I have, overall, been very fond of my experiences in the Tuesday seminars. There was always a constant revaluation of my personal perceptions, experiences, and approaches. None of the ways that I thought about Detroit were left unaltered. I especially liked how the seminars gave a platform to community voices that you don’t hear often. The speakers were often critical of the establishment. For example, someone from Metro Matters spoke about how the Mackinac policy conference was so out of touch. There was also criticism of the Detroit Future City and the Mayor by several speakers.
One thing that I didn’t like about the Food and Water Watch seminar is when one of the speakers said that “ this isn’t Ethiopia.” She was basically saying that water shortages belong to poor countries mainly populated with people of color. Which I found very disturbing since her organization is fighting to assist targeted low-income and people of color communities in Detroit.
At the same time, the seminars were enraging. It was so sickening to see that racism and classism were not only present but they were systematic. From the media that demonize the victims through the property mogul who tries to divide communities to the Mayor who is very negligent of human rights.
I seriously appreciate how you brought up the “this isn’t Ethiopia” comment. It totally threw me off too!!
We shouldn’t expect or accept that the violation of human rights is the norm anywhere..