August 2017

My expectations of the program met reality. Despite me being a native Detroiter, I’ve learned so much about the city and the multitudes of organizations working to better Detroit. I gained valuable research skills and made more certain of my passion for health and social justice. I’ve further learned the importance of putting people first […]

I am grateful for being given such a wonderful opportunity to have lived in one of the most beautiful cities, Detroit! This city has helped deepen my passion for an equal quality education for all children no matter the zip code or class status. Within my placement, I learned first hand the realities of our

Reading “The Origins of the Urban Crisis” was extremely helpful with being part of DCBRP.  The book covers vital/relevant topics that has influenced the city of Detroit to this day. I think reading the book aids in understanding why certain parts of Detroit are suffering: the 1943 Race Riots, White flight, housing, the 1967 Rebellion,

I honestly can say that I got what I expected from the program. I got to meet people from inside and outside the city that were interested in the path that Detroit was going under. Furthermore, my placement was great! The people I work with are passionate, hard-working people who care about the Southwest Detroit

This title may seem familiar because it is still true. Perhaps gentrification is an itch increasing at an exponential rate with a B. Either way I didn’t realize it stemmed this deep. Growing up on the end of a one way street that never had more than 10 people living on it I never travelled

Hey Erin,   So, you made it! You did everything you said you wanted to do with this internship. You learned a lot of transferrable skills. You met knew people. You experienced the new Detroit. This was one of the best summers of your life, and I know you’ll remember it forever. What you skills

Wow, I can’t believe that we’ve reached the end of the Detroit Community Based Research Program. I remember being accepted into the program and being excited about my journey working in Detroit, a city that’s become somewhat unfamiliar to me within the past couple of years. While reading my first blog post, I became reminiscent

Driving through Detroit is frustrating and confusing due to the presence of what feels like 10 different highways interlacing through the city that need to be taken to go anywhere. They’re difficult to navigate and I’ve always hated driving here because of them. I was thoroughly confused why they were designed the way they were

Dear Ayat, You’ve been eating a lot of food you shouldn’t be. Like chocolate cake. And delicious Mexican food. And fried cauliflower, and french fries. Also, you can barely lift weights anymore. Yikes. Besides turning into a sloth again, the DCBRP program has been a lot different than you thought it would be. You came

A section in Origins of the Urban Crisis titled The Casual Labor Market talked about the litany of black workers that were delegated to casual work as it suited their employers. The section talked about how black workers, because of their desperation for work, were treated as a second-class of workers, often receiving incrementally less