Growing up in Detroit I feel like I had a good pulse on the city coming into this fellowship opportunity.  I wondered to myself how the experiences I would be going through with my CD fellows (some of whom had also grown up in Detroit/MetroDetroit, others new to the City entirely) would be for me.

It didn’t take me long to realize that there was still lots to learn.  One of the highlights early on was a Bus Tour with The Detroit Experience Factory.  Jeanette Pierce and her team provided an eye opening tour through areas I very rarely traveled to aside from heading to a destination spot (in this particular case Brightmoor/Scotty Simpson’s).  Aside from just driving through  the neighborhoods and pointing out what is presently there, she gave an insightful history on the neighborhoods and some of the policies and occurrences of yesteryear that still affect things today.

Years ago I had the opportunity to travel overseas with my family to my mother’s homeland of Lebanon.  My grandmother, who I grew up with, was with us for the trip.  One of the things I most cherish from that experience is spending time with a women I knew and loved all my life, and yet learning so much about her that was previously unknown by simply sitting down with her and listening to the things she had to say.

During the course of this yearlong fellowship I look forward to spending time with the city I love and have called home all my life, and getting to know her in a way not previously known to me.

Aerial photo via 3andathird.