Detroit, May You Be a Phoenix
Think about it: For the next five weeks, you could live in downtown Boston and your wife could shop on Newbury Street. Or you could live in downtown Detroit, amid the boarded-up buildings and the proverbial skeleton frames of burned-out Chevrolets. Is this really a tough call?
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.
