History is a powerful thing that inspires and touches people in a profound way. Just like in Durham, the people of Detroit are incredibly motivated by their history, and willing to work hard to restore the city. I am certain the future is bright for Detroit, and I am incredibly excited to experience its restoration and help launch the city into a new era of happiness and prosperity.
This week, I also visited The Social Club Grooming Company, a barbershop that donates hair clippings to help plant trees in Palmer Park. In addition, it serves as a collaborative space where entrepreneurs come together and learn from one another. The organization hosts a monthly "shop talk" where Detroit-based business owners discuss their ventures with community members. I was amazed at the camaraderie and excitement that filled the space. I could tell these entrepreneurs were not only motivated to expand their businesses, but to help Detroit grow into the manufacturing powerhouse it once was. History is a powerful thing that inspires and touches people in a profound way. Just like in Durham, the people of Detroit are incredibly motivated by their history, and willing to work hard to restore the city. I am certain the future is bright for Detroit, and I am incredibly excited to experience its restoration and help launch the city into a new era of happiness and prosperity. One of the first things I noticed about Detroit this first week is its similarity to Durham, a city I have come to known and love throughout my first two years at Duke. Detroit and Durham are fossils of once-thriving industries integral to the history of both cities. A walk into downtown Durham showcases remnants of its tobacco roots, such as the iconic Lucky Strike smokestack and American Tobacco's repurposed factory. In Detroit, similar landmarks remind city-goers of its extensive ties to manufacturing. On my daily lunches at TechTown, I walk past the 80-year-old Fisher Building, built by the Fisher brothers of "Body by Fisher", the company responsible for building the closed-body chassis for Cadillac in 1910. It reminds me of a time when Detroit was bustling with well-dressed businessmen and manufacturing laborers. Today a more modernized version of this image exists. No longer bustling with the same intensity as its glory days, the city is somewhat quiet. Yet among the relics of an industrial city, there are many entrepreneurs attempting to capitalize on Detroit's growing business opportunities and revitalize the city through innovation and entrepreneurship. TechTown, the nonprofit business incubator and accelerator I am working at this summer, provides services for aspiring entrepreneurs in the Detroit metro area. In addition to a collaborative co-working space, TechTown offers workshops, mentoring, and real estate for Detroit-based startups. This summer, I hope to successfully improve a summer program they hold for students attempting to start a business venture. The team's trip to Henry Ford's museum and rouge factory provided more insight into the history of Detroit's manufacturing industry. The city's innovative environment led to one of the most profound revolutions in American history- the invention of the automobile. The Rouge Factory provided manufacturing jobs for many Detroiters and completely transformed the city.
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But to conclude, one of my most important experiences was this past Sunday. I decided to join Tommy Airey at St. Peter’s Episcopal for worship. Here, it felt like I was seeing the other side of Detroit. Having been kept largely inside the wealthier Midtown and Downtown, which are nearing 99% and 98% occupancy (respectively), my morning bike ride through pouring rain dropped me where the much of the ruin porn begins. It is here, in Southwest Detroit (along with the other districts outside of the aforementioned two), where the face of blight is at its strongest. Hope rings out in faint melodies of residents who are fighting to have their voice heard, but the reality is that the millions of dollars that have been sent to Detroit have yet to touch the families outside of city center. I heard this through the challenging voice of Joe after the service ended. He asked what I was doing in Detroit, and so I offered the normal spiel of my two-month internship. With every utterance I could feel his distaste. The most searing statement came when I answered about where I was working. “Oh, I’m working with the Detroit Food Academy in Midtown”, I told him. “So you mean that you’re not actually helping anybody”, he retorted. It caught me as a little rough, but I was also expecting it. This entire week I had felt that something was still missing from the puzzle, that the world of Detroit had been a little too kind on my eyes and spirits. Here was someone who spoke about the pain. As outsiders and new money filled the office space and coffers of downtown, the real residents weren’t even getting a nibble of the pie. A tale of two cities. The Motto of Detroit sits chiseled onto the wall of the Spirit of Detroit, a sculpture featured near the International Riverfront. Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus — “We hope for better things; it shall rise from the ashes.” This is the hope. Something is definitely happening in Detroit. In places, there are the hints of renaissance. But in many others, land is desolate, people are hungry and thirsty, and it feels as if the people in power have turned their backs. I’m not sure what the real narrative is. And it is difficult to think that all my work might not actually, to steal from Steve Jobs, make a dent in the universe of Detroit. These next weeks will be a journey to discern just how to do that, grasping onto the opportunity afforded me by this program while grappling with the many narratives of Detroit that each compose the spirit of this beautiful city. Tuesday was all about Midtown. This section, about 1 mile north of Downtown, is home to Wayne State University, our apartment complex, and numerous “co-working spaces” and entrepreneurial ventures. It is also where most of us have our internships. To me, it almost felt a bit like Berkeley. Sure, a chain or two like Tim Horton’s (Canada’s Starbucks) have storefronts, but most everything else is small businesses. Here you find people passionate about what they do. Millions of dollars in grants and investments have funneled into this area to give new birth. If anything, it can be said that the glimmer of Downtown and the number of entrepreneurial small-businesses peppered throughout Midtown are the face of Detroit’s Renaissance. Wednesday was workday number 1. Angela, my work partner, and I arrived at 9am. Yup, we’re working 9 to 5. Unlike the other Engagers with 20-minute foot commutes, our walk is only a block away. The DFA is housed in the Green Garage (GG). This co-working community houses 53 small businesses, all of whom commit to living and operating in a sustainable manner. The GG is heaven for someone like me who has, little by little, moved toward living my life in a manner that. Once an old car display warehouse, the entire property was renovated with sustainability in mind. The floorboards are reclaimed ash that, due to the presence of emerald ash borer marks, generally would have been minced up for sawdust due to lost aesthetic value. The use of high efficiency lights, skylights, and friendly reminders has reduced overall energy usage to 1/10 of that of a normal office building. And, unlike a normal office that produces 13lbs of waste per person per week, the Green Garage averages about 1lb. There’s more to tell, but I’ll let you read about it yourself here! Our job is a decent mix of “on the ground” operations and behind the scenes marketing work. From redesigning the DFA webpage and farmers’ market stall to revising different operational systems, our work is cut out for us. But Jen, our boss, is fantastically encouraging. Every time she drops by our work booth she fills us with encouragement. These experiences, in addition to being able to apply my environmental science background and interest in social entrepreneurship, brought me to a place where I wanted to return. I wanted to serve, to listen, to see for myself and give voice to what really is going on in Motor City. From now through August 1st, I will be serving at the Detroit Food Academy (DFA). The DFA uses food, mentors, and a yearlong program to teach leadership and business skills to young Detroiters from 8 different high schools. During the summer, some of these highschoolers are given the opportunity to create their own food business, using the skills they learned to cook up a new product sold at the farmers’ markets in town. My role is malleable. I will be doing everything from marketing and design to systems creation to make things at the DFA run as efficiently as Henry Ford’s assembly line. My journey began last Sunday when I flew into Detroit Metro Airport. Already, things were looking up. Tommy Airey, my former High School teacher who – in an act of deep conviction and faith – gave up the comforts of California to move to Detroit last year, was on both of my flights. Ravaged by a cold that wouldn’t go away, I couldn’t relish as completely as I would’ve liked to in the few moments we shared during out layover in Phoenix. But his face, spirit, and encouraging words were exactly what I needed. I also met a guy named Elvin. “Like Alvin with an ‘E’”, he told me. When I asked if people ever quipped “Elvin and the Chipmunks”, he replied, “My daughter shouts that every day!” He