Hello everyone!
One of the experiences that stood out to me during DCERP was getting to know Detroit through the book, How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood. I think being able to step out of my comfort zone and look away from my preconceived notions about the city of Detroit was refreshing. Also, I was glad to hear about other cities experiencing similar issues and extremely different problems. Being able to make connections with the novel and my current projects with Downtown Detroit Partnership has given me a well-rounded perspective of community-based work. I believe to live in a city (like I have for all my life) is to watch consistent, rapid change. How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood has given depth to that change for me and provided names and details for things I would have considered indescribable before. My personal definition of gentrification has undergone a tremendous change since investigating Moskowitz’s text. And that insight will remain with me moving forward.
Best,
Le’Elle
