Motown! It’s the Motor City! Music is alive and everywhere! It’s a musical

happening in everyday life! 6 Sounds like a fantasy world, doesn’t it? Well my

adventurous reader let me tell you, this land is not fantasy, it is not a myth. It did not

come out of a book, or even some young child’s most wistful dreams. Though it did

involve filmmaking, it was no movie storyboard.

The “land” you are trying to picture is a town, city actually, which was bustling and full

of activity. It is filled with African Americans traveling to the North in the hopes of better

lives and economic opportunities.4 Detroit Michigan is the city I’m talking about, the 2nd

most rapidly growing city in the U.S. of A. 2 Back then, it was nicknamed the “Motor …show more content…
“Gordy endeavored to reach across the racial divide with music that could

touch all people, regardless of the color of their skin…” -tribute to Berry Gordy1

And the artists knew it too…

“I recognized the bridges we crossed, the racial problems and the barriers we

broke down with music.”-Smokey Robinson6

“When it came to music, segregation didn’t mean a thing in some of those towns,

and if it did, black and white fans would ignore the local customs to attend the

shows.” –Mary Wilson of the Supremes6

Motown’s music was powerful…it had the power to bring people together and

cause them to forget all the rules and dividers, they came together, and they