Challenge #5 with Citizen Detroit

The Black Lives Matter Movement has brought thousands of young people to protest in the streets and on social media demanding justice. But what’s next? We worked with Citizen Detroit, a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to community civic education, and focused on how we might activate and expand their Young Citizen’s Council (YCC) to amplify the impact of Citizen Detroit and increase civic engagement. As a collective, Detroit needs to foster and facilitate an ongoing space of collaboration ready for activation. Activism is required to sustain the movement in achieving racial equity. As one stakeholder we interviewed explained, 

“We are an active generation with a lot of courageous voices, but activism shows up in the voting booth. The disconnect is somewhere down the line. It’s clear the millennial generation wants change, it’s not necessarily clear how they expect to get that change if they’re not showing up to the voting booth. How do you keep that same energy to the election booth? We are clearly showing that we’re not ok with the status quo. The way you change the status quo in the democracy is by voting.” -Shannon Smith, JPMorgan Chase

Civic engagement is the individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern. It’s a vital component of democratic accountability. Currently, our utmost concern is addressing the disturbing police brutality to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arberry, Elijah McClain, all other Black bodies and people of color that has sparked a long overdue moral reckoning. Compounding this, we’ve seen Black people in Detroit disproportionately affected by the coronavirus because of systemic racial disparities in a deeply traumatizing way. These crises have just exacerbated existing inequities. Historically, the election of Coleman A. Young, II is evidence that Detroit has been here before and electoral change is possible. So, what’s next? We believe that the expansion and continuation of Citizen Detroit’s work with YCC could be one answer to this question because it provides ways to demystify our political systems and illuminate direct paths to make informed decisions.

To support Citizen Detroit’s YCC, we proposed an organizational structure, neighborhood outreach strategy, event recommendations, a social media strategy and a strategic partnership list to drive sustained engagement. With a local and national election on the horizon, the fate and soul of America is on the ballot. So, what’s next? Civic engagement and community education to give Detroiters the tools and information needed to dismantle racist public policies. As Citizen Detroit works tirelessly to use information as power so citizens can have their voices be heard, we’ve been honored to help with capturing narratives and presenting ideas to extend their reach in acquiring effective representation. 

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