This weekend I went to an event at the Wayne State Law School hosted by a Detroit high school group. One of the purposes of the event was to discuss different social issues impacting the Detroit community. Various teenagers gave personal testimonials about how topics such as housing, transportation, and police response time impact their personal lives. There were also local artists and musicians who presented art about these issues. The speaker that captured my interest the most was a young person who spoke about the bus system in Detroit. He explained how it takes three hours to get from the East side to the West side, which is almost as long as it would take to get states away. The schedules are unreliable and the old and disabled are forced to wait outside in sometimes dangerously freezing conditions with no other options. He spoke with passion about how unfair this is, and the injustice that results from it.
Another older woman who is a painter spoke about how this city has killed one of her sons and hurt her in many ways, and yet she still is proud to live here. Honestly, part of me could not understand why given that such severe violence had negatively impacted her life and made her lose people important to her. But she was passionate about her love of this city.
This event reflects my overall perceptions as I have started to observe Detroit more closely. I am starting to better understand the systematic barriers within this city. I am not the only one who has difficulty getting from Point A to Point B. Thousands of Detroit residents are left without a way to get around as a result of the failed bus system. I am not the only one who fears walking alone because of the risk of violence. But many people have also embraced the city and work endlessly to make it better. I see this effort within the Focus: HOPE organization that I work with and from the presenters in our weekly seminars and every weekend when I walk through Eastern Market.
I feel like I do not understand the pride that people from Detroit possess as much as I want to yet. I also feel like there are still a lot of barriers that exist in this city that I have yet to comprehend. I have just barely scratched the surface
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