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Critical to this dialogue on fixing Detroit is defining both the role of each individual player and of the group. To that end, the purpose of this post is very simple: to get responses from everyone in the "comments" section on three core questions:
I) What approach do you think this group should take (faith-based, secular, narrow, broad, etc.)?
A.
B.
II) What are your personal objectives in Detroit (build communities, solve hunger, etc.)?
A.
B.
III) What are you willing to do and get involved in?
A.
B.
C.
Into Detroit
12 years ago
I) What approach do you think this group should take (faith-based, secular, narrow, broad, etc.)?
ReplyDeleteA. This group should not be held exclusively to a faith or secular based approach but a combination of both. The Churches/Mosques hold a great amount of influence in the City of Detroit but we cannot work solely through faith-based programs as this will limit our potential and the amount of people we can reach with our message.
II) What are your personal objectives in Detroit (build communities, solve hunger, etc.)?
A. My personal goal for the city of Detroit is to bring retail infrastructure back to the city. In Detroit's prime, department stores such as Hudson's carried the city. An outdoor shopping strip filled with coffee shops where I could study and local grocery stores would not make me think about twice about making the commute.
III) What are you willing to do and get involved in?
A. I would be willing to partake in any activity which involves helping businesses open branches in the area, reaching out to existing programs already in place within the city, initiating a cleanup renovation of buildings no longer in use, and improving and introducing education programs.
My Humble opinions:
ReplyDeleteI. Approach - at least initially, I think we should have a fairly narrow approach. For instance, fundraising for major projects without proving we can do anything without raising capital = not smart. Let's pick projects and collaborations to become a part of, let's make an impact, and then we can grow our operations. In terms of secular v. religious - whoever wants to help, please help. But be committed. Again, at least initially, the role is much greater for true commits than people who want to give 1/2 effort. In due time, there will be a role for all people.
II. Personal objectives:
A. Start a student-run free health care clinic in the city through MSUCOM. And more generally, increase the health care options for those less fortunate living in Detroit.
B. UNITY. Many non-profits, interest groups, and faith-based orgs. are working in Detroit. I'd like to increase collaboration and involvement, and also...
C. Bridge the gap between city & suburbs. How? Establish and promote outreach projects, collaborations between both entities, dialogue sessions, and so on. In the long-run, the city and suburbs will benefit from one another. We need to get that message across.
D. Hunger - food in schools. I believe we should conduct charity food drives/fundraisers to provide breakfast in school for Middle School children. The efficacy of such an approach for positive outcomes in both attendance and performance is well-documented.
III. What am I willing to do?
A. For starters, I am moving to Detroit with Atiya in a month, God willing.
B. I will go to the mosques/churches/synagogues both in Detroit and in the suburbs to build partnerships.
C. I will attend City Council meetings.
D. I will work with MSUCOM to open up another student-run free healthcare clinic in the city.
Muhammad Baba, seeing as you've already typed my answers out somewhere, would you mind posting them here too?
ReplyDelete---Nauman's view on fixing Detroit---
ReplyDeleteI. Approach
A. Bottom Line: Define short-term objective
II. Nauman's Objectives
A. Muslim communities in Detroit
B. Muslims solving the hunger issue
III. What is Nauman willing to do?
A. Invest in city, Buy real estate, Plant apple trees
I) approach:
ReplyDeleteA. broad. broad impact. there are several fronts:
1. improving the condition of poor neighborhoods/residents
- this includes physical infrastructure and services (school system, sources of food, etc)
2. attracting the middle class back into the city
- focus on young professionals – crappy public school system means city living makes no sense for families w/kids
3. attracting businesses
- start with the kind that can be sustained with 9-5 business from commuting professionals
4. making local government effective
- they stink but *they control the money* (tax revenue, stimulus, etc)
- need to get a foot in, somehow – research required on this front
B. religious affiliations invite suspicion – we shouldn’t set ourselves up for that. our being muslim will speak for itself.
II) personal objective: i want us to put all the elements in place to create a city-center community that can attract people from the suburbs, recent college graduates from around the country, and businesses. the most challenging of these elements are accessibility (public transportation) and safety (cops cops cops). if we can provide these two things and plant a couple flower gardens and go nuts with marketing, population/business should start to increase -- thanks to super low property values -- and eventually snowball. the money that flows through the city will inevitably benefit poor residents in a big way. i don’t believe in trickle down economics, but shoot… if there’s a single situation in the universe where it applies, this is the one.
III) me?: everything. evenings and weekends, which adds up to 20-30 hours a week. all my free time.
I) What approach do you think this group should take (faith-based, secular, narrow, broad, etc.)?
ReplyDeleteA. narrow, non-secular projects with well-defined focus and attainable goals. small steps at a time. being secular means being exclusive.
B. multiple 'angles of attack' ranging from the standard habitat for humanity type to encouraging new businesses to relocate to detroit via govt programs already in place, like MEDC. what this group can do is only limited by the capacity of its current members. we're already well educated and well-rounded, together. more members only increases what can be accomplished
II) What are your personal objectives in Detroit (build communities, solve hunger, etc.)?
A. i don't think my goals are restricted to just detroit, but most of michigan. detroit can serve as an excellent starting point for the rest of michigan
B. my main belief is that new and expanding diverse businesses (not just auto related) is the way to go - attract new companies (w/financial incentives), which in turn hires more people, which in turn brings more people into the city. gradually, as the other people here attain their goals, workers will begin to realize it is more efficient to live in detroit, once public transportation, amenities, and other benefits are in place.
III) What are you willing to do and get involved in?
A. currently working on developing new user-based initiatives to grow local businesses/increase networking to expand microtechnology (specifically, for now) starting with ann arbor. the more supporting initiatives there are to build new businesses, the more likely they can reposition into detroit, but there has to be incentives. detroit-based incubators are also an option.