By Simon Albaugh
Hamtramck, Mich. – Cities are finally starting to take the long process of going back to a new normal. Gov. Whitmer has already opened businesses in the larger regions of the state, with all the other regions reopening around a week from now. But maybe we shouldn’t lose track of what the area’s communities are still going through.
Hamtramck is located directly inside what was once the third-worst hotspot for COVID-19 Cases in the United States. Here, the local business-centered economy suffered immensely, with some of the most recognizable business on its sprawling Jos. Campau Street shuttered for what’s now been months.
The closure of businesses isn’t meant to take away from the near daily announcements that someone, connected to the community one way or another, lost their life to the Pandemic. The official count for people who lived and died in the city due to COVID-19 is 22 people.
Surrounding the small enclave is Detroit, with 11,000 confirmed cases. While Hamtramck is currently at 175 cases. It’s an effect of what Hamtramck Mayor Karen Majewski calls a “going it alone” tactic, involving the mobilization of every limited effort that the community has at its disposal.
“We are a small town with a really strong sense of identity,” Mayor Majewski said. “And a sense that we go it alone, right? That if nobody’s going to save us, we’re going to save ourselves.”
With small towns like Hamtramck, the city government is extremely limited in resources. They can make official recommendations and amplify the messaging of larger organizations like the Center for Disease Control or the World Health Organization, but aside from that, it’s difficult for the city government to ease the pain.
“Good morning Hamtramck!”
Almost every day since the beginning of April, Mayor Majewski has been working with all the local community efforts in a series of Facebook videos. The videos cover all the latest case information, any community resources like food distributions, and some lighter messages at the end.
Lately, Mayor Majewski has been including a book of the day, and even wearing a different, themed t-shirt to make the difficult messages a little easier.
“I mean, that just kind of evolved,” Mayor Majewski said. “It wasn’t something I sat down and thought about, but I think I did it one day and then thought, this is pretty cool. I’ve got a pile of T shirts here. It’ll take me a while to run through all of these. Yeah, this is kind of fun.”
Mayor Karen Majewski starts every facebook broadcast with “Good Morning Hamtramck!” Every broadcast ends with a T-shirt and a Book of the day. (Photo courtesy of Karen Majewski.)
The videos have views in the hundreds, showing that a lot of people depend on those as a resource for information during what is nothing short of a troubling time. Throughout the comment sections, community leaders all congregate virtually to discuss the day’s news.
Make no mistake, the pandemic has been affecting this small city at every level. Even the mayor, whose role has expanded in order to keep up with the needs of the community, lost months of business in order to comply with Governor Whitmer’s Stay-At-Home orders.
Usually this time of year, the mayor would be visiting her mother in Illinois as well, although she probably won’t make a visit any time soon because of travel advisories.
Hamtramck’s Own Plague Doctor.
People around the city have more or less picked up some of the slack on what the Government isn’t able to do. Local Newspapers have published guidelines for the CARES Act grants, Mosques and Churches have regularly provided massive food distributions for families in need. One person has even taken it upon themselves to start a movement in the city.
Springtime in Hamtramck is a time when the trash and debris is freed up by the wind. Trash and sanitation can be a difficult problem within the tight streets and closed alleyways. So a masked sanitation volunteer, known as Plaguedoctor Trashman decided to make a spectacle of his cleaning the city.
“I decided to do this because I found the pandemic trash depressing,” said Trashman. “I chose the costume to maintain anonymity. I just decided that complaining didn’t help but doing something myself could inspire others.”
Plaguedoctor Trashman has been an iconic figure during the Pandemic. Partially theatrical, partially civic, the Plaguedoctor has inspiring for the community during this strange time. (Photo by Jonathan Weier)
Plaguedoctor prefers to keep their real identity a secret. In their real life, they live and work in Hamtramck. In Plaguedoctor’s words, they fit in here.
For some time, people have been seeing the work of Plaguedoctor Trashman as a cause to get behind. Although they’re not taking donations at the moment, for a while there were a number of people going out to clean alongside the doctor. Donations were often left for the Plaguedoctor on people’s porches.
It’s something small, but things like this do give people something good to root for in a time when people don’t always see the humanity in life.
“I like political theatre,” said Mr. Trashman. “I wanted to do something, so this is what I did.”
