{"id":29252,"date":"2023-06-06T11:42:45","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T11:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/?post_type=blogpost&p=29252"},"modified":"2023-06-06T11:42:45","modified_gmt":"2023-06-06T11:42:45","slug":"fellow-spotlight-daniel-arini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/fellow-spotlight-daniel-arini\/","title":{"rendered":"Fellow Spotlight: Daniel Arini"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daniel Arini is a 2022-2023 Fellow at DTE where he is a Junior Project Manager on the HR Workforce Development Team. Learn more about Daniel below.<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

Privilege in the Wake of Crisis<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Climate change, environmental injustice, COVID-19, biodiversity loss, neoimperialism, disinvestment, opioids, neoliberalism, disenfranchisement, housing affordability\u2026<\/span>the list goes on<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

I know, not the most pleasant start to a blog post, but I invite you to pause. Take a moment to reflect on how these topics make you feel. How are these and other topics interconnected? How have you responded to them? Keep these questions in mind as you read on. Nowadays, we are bombarded with a myriad of converging existential crises which make it difficult not to be anxious or overwhelmed sometimes. However, I\u2019m here to say we are <\/span>not <\/span><\/i>powerless, far from it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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City of Detroit Instagram Page. Consider giving them a follow!<\/p><\/div>\n

Challenge Detroit empowered me by introducing me to Eric Thomas*, Chief Storyteller for the City of Detroit (yes, that\u2019s a real position more cities would probably benefit from!). Eric, renowned for his vivid people-first storytelling on <\/span>Instagram<\/a><\/span>, inspired me to see my own power\u2014my privilege\u2014with fresh eyes. <\/span><\/p>\n

Before meeting Eric, I thought of my privilege as something which got in the way of my environmentalist aspirations, either because 1. it seemed as though my efforts were in <\/span>adequate or 2. I was afraid that I would be overbearing and act on assumptions. Of course, this dilemma pales in comparison to what frontline communities have to endure on a regular basis, yet if I were to be of service to anyone and live with myself, it had to be overcome.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Eric\u2019s advice on navigating privilege was refreshingly candid and humanizing:<\/span><\/p>\n