asked a lot about DukeEngage, smiling at what he heard. Though my memory isn’t perfect, his last words to me went like this: “A lot of people think Detroit is full of blight, that it’s a failed city. And don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of blight. But the city is coming back. It will probably be a bit different. It’s the people like you, who are coming in, that are making it true.” Elvin’s words are one side of the story. Monday morning, I got to see exactly what he meant. The ten of us, along with our program Director and Coordinator, got bussed around the city by the Detroit Experience Factory (stylized, DXF). Calvin, the tour guide spoke spiritedly about the history of the City. We saw the oh-so-famous GM Renaissance Center, a “city within a city” complex of skyscrapers whose construction was supposed to bring life back to the city in the 1970s. Let’s just say that goal still hasn’t seen fruition. We walked into beautiful Art Deco atrium of the Guardian Building, a structure dedicated as the “Cathedral of Finance” and lavished with Native American artwork. We also walked down the Heidelberg Project, a street “once riddled in drugs and deepening poverty” until artist and former resident Tyree Guyton breathed into it a different life through painting, sculpture, and found art. Lastly, we ran around the bustling Downtown in a scavenger hunt meant to familiarize ourselves with the history and “what’s where” in the city. Daylight, private security financed by Dan Gilbert (whose presence in the city and ownership of around Downtown 70 properties is not without controversy), and fun made the city glisten. The next couple days created a sense of routine. Wake up at 7:30, cook the oatmeal and pour the coffee, run off to work, hit the gym at 6 (which has become a communal affair shared by all of us Engagers), then cook dinner. The routine of 9-5 was stabilizing after two full days of novelty and introductions to Detroit. Even if it sounds weird, work allowed a breath. I also learned that I have a knack for cooking. Even if it’s only one recipe, the guys’ apartment has feasted multiple times on a pasta meal fit to replace the ambrosia on Mount Olympus. I’ll try to diversify my portfolio with a new recipe each week. Be on the look out for tasty things. The relationship I share with the other students in Detroit is something I cherish the most. The 10 of us are nearly inseparable. Things as simple as charades and movie nights (Life of Brian was a recent hit) keep our community strong. Everyone wants to be the first to share with the others, to help out or finish the dishes. This isn’t just a livable community, it is a lively, thought-provoking community. My roommate, Chris, will always delve into deep conversations when we’re on the cusp of falling asleep at midnight. But those conversations are the best, keeping us both in check while also learning about each other’s pasts. The rest of the week was filled with fun events, organized by Matt and Katherine (our DukeEngage coordinators), which continued to educate us about the happened and happening of Detroit. Friday night included a visit to the Social Club Grooming Company. There, a Shop Talk hosts local entrepreneurs on a monthly basis who are committed to Detroit. Saturday immersed us into the world of fresh, low-cost (thank god) produce for sale at the historic Eastern Market farmers market. We then traveled to the neighboring city of Dearborn to explore the Henry Ford Museum and Ford Rouge plant. Completely redesigned, the plant is LEEDs gold certified, featuring a “green roof” and pumps out 600-1200 F150s a day, 7 days a week. I was overwhelmed with amazement at this marvel of American industrialism, and it is a must-see for anyone who has a chance to stop by. DukeEngage is a privilege. Each summer, since 2007 when the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation along with the Duke Endowment gave their inaugural endowment of $30 million, hundreds of Duke students are sent around the world to “serve” in various capacities. Students apply to a specific country (or, when serving domestically, to a particular US city) where, ideally, they feel that they are best suited to serve. This ability to choose where we want to serve is an immense privilege. In each of the nearly 40 different programs, students can expect to be well fed, safely housed, and fully supported by a community of other Duke students and program staff for the entirety of the two or so months they spend in service. We glean new skills, relationships, and networking opportunities. We drop in and we drop out. These privileges, along with the fact that most of us are outsiders, remove us from the diverse realities that residents can’t just fly away from at the end of the summer. To what extent we