16/06/2009

Urban Exile: Gran Torino

I read this article this morning because I am always interested to see what people have to say about Michigan and Detroit. Usually it’s some sort of comedic piece or a good chuckle at the ineptitude of the city’s political structure. However, this morning when I read this Out of Ur post on Gran Torino I was moved.

You see, it’s not everyday that you see a snapshot of Detrtoit that points to the racial and the spiritual. But, here we do. I have worked in and around the city of Detroit for four years. My first three and a half took place on the college campuses and for the last six months I have been in the suburbs working at Grace Chapel, EPC. In my time here I have been amazed by what is happening in and around our city.

Many people look at 8 Mile and Telegraph, those grand dividers as the keys to what’s going on here. The reality is that they aren’t. There is a movement growing of the emerging generation to re-engage in a real way the very real problems that our city faces. They see the problems. They live the problems. Yet, when you go to Wayne State University or talk to people from Citadel (a multi-ethnic church in the heart of the city) you begin to glimpse a different picture: hope.

Whereas our parents generation was one “lost in space“, our generation is one that seeks to rectify those problems and change the future. Are we despairing? Yes. Are we frustrated with an institutional agenda that makes change difficult? Yes. Are we without hope? No.

As I think about what David Swanson says in his article I can’t help but think that this is the generation that will change the tide. We can only hope.

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Tags: christianity, Culture, detroit, missional

http://matthaupt.wordpress.com/ matt2n201

Loved your post. I am definitely one of the individuals who is frustrated with how the rest of the nation sees Detroit, and frustrated that there are so many roadblocks to making Detroit a better place.

But you are right, there are plenty of people around the Detroit area that are itching to help make the city what it once was.

Detroit will come back….I don’t know how long it is going to take, but it will come back.
http://matthaupt.wordpress.com matt2n201

Loved your post. I am definitely one of the individuals who is frustrated with how the rest of the nation sees Detroit, and frustrated that there are so many roadblocks to making Detroit a better place.

But you are right, there are plenty of people around the Detroit area that are itching to help make the city what it once was.

Detroit will come back….I don’t know how long it is going to take, but it will come back.
Dan

Matt, I hope so. I grew in the Northern suburbs and used to be afraid to drive down Woodward. I am in love with this place now. It would be amazing if we could continue a mobilization of the young to change this place. How cool would it be for our kids to talk about the city in the same way our parents did?
http://http//churchremix.wordpress.com/ Dan

Matt, I hope so. I grew in the Northern suburbs and used to be afraid to drive down Woodward. I am in love with this place now. It would be amazing if we could continue a mobilization of the young to change this place. How cool would it be for our kids to talk about the city in the same way our parents did?
Tim

We need to bring another industry to Detroit. It lives or dies with the auto industry, regardless of whether or not most of those people live in the city. It not only needs youth, but a reinvention. It’s been “reinvented” by others and that’s as a laughing-stock, which is truly sad. What can the future Detroit be that would draw people?
Tim

We need to bring another industry to Detroit. It lives or dies with the auto industry, regardless of whether or not most of those people live in the city. It not only needs youth, but a reinvention. It’s been “reinvented” by others and that’s as a laughing-stock, which is truly sad. What can the future Detroit be that would draw people?
Dan

Tim, that’s a great question. I am not sure about what the next industry is in Detroit. I know that they are trying to position themselves as “Hollywood” east. However, I think that with UM and MSU right here that we should be able to develop technology and engineering beyond automobiles.
http://http//churchremix.wordpress.com/ Dan

Tim, that’s a great question. I am not sure about what the next industry is in Detroit. I know that they are trying to position themselves as “Hollywood” east. However, I think that with UM and MSU right here that we should be able to develop technology and engineering beyond automobiles.
Tim

I wonder if somehow it would require people moving back INTO Detroit. Without people in the city how can there be a marketplace there. But without industry no people, and without people no marketplace. It is in such a tough place. But I still think the answer is people moving back into Detroit.
Tim

I wonder if somehow it would require people moving back INTO Detroit. Without people in the city how can there be a marketplace there. But without industry no people, and without people no marketplace. It is in such a tough place. But I still think the answer is people moving back into Detroit.
Dan

Moving back in is key. More than a marketplace (which in many ways already exists) is the need for quality schools and basic services (gas and grocery). But, how do you get quality schools without people? We are again back to the chicken and the egg. It’s very, very difficult.
http://http//churchremix.wordpress.com/ Dan

Moving back in is key. More than a marketplace (which in many ways already exists) is the need for quality schools and basic services (gas and grocery). But, how do you get quality schools without people? We are again back to the chicken and the egg. It’s very, very difficult.