Of all the different events we have done and been to in our eight weeks in Detroit, some that have stood out to me have been hearing from the people that run the businesses that we are working at. They have been interesting because they have all been so different in the ways that they are achieving the same goal – a more equitable Detroit. For example, at Elsa’s placement, Voices for Earth Justice, we had a more informal time. Naim talked to us about the importance of showing love to one another and Elsa gave us a tour of the garden and introduced us to the different plants they are growing. We learned about Voices and how growing food and learning resiliency skills helps the Brightmoor community. At Brilliant Detroit, Dominique and Calahna’s supervisor gave us a more formal overview of the work they do there, which is focused on community programming and building successful neighborhoods. They do this through a variety of ways, be it Zumba classes or early childhood literacy programs. We got to see the laundromat-gym hybrid at which Brilliant Detroit hosts their reading programs. And when my boss, Devita, spoke to us, we were at Good Cakes and Bakes, which is a FoodLab business, which we all supported with our dollars afterwards for delicious cupcakes and pastries. One thing that stood out to me as similar between all the visits to placements is that they were all interactive visits. We were in the garden, the laundromat, and the bakery; we were not just listening to presentations at an office space. Not only was this more interesting and got us to move around, but it says something about all of our community placements, they really are COMMUNITY placements. All of the places we work are focused on different micro-issues within the larger goal of improving Detroit from the people themselves. That’s why I enjoyed learning about what everyone is working on so much, because it seems like very positive change in the city.
