Johnny Knoxville Films Detroit Documentary

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Aug 20th 2010 at 4:01AM

Palladium, a heritage boot company that relaunched last year is hoping to aid another comeback, that of Detroit. The brand has created a bunch of "Exploration" campaigns, in which Palladium explores and documents hidden and abandoned urban places in search of unique stories. These Explorations are then turned into viral videos that live on their website and their latest features "Jackass" star Johnny Knoxville in Detroit.

In an exploration called 'Detroit Lives,' Knoxville puts on Palladium boots and checks out the city, which was once the fourth largest city in America but is now in the midst of a transformation from abandoned urban landscape back to a vibrant community. The trailer for the video above showcase the young people who are taking back the city and their community. The full video for 'Detroit Lives' premieres on August 30.

The challenging urban landscape also makes a nice backdrop for the boots. Palladium was founded in 1920 to make aircraft tires for the aviation industry. In 1947, after the end of WWII saw demand for tires dry up, Palladium turned to making rubber and canvas boots including the classic canvas Pampa boot. The sturdy boots for men and women sell for $50 to $275. The video is after the jump.

Tags: Detroit, johnny knoxville, palladium boots

Filed under: Shoes, Men's Style, Video

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Mary Lou Alvadj Aug 26th 2010 3:10PM

I grew up in Detroit when it was a great city. It had everything but it was a one industry town. My husband and I both went to the Univ. of Detroit and we would go downtown to the movies and fraternity parties at the hotels. Hudson's and Kerns were the best. Then Coleman Young became mayor no more needs to be said. White flight who sold beaurtiful houses and fled to the suburbs. I had married by that time and became an army wife. My father lived in the city until he died, refused to mover to suburbs. The black people who moved in were wonderful neighbors. When I had to return from Germany because of father had a brain tumor, it was those neighbors who were there to help and give me support. My cousins still live in the suburbs. I haven't been back in awhile. Would make me too sad to see what has happened to my home town.

greg padala Aug 20th 2010 2:44PM

I live in the Detroit area. This rebirth is more of a wish or hope then a reality. Block after block of burned out and abandoned houses. A city of 800,000, formerly 1.5 million, and it has no national grocery chain within it's boundaries, no shopping malls and until recently didn't even have a movie theater within the city. The schools are at the bottom of the state's rankings. High city taxes yet poor city services. Car gets stolen don't call the police just go to the station , stand in line and fill out paper work. Unemployment among the young is about 50 %. Are there bright spots, yes to be sure. Some major companies have moved back to the city do to tax incentives but surely not because the workers want to or that there is a trained work force in the city. Bless all who are trying and hope they can turn this city around but the job is great and resources aren't.

sssk00 Aug 20th 2010 3:04PM

yes, but that is because the people who live in the city continue to vote in crooks like Kwame into office. I know because I watch the devastation from the suburbs and shake my head in disbelief as the Detroiters get bamboozled by pimps like Kwame. Vote in people like Bing-you need a million more Bings and maybe you will see change.

Erin Aug 25th 2010 9:31AM

There are 2 Spartan grocery stores downtown, and there was a Farmer Jack not too long ago. There are plenty of places to shop and buy groceries.

CATHY KARSNICK Aug 20th 2010 5:01PM

I am a former Detroiter. Detroit is my hometown. I now live in Florida because I have an aversion to driving in snow. My favorite sports teams are still the Detroit Tigers, the Detroit Lions, the Detroit Pistons and the the Detroit Red wings. I lived in Detroit during the Coleman Young administration et al. From what I hear, from the suburbs, newspapers and TV, Dave Bing is the best thing to happen to Detroit in a long, long time. He wants the City to survive, as do I. I wish him all the best and my prayers that he is successful. Detroit didn't have a natural disaster to cause all the problems, but, it sure had one hell of an economic disaster. They need some of the large companies in Detroit, yes, Ford, Gm, Chrysler and others to donate to the schools for books and supplies . Without education there is nothing.

ghidrahme Aug 28th 2010 3:51PM

economic disaster is a natural disaster.

