Brace yourself, there’s a lot of honesty coming your way…

CONFESSION 1: I’ve been a narrow minded Detroiter.

March was a month of new things for me. I got my passport, became an entrepreneur partner with a global wines & spirits brand and traveled outside the USA all for the first time. In all these experiences I come to realize how ignorant I’ve been in my approach to life as a Detroiter. It took leaving the entire country, becoming a true foreigner for the first time to realize how it really feels to be an outsider. When you are a foreigner in a place for the first time, you get a much better idea of what it means to be a native.

I am a Native Detroiter and I have many loved ones and experiences in Detroit, but there is much that I am still ignorant to. Sometimes you have to step back from the normal view of your life to see the large picture and gain perspective for a better focus. In my life I had been very narrow-mindedly focused on Detroit as defined by my experiences with specific people and places in the city.  

I’ve claimed to be a die-hard Detroiter because I love the city and I’ve never really lived anywhere else (except two school years with my dad in a Georgian elementary school). I had the Detroit vs. Everybody mentality for a long time. It was Detroit or nothing. I honestly never looked at Detroit as a city that could affect more than itself. I never looked at myself, a Detroiter, as someone who could affect more than just my city. Who cares about the world when you have so much to take care at home, right? So much so that at this very moment I could not tell you what suburbs border Detroit. That’s how narrow my focus has been. I’ve claimed to care about Detroit but in my mind I defined Detroit as the places and people that I interacted with; everything else was this blur of assumptions and ignorance.

I’m done being the close-minded Detroiter. I’m ready and able to be the change I want to see in Detroit and the WORLD.

CONFESSION 2:  I used to compete to prove my “Detroitness”

After graduating college, I always played this weird game in my head. I would attempt to rate people on how “Detroit” they were. I worked hard to classify a person as an “authentic” Detroiter or a newb. More embarrassingly, I tried to prove how 100% Detroit I was. I would spout off names and random facts to prove how authentically Detroit I was.

Thankfully, I’ve recently come to realize that it is BEYOND pointless to define how “Detroit” a person is. Detroit doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Being a native, active citizen, doesn’t make me an expert more than the next person. There are young suburban people who’ve moved here in the last two years who can name every person in our city government. There are elderly women who could name just about all their neighbors for a 3-block radius. There are folks who buy EVERYTHING local, including their deodorant and dog food. There are sports fans who come to the city  for games but would defend the city in argument any day. There are people who only interact in the 7.5 square radius of Greater downtown but spend their money here on a frequent basis.

Around 2011, when me and my brother left for college, my mom moved to West Bloomfield. Though now, she is technically a suburbanite, she was born in Detroit, educated in the city and bus commutes to work, everyday, from her suburban home to her job for the city where she has worked for over 30 years. She is a Detroiter.

My grandparents lived the majority of their 70+ years in the city of Detroit. 3/4 of living grandparents live in Lafayette Park next door to me and have lived in this neighborhood the majority of my life. My grandmother (maternal) was a teacher and principal in the DPS school system and my grandfather has been a local entrepreneur and landlord his entire career. But when they go out to eat or shop, they usually do so outside of the city. “Buying local” is nowhere near their radar. All of my grandparents at one point owned businesses in Detroit. My father’s parents owned a Laundromat and an apartment building. My mom’s parents had an ice cream parlor and have owned several houses which they rent out. They are all Detroiters.

I work with 31 mind-blowingly amazing young people from across the country and globe. Some have lived in Detroit for 3 decades and some have lived here for less than 7 months. They live, work, play, give and lead in this city. Many of them are blossoming change-agents for the myriad of Detroit’s creative, social and economical challenges. With their varying experiences and insights they contribute to the well-being of this city on a daily basis. They are all Detroiters and some of the best ones I know if you ask me.

Being from Detroit doesn’t make you a Detroiter. Caring , respecting, contributing to and/or EXISTING in Detroit is really all it takes.

That’s all I have to confess for now. Feels much better to have shared that with you 🙂

Until next time,

Brandi