Detroit Summer, 1992

Detroit Summer's projects were geared towards revitalizing communities through grassroots efforts - to create cooperative economic structures that build community rather than destroy it. People were invited to Detroit to inspire them to go out and do their part to further this vision. The importance of personal relationships in organizing for change was heavily emphasized.

The projects included an anti-gang organizing project, painting houses for low-income people, and building parks in vacant lots. The project I worked on surveyed people who fish along the Detroit River. The purpose was to find out how much they knew about the dangers of eating fish laden with PCBs and mercury. After the survey is completed, a health risk message will be put out to persuade people to protect their health and help them find alternative food sources. Instead of being passive observers of the political scene, the interviewees will have the opportunity to join forces with each other and take collective action around their common concerns about fish and the river.

Detroit Summer's small community improvements had an effect far beyond this summer because participants gained the know-how and inspiration to revitalize their own communities. Just being in the city of Detroit was an eye opening experience that made me more aware of the severe inequalities in the United States. Wealthy, predominantly white suburbs border a poor, black inner city in which 1/3 of the population is on public assistance; the two populations hardly ever interact with each other. Many of the participants were from suburban Detroit and they had hardly ever been into the city. People were able to see it for themselves and get beyond the negative image of Detroit portrayed in the media.

In addition to the work projects there were a variety of seminars, marches, and work.shops that emphasized past and present struggles to rebuild the city of Detroit along more humane and sustainable principles. We went on crack marches where 50-100 people march in a neighborhood to drive out the local drug dealers and show that they care about their community. Surprisingly, this has been a very successful technique and has lowered the overall crime rate in the neighborhoods where it has been done. As the government has been unwilling or unable to make the changes that are needed, people have no choice but to take more direct action.

After three intense weeks of thinking about what it means to create social change and experiencing all that Detroit has to offer, the last day of the program was spent in a How to Build an Ideal Community workshop. The purpose was to come up with a model of where we would like to be in forty years and how we can reach this vision. The experiences people had and the knowledge gained from their three weeks in Detroit made for a very creative and productive discussion in which no limits were placed on the imagination, a fitting conclusion to an exhilarating project.

###