When you enter the Detroit Institute of Arts, the first thing that may shock you is the mural by Diego Rivera. As you continue through the building, you may realize the best kept secret is that this is the 6th largest museum collection in the United States. Pay special attention to the African-American works which are divided into periods and themes throughout.

I'm from Chicago, so when I think Museum, I think large, ornate architectural structures with marble flooring. The Motown Museum is nothing like that at all, but it still gave me chills. The museum sits on a residential block, where some of the homes are actually used as businesses. I stared at it from the outside for a long time before going in because in this house, near a funeral home in a relatively average neighborhood, sits the birthplace of Motown. Once I got inside, my mouth was likely agape the entire time. Besides the outfits, gold records and photographs on display, which I expected to see, were things I did not expect to see. For example, Motown founder Berry Gordy's actual apartment - still intact - sitting above the studio where Diana Ross recorded records. I was there, it gave me chills and heart palpitations and I only had to pay ten dollars for it.

Detroit locals walking past the museum were excited to see me, a tourist with a camera, but admitted that, although they the museum almost everyday, they have never taken the time to visit it. However, more than one person told me they …

During my trip to Detroit, I almost forgot that I was in a city with that famous stretch of road, that is perhaps best known in pop culture for being the area where White Rapper/Recording artist Eminem is from. I didn't see the movie, but I do know Eight Mile Road is the stretch of road the separates the suburbs from the city.

What I didn't know until my trip here, is that it's the stretch of road that separated middle class Whites, from those perceived to be lower class....Blacks. The road is a literal and metaphorical symbol of segregation. According to residents who live along the Eight Mile Road, Whites maintained the division by not selling homes to Blacks on the suburban side of the road, which is still significantly segregated today.

One African American man who lives near Eight mile told me as a child in the 60's he remembered a white wall that stood 12 feet tall and he couldn't understand why it was there. He said his mother had to explain to him, “Son, some people just don't like us”. The White Wall is still there, in a small park not …