Deeper Recognition of Privilege

Hi everyone!

This week I want to talk about what I’ve been observing in FoodLab Detroit and the Green Garage. Now that the first ever Dream Café has passed, I’ve noticed a dip in energy in my coworkers (understandably so), so it’s been pretty relaxed around the Green Garage.

My co-fellow and friend Roselyn Nsenga and I have been hard at work on our guide for planning a sustainable event and I’ve been enjoying the graphic design tasks. Today, I created 6 cover choices and I felt extremely accomplished when my supervisor said she loved them. The website Canva is a ton of fun to play around with and their free options were helpful to me in preparing the guide covers and the graphics we’re planning on including within the content section of the guide.

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about how I fit in the city of Detroit, how the puzzle piece that I am goes into the larger picture of the scene here. On Tuesday, June 19th, our DCBRP cohort attended a Juneteenth event at Play House Detroit. I was in awe of the strength presented in this space and grateful to have been included in a celebration of all that African Americans have been able to do with their freedom, and a discussion about what still needs to be done for freedom.

As a part of this event, we were asked to reflect on how the slam poems and videos made us feel. An incredible woman used her vibrant voice to describe how she was asked to “write a black poem” and everyone expected her to talk about issues of police brutality, or the criminal justice system, and things that catch the media’s eye. What they did not expect, but is her truth, is what she lives every day and what needs to be acknowledged. During her poem, performed in a style similar to slam poetry, most of the individuals in the room (including myself) were brought to tears. I felt my jaw tighten with empathy and anger for her. When the poem was over, I realized that I have the privilege to forget about this situation because I don’t live it as my personal experience every moment. I immediately felt guilty at first, that I get to drive to the grocery store and not worry if I will make it home. However, on the heels of this emotional experience was the deeper recognition that this privilege can be utilized to lift up the individuals in our community that have a message for us all. These messages and action are the path to achieving freedom.

Privilege needs to be used in order to actively dismantle it and other oppressive systems that exist in our society, and in Detroit.

I’m looking forward to the coming weeks living in Detroit. I anticipate I will learn so much more about how I fit in and can assist the important social justice movements happening today.

Kind regards,

Scarlett Bickerton