Letter to the Editor: Ready for Change?
“Whatever your highest aspiration is, it’s probably too low,” said black social justice champion, teacher and writer Dr. Danielle Moss. “Multiply it by 10 and see where that takes you. Push yourself to leap into spaces where you don’t belong. You have no idea what’s on the other end of your courage.”
Dr. Moss made me think of MorningSide, my community for the past 40 years. I’ve never been so excited and so worried about us at the same time. I confess. I was one of those older neighbors who heard rumblings about change to the Warren business corridor but didn’t see much compared to the overwhelming loss of businesses since I moved in. I didn’t explore what was happening – until now. And what a difference a few years make!
We could choose to go in two very different directions. We could join those who say change in Detroit is overwhelming and dismiss most attempts to change as too small to fix such a big problem. Or we could dream big. Push for what we want for our community, economically, culturally, and socially and get behind new ideas; our ideas, not just the city’s or philanthropies. Luckily, little changes suddenly turned me around or at least presented me with hope.
I was thrilled, for example, by the MorningSide newsletter residents put together. Bravo! And I was also impressed meeting young candidates like Toson Knight; though he lost his election, he’s a committed neighbor. Just knowing that he raised $100,000 last year for his nonprofit, Caught Up, that sent 100 young people to college, is impressive! Yes, aim high!
The Alger Theater, I was told years ago, is such a mess we should knock it down, but lo and behold check it out! And the East Warren Revitalization Plan, so complex, it made my eyes twirl when I first heard about it. But when I learned it won the 2021 Planning Excellence Award by the Michigan Chapter of the American Planning Association, it gave me hope.
I can’t overlook all we have to overcome. The echo of bribery scandals about the people we elected to city council supposed to represent us, not illegal business interests. And what about the vast swaths of vacant and abandoned land in our community? And the E. Warren Business corridor still has far to go. But is that a problem or an opportunity? Detroit is not yet the city of the future. Can MorningSide show a new way to get there?
As Joe Rashid, director of East Warren Development Corporation told me, “Money doesn’t solve all your problems. We develop at the speed of trust.” Meaning: his organization aims for 100% business occupancy on the corridor, but it must reflect the community, especially black-owned businesses. Step one, create an equitable development strategy for the corridor; create density with streetscape improvements which his organization is doing. Then connect small business owners, many with little experience, to all the resources they need to succeed.
Reflecting back to Dr. Moss’s opening quotation: “Push yourself to leap into spaces where you don’t belong. You have no idea what’s on the other end of your courage.” Now I believe our future depends on it! I encourage you to check out MorningSide’s informative website and sign up for the newsletter. I hope you’re inspired like I was!