acknowledge and choose to approach these troubling truths, I think, will largely define the quality of our service. My hope is to pursue that sort of valuable awareness so that, when it’s all over, what we did here isn’t denounced by those who we had promised to serve. I chose Detroit because I wanted to return. Last summer was given the opportunity to visit Detroit not just once, but twice. The occasions could not have been more different. Up first was my 10 day stay in the luxurious Renaissance Center during the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s 221st General Assembly. Every two years the PC(USA) flies thousands of church delegates to discern the future of the church. Kept in the good auspices of Downtown, and walking back and forth along the river to debate in the grandiose COBO Center, we saw what some claimed to be the glowing return of the great Motor City. My second stay happened only a few weeks afterwards. Hired by my former teacher and mentor, I drove solo from California to Detroit to transport a Honda Civic. It was the road trip of a lifetime. The family who had purchased Ghandi (I named the Civic somewhere along the 2400 miles of traversed asphalt) lived in an intentional, activist community on Larkins Street in Southwestern Detroit. They showed me the urban farms, told me stories of protesting for water rights, and made me aware that the real plight of Detroiters is still very much alive. I don’t quite know what I was expecting to find here. Part of me picked coming to Detroit in order to rebel against the norm—the droves of people flocking to exotic destinations or hugely popular metropolitan regions in the United States. I wanted to show people that their talent, drive, and passion could be directed to improving a city at home that needs it desperately. I very stupidly thought I’d find a place devoid of excitement, direction, beauty, and quite frankly, hope. Upon arriving to Detroit, however, I have and continue to become more and more humbled by and aware of the actual situation—Detroit doesn’t NEED us. Rather, we are lucky just to be here to witness the miraculous revival that this city is on the brink of. The people who live in Detroit don’t just inhabit the space; they live, breathe, and emanate Detroit. I’ve never met a group of people that are more proud of where they live. They revel in their history, their struggles, their reality, and their hopes and dreams for a very bright future. Detroit is at the forefront of an innovative and entrepreneurial revolution. The innovators that we are lucky to meet, learn about, and/or work with are some of the brightest minds in the country who have come together to herald in this revival. Some are returning home. Some are coming to be a part of what will be one of the most dramatic positive transformations of a city in the history of this country. They are doing an amazing job. We came to Detroit with an outsider’s perspective and a unique vantage point, and I’ve learned that the best way for us to help is to integrate ourselves and our alien mindsets into the path of passion and innovation that has already been forged. It’s our job to use our vantage point to join in a shared vision that is already so powerful. If I can walk away from this experience with even an ounce of the passion, conviction, and direction that Detroiters have, I’ll feel blessed.
Of course, we have only been exposed to a very small part of this giant city. On our bus tour, we saw everything from blight and abandoned mansions to world-class medical research centers and art, such as the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and the Heidelberg Project. A walking assignment at my office, Detroit Future City, to examine, document, and analyze vacant lots in four neighborhoods throughout Midtown, Corktown, and Downtown showed me the stark juxtaposition between Downtown, which is filled nearly to capacity, and the surrounding neighborhoods, which were my first real on-the-ground look at residential Detroit life and which were spotted with vacant lots of all types, shapes, and sizes. On our scavenger hunt through Downtown Detroit, we traversed into some of the most luxurious hotels, delicious-smelling restaurants, and chic stores I’ve ever seen, all while passing heart-stoppingly magnificent buildings such as Comerica Park, the Detroit Athletic Club, the Detroit Opera House, and let’s face it, the entire financial district. Downtown is peppered with beautiful statues and works of art that uniquely and inherently represent the city’s culture of resilience, strength, and fortitude. This city is diverse, powerful, and paradoxical, and there’s still a lot to see, but one unifying sentiment rings true throughout every building, street, and brownfield. A change is coming. I think I can