kids to learn English; they would house different tribes, like Apache and Sioux, in the same room. Since they didn’t speak the same language, they had no choice but to speak English to each other. However, the tribal work ethic shows through, like the time where some boys fix the cabin of a Black family, at their own expense.

My only fault with the book is that it is a little too extensive. I would rather see this book divided into several, with the author’s life story, chief’s biographies, and descriptions of tribal life in separate volumes. The story of her own life would make for a great book in itself. I would also be interested to learn about her interaction with tribes that she would never have encountered, like the Oneida from New York and the Apache from the Southwest. But I’m grateful to be able to read a book like this, because it describes the Native American experience from someone who knew it firsthand.

A Culinary Tour of India by Vogesh Singh

The book begins with philosophical and health related aspects of Indian gastronomy.  Vata is what controls the flow of air and breathing, while pitta controls heat. Spicy foods are to be avoided in summer, and one is advised not to eat herbs found in dry areas. Rather than a cookbook, this text is all about the different types of food on the subcontinent, and the ways in which they are eaten.

    One of the main points of this book is that certain foods are meant for occasions. In the north, there is something called Dastarkhwan, a ceremonial meal where certain foods are expected to be served. It includes kebabs, beef in gravy, vegetables in gravy, bead, and rice. This meal, however, would only be eaten by Muslims, Jews, or Christians, because Hindu don’t eat meat. If you’re a vegetarian, then Indian cooking will be a more viable option than any of the frozen vegetarian meals you find in the supermarket. A massive range of cooking oils, spices, and ingredients are used, so you can have great options with no meat, fish, poultry, or eggs.

    The book includes a wonderful chapter on Hyderabad cuisine, heavy in chilies. On the Malabar coast, seafood is very common, while the chief staple food is always rice. The region is also known for pickled fruits and vegetables, with a sour taste. Lemon and tamarind predominate, and you have pickled mangoes and other fruits. You also get vegetables that are sautéed, and others that are deep fried.

   My only fault with this book is that the photos that accompany the entries are in black and white, while the color photos that come at the end are of poor quality. When you are photographing food, you want the photo to convey the rich colors, which make the dish look more appetizing.

Women's America: Refocusing the Past

The introduction to this book suggests that women’s history (and I mean in the USA) can be studied in stages, with each era of history bringing changes and progress. Take for instance Amelia Earhart, which the authors use as an example of courage. While she was definitely an innovator, as there were few women aviators at the time, she wasn’t the first woman in the USA to show courage. Half a century earlier, hadn’t thousands of women taken risks when their families moved into the Great Plains? Anyone who saw the recent remake of True Grit knows that the “pioneer woman” of the 1800’s had to have assumed great risk. It is for this reason, that the authors advise the following criteria when reading this book; identify the historical source, ask who created it, ask why, ask how the attitudes (or laws) of the time influenced the recording, and ask who it was meant for.

     An early chapter here covers the issue of women in early America, with special emphasis on those that were enslaved. The authors write about how rice harvesting was a back-breaking job, often done by the women. They cut through the Uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima stereotypes, and show us how the reality was even worse. The women performed hard manual labor, and relatively few were tasked strictly with cooking, cleaning, and childcare.

   A more interesting piece is the issue of something called “Interspousal Tort Immunity.” Under English Common Law, the husband and wife were considered one person, so they could not sue each other. The wife could therefore not claim any damages of her husband beat her or stole from her. The chapter is comically titled “Why Diamonds Really Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” in that the jewelry bestowed as an engagement gift was in fact a defense. A woman could sue a man for breaking an engagement, because it was considered a breach of contract. However, in the event of such a broken promise, she was expected to keep the jewelry, so she wouldn’t have to humiliate herself by going to court. As for a married woman, her jewelry was the last thing that creditors could seize if her husband defaulted his debts.

    As I mentioned before, women of the pioneer era are detailed, along with convents in the cities. The contribution of the nuns was covered in an earlier book titled Women of Faith, where the Chicago nuns were the founders of education for children in Chicago. In Women’s America, however, the New York nuns are said to have gotten some political clout (though not necessarily power) by establishing childcare and education institutions. It was the only situation where the male politicians would listen to the women, because without the nuns and their schools, the city would be caring for the poor on its own. In anti-tax USA, the last thing the politician wants to do is tax the men to pay for social services. As discussed in Women of Faith, the anti-Catholic sentiment of the time encouraged the establishment of the convent schools, as a way of alleviating (what was seen as) the Irish Catholic root of poverty.

   Further chapters discuss the change in rape prosecution, how the boredom of the post-war housewife led to Friedan’s feminist movement, and the changes with regard to education, health, technology, law, ad government. The authors do great justice to the history of American women with their unbiased research and writing. From the very beginning, they advise the scholar to examine the primary and secondary sources, so they can be aware of bias and undue favoritism. While this might seem new to some, keep in mind that bias is always evident in history. Remember the old adage, “history is written by the victors?” Now remember the other one, that “to the victors go the spoils of war?” By studying the sources carefully, you can get to the root of history, and cut through all the prejudices. That in itself is the basis for the study of any history.

