"The connections are coming fast and furious," business journalist Karen Dybis blogs at Detroit Unspun as the city rides the crest of a strong week.
People are defending the city, expressing pride in Detroit and uniting to call this place their home. There are amazing new events. . . . Bumping shoulders with your neighbor has never been easier or more enjoyable. Educating yourself about Detroit, its history and its future has meaning and purpose.
Dybis, a Detroit Regional News Hub contributor, spotlights the new T-shirt design at right, which she sees as timely after announcements about donated emergency vehicles and, a three- year downtown development vision.
It's from a tiny firm started five months ago by Colin McConnell and Michael Haas, and Dybis tees up effusive praise with breezy style.
Yes, I’m going to take a T-shirt slogan and stretch it as far as I can. That's because I truly believe McConnell and Haas tapped somehow into the collective consciousness of this city revival. Not only is their company aptly named – Detroit Respect – but its newest design pretty much should be the slogan of this unbelievable, seismic shift in the city.
Their latest T-shirt offers a local take on a popular phrase – their version reads, "Believe There is Good in Detroit." Take a second look and the two-toned colors straight out of a Wham music video (think “Wake Me Up” era) reveal the secondary message: "Be The Good."
Put up or shut up. Create the change. . . . Believe in Detroit – but do something to affect the city in the present tense. . . . The ball is rolling. Now we’ve all got to keep it going.
Colin McConnell (left) and Michael Haas.
For the record, the young T-shirt peddlers' respect applies to a region.
They list suburban phone numbers and embrace Detroit from downtown Rochester, where a business started by Haas' dad -- Inkwell Screen Printing & Embroidering, Inc. -- doubles as the home of Detroit Respect, LLC.
"All garments made by Detroit Respect are designed and printed in Metro Detroit," its website proclaims. "We believe in giving back to the city we love that is why we do not outsource our work to anywhere else and we never will."
Respect apparently means giving back from a distance, without income or property taxes.
-- Alan Stamm
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Does the firm's location matter? Would you buy a shirt?