contribute to it, and I’m so lucky to be a small part of it. I’m so excited to experience the small adventures that I hope will ultimately make this an incredibly transformative and positive life experience. When I tell someone that I will be working in Detroit for the summer, they will often get a nervous look in their eyes. I am told to be careful by people whose exposure to the city stops at the TV screen or the headline of their local paper. The reputation that Detroit carries often times precedes it, bringing a negative interpretation that is, in many cases, undeserving. It is true that crime can be particularly prevalent in parts of the city, however, it is important to not let this issue shape our perceptions of a city to which America owes much. Admittedly, even as a Michigan resident my whole life, I allowed my Detroit to be shaped by the 6 o’clock news. That is, until I actually started to do some research on the city. What I discovered shocked me. Where I expected to find depression, I found hope. Instead of abandoned houses, I found community gardens. Where I anticipated empty streets, I discovered bustling storefronts. I couldn’t help it but to be curious. I applied to DukeEngage-Detroit and soon enough I was off to the city. During my first week of the program I have met and learned about many people who refuse to let other people define their Detroit. People like Dan Gilbert, whose Detroit consists of sprawling skylines; a utopia for business. To people whose Detroit consists of a sustainable environment; where upwards of 51% of Detroit food is locally grown. These are people that don’t concern themselves what everyone else is saying about their city; they are making their own noise. This first week has inspired me to create my own vision for a better Detroit. What is that vision? I have to say that I don’t know yet, but I’m excited to find out. Through my tour of the city I have had the opportunity to see what Detroit was, what it is, and what people want it to be. I would be lying if I said Detroit has no problems; the crime rate along with blight are daunting issues for anyone to confront. But through the course of this past week I have met people with such an incredible amount of tenacity and pride in their city that I know, as people work to shape their Detroit, there will be no limit to what the city can accomplish. And I intend to contribute to those accomplishments in whatever way I can. Shocked. Astonished. Taken-aback. These are some of the words I would use to describe the reactions of people when I told them that I would be spending the summer in Detroit. Even some of my friends at Duke were confused when I told them that, out of all the possible DukeEngage programs to apply to, I had chosen Detroit. It’s a place notorious for crime, portrayed to be downtrodden and broken. I was surprised to find an experience in which relatively none of these preconceived notions were immediately present. Detroit has suffered many casualties, both literally and economically. What the media fails to capture, however, is the underlying spirit of the city. The drive. The recognition of problems and the direct action to overcome them. Detroit is becoming a hotbed for innovation, a place in which both local residents and newcomers are congregating to tackle pressing problems. Various interactions with local entrepreneurs and community change makers will give me the opportunity to experience this firsthand. My first exposure to this came during a group bus tour of the city. We came upon a stretch of a neighborhood that seemed to be in a sort of controlled disarray: bright dots covered the buildings and a multitude of debris was strewn about the lawns. Our tour guide informed us that we had entered The Heidelberg Project. Decades ago, an artist by the name of Tyree Guyton returned from serving in the Army to find that the mid 1960’s riots had caused his neighborhood to drastically deteriorate. He immediately began to “decorate” the area in order to bring attention to its needs. Clocks purposefully stand out among the debris as the most prominent item, with the mantra “it’s always time to act.” The area has faced demolition multiple times over the years, but still stands as a symbol of Detroit’s resilience today. My internship will provide another unique insight into the entrepreneurial community. I have been given the opportunity to work with Build Institute, a local nonprofit that serves as a resource hub for aspiring small-business owners. A wealth of people from all walks of life come to learn how they can turn their ideas into an effective contribution to their community. I hope to gain new perspectives on the outlook of Detroit and the best procedures into the future of the city through interactions with these change makers.