Jennifer Aug 20th 2010 4:47PM

I was born in raised in Detroit also; grew up there in the 50's and 60's. I thought it was the greatest place on earth. So much to do and see. Great public transportation; my friends and I took the bus everywhere, It breaks my heart to see what has happened to some of my favorite places; the beautiful theatres downtown, Michigan Central Station, and worst of all, the neighborhoods I grew up in. All the streets that used to be lined with houses are now empty and being reclaimed by nature. Maybe that's what has to happen before things can begin again. So sad it won't be in my lifetime.

godug Aug 20th 2010 5:28PM

Today's Detroit is Coleman Young's legacy. He wanted a city totally run by minorities, and exclusively inhabited by minorities....from the grave, he has finally achieved his goal. Until the VOTING citizenry of Detroit make the commitment to do it THEMSELVES by electing people like Dave Bing, there will never be improvement. Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" approach of endless handouts has now created the third generation of people totally dependent on government for their livelihood. Detroit is the living, breathing embodiment of Socialism...which works just great until you run out of someone else's money. So sad.

Fairchild Aug 20th 2010 6:22PM

Wow! That was crazily simplistic and not rooted in reality. Detroit is anything but socialist. It is a city with 35% unemployment, a deep seated culture of corruption and a majority of the population very apathetic. It's a recipe for disaster, but it is not socialist. That buzz word of the Palinites is SO played!

JereStorm Aug 27th 2010 1:08PM

Coleman Young was necessary. Before a black man was elected to a city where the population was 75% black there was rampant police brutality. Remember S.T.R.E.S.S. ? No I'm sure... Young did all the right things in his first 2 terms (the last 2 were sad). L Brooks and the white ring around Detroit could have made a difference, but they operated in a climate of fear. Oakland county, then the wealthiest county in America, chose to NOT help Detroit. Detroit had no cards to play--it was abandoned by the money-power.

MotorCityMama Aug 20th 2010 5:49PM

Until the black inhabitants of Detroit drop their racism and welcome back the white people who have fled to the suburbs, it will continue to decay until it implodes. Bottom line, the black people of detroit have no social skills at all. Couple this with 8 or 9 illigetimate children who run the streets and raise themselves, multiplied by 95% or the population, makes for a rotting sewer of defective DNA. You can have all the Bings, Bobbs, Kwames, and Colemans you want. Until the people learn how to act, Detroit will die in my lifetime.

suzeq1979 Aug 20th 2010 6:20PM

Couldn't have said it better.

kenhp1 Aug 20th 2010 6:33PM

Just look at the demographics of Detroit. I was offered employment in Detroit and flew there to see what it's all about. I thought I was in a third world country in Africa. I ran red lights to avoid being carjacked. Mothers with five to eight kids walking around the streets throwing rocks at the street signs and lights.
Grafitti like I have never seen before. You could tell they had no respect for themselves or their neighborhood. Never saw ONE father with their family.
I wasn't impressed with the suburbs either. Detriot is the armpit of Michigan. When contacted by the hospital I interviewed with I was very honest.
I told the recruiter I would never move there. It is nothing but a gang infested hell hole. He agreed. Detroit is in big trouble. It has been taken over by gun carrying thugs that kill you if you look at them wrong. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!!!!!!!!!

MotorCityRob Aug 23rd 2010 9:51PM

Wow, you are such an outsider, and please never come back! There are so many bright, young, successful people coming back to the city, it is only a matter of time before Detroit rises from the ashes like a phoenix. Things are changing daily, and it started first with a new Mayor that cares about the city. With more exposure like this, positive, the city will change even faster. I grew up splitting my time between Highland Park and the Burbs, and Detroit is still my city, and it will always be.

Dean Aug 20th 2010 8:19PM

Detroit is a city run by racist and it will continue to decay.Talk of a turn around is just stupid.

