Where did you start in Detroit?

Great question, T. I think a good principle in LIFE (not just urban revitalization) is to listen & learn before you lead change. Not that you should feel paralyzed to share your talents with the world until you've reached some sort of "expert" status, but a good amount of question-asking, neighbor-meeting and general understanding about the history and culture of a place is important before you dive in to start something new.

In my time in Detroit, I've seen so many great examples of people who have moved here and had the humility (and courage, really) to ask questions. Tunde: You were one of them! We had conversations, lots of them. I learned from you, you learned from me. Sometimes the take-aways from those chats aren't immediately obvious, but they infuse our thinking & dreaming & scheming.

I think there is a tendency in cities to gravitate toward like-minded peers, often in our same age groups, neighborhoods & industries, even. This is natural, this is not inherently a bad thing. If you're a progressive liberal, you seek out with other progressive liberals. If you're a young adult away from your family, you might not naturally encounter a lot of children or elders.

But if you want to get involved in your community, it's important to get outside of your natural social network. Meet new people, visit unfamiliar places, ask difficult questions. Be curious, be open-minded, be a seeker. It will help improve your work, I promise.

This said, I do also agree with a great observation Veronika Scott (The Empowerment Plan) made about the value of naivete. Sometimes, if you over-learn, over-think & over-plan, you can talk yourself out of taking a first step towards doing something great. It's easy to get frozen if you're afraid of offending someone or misstepping somehow. So strive to have respect for your neighbors & environment without getting mired in fear.

If there is one thing I know for sure, it's that we're all imperfect humans. So if you encounter another imperfect human with good intentions but flawed execution, consider cutting him/her some slack. Mistakes & failure are a part of life, that's how we learn. I think most people want our fellow citizens to feel like they belong, to get involved, to take initiative and to feel ownership and pride in our community. As with all things in life, kindness and compassion are essential. Let's be a place that is open & welcoming to people & ideas. 

Posted Mar 27, 2012

here is the video I was refering to

I started off wanting to work on increasing my network. I attended everything I could and although I was timid, tried to talk to as many people as I could. From that I started a mission called SYMBOL (Successful Young Minorities as Business Owners and Leaders). Its goal was to connect amazing young professional minorities with the young generation so that they can see that success is around the corner...not 40 years down the road. That got me to where I am today with yet a long way still to go.

Posted Mar 27, 2012

I like that rishi. Meeting people is always important.

Two comments though, I think sometimes when we begin a project we are more opent to input, expecially when we are doing something new... but soon we fall into some sort of ossification, we are no longer eager to solicit opinions, not because we don't see their value but we are too busy making things work. How do we avoid this?

Secondly, (and maybe this is particular to the work you do) how do you keep your motivation... how do you stay interested and excited, and not get fatigued by the "snail's pace" of reality. Sometimes it takes forever to implement solutions, and other times, you have to seive through a lot of mediocre meetings to find the one inspirational relationship. How do you sustain your interest?

Posted Mar 30, 2012

LOL... thanks Delphia, you are pretty passionate yourself. So maybe you can help with this question... 
What do you do, when your passion is not appreciated, or rather, when people (or organizations) are not ready for your ideas... yet you beleive very strongly that your solution is necessary. what do you do when you cannot build consensus, do you go ahead and prove yourself of wait until you have enough support.

Posted Mar 30, 2012