02/22/2023
Named for its dark marsh soils, was the center of Black life in , in the early 1900's and continuing through the Great Migration, when people moved to the city in large numbers from South. Hastings Street, which once held the largest concentration of Black-owned institutions and businesses in the city — as well as places that supported its internationally renowned music culture — was demolished to build the Chrysler Freeway. Black Bottom saw the likes of jazz legends such as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald. With music in its DNA, Detroit’s small all-Black community acted as a backdrop for thriving clubs and bars. With about 350 businesses in Black Bottom, it was dubbed Detroit’s Black Wall Street. Those who grew up in Black Bottom include Coleman A. young, Detroit's first black mayor; Joe Louis, the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949; and Ralph Bunche, the first black recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, honored in 1950. Today Lafayette Park is the on the former site of Black Bottom. A portion of Paradise Valley is now Ford Field. 💫 ❤️🖤💚
