Ok, I know about the Black Bottom, so tell me about this...

[GrtGzu]

"Few now remember the days of the Purple Gang, who bootlegged liquor from Canada for Al Capone while city officials either looked the other way or took payola in the deals, or the corrupt tenure of Richard Reading, whose graft-ridden administration resulted in a 1940 bribery conviction. These were days when radio commentators like Gerald Buckley were brazenly executed in hotel lobbies, and when blacks were hardly allowed to live anywhere west of Hastings Street, but were certainly exploited by corrupt politicians who extorted money made off Black Bottom numbers runners." [[http://www.theroot.com/views/what-detroit-needs-hnic?wpisrc=root_more_news ).....

And while you're at it, tell me about Hastings Street.....

[gary]

What do you want to know? Anybody who can speak from first hand knowledge of Hastings St. is bound to be an old timer because it was leveled in the late 50s to make way for what is now Lafayette Park and the Chrysler Expressway [[I-75).

I know it was the center of Black Detroit's business and entertainment district in the 1920s-1950s, but most of my knowledge comes from what I have read. Hastings St. was way before my time, but there are several good books and websites on the subject.

[GrtGzu]

I want to know as much as anybody can tell me, lol! I'm well aware that most people who lived there are indeed probably quite up there in age, and sure I could go and get some books on it, I just thought that there might be some of you out there who had "peoples" who told you the "stories" like my mom and dad and older relatives would tell to me....Sometimes I like it better when it's told out loud as opposed to reading about it in a book...

And don't forget to watch or DVR this at midnite on TCM tonite:

documentary Black Roots [[http://soulfuldetroit.com/tcmdb/title/563118/Black-Roots/) [[1970)
Documentary that gathers a number of African American folk and blues musicians in a room, where they share stories and songs about the black experience in America.

Dir: Lionel Rogosin [[http://soulfuldetroit.com/tcmdb/person/1367383|99609/Lionel-Rogosin/)Cast: Frederick D. Kirkpatrick [[http://soulfuldetroit.com/tcmdb/person/0|56025/Frederick-D-Kirkpatrick/), Gary Davis [[http://soulfuldetroit.com/tcmdb/person/0|57211/Gary-Davis/), Jim Collier [[http://soulfuldetroit.com/tcmdb/person/37041|82607/Jim-Collier/). 63 min, TV-14

[Kamasu_Jr]

My granddad used to say there were hookers, blind-pig joints and brothels on Hastings Street.