These are just some of the countless innovations occurring throughout Detroit, and I feel extremely fortunate to be able to experience even a fraction of them. However, it is also becoming exceedingly apparent that the city has been carved into a variety of segments. Midtown, Downtown, and Corktown are just some of the names that have been given to these separate sections, with a variance of characteristics assigned to each. These individual portions combine to make up the greater Detroit area, but each community is viewed very distinctly from the next. Many rejuvenations occurring across this city are being unevenly distributed. Certain segments benefit far more than others. Innovators have the right idea: it's time to take action. In order for true regeneration to take place, they must place extra care on the inclusion of ALL people of Detroit, not just the demographically favored. Although my time here has just begun, I look forward to joining Detroiters as they strive towards their future. Prior to my arrival, I tried to learn as much as possible about Detroit, and my preconceptions (the same ones that drew me to the program in the first place) about Detroit have not been changed but rather affirmed. As an avid consumer of hip hop culture, the biggest things I knew about Detroit were Eminem, Danny Brown, and Big Sean. My first introduction to the city was their joint track under Eminem’s label, a brazen middle finger to the world called “Detroit vs. Everybody.” It’s a song which truly embodies what has resonated with me most about the city, the “me against the world” attitude first coined by Tupac (RIP). However, I soon learned that the sentiments of these local Detroiters are much older, as I found another connection to Detroit through my other great passion, basketball. The “Bad Boys” of the late 80s and early 90s, starring Isaiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer, among others, were a group of guys who didn’t really fit in on other teams and were written off as misfits, until they came together as brothers and won consecutive NBA championships in ’89 and ’90. Although their methods were a bit extreme, their “chip on the shoulder” attitude that permeates the city even today is amazing to be a part of, whether you see it in the countless young people ditching Wall Street to do more fulfilling work in Detroit, or the kind folks on the streets who offer salutations and directions and welcome tourists like us into their city. Its a feeling that I share to a degree, as an Asian American growing up in Hawaii and living in Durham; I don’t really fit into any societal mold and I don’t really want to. It will take a village to revive what was once America’s richest city, and I hope to offer whatever I can to be a part of the solution. Exactly what? I don’t know, because I don’t really know what my calling or career should be just yet, and I don’t know how exactly to solve all of Detroit’s problems. However, working at TechTown, engaging in their entrepreneurship curriculum, and meeting countless people who have disregarded the riches of the big cities is a big step in figuring that out. While on my own journey, I’m excited to see Detroit, a place that is constantly written off, disregarded and ignored, once again become great. After just a week in Detroit, I’ve tried to developed a socioeconomic understanding of the city.
I live and work in Midtown, which is alive and kickin’ with ambitious entrepreneurs and Wayne State students. Midtown boasts eclectic dining options, like HopCat and Go! Sy Thai, in addition to the well-branded stores of Shinola and Auburn. Midtown particularly appeals to those hoping to avoid the high cost of living Downtown. In Midtown, the people seem overwhelmingly young and motivated; Downtown isn’t much different. From skyscrapers and busy streets to a beautiful trail along the Detroit River, Downtown boasts all the typical characteristics of a big city. The city is rejuvenated and committed to improvement. Bankruptcy and the country’s worst murder rate seem far-removed from Detroit. When Downtown or in Midtown, I frequently find myself thinking, “you’d never know this is Detroit.” Well, that’s because it isn’t representative of most of Detroit. Yes, Midtown and Downtown are roaring with successful start-ups, but just beyond these areas, Detroiters are suffering most. The past few years, wealthy individuals have moved into Midtown and Downtown at staggering rates, vastly increasing the cost of living in those areas. This gentrification has displaced thousands of Detroiters, forcing them to find new places to live or even flee the city altogether. So it’s Detroit’s periphery that reveals its greatest hardships; houses are abandoned and crime rates soar just outside the boundaries of Midtown and Downtown. Access to affordable food and good schools are hard to find, but it’s not all hopeless. As many ambitious entrepreneurs move into Midtown and Downtown, they recognize this issue and want to help. Organizations like Detroit Future City, Detroit SOUP, and the Social Club are starting the conversations that need to be had. Many people believe that Detroit is only as strong as its most impoverished areas, so a push for better public schools, affordable housing, and access to low-cost foods is underway in the periphery of Midtown and Downtown. It’s too early to predict the success of this movement, but its very existence is the most uplifting news I’ve heard since coming here. While many