Florence

Where do you live? Ralph Bunche Coop, it’s about 1 mile down the road. I’ve lived there for almost 40 years. The place has changed management companies many times over the years and it’s gotten worse and worse. If you don’t have a sticker on your car, they’ll come onto your property to tow your car away. It hasn’t happened to me, but my car has been stolen about 3 times. A lot of people have left over the years.

Why didn’t you leave? I loved the faith, I lived in the city. Why should I leave?

I grew up on the East Side of Detroit. When I was growing up, we had 13 kids in the house and 2 bathrooms. I was the second oldest. Can you imagine? We were all raised as Lutherans, but today everybody’s changed. I’m the only one left. My son and I. All my siblings, nah. They’ve changed a number of times, to tell you the truth.

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Racial Equity Network

Lisa just came to visit our table and shared a bit about her experience at the Racial Equity conference that she recently attended in Lansing. I asked her about the panel that struck her the most. “It was a whole youth panel. A lot of people don’t think youth have voices. They really know a lot more than people give them credit for. I really enjoyed it because it was really informative.”

Another panel that spoke to Lisa was that about Indigenous Rights in the US. She learned that state governments are still displacing Indigenous peoples in truly heinous ways. “I thought they stopped doing that. They are pushing them closer and closer to the river in Indiana, if I remember correctly, basically trying to run them out of the state. I thought this was the United States.”

To know more about what Lisa learned about at the conference: http://www.wkkf.org/what-we-support/racial-equity.aspx.

Who do I look up to in my neighborhood?

The person who I look to is my dad. The reason why is because he inspires me and other people in my neighborhood to cut the grass and to pick up trash and to throw it away. That’s why I look up to my dad.

By: Lavell Shelly, 6th Grade

 

Action at the Discotech!

Denise

I just had the pleasure of sitting down and chatting with Denise, a congregant from St. Charles Church. We chatted about blogging and I learned that Denise is in fact a avid writer herself. Although she’s a self proclaimed “behind the scenes type of lady,” she was very open about her writing and shared some stories with me.

“If I can share any story with you, it’d be this. Once, when I was in college, I was on my way to my first class and my bra strap broke. I got on the bus and I was so embarrassed. My first class was writing and the prompt was to write an essay. The only true thing in that essay was about my bra strap breaking. It was totally made up. When my professor read it, he didn’t know that I wasn’t a professional writer. He was so impressed. He told me I shouldn’t be anything but a writer”

What’s your favorite genre to write? “Romance”

“Community mean…

“Community means to me to help people around your neighborhood.”

By: Diamond Shelly, 4th grade

What Is A Community? By: John Shelly

A community is when people come together to benifit everyone.

-6th grader

What Does Community Mean To You? By: Shirley Shelly

It means when community comes together to take care of their city and to make their home a better place.

-5th grader

To All Those To Come:

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Welcome! This blog was created to share our stories about our communities on the East Side of Detroit. Check out our “About” tab to read a little bit more about our community. This blog is beginning with the Discotech (Discovering Technology) event in March 2013, where we’re inviting folks to tell their stories re: community. […]