Michael Pfaendtner Aug 20th 2010 11:30PM

Here is another example of creativity and a vibrant lifestyle in the midst of the surrounding decay on the east side of Detroit. Welcome to the Goat Yard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv22EV3pUv0
http://thegoatyard.wordpress.com/

beehiverecordingco Aug 21st 2010 1:41PM

Ladies and gentlemen, Detroit is the future. We were the first city to be built up and knocked down by industry and corporations and it is only a matter of time that the rest of America will end up like Detroit. Wall Street has a perfect track record of not caring about civilians (it's bad for business if they did) and government obviously represents the interests of Wall Street, not its people. Almost every city in America is set up this way and if one thinks that corporations will one day no longer want your money and politicians will become something more than corporate spokesmen, good luck, you are in for a rude awakening. The good news, Detroit has the land and resources to achieve a sustainable way of life, something not possible in New York or LA. As always, its in the hands of the people. So pick up a shovel, play your guitar, paint a building, talk with your neighbors, and go back to work for the benefit of your community. At least you'll be busy while you're unemployed.

Lori Bollinger Aug 23rd 2010 4:10PM

I was born and raised in Detroit in the 60's and 70's. I have both good and bad memories of it. I am a very proud graduate of Cass Tech High School in downtown Detroit, class of 1974. I am very sad to see what Detroit has become but I have high hopes for it's future. It is up to the people of Detroit to make it's future, not the government. They are the new pioneers of our time.

imarahyman Aug 23rd 2010 9:42PM

I was born and raised in Detroit. Spent 18 years in Houston TX. Returned to Detroit because of my mother's failing health. I could have lamented the state of the city and its leadership, but I chose, instead to become part of the solution. There are many, many organizations, Black, White, Hispanic, Arab, Native American, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Unitarian, young, mature, highly educated and not so highly educated - all working to take Detroit into the future.
These are people, organizations with visions of a 21st century Detroit. They are not waiting for a major corporation to come in and supply jobs for the vast majority of the city's people. Each organization has found a mission and is working to fulfill it. More often than not, they engage with other people and organizations to fulfill their mission. If each of us would volunteer some time with an organization seeking to do positive work in the city, we would see an even faster turnaround in Detroit's state of affairs. You may think Bing can do this by himself. That's magical thinking and disrespects the intelligence, talents and abilities of the people of Detroit. And for the people who speak about the racism of Blacks in Detroit - let's get real. You or your parents were the ones who left the city because the thought of living near someone not like you was an anathema. Black Detroiters have no problem with any kind of people living in Detroit. As long as there is mutual respect and an understanding that EVERY person has some thing to contribute to the common good, there is no problem. As for the people who recount seeing women walking with 8 or 9 children in tow... please! If you want to return to the city, it's no problem. Tens of thousands of whites come to the city on a regular basis and I've heard of no wholesale attack on them. Now what I do worry about are the people in Oakland County who feel they have to tote guns at the Arts, Beats and Eats Festival. What is that about???

imarahyman Aug 23rd 2010 9:46PM

I was born and raised in Detroit. Spent 18 years in Houston TX.
Returned to Detroit because of my mother's failing health. I could
have lamented the state of the city and its leadership, but I chose,
instead to become part of the solution. There are many, many
organizations, Black, White, Hispanic, Arab, Native American, Jewish,
Christian, Muslim, Unitarian, young, mature, highly educated and not
so highly educated - all working to take Detroit into the future.
These are people, organizations with visions of a 21st century
Detroit. They are not waiting for a major corporation to come in and
supply jobs for the vast majority of the city's people. Each
organization has found a mission and is working to fulfill it. More
often than not, they engage with other people and organizations to
fulfill their mission. If each of us would volunteer some time with
an organization seeking to do positive work in the city, we would see
an even faster turnaround in Detroit's state of affairs. You may
think Bing can do this by himself. That's magical thinking and
disrespects the intelligence, talents and abilities of the people of
Detroit. And for the people who speak about the racism of Blacks in
Detroit - let's get real. You or your parents were the ones who left
the city because the thought of living near someone not like you was
an anathema. Black Detroiters have no problem with any kind of people
living in Detroit. As long as there is mutual respect and an
understanding that EVERY person has some thing to contribute to the
common good, there is no problem. As for the people who recount
seeing women walking with 8 or 9 children in tow... please! If you
want to return to the city, it's no problem. Tens of thousands of
whites come to the city on a regular basis and I've heard of no
wholesale attack on them. Now what I do worry about are the people in
Oakland County who feel they have to tote guns at the Arts, Beats and
Eats Festival. What is that about???