Iranian Jews in Israel by Alessandra Cecolin

Alessandra Cecolin doesn’t take the most optimistic platform in this book. According to her, the Iranian Jews have, since 1948, made very attractive pawns for Zionism. She writes of how they were encouraged to emigrate to Israel by both the secular and religious parties, both of whom wanted to use their Iranian brethren for political gain. The secular Zionists wanted the Iranian Jews to give up many of their customs, while the religious Zionists favored Ashkenazi (German) customs. Before I go further, I want to state that this was common for all Jews in Muslim countries, be they from Iran, Yemen, Morocco, or Ethiopia. The Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews never had their customs respected.

    The myth of Muslim tolerance is shown in this book to be just that, a mere myth. The author includes many examples of Persian Muslims abusing their Jewish neighbors, through massacres, mass thefts, and forced conversions. The Jews of Mashad, for instance, converted to Islam en masse in the 1830’s, while practicing Judaism in secret, so they were relieved to be able to emigrate to Israel. Part of the reason behind the anti-Jewish activities, though not directly stated here, was the Iranian government’s weakness. Moving to a country like Israel, even at the cost of becoming a second class citizen, was a better alternative to a government that couldn’t protect you. A sizeable number of Jews went to Herat, Afghanistan, rather than say “Alla Hu Akbar,” so perhaps the emigration part wasn’t really new to them?

   Altogether, the image that Cecolin paints of Iran’s Jews comes off as bleak. However, this book is missing some essential documentation. There aren’t enough firsthand accounts of Iranian Jewish life in Israel, nor reprints of speeches or letters. It might also make sense to compare the situation of Israel’s Iranian Jews with that of other non-European Jews, like the Yemenite community. However, with Israel’s Mizrahi community becoming ever more powerful, whatever marginalization is probably waning fast. 

Paul Solberg: Ten Years in Pictures

Solberg is a photographer of many talents. In this book there’s a black and white photo titled “Son of  Farmer,” that I first mistook for something Dorothy Lange might have shot. Many of his black and white portraits evoke Lange’s Depression-era work, with the emphasis on the subject’s character. As for his black and white landscapes, they could pass for Ansel Adams. His male nudes and flower still life photographs bear a close resemblance to those of Robert Maplethorpe.

I’m not sure about the color landscapes, however. This book includes one from the Southwest USA, framed by an old metal sign, and I’m not sure how well it works. There’s something about his landscapes that look much better in black and white, unlike his portraits, which look great regardless. It probably has to do with his studies in anthropology, and according to this book, he studied at Cape Town. Now that is something I would like to see documented in his photos.

Never Built Los Angeles

Greg Goldin and Sam Lubell begin by treating LA as an architect’s paradise. For every decade, and innovative architect shows up, adds style to the city, and move on. Frank Lloyd Wright, Rudolph Schindler, Frank Gehry, they all made their mark on the city. The problem is, the greatest works of architecture were funded for private buildings, not public ones. There’s also the issue of what happens when the architects move on.

    Some of the designs in this collection are practical, like Richard Neutra’s “Rush City” from the 1920’s. The glass-box style seems less like fantasy nowadays, because more people are opting to live in small apartments near the place where they work. Others, like A.C. Martin’s Egyptian Swim Club, are beautiful, but costly. By the 1950’s, you had practical ideas for building, but the massive scale would hit road blocks. Take the Bunker Hill project, for instance; it was a sound plan, with regard to transportation and pedestrian safety, similar to London’s Barbican. Bunker Hill would have residential buildings surrounding parkland, and the roads would be tunnels underneath. The problem was, it would require demolition of whole residential blocks. You’re unlikely to get approval for that. It may have worked in New York City, with Lincoln Center and Stuyvesant Town, but not in Los Angeles. The city had no Robert Moses to bully politicians into bulldozing the neighborhoods.

   One of the most ironic projects in the book is the Dobbins Cycleway, built in 1900 and named after the mayor of Pasadena. It was a massive elevated roadway, made of wood from Oregon, and designed to connect residential and leisure areas. There was even a bike-sharing program, much like today’s Citibike, where you could rent a bike at one end and drop it off at another. The Dobbins Cycleway died after the automobile became available, along with electric streetcars. There are calls for efforts to bring it back, but with only $4 million a year to spend on cycle roads, the city can’t meet the massive cost. Building expenses are higher in 2016 than they were in 1900.

    The sad thing about this book is that almost all of the ideas were good. So many of them, even the ones from the 1920’s, promote apartment blocks with nearby rail service. If LA had pushed for light rail and electric streetcars at the time, then it wouldn’t have needed the massive expressways that slash the city and pollute it. Based on maps of LA, I suspect that a lot of it had to do with availability of land. LA is a coastal city, and to the East is just more land, so you can build right out into the hills and deserts. Remember the scene from E.T. where the boys race their bikes through the hills? They’re full of half-finished houses (big, I might add), and in the 33 years since, more neighborhoods like that have been built.

    After reading The Metropolitan Revolution, Walkable City, and other similar theses, I think that this will change in the next few years. The foreclosure crisis has shadowed the home-buying ideal all over the USA, and bigger isn’t better anymore. Maybe Los Angeles will see abandoned neighborhoods will be torn down and replaced with apartments, connected by light rail?