Charlie Langton Walks To School With Detroit Student, Highlighting Fearsome Streets Some Overcome To Get To Class
By Christy Strawser
DETROIT (CBS Detroit) As early morning darkness barely begins to lift, she walks to school through the streets of Detroit's deadliest zip code, clutching her backpack and carrying a crisp ROTC uniform.
As she passes, a man pulls himself down low in a car in a nearby driveway, watching silently as she and her two friends walk to class with WWJ Newsradio reporter Charlie Langton.
Dayjhana Lee, 16, a junior at Denby High School, keeps going.
She walked Langton to school to demonstrate the adversity some Detroit students face in the very basic facet of education -- getting to class.
"(I'm only afraid) that I would never make it to school and never make it home," Lee told Langton about the fear that doesn't hold her back. "We just have to pray and know that God is on our side," she added.
Taking the same route every morning, Lee trudges through streets where some homes have been reduced to rubble. One lot she passes is strewn with trash, a broken roof splayed on the ground as the only remnant of a dwelling, its supports long gone.
Strangers lurk in shadowy corners.
And still she walks.
"The abandoned houses and when it's really black, I'm afraid somebody's going to jump out," Lee said. "We've almost been hit by cars before."
She adds aggressive dogs have been a problem before in the city known for having thousands of stray dogs roaming the streets. "If their tail is not up, it means they're in attack mode," she explained, adding the key is to always stay in groups, remain alert at all times, and never walk ahead of your friends.
Half of Denby's nearly 800 students walk to school, one-quarter take public transportation and one-quarter get a ride, according to the Detroit Free Press. The average one-way commute to Denby is 1.8 miles, per Data Driven Detroit.
There were 33 homicides in the area near Denby in 2011, and 26 in 2014, records show. Aggravated assaults rose from 791 in 2011 to 874 in 2014.
And about 2,762 buildings the city deems dangerous remain in the area surrounding the school.
Overall blight, spotty public transportation and lack of working street lights are an ongoing problem in Detroit. The city made national headlines at the end of last school year when two girls crossing 8 Mile on their way home from Henry Ford High School were struck by a van. One was killed and the other was critically injured.
The next day at about 8 a.m., a 15-year-old girl was raped at gunpoint on her way to the same school.
"Every morning, I say a prayer every morning, 'Take them to school safe, bring them home safe,'" said her mother Ashonta Webb. "The abandoned homes, someone could be waiting there to pull one of them in, you never know. At times you hear gunshots, you hear hollering in the middle of the night. You never know what's going on out there. At night I count my children up, thank God they're home safe and keep it moving."
Is it tougher for her to get an education because of the neighborhood where she lives? Lee doesn't think like that.
"No, not really," she said. "I have a choice to let it affect me and I don't. I go to school and I learn just as well as other people at other schools ... I mean, everybody around me encourages me to go to school, to learn, to grow."
With her bright outlook and shy smile, Lee is a joy to have in class, according to her Spanish teacher Ms. McKay. "She is the type of girl who is always on task, always 'hiding' in the back corner of my class being a bit modest— and then you actually talk to her and you realize just how smart she is," McKay said.
About 16 percent of Denby graduates attend a four-year college after graduation, according to greatschools.org, and only 8 percent complete their first year in time.
Lee is determined to be a success story.
"I'm ready to live above the stereotypes of how everybody sees us," she said.
Lee has ambitions of becoming a chef. She plans to serve in the military after graduation, attend a culinary arts school in New York, and save up to start a restaurant.
Groups like the Detroit Parent Network work with AmeriCorps and other groups to aid families in overcoming barriers to education. DPN offers customized workshops, and more, for families in need of support.
"Every child deserves a champion who is an unapologetic advocate for their successful matriculation through life," DPN CEO Sharlonda Buckman wrote in a recent blog post.
