LIVING FOR CHANGE
We will be the Change
By Grace Lee Boggs
Michigan Citizen, Oct. 14-20, 2007
Several hundred activists, of all ages and from the many ethnic groups which make Detroit so interesting these days, voiced both their concerns and solutions at the October 5-6 meetings cohosted at Youthville by Detroit City of Hope and Detroit Gathering for Justice.
The meetings began each morning with the DVD of the “Gatherings for Justice” which Harry Belafonte has been convening around the country to build an intergenerational movement against the incarceration of inner city youth.
On Friday more than 200 young people from City Year and a number of schools (including Finney, Cass Tech, Detroit International Academy for Young Women, Fredrick Douglass Preparatory, University Prep High and Middle School) participated with about 40 adults in a lively program led by the Detroit Summer Collective. Following Invincible’s rap (“If we want to see the change, we must be the change”), teenage DSC members used LAMP (Live Arts Media Project) skills to encourage their peers to come up with positive solutions to the school dropout and youth criminalization crises.
Observing their leadership in one workshop of about 40 young people, I felt that I was witnessing the birth of a new kind of education and a new kind of movement. Instead of just complaining or protesting, instead of depending on charismatic leaders or the goodwill and favors of politicians, these young people are educating one another and developing their own leadership skills by coming together to imagine individual, community and city-wide solutions to real but seemingly insurmountable problems.
Some participants were so inspired by the process that they volunteered to organize similar workshops in their schools. For more information, see www.detroitsummer.org/
On Saturday about 100 people, mainly adults, came together. In the morning we formed a large circle to share stories of ongoing activities. Ron Scott, from the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, explained how his organization will be focusing on creating neighborhood peace zones by encouraging community residents to develop ways to resolve their own conflicts. Elena Herrada described the raids that are creating a reign of terror in the Latino community. Jackie Victor, co-owner of Avalon Bakery, pointed out how the absence of big box stores in Detroit provides exceptional opportunities for entrepreneurship.
After lunch we met in workshops to discuss particular issues: Peace Zones and Safe Spaces; Restorative Justice and Youth Incarceration; Media, Arts, and Activism; Immigration and Deportation Issues; Spatial Segregation, Racism, and Stereotypes; Education and Communities; Jobs, Entrepreneurs and Local Economic Empowerment.
The Peace Zones group suggested that communities create Truth and Reconciliation rituals that provide victims and survivors of violence with the opportunity to tell the stories of their loss, and offenders with the opportunity to ask for forgiveness and restoration to the community.
Participants in the Restorative Justice and Youth Incarceration workshop decided to name themselves the Restorative Justice Advocators and begin pooling their skills and resources to keep non-violent offenders in the community instead of being sent away to jail or prison. The Entrepreneurial group talked about urban gardens, the end of jobs, small businesses. They envisage producing a community business plan and want to learn more about what’s taking place in other cities, e.g. the Green Collar Movement in Oakland, California, the Green Workers Coop in the Sustainable South Bronx.
The Media and Arts group decided that Detroit needs more community murals and fewer commercial and casino billboards. We also need access to community radio.
The immigration and deportation group is planning a party in January so that we can get to know each other’s culture
Each group reported that it had set a time and place for its next meeting.
My impression from the October 5-6 meetings is that a significant number of Detroiters now recognizes that the time has come for us to create new infrastructures from the ground up and that this will require our long-range commitment. The events held earlier this year by
Detroit City of Hope to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Dr. King’s “ Break the Silence” speech and of the 1967 Detroit Rebellion have helped to bring about this consciousness.
On Thursday, October 25, Detroit City of Hope will meet to explore how to create a context to help Detroiters engaged in these rebuilding activities remain aware of our interconnections as participants in a broad movement to transform ourselves, our city and our future. The meeting will be at the Boggs Center, 3061 Field St. near E. Grand Blvd. and Mack, 6:30 p.m.
Email Grace Boggs Center,