Former NBA star Coleman assists city's rebirth
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Santiago Esparza / The Detroit News
DETROIT
Derrick Coleman remembers getting up at 5 a.m. with his cousins during the winters of their youth to shovel the sidewalks of family and neighbors.
Now a 40-year-old former NBA superstar power forward, Coleman still picks up a shovel to help clear walks and driveways in his neighborhood near Linwood and Clairmount, at the epicenter of the 1967 riots.
"We are still out there doing it," Coleman laughed. "Only now it is moving on to bigger and better things."
Coleman has purchased land on Linwood between Clairmount and Taylor and hopes to acquire more to Gladstone. He is building a pizza shop, cellular phone store and upscale barber shop to accompany the ultra hip Snyx Sneaker Studio built in a strip mall this year dubbed Coleman's Corner.
Next year he has plans for a farmer's market, laundromat and dry cleaner across from the strip mall.
"People here have to go outside the city to spend their money," Coleman said. "Hopefully in two or three years we won't have to go across Eight Mile to get the things we need."
As Coleman adds a new business, he hires people from the neighborhood, which he has never left, despite making millions of dollars playing professional basketball.
City officials praise Coleman's investment -- which he has made without any tax breaks typically requested by companies moving back to the city -- and say they hope it pushes other retailers to return. A recent city-sponsored report estimates that city residents spend roughly $1.7 billion outside Detroit every year.
"It shows (Coleman) believes that there is that kind of buying power in the city," said Douglass Diggs, the director of the city's Planning and Development Department.
Working to alter perceptions
His neighbors do everything from sell sneakers to paint walls to clear snow and even manage shops. Coleman said it is part of his efforts to get people living in the area to change their way of thinking.
"We are talking about setting a standard for what we do in the neighborhood," Coleman said. "It is all about changing the perception of where we are and where we are going."
Coleman wants his neighbors to expect quality products, good service and clean shops. Coleman said everything from crime to economics to dropout rates are impacted by the mindset of people in the area who do not yet believe the neighborhood can be better.
"It is a standard we accept," Coleman said. "That has to change."
To that end, Coleman has no bars or steel sheets to cover windows and doors at his businesses, unlike many other businesses, gas stations and shops in the neighborhood, because he said it makes people think the business is unsafe. Shoppers don't have to pay clerks through bullet-resistant plastic windows and visitors like Josie Wilkey are warmly greeted.
Activism inspires others
Wilkey, a 90-year-old resident of the neighborhood who watched Coleman grow up, jokes that she cannot keep up with him any more because he is so big.
"What he is doing doesn't surprise me," she said of Coleman's longtime activism. "I'm glad to see it."
So is her granddaughter Nakiya Hollis, 12. Nakiya remembers Coleman buying her first squirt gun. Last week, she waited patiently for Coleman to finish talking to visitors at his sneaker studio to share some business tips with him.
"I like some boy clothes," she said, looking around the studio. "But there could be more girl stuff; more purple and pink."
Nakiya said Coleman's work in the neighborhood is an inspiration for young people.
"It is good to know there is someone who cares about people here," she said.
Raymond Joyner, 35, also lives in the neighborhood. "I am part of the neighborhood struggle," Joyner said while preparing to paint at Coleman's cellular phone store. "Without him, the neighborhood would be a dead zone. There would be no hope."
Coleman admits what he is doing does not improve things for the entire city, but he said that is not his intent. He wants to improve the neighborhood in which he was raised.
He owns a Southfield clothing store and a Detroit restaurant, but he is not as involved with them as he is with the project in his neighborhood. For Coleman's Corner, he scouted the land, negotiated purchases and selected the businesses.
Coleman also wants the people living in the neighborhood to participate in its rebirth. Just lending his name or money will not be enough to get the job done, Coleman said.
"It's not like people treat me as Derrick Coleman the basketball player," he said. "I'm just Derrick. I can be myself, and people and kids can be around me. That is different than just supplying your name or writing a check. That makes a difference."
Keith Calhoun, Coleman's 36-year-old cousin, also still lives in the neighborhood. He ran a Christmas tree lot Coleman set up this year because area residents said they had nowhere close to go to buy a tree. The trees sold for $20 each. On Saturday, Coleman gave away trees and food to 250 needy families from the area.
"That's just how he does things," Calhoun said. "He has a vision. This is a bigger endeavor (than playing basketball) for him."
Coleman's changed, too
Tony McDuffy marvels at all Coleman has accomplished. McDuffy is a member of the Central Detroit Christian Community Development Corp. that operates in the same area as Coleman's Corner. And just as the neighborhood has undergone changes, McDuffy sees them in Coleman as well.
Coleman has had brushes with the law dating back to the late 1980s when he was in college. But that has helped to show youngsters that past mistakes don't prevent you from doing good things in life, McDuffy said.
"He got in trouble, but not only did he come back to live here (full-time after playing) he is making a difference. He is putting back into young people in the area. He is showing them that anybody can help a community be healthy."
