To many people Detroit seems like a wasteland. They talk about it as if it is a city long gone, a city with no hope. My mother grew up in the suburbs of Detroit and her family all still lives there. I was fascinated by the city we would zoom through on the way to their houses. When I was young, I saw skyscrapers and old houses with bars on the windows and maybe a place to occasionally ice skate, to me that was Detroit. Although, I spent so much of my time only fifteen minutes away, I didn't know much about it

My first vivid experiences in Detroit were in high school when my aunt and uncle brought me into the city to see the street art and graffiti scene as that was something I was extremely fascinated by. I saw desolate areas with ran-down buildings covered from top to bottom in graffiti, half, burnt-down art projects, and people squatting in abandoned houses, things that even as a city-girl who lives a neighborhood over from the projects, still couldn't even imagine that anywhere in the U.S. looked like this. Around this time, I began to become more fascinated with social-justice and decided to go into non-profit work. This all made me quickly realize Detroit practically embodied so many of the social-issues in America and I learned it was, and still is, becoming a boom-town for non-profits. Because of this I wanted to know more, so since then I have spent a portion of every visit with my family going into the city, exploring and seeing new things. The good and the bad. The beautiful buildings, a caring community, a rich history but also a dark one. So brief history lesson, at one point, everyone knows, Detroit was/is the motor city. When cars began to be produced on foreign soil many people lost their jobs and the economy crashed. There were also intense race riots, which instead of dealing with the social conflicts there was white-flight from the city into the suburbs which would mean even more of a lack of money being poured into the economy and the city would never would full recovery from the riots. The lack of money and resources has continued as a downward spiral of one following the other further and further down.

I have tried to keep up with the current social issues in Detroit. Some of the more recent ones that I think are the most important include the black-outs that happen around the outskirts of the city where the street-lights are turned off at night due to the lack of money in the city, which means it's darker and easier for crimes to be committed. Belle Isle, a small island next to Detroit, began to be looked after by the state police rather than the city police because the local government no longer had enough money to fund it. Last year, the city decided to turn off the water of all the people who had not been paying their water-bill, but the city decided to keep the stadiums and golf-courses water on even though they hadn't either. Most recent, at the end of last school year, there was a point when Detroit announced they were about to run out of money and weren't sure how they would be able to pay teachers for the full year which lead to mass teacher strikes and kids with nowhere to go learn for days. Interesting because we say there is no such thing as white-privilege and that everyone has equal opportunity but here is a city that is majority black due to white-flight and has a failing education system, under-paid teachers, and thousands of students flocking to crumbling buildings to be educated. Whereas, my cousins who live so close go to one of the top high schools in the state merely because they have a different zip-code. I guess that just doesn't seem like equal opportunity to me but I could be wrong. Another hot-topic on the forefront is gentrification and it's role in many cities but I personally think it is particularly prevalent in Detroit, a place where for years I was warned to not even stop at a red-light due to the "crime" but now am watching as white-hipsters flock into the city. Of course, if someone called me a hipster it wouldn't be the first time so maybe my perspective is just as irrelevant as the rest but I have grown-up as a city girl and study the non-profit field and sociology, gentrification is something I am so interested in. Although, I don't see all of it as bad I think there are many problems with how it has come about and the sky-rocketing house prices that push community members out that come with it. And so much of Detroit is being gentrified, a solution needs to be found.

But I also have seen so much hope through the years. I've read countless stories of long-term community members starting new, successful businesses. I've watched non-profits do incredible work in communities and totally flourish. I've seen an inspiring artistic community. I've heard stories of schools making sure their students get into college. I've watched as the city has tried to make small improvements to the area and added different activities to attract people into downtown. And, most importantly, I've seen people rise above the drowning silence to say enough is enough in all different ways whether it be documentaries, petitions, art, or articles. One of my favorite things happening right now in Detroit is the urban-farming scene that is exploding. As one of the many problems in the city is burnt-down houses and abandoned buildings there are many empty lots. Also, much of the city is a food desert. So, people have decided to take these problems and make them work together to find a solution. They have taken the lots and created urban farms. Not only are they creating a sustainable community and bringing food into it but they are also proving that Detroit has a great potential to grow in a completely new way like no other city has.

Although in recent years my eyes have been opened to the pain in Detroit, I would not say this city is anywhere near dead or hopeless. Social-issues are being spoken about and social-justice is being sought. Community members refuse to give up on their city. Non-profits have brought new opportunity. Beautiful art and architecture can be seen everywhere. And all I really see is endless hope. So don't overlook Detroit, and just like Detroit, if there is another area you see as hopeless, maybe take another look, because often, it may have more to offer than you can even imagine.