Urban Poverty in Detroit, Michigan |
They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were the seeds.” |
A city of abandoned buildings and walls covered in graffiti, Detroit is an expression of its history. Physical barriers divide the economic classes. The wealthy in cookie-cutter neighborhoods are on one side, while a street away, condemned homes fall apart.
I visited Detroit as a student on my 2019 alternative spring break. My objective was one of education. I desired to understand the social factors involved with urban poverty in order to complement my theoretical studies with personal interactions. I worked with CASS, a non-profit organization focused on defeating urban poverty. Their expertise is in addressing social injustice in a wide-scale, encompassing approach. Their approach reflects Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, addressing first the physiological needs like hunger before working towards breaking the cycle of poverty with education and employment assistance. I spent the week helping in soup kitchens, assisting the mentally disabled, cleaning up, and assembling tire mats to be sold for profit. But, while there, I got to experience the people of Detroit. Detroit's people are fighters. Refusing to watch their city fall to shambles, its people have covered the buildings in graffiti murals. Proud of their past and of their future, they are happy to share their stories. Their pride invokes hope. They are knowledgeable. Every individual I met told me more about the history of their city, answering all my inquiries, even the unspoken ones. But my favorite aspect is their diversity. Detroit is truly captures the America being founded on immigration. An intermixing of Arab, Hispanic, Greek, and American ethnicities, there is never a lack of culture. Constant art and varying cuisine, it is a reminder of the beauty that results from mixing cultures. I left with the intention to understand the institutions. I returned with the understanding of not only the factors but who the individual people are. |