While sitting in a coffee shop, catching up with my dad over the holidays, I posed this question: \u201cWhat\u2019s been on your mind lately?\u201d He paused for a moment, smiled and said, \u201cWho taught you that question?\u201d<\/p>\n
The reality is I\u2019ve had a lot on my mind lately, which probably prompted me to ask the question in the first place. And although I\u2019m sure you\u2019d love to hear what\u2019s been on my dad\u2019s mind, I\u2019m going to tell you what\u2019s been rolling around in my head over the past few months.<\/p>\n
At times I feel like I\u2019m living a double life. Monday through Thursday I get up, put on a pair of nice black pants, button up my blouse and hop on my bike to the Renaissance Center where I work. During the day, I\u2019m living the life of a college educated, young professional. I sit in on meetings, answer emails, and plan events, all the while looking out of the big shiny windows of the Renaissance Center at the vast city of Detroit. Around me, I know there are thousands of other people looking out these very windows, looking past the city and thinking about their own families, passions and concerns. There are people all over downtown doing the same, from the top of Compuware Building to the basement of the Chrysler\u00a0Building.<\/p>\n
When I look out these windows, my mind does not wander to a life ten or twenty miles away. I think Detroit. I think about the hungry people in the city and the lack of safe bus stops for Detroiters. I think about the neighborhoods without access to fresh food, the hundreds of thousands of Detroit residentswithout access to transportation or a job,and the organizations and people working endless hours to overcome these challenges. I think about all of the fun nights I\u2019ve had, exploring new restaurants, festivals and museums, and consequently, about the people who don\u2019t have the time or money to do the same. My thoughts are filled with concern for those citizens who don\u2019t have the opportunity to look at Detroit from a safe, bird\u2019s eye view like I do at work. Above all, I think about how unfair it seems for me to be reaping the benefits of an incredible year of leadership development in Detroit when so many around me will never know such opportunities even exist.<\/p>\n
I look away from the massive Renaissance Center windows and concentrate again on my work, feeling overwhelmed and helpless. I can\u2019t put these thoughts and feelings better than my friend recently put the myriad of emotions that come with thinking about the state of Detroit and so many other places around the world: \u201cI have a tendency to get incredibly discouraged by both the shallowness\/emptiness of people and the despondency of world events\u2026I feel overwhelmed in my attempts to make the world a better place. I start thinking about one issue, which leads to another, and, soon enough, I\u2019ve hit terminal velocity within a descending spiral.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n On Challenge Detroit Fridays, I have a chance to climb out from the bottom of this spiral. I get to step out from behind the shiny windows and immerse myself in the changing Detroit landscape upon which my coworkers look out.While engaging with community members and stakeholders, I get to stop thinking about the issues I mentioned and start questioning their origin, understanding their depth and formulating solutions. On weeknights and weekends, I have time to read articles about race relations, housing development and progress in Detroit. I walk the streets and see the reflection of the still broken city in the windows of Dan Gilbert\u2019s buildings.<\/p>\n But what can I really do? Sure, I can volunteer my time and be a part of the change, but it doesn\u2019t feel like enough. I can dedicate my life to one cause and try to make a difference, but again,<\/strong>it doesn\u2019t feel like enough. Something about the system<\/em> needs to change, something big, something that gets to the root of all of these interconnected issues and breaks this institutional inequality under which we live. My point though is not that we, as individuals, should feel helpless in making this world more just, equal and sustainable.<\/p>\n In college I learned that the answer is always both. And that\u2019s what I see in Detroit. The two worlds I described, one of individuals that solely work in the city and one of those that live (or live and work) in the city, rarely interact in meaningful ways. Each operates within the same city limits and each must begin to find value in the other. There will always be corporate donations and grassroots movements, but alone, neither can make sustainable change. Because when more people care, change happens faster. When relationships form, change happens faster. Without this synergy there will always be two worlds. There will always be those that can choose to work and not live in the city, and those that don\u2019t have the choice. Of course, there is a growing group that does both, but three groups is not the goal. What we want is a unified group of citizens fighting for a more equal, livable place to call home.<\/p>\n So now that you\u2019ve heard me babble, what\u2019s been on your mind lately?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While sitting in a coffee shop, catching up with my dad over the holidays, I posed this question: \u201cWhat\u2019s been on your mind lately?\u201d He paused for a moment, smiled and said, \u201cWho taught you that question?\u201d The reality is I\u2019ve had a lot on my mind lately, which probably prompted me to ask the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12580\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}