Throughout the summer we have all been working at different nonprofits, visiting other sites to hear from other non-profit leaders, and venturing outside to enjoy and explore the city. I have enjoyed all of these activities and Daria and I still have a list of many other possibilities. Yet I keep thinking about the idea of the two Detroits that Sophia’s boss talked about at one of our first Tuesday meetings and I think her talk in particular has been really instrumental in how I view Detroit. We see communities when we visit for work or for group meetings, but we seem to rarely venture to events in the communities when we are on our own time, which makes me more and more curious about what kinds of events take place outside of Downtown and Midtown.
Something else she said has stuck with me too: it’s just how big Detroit actually is. Since Detroit is so large, it is hard to find one way to describe the city. I think that even the idea of the two Detroits is a little too simplistic. Each community, from what I’ve seen, has its own individual identity and things that make it stand out. I would like to explore more of these communities and see what makes them unique. This is something that I’m not sure could be done well within our ten week timeframe and maybe not even done well in larger amount of time. To see the real communities we would need to step outside of the touristy attitudes we often display and really talk to people, respectfully visit places that were not made simply for outsiders to come to, and acknowledge that even then we are coming in with a lot of privilege.
I think this is a big part of what community-based research is based on and what we should really spend some more time thinking about. What does it say when a group of volunteers from a privileged environment come into a space, volunteer a couple hours of their time for a good cause, and then get to feel like they’ve fulfilled their “charity” quota for the next couple of months? Unfortunately, this is something I feel happens a lot and I’ve seen it again and again through my numerous volunteer experiences before this program (a couple of them in Detroit) and more through Focus: HOPE. I know that to nonprofits, volunteers are vital and without them a lot of work would go undone. Yet, I wish that more people could find it in them to listen and learn from these experiences and realize the inequalities that exist within our societies. I wish that more people could then find the passion and time to put more energy into breaking down these inequalities and learning about why they exist. I think that this is what this program tries to do and in some ways it does.
