Dear Me,
I can’t believe that I have almost been here for a whole week! I am blessed by the time that I have been here, how welcomed and at home I feel from at my job to with the cohort to my suitemates and everyone inbetween. I know it won’t last forever, but I will savior it for as long as it does.
Interning for the Detroit Food Academy (DFA) is what you are meant to be doing for the next two months.
Work is really cool, so unconventional, but something that I could see myself doing when I grow up. From working in the coolest sustainable office to working with really cool people, even taking cute pics to go in the work newsletter (pictured above) but there were still fears. In the beginning I was really nervous about not doing a lot of work, especially since the actual summer academy (which the majority of what we will be doing is in relation to that) doesn’t start for a month. But Angela was helpful and eventually gave us a outline and something to do for the month of June, processing survey work, which will be cool to do for a while. And then it will be cool meeting new students.
I hope to just be able to really build relationships with the students that I am interacting with, give them a perspective about a college student from umich. I hope to help them have a really good video that really attempts to capture their voices. I hope to gain more ideas about my future and what I like by doing this.
Your current perception of Detroit is one that is rooted in stereotypes and not a lot of information. I think of inequalities, of gentrification, of danger and I also think of my people. I really hope to be able to not just hypothetically think about the city, but to learn from this city and learn more about this city and as cheesy as it is myself and the communities that I am apart of. And I can already see that it’s happening from even meeting someone from Lansing that works for DFA and bonding on our shared culture (I never really think of Lansing having a “culture” it was too small) to even meeting someone who pretty much is an activist as a job which feels like it’s unrealistic to my brain, so many myths being busted and I am excited to bust even more!
Love,
Marjai
Great post! I also want to learn about Detroit’s issues of gentrification and inequality by living, working, and learning from Detroit. Your last paragraph sums up my views and experiences of Detroit now and how I want to grow from that.
Love that you’re as excited as I am about myth-busting this summer! We’re definitely lucky to have been placed in the Green Garage and meet the business men and women/good-food activists/social justice advocates that we’re able to meet! I’m really looking forward to seeing how your project turns out over the next two months! I think you’ll gain some very interesting perspectives and stories.