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Santiago Esparza / The Detroit News
DETROIT
Derrick Coleman remembers getting up at 5 a.m. with his cousins during the winters of their youth to shovel the sidewalks of family and neighbors.
Now a 40-year-old former NBA superstar power forward, Coleman still picks up a shovel to help clear walks and driveways in his neighborhood near Linwood and Clairmount, at the epicenter of the 1967 riots.
"We are still out there doing it," Coleman laughed. "Only now it is moving on to bigger and better things."
Coleman has purchased land on Linwood between Clairmount and Taylor and hopes to acquire more to Gladstone. He is building a pizza shop, cellular phone store and upscale barber shop to accompany the ultra hip Snyx Sneaker Studio built in a strip mall this year dubbed Coleman's Corner.
Next year he has plans for a farmer's market, laundromat and dry cleaner across from the strip mall.
"People here have to go outside the city to spend their money," Coleman said. "Hopefully in two or three years we won't have to go across Eight Mile to get the things we need."
As Coleman adds a new business, he hires people from the neighborhood, which he has never left, despite making millions of dollars playing professional basketball.
City officials praise Coleman's investment -- which he has made without any tax breaks typically requested by companies moving back to the city -- and say they hope it pushes other retailers to return. A recent city-sponsored report estimates that city residents spend roughly $1.7 billion outside Detroit every year.
"It shows (Coleman) believes that there is that kind of buying power in the city," said Douglass Diggs, the director of the city's Planning and Development Department.
Working to alter perceptions
His neighbors do everything from sell sneakers to paint walls to clear snow and even manage shops. Coleman said it is part of his efforts to get people living in the area to change their way of thinking.
"We are talking about setting a standard for what we do in the neighborhood," Coleman said. "It is all about changing the perception of where we are and where we are going."
Coleman wants his neighbors to expect quality products, good service and clean shops. Coleman said everything from crime to economics to dropout rates are impacted by the mindset of people in the area who do not yet believe the neighborhood can be better.
"It is a standard we accept," Coleman said. "That has to change."
To that end, Coleman has no bars or steel sheets to cover windows and doors at his businesses, unlike many other businesses, gas stations and shops in the neighborhood, because he said it makes people think the business is unsafe. Shoppers don't have to pay clerks through bullet-resistant plastic windows and visitors like Josie Wilkey are warmly greeted.
Activism inspires others
Wilkey, a 90-year-old resident of the neighborhood who watched Coleman grow up, jokes that she cannot keep up with him any more because he is so big.
"What he is doing doesn't surprise me," she said of Coleman's longtime activism. "I'm glad to see it."
So is her granddaughter Nakiya Hollis, 12. Nakiya remembers Coleman buying her first squirt gun. Last week, she waited patiently for Coleman to finish talking to visitors at his sneaker studio to share some business tips with him.
"I like some boy clothes," she said, looking around the studio. "But there could be more girl stuff; more purple and pink."
Nakiya said Coleman's work in the neighborhood is an inspiration for young people.
"It is good to know there is someone who cares about people here," she said.
Raymond Joyner, 35, also lives in the neighborhood. "I am part of the neighborhood struggle," Joyner said while preparing to paint at Coleman's cellular phone store. "Without him, the neighborhood would be a dead zone. There would be no hope."
Coleman admits what he is doing does not improve things for the entire city, but he said that is not his intent. He wants to improve the neighborhood in which he was raised.
He owns a Southfield clothing store and a Detroit restaurant, but he is not as involved with them as he is with the project in his neighborhood. For Coleman's Corner, he scouted the land, negotiated purchases and selected the businesses.
Coleman also wants the people living in the neighborhood to participate in its rebirth. Just lending his name or money will not be enough to get the job done, Coleman said.
"It's not like people treat me as Derrick Coleman the basketball player," he said. "I'm just Derrick. I can be myself, and people and kids can be around me. That is different than just supplying your name or writing a check. That makes a difference."
Keith Calhoun, Coleman's 36-year-old cousin, also still lives in the neighborhood. He ran a Christmas tree lot Coleman set up this year because area residents said they had nowhere close to go to buy a tree. The trees sold for $20 each. On Saturday, Coleman gave away trees and food to 250 needy families from the area.
"That's just how he does things," Calhoun said. "He has a vision. This is a bigger endeavor (than playing basketball) for him."
Coleman's changed, too
Tony McDuffy marvels at all Coleman has accomplished. McDuffy is a member of the Central Detroit Christian Community Development Corp. that operates in the same area as Coleman's Corner. And just as the neighborhood has undergone changes, McDuffy sees them in Coleman as well.
Coleman has had brushes with the law dating back to the late 1980s when he was in college. But that has helped to show youngsters that past mistakes don't prevent you from doing good things in life, McDuffy said.
"He got in trouble, but not only did he come back to live here (full-time after playing) he is making a difference. He is putting back into young people in the area. He is showing them that anybody can help a community be healthy."
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