Detroit, Community Resilience, and the American Dream
By Milicent Johnson from Shareable.net
When I told my friends and family I would be traveling to Detroit to write about community resilience, I got the same reaction from everyone: Silence. Then, slowly, as if not to offend me, people would look at me very seriously and say “Be very careful–you never hear anything good about Detroit. Remember, you’re a woman, you have more to lose from an attack than just your wallet.” Frequently the conversation would trail to the murder rate or economic devastation and that “desperate times make people do crazy things.” My surprise at this reaction was compounded by the fact that those words weren’t just coming from my parents, they were coming from born and bred city folks who know that the greatest cities always get a bad rap from people who have never been there.
Click for full article.
Mapping the Strait
Mapping the Strait.
A great website that “stems from my interest in Detroit and fascination with using maps and diagrams to explore and explain complex issues.”
Kwanzaa time
Please join Mack Alive in celebrating Kwanzaa this year! Pastor Skip Wachsmann of Genesis Lutheran Church will be honored on the second day of Kwanzaa – Kujichagulia (Self-determination), Monday, December 27, 2010, 7 p.m. at Saunders Memorial AME Church – 3542 Pennsylvania (Corner of Mack Ave).
Looking for real justice
By Bill Wylie-Kellermann
PUBLISHED: DECEMBER 8, 2010
Last Friday, Steve DiPonio, a resident of Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood, pleaded not guilty in Wayne County Circuit Court to felony charges related to the October beating of a homeless man, Charles Duncan, also of Corktown.
Read here for full article from Metro times.
Detroit to Dakar Events
Wednesday, December 29, 2010 from 8:00 to 12:00pm: D2D African Cabaret and dinner (BYOB) at The Family Therapy Center: 17500 Northland Park Court, Southfield, MI 48075. Only $15.00 admission -adults only.
D2D is an initiative of Africa-focused organizations from around the U.S to promote issues related to Africaand the African Diaspora. D2D coordinated its activities toward enhanced participation at the U.S. Social Forum in Detroitthis past June, while also making strategic links towards the World Social Forum in Dakar, Senegalin early 2011. (HYPERLINK http://sites.google.com/site/detroittodakar/ and blog: http://detroit2dakar.blogspot.com/)
D2D is showing the parallels of the economic downturn across the U.S.and Africa by making strategic links between these two cities, Detroitand Dakar, and helping us move toward global concepts for solutions.
These events are a wonderful opportunity to witness the Detroitgrassroots community in action. Your support will help fund the travel expenses of the Detroit Delegation, who will travel to Dakar, Senegalin February 2011 for the World Social Forum to continue this work.
Please join for three nights of delicious food, fun, creativity, collaboration, music, performances, and thought-provoking commentary. There will be great raffle prizes at the cabaret. You won’t want to miss it.
All events are open to the public, admission for the movie/dinner and cabaret is only $15.00. The funds from dinners and admission go directly to support the travel expenses of the Detroitdelegation of D2D.
Is William Martinez not our Brother?
20 years of the Prison Creative Arts Project
Join University of Michigan professor and Prison Creative Arts Project (PCAP) founder Buzz Alexander and Detroit artists and activists for an evening of story telling and community dialogue bearing witness to the human costs of mass incarceration in Michigan.
Responding panel:
- Ron Scott, Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality
- Natalie Holbrook, American Friends Service Committee Criminal Justice Program
- Mary Heinen, Prison Creative Arts Project
- Ana Lyra Sis, Community Artist and PCAP Participant
Thursday, December 9th at 7:00pm
Leopold’s Books
The Park Shelton
15 E Kirby St.
Detroit MI, 48202
Www.leopoldsbooks.com
313-875-4677
Prisons are an invisible, but dominant, part of American society: the United States incarcerates more people than any other nation in the world, with 25 percent of the world’s prisoners currently held within its borders. Is William Martinez Not Our Brother? describes the Prison Creative Arts Project and its work giving incarcerated individuals an opportunity to participate in the arts, enabling them to withstand and often overcome the conditions and culture of prison, the policies of an incarcerating state, and the consequences of mass incarceration.
For more information contact Amit Weitzer at amit.weitzer@gmail.com or visit www.leopoldsbook.com
