In December, I decided that my resolution for 2010 was to start a blog highlighting my personal insights about urban planning, racial reconciliation and Detroit’s future. The thought that I had both the ability and power to say something about these topics was both exhilarating and intimidating.

I’m originally from Indiana, but I grew up traveling I-94 to visit relatives in Detroit. I remember visiting Boblo Island and hearing my uncles talk about the latest Cadillac they purchased.  To me, Detroit was representative of big city living- nice cars, nice clothes and nice strong bars on store windows.

This is what today was all about.  Detroiters, those newly coined and seasoned,  must tell their stories.  The stories of opposition and resilience, of mistakes and lessons learned and the stories about Detroit’s future and the people who are working to create it one story at a time.

Take the challenge and tell your story because as I learned today information is only defined as news if it is something people haven’t heard before.

As we all know, there are still many stories about Detroit that haven’t been told.

However, one audience stated that “gatekeepers” prevent more positive stories from being told in traditional media outlets.

It seems like the goal is to have a balanced portrayal of Detroit in the media, but how can this be achieved?  Is the idea to have a balanced portrayal with a complete history in every story or an even score at the end of the month or year for each publication?

Off to talk about hidden stories in small groups…..

1. Stories about youth development- slam poetry, you tube, stories about the high achieving and the “not-so-high” achievers, peace zones.

2. Stories about community power- alternative to collapse, housing collectives, community gardens, community recycling programs and clothing swaps.

3.  Stories about people- living, working, surviving, thriving in Detroit.

Traditional media can’t be everywhere especially during a time of declining resources.  To tell the hidden stories, we must realize that journalism isn’t just for trained journalists.

It can be intimidating, but it can be done.

Kirk Cheyfitz, CEO, Story Worldwide

Given his statement, how can social media be used to “take charge of Detroit’s story?”

Fact:  According to Dr. Marcella Wilson of Matrix Human Services, those in poverty in Detroit do not have the same degree of access to jobs, grocery stores and other establishments to serve their needs due to the lack of coordinated transportation system throughout the region.  Therefore, Detroit residents who live in poverty face more challenges to improving their quality of life.

Other panelists, including Boyle and Dade, remarked that solutions to end poverty should be implemented regionally.

Fact: The Federal Housing Administration helped to create post-war affluence by subsidizing home mortgages that enabled potential home buyers to access capital cheaply for the first time.  These programs helped many immigrants buy homes and move from the city to middle class neighborhood in the suburbs.

According to David Freund, public authority must now be harnessed to create opportunity as it did in the past.

Fact: According to Malcom Dade, previous staffer for the former mayor, Young believed in multi-racial partnerships.  He described Young as a “race man” because he believed in the contributions of African-Americans.

Additionally, this myth does not provide an accurate depiction of the disease of systematic prejudice and discrimination.

Instead, Sugrue emphasizes the impact of the following three factors on metro-Detroit.

1.  Flight of capital and jobs away from the city.

2.  Persistent racial discrimination which limited employment options.

3.  Persistent segregation in housing by race, class and politics.

According to Sugrue, these factors simultaneously affected Detroit and created a process of urban transformation that created boundaries and lines that reinforce racial differences and inequitable distribution of resources that still exist today.

While the aftermath of these factors may lead some to point out “what they have done” to Detroit neighborhoods, the reality is that more suburban communities are facing the same challenges.  For our region to thrive, our decision makers, both elected officials and civic leaders, must work to address these issues by forming authentic, perhaps unlikely, partnerships.

So, what happened to this neighborhood?  According to Sugrue, the answer is not a  simple as we would like to think.