Chris Donovan

Introduction by Eric Woodyard, Flint Native, ESPN Reporter

Flint, Michigan. Boy, oh, boy. I could go on and on about my hometown. The place that raised me. My city. My people. My hood. So, where do I start?

The dictionary definition of “flint” is “a massive hard dark quartz that produces a spark when struck by steel.” And as a city native, I can personally tell you that this definition is the essence of who we are as a community: tough.

We’re hard-nosed and carry that lunch-pail mentality with that gotta-get-mine attitude that the late Flint rapper MC Breed spoke about in his hit song with the legendary Tupac Shakur. That’s us. That’s real. Nobody hands us anything, we go out and get it.

And you better not get us confused with Detroit because anybody that’s from Flint knows better than that. We’ll correct you quickly on where we’re from. We wear it with pride and as a badge of honor. It might not seem like much from the outside looking in, but there’s life, there’s love, there’s a bond that we share as Flintstones that’s almost like a fraternity.

We witness love at its finest, especially when we’re out of town and are able to connect with somebody from the crib because we understand how hard it is to make it out of this city, even for a vacation. Flint can feel like a trap with all the crime and negativity. But for some reason, long before the Flint Water Crisis put us in the national spotlight, our small little town has bred athletes – especially in hoop. Basketball is king.

From Kyle Kuzma to Monte Morris to Miles Bridges to Glen Rice to JaVale McGee to Pamela McGee to Morris Peterson to Mateen Cleaves to Charlie Bell to Eddie Robinson to Deanna Nolan to Terry Furlow and so many others. That bouncy orange ball has fulfilled so many dreams of families in Genesee County.

Basketball has allowed so many of our kids to rise from rags to riches. And we’ve all witnessed the journey personally because the city is so small. It has become a way of life in this town. We know what the game can do for you if you take it seriously.

The same toughness that is often portrayed in a negative spotlight across the media is the same that makes Flint, Flint. We get it from the mud. We grind. And after enduring all of that hurt, pain, trauma, grief, and pressure from a very young age just to survive in Flint, we produce diamonds at the end of the tunnel. There’s so many success stories from our community.

So, I welcome you to Flint.

Here is an inside look at my city through these intimate photos. You’ll get a look at the Flint High School Jaguars program, both the good and bad side of town, but more importantly the realness and not just what the media tells you. This is the real Flint from the outside lens of somebody who actually took the time to get to know us through photography.

I’m Eric Woodyard, the award-winning reporter, but more importantly, a product of 810. We hope you leave with a better understanding of how things operate around here. This is my home.

Flint Made Me.