Toronto\u00a0will come to me in waves, ripples and concentric circles. It is more than a single event; it is many. Instances of Facebook comments, Skype calls and nights spent on couches across the world- the experience will cascade down my rolling hill of existence until one day it gracefully unfurls in a grassy meadow,\u00a0complete. A few years ago I fell in love with the South African concept of Ubuntu and never in my life has it resonated so deeply.<\/p>\n
“A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, based from a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Last week was a baptism for me. I’ve carried significant insecurities and discontent\u00a0with me for so long that it has threatened my humanity; my Ubuntu. \u00a0Out to prove\u00a0to some unidentifiable deity that I have worth,\u00a0I’ve carried a chip on my shoulder that has disregarded others and damaged relationships. Ubuntu is community; Ubuntu is purpose. I found both last week.<\/p>\n
This Thursday, Challenge Detroit Year 4 Finalists will gather from all over the country [and possibly world] for the opportunity to interview for a fellow position\u00a0with a Challenge Detroit\u00a0host company for next year. Each applicant will\u00a0be stressed, even overwhelmed, but unbeknownst to most of them they will become a part of something greater than themselves regardless of whether or not they get hired.<\/p>\n
In early February, someone I had never met posted\u00a0a link to the\u00a0Youthful Cities Global Summit application saying “I think someone from Detroit should go to this” \u00a0in a\u00a0Facebook group dedicated to all of the past years’ Challenge Detroit finalists, The Challenge Detroit Network. I applied. A link that took that woman seconds to share, changed me for the rest of my life. That is Ubuntu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A calm breeze swells and swirls\u00a0around my exposed legs. Traveling north from Canada, it crashes against the weathered, concrete walls of Studio One and washes over me as I enjoy this cool spring night from my balcony. It is 9:21PM and, having just finished a home-cooked meal of sauteed banana peppers and roasted garlic marinara […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":218,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/218"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13067\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}