THE HOLLOW PRIZE:
Tulane professor Melissa Harris-Perry guest-hosted the Rachel Maddow Show, and featured a segment highlighting the cities of New Orleans and Detroit. She compared the current plight of President Barack Obama to that of African-American mayors in America, particularly focusing on current Detroit mayor Dave Bing. "The Hollow Prize" refers to black mayors being elected to oversee cities that have already slid into economic decline-- which in the case of Detroit, has been ongoing since its first black mayor-- the late Coleman Young-- was elected in 1973. This week Mayor Bing has announced the beginning stages of his administration's "Detroit Works" initiative, where certain specific neighborhoods will be identified for particular attention from city services to maintain their quality of life, while other neighborhoods will get a minimum of police, fire and garbage patrols, but mostly public service attention will amount to blighted structures being demolished. Footage of Harris-Perry's editorial follows.

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