Question: Tell us what it’s like living in Detroit.
Answer: Living in Detroit provides me intellectual, physical, and emotional nourishment. My mom regularly has to remind me that sometimes I need to say ‘no’ and just relax rather than try and do everything. I consider it a privilege to be able to take advantage of all of the powerful happenings in the city. Detroit regularly has talks from activists, academic lectures, community building socials, neighborhood meetings and the city has amazing food, book stores, museums, theaters, and did I mention great food? I think you can get the picture. (Picture: my Saturday supplies from Source Booksellers)
Question: What have you learned about Detroit that is unique?
Answer: What a huge question! One of my favorite unique qualities about the city of Detroit is that there is long history of doing things differently here, and in a good way. I recently read a blog post by one of my favorite thinkers, Grace Lee Boggs (who happens to have been making her mark in Detroit for decades). She wrote that “Detroit has been home to extraordinarily creative solutions to the problems left behind by dying industry. Drawing on the deepest memories of community life in the rural south, African American women and men have been making a way out of no way, turning abandoned lots into productive gardens” (Detroit is Creating a New Model, Detroit Community of Hope). And a short video clip with Dave Mancini of Supino Pizzeria affirms a rumor I had heard about the food industry here; that it is supportive and collaborative rather than the bigger-fish-gets-the-food style of competition.
Question: How do you answer tough questions about living in the city?
Answer: With honesty and with perspective. I don’t think the city of Detroit has anything to hide from the public. People who are unfamiliar with city as it is today hear and see information that isn’t holistic. It isn’t productive to ignore the social and economic struggles facing the city but it also isn’t productive to ignore the revolutionary and powerful thinkers and actors in the city; from grassroots organizations to philanthropic corporations who are redefining their role. When someone asks me ‘hard’ questions about Detroit, I answer with my experiences which are based on my position in society, with stories I have heard from people not like me, and I explain who the stakeholders are and what they are doing. I like being able to clarify and correct perceptions about the city!
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Contributed by fellow Leigh Ann Ulrey