people have invested interest in their own success, it seems that many Detroiters have invested interest in all of Detroit’s success. It’s that spirit that makes me most excited to spend the next seven weeks here. About this time a year ago, I didn’t have to explain myself to everyone who asked about my summer plans. I was getting ready to go to Geneva for summer study abroad. When I shared the news with friends and family, I received warm reactions and my excitement was returned. Reactions changed when I shared plans to study abroad in Turkey the following semester. Instead of excitement and positive reactions, I got advice to “stay safe” and looks of concern. My desire to see anything beyond the comforts of western Europe was met with much resistance even within my own family. Now, after a few months home, I have convinced everyone to go to Istanbul. Unfortunately, I experienced the same reactions when I tell people I am interning in Detroit. Usually, the first reaction is “oh”. This is followed with some remark about how dangerous Detroit is or how it has no redeeming qualities, accompanied with looks of confusion and almost pity- looks of “she has no idea what she’s doing or how unsafe it is”. I tried to stay positive and start changing people’s minds about Detroit before I even arrived. Sharing with them the stories of social entrepreneurs and the grass-roots rebuilding of a city. I tried to remember most people only hear about the bankruptcy, crime, and abandonment of Detroit. I was trying to overcome the power of a single story. No one better articulates the dangers of the single story than Chimanda Ngozi Adichie, "I’ve always felt that is impossible to engage properly with a place or a person without engaging with all of the stories of that place and that person. The consequence of the single story is this: it robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar…Stories have been used to dispossess and malign, but stories can be used to empower and humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity.”- Chimanda Ngozi Adichie Even the stories I had read about Detroit were incomplete. My first few days in Detroit, I was overwhelmed with a sense of community. I knew about the entrepreneurial ventures and spirit, but I grossly underestimated the sense of community driving the bottom-up rebuilding of the city. Through Detroit Experience Factory, we toured all parts of the city – good and bad – then went on a scavenger hunt through downtown. Whether it was asking for directions or answers to our scavenger hunt questions, everyone was more than willing to help. Whether you’re a Detroit native, summer intern, or tourist, if you’re in Detroit, you are a part of Detroit. Our first Friday, we attended Shop Talk - a monthly panel discussion at a barbershop where panelists are asked to speak about entrepreneurship and their experiences, while getting a haircut, to a broader audience. At Shop Talk, the founder of Lip Bar, Melissa Butler, said the bankruptcy was the best thing to happen to Detroit. It brought people together in a way only hardship can. While my work at BUILD Institute will help entrepreneurs in Detroit and contribute to the community efforts to rebuild, I hope my stories from my internship will reach beyond Detroit to overcome its single story.
The first week in Detroit has drastically changed my view of this city. Contrary to the typical image of Detroit that media often broadcasts – an abandoned, slowly deteriorating metropolis, what I saw was a vibrant city full of passionate people who are proud of being Detroiters and are confident of its resurgence. Whether they are my coworkers from my office building, Green Garage, or people who I have talked to in farmers’ markets, they are common in their friendliness and hospitality. The positivity is contagious and just one week in, I am already falling in love with Detroit, a city that “rises from the ashes”.
The co-working office space that I am working in, Green Garage, is a true wonder. Dating back to the 1920s, the building originally served as a showroom for Model-T based automobiles and was renovated in 2008 into the Green Garage. It currently hosts fifty-two small businesses, forming a diverse, supportive working community. Touring around the building, I was struck by its sustainable design and practices. Its hybrid heating and cooling system, moisture controlled ventilation system, and super detailed garbage classification all greatly impressed me. In addition, to enhance the sense of community among co-workers, there are weekly community walks and community talks during lunch hour. This Friday, the community talk was centered on El-Moore, the new residential/co-working space bought by the same owners as Green Garage. Guests of this talk were from Smith Shop, a local craft-oriented metalworking studio that in my opinion, embodies the entrepreneurial and do-it-yourself spirit that permeates Detroit. The organization that I will be working with for the next two months, Detroit Food Academy, also made me feel very welcomed to the city. DFA is a non-profit dedicated to fostering youth leadership and business skill through culinary art. Bryce, my colleague, and I are given the project of designing farmers’ market stands that both promote DFA and bring in extra revenue by selling a student hand-crafted snack called the Mitten Bites. To give us more context for our work, Jake, a DFA employee, brought us to the Corktown Market and Northwest Market in Detroit