Educational resources for:
Motor City & Motown: Detroit in Regional and National Context
Thematic Overview
The automobile promoted an industry, a culture, and a complex multicultural community of migrants from the South and immigrants from abroad, a mixture of profit and communitarian ideals that describes Detroit's unique position in the American urban dynamic. These ABJ shows reflect on black Detroit, the automobile as its signature icon, and its modern significance in American life.
Featured Show Segments
Comprehension Questions
Questions:
What was Berry Gordy’s intent in writing his book?
Questions:
How did Berry Gordy get the money to produce his first record?
Questions:
Why does Berry Gordy believe so many people do not achieve their potential?
Questions:
What are the two kinds of clout that Earl Graves identifies that African Americans have?
What does Dave Bing identify as the key factors in his company’s growth?
Questions:
Why did Dave Bing consciously avoid doing business with the federal government?
Questions:
How does Earl Graves describe the concern that black consumers don’t fully support black businesses?
Questions:
How does Nathan Conyers, owner of an area automobile dealership, assess the progress in increasing the number of African American auto dealerships?
Questions:
According to Charles Harrell, what is necessary for black auto dealers to succeed in the face of location and credit problems?
Questions:
How does Theresa Jones respond to the reluctance of African Americans to buy cars from black dealers?
Thematic questions
What connections do you see between the issues raised in these programs?
How does Detroit’s history as a working-class, industrial city get expressed in such issues as public housing or the creation of Motown Records?
What connections do you see between the issues of black entrepreneurship raised by Dave Bing and Earl Graves and the experience of Berry Gordy?
Websites
Automobile in American Life and Society
http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/
A project of the University of Michigan-Dearborn to serve as a resource for the Science and Technology Studies Program at the University. Covers the subjects of design, environment, gender, labor and race. Accessible to the general public and provides teacher resources to accompany subject area discussion.
In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience
http://www.inmotionaame.org/home.cfm
An exhibit presented by Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Chronicles the numerous migration experiences of Africans and Haitians to America and African-Americans within the country, including the migrations that brought people to Detroit.
United Auto Workers
http://www.uaw.org/
Official site for the United Auto Workers. Contains news and information about the union and its members. The “history” section includes information on the African-American worker, Detroit, and UAW’s efforts in the Civil Rights Movement.
Motown Historical Museum
http://www.motownmuseum.com/mtmpages/index.html
Official site of “Hitsville U.S.A.” Provides a brief history of Motown and the recording studio, as well as visitor information.
Classic Motown
http://classic.motown.com/
Motown Records official site. Includes artist profiles, tour and recording information, and audio and video clips.
Related Films
Motown: The Early Years
DVD. 40 minutes.
Directed by T.J. Lubinsky. PBS, 2005.
A combination of recent performances and vintage film clips of Motown performers. Includes interviews with label recording artists.
Struggles in Steel
VHS. 58 minutes.
San Francisco: California Newsreel, 1996.
A documentary on the struggles of African American steelworkers in America. Contains interviews of more than 70 workers placed in historical context from the Homestead Strike of 1892 through the Great Migration and the Civil Rights Movement to the closure of mills in the late 20th century.
Finally Got The News
VHS. 55 minutes.
New York: First Run/Icarus Films, 2003.
Documentary on the League of Revolutionary Black Workers. Focuses on the organization’s activities inside and out of Detroit’s auto factories and the UAW as they tackle workplace issues facing all autoworkers.
Books
Fujita, Kuniko. Black Worker’s Struggles in Detroit’s Auto Industry, 1935-1975. Saratoga, California: Century Twenty One Pub. 1980
Gordy, Berry. To Be Loved: The Music, the Magic and the Memories of Motown. New York: Warner Books, 1994.
Autobiography of Motown’s founder and his experiences with the company and its artists.
McShane, Clay. Down the Asphalt Path: The Automobile and the American City. New York: Columbia University Press, 1995.
An examination of transportation and its effects on urbanization, with a particular focus on how the automobile shaped the American city.
Meier, August and Elliot Rudwick. Black Detroit and the Rise of the UAW. New edition, with forward by Joe W. Trotter. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2007.
A labor history classic that discusses the social and institutional relationships between Detroit’s black community and white institutions that defined their work environment.
Smith, Suzanne E. Dancing in the Street: Motown and the Cultural Politics of Detroit. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1999.
Examination of Motown records birth and growth in the context of grassroots black cultural politics in Detroit.
Additional show segments and comprehension questions
Questions:
What are some of the dangers of mining that the miners and their families describe?
What is the attitude of the miners toward unionized autoworkers in Detroit?
Questions:
What does John Huddleston say about the problems in the mines before unions?
Questions:
What are some of the concerns raised by Ken Cockrel in the brief series of historical clips that begin the program?
What does the retrospective suggest about Kenny Cockrel’s political philosophy?
How does the death rate of coal miners compare with the death rates of workers in other industries?