on our second day of work. There, we were able to not only see how the DFA stand currently operates, but also experience the atmosphere of a farmers’ market and talk with the local vendors. On Friday, Bryce and I got to further explore our surroundings by visiting a community garden in which the DFA is tending a plot of land. The garden looked beautiful with blooming flowers and ripening vegetation. This is a week filled with pleasant surprises. I am so glad to have the opportunity to meet and work with all the amazing people who are rebuilding Detroit. In the upcoming seven weeks, I look forward to get my project off the ground and to further explore and learn about this city. Before applying to DukeEngage Detroit I knew little about Detroit. I knew that it was a big city, that it was in Michigan, and that it got really cold. I'd heard a couple tid-bits here and there about its bankruptcy, but I never fully grasped the negative stereotype of a crime-ridden, house-deserted city that it seems the whole nation places on it. When DukeEngage accepted me, my immediate introduction to Detroit was an image of economic improvement, culture, and resilience with Matt and Katherine at our first meeting sharing with us all the cool non profits we would be working with and raving about the best pie restaurant in the world. However, when I came home and told friends, family, and strangers that I was going to spend my summer in Detroit, they all had this subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) look of confusion as to why I would leave California and spend my summer there. They would go on about what they knew about Detroit, which wasn't much. They would tell me about how eerie it is to drive through the abandoned houses and how the city used to be so great and has now sunken so far. I was slightly perplexed at how their complete image of Detroit could be so different from that of Matt and Katherine, but that was most likely due to the fact that unlike Matt and Katherine, all those other people had never actually lived in Detroit. Given I've only been here 3 1/2 days and guided by the wonderful schedule Katherine set up for us, the Detroit I've seen so far is no more troubled than other big cities I've spent some time in and more so has proven to be historically and culturally rich in restaurants, buildings, and opportunities for fun. After settling into our Wayne State housing on Sunday night, on Monday we explored the campus and got a safety lecture from one of Wayne State's police officers. Wayne State Police impressively cover a huge radius encompassing campus and beyond, and I feel lucky to be a visitor of Wayne State and have access to their police resources. On the way back to our apartment building, Matt showed us the neat boutiques and restaurants near by including a high in leather shop that's helping bring manufacturing back to Detroit. In the afternoon, we took a fun bus tour into downtown. Our super intelligent and charismatic tour guide Calvin, wearing a superman hat, tank top, belt, and shoes, led us around the maze of beautifully architected skyscrapers and buzzing squares and parks. My favorite stop was at the riverfront, where just across the way is Canada (South of us interestingly enough) and to the left lies Belle Isle with beaches that I'm excited to explore while I'm here. Another favorite place we visited was the Heidelberg Project. When Tyree Guyton found his street riddled with drugs and poverty, he began to turn the entire street into a huge art project. He started by painting colorful dots on the road and abandoned houses and then began transforming trees into sculptures and empty lawns into art masterpieces creatively using what people would commonly consider as random objects and junk. This made the artist in me want to ransack my old garage and closets for materials and put together my own Heidelberg Project at home. After the tour, we formed teams and hiked all over downtown to statues, hotels, restaurants, stores, and bars for a competitive scavenger hunt. I was a little too arrogant that my team would crush the others as we mapped out the perfect strategy to hit all the big groups of clues in a loop that would take us back to the tour guide center. Unfortunately, we came in 3rd, which happened to be last place. For dinner we went back to midtown to a delicious restaurant called Traffic Jam where they had home-made cinnamon bread for an appetizer and later home-made ice cream for dessert. Overall, it was a very exciting day to see midtown and downtown of Detroit and hang out in some of its coolest areas. So far, everyone I've met and stopped to talk to in Detroit has been as friendly as all the Southerners that I get to meet in North Carolina, and I feel very privileged to be here engaging with this wonderful city and community. As an outsider, I don't yet know Detroit well enough to be able to just jump right into the community and know how to help it "rise from the ashes." It's the people who actually live here, working with their own community like Tyree Guyton, that are really doing amazing things for Detroit. However, I want to dive into living here these next 8 weeks and explore all that Detroit has to offer while doing my best to give back the city something through my service with Next Energy. I'm excited to start working on projects and do my small contribution to help Detroit with energy efficiency and economic development. |
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