tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27108771726775871972024-02-18T17:49:11.197-08:00Dismantling Whiteousness(rhymes with Self-Righteousness) I celebrate how being in mutually vulnerable friendships with people of all colors has taught me a more balanced perspective on reality. I lament Anglo-America's aggressive fragility in regards to racial injustice, so I write and compile from a Jesus-following perspective of setting tables towards respect and relationship. This is not anti-white people, but anti-Whiteousness: against the concept that white ideals, ideas, and people are superior. (c) 2016-18Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.comBlogger137125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-30012486938964267202020-10-26T10:55:00.003-07:002020-10-27T03:52:40.132-07:00Dialogue Across Geographical Divides with Network Lobby<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxIVwBFt7KNQhRlIicoPR9v4ADS0ZC8zttVnMA-5qW-GMSpquEEWmnfD7LDVrJVX2ZjaFQXVJsLW_xXBWR7UnPRyK2UKTpi4ZwAhLhSEMZReoogbZb2r8diR5omQLLxcdA93PHCx153pQ/s2048/Screen+Shot+2020-10-14+at+4.08.50+PM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1134" data-original-width="2048" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxIVwBFt7KNQhRlIicoPR9v4ADS0ZC8zttVnMA-5qW-GMSpquEEWmnfD7LDVrJVX2ZjaFQXVJsLW_xXBWR7UnPRyK2UKTpi4ZwAhLhSEMZReoogbZb2r8diR5omQLLxcdA93PHCx153pQ/w400-h224/Screen+Shot+2020-10-14+at+4.08.50+PM.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(30, 30, 30); color: #1e1e1e; font-family: "Noto Serif"; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(30, 30, 30); color: #1e1e1e; font-family: "Noto Serif"; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p></span>Last week, I was asked by the <a href="https://networklobby.org/">Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice</a> to participate in a panel about the current realities of Michigan. <a href="https://networklobby.org/bus2018/sistersimonecampbellbio/">Sr. Simone Campbell,</a> from <a href="https://networklobby.org/bus2020/">Nuns on the Bus</a>, brought together urban and rural Michiganians working in housing, community development, journalism, and social justice to establish contrast and dialogue. Interestingly, more points of commonality were discovered than anyone expected! I was honored to be part of a dialogue with <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/bankole-thompson/2019/10/14/bankole-ive-had-enough-racial-appeasement/3942431002/">Bankole Thompson</a> (Op-Ed Columnist at Detroit News), <a href="https://www.modeldmedia.com/features/nonprofit-journal-project-072020-carina-jackson.aspx">Carina Jackson</a> (COO of Mariner's Inn), <a href="http://adriandominicans.org/News/Tag/joan-ebbitt">Joan Ebbitt</a> (Associate, Adrian Dominican Sisters), Lynne Punnett (Former Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of Lenawee County), and <a href="http://adriandominicans.org/Immigration-Assistance">Laura Negron-Terrones</a> (Adrian Dominican Sisters, Immigration Office). Click Video Below<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cF10c1x_eQM" width="320" youtube-src-id="cF10c1x_eQM"></iframe></div><br /><p><a href="https://youtu.be/cF10c1x_eQM">https://youtu.be/cF10c1x_eQM</a></p>Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0Detroit, MI, USA42.331427 -83.045753814.021193163821152 -118.2020038 70.641660836178843 -47.8895038tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-44108069923113442082019-05-16T18:59:00.000-07:002019-05-16T18:59:02.834-07:00Wisdom: Andre Henry & Frederick Douglass<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PJgfw5FsRiE/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PJgfw5FsRiE?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
At <a href="http://www.thetablesetters.org/" target="_blank">The Table Setters,</a> we lean into the wisdom of writers who've gone before us like Frederick Douglass, and writers and theologians who are still with us, like <a href="http://www.andrerhenry.com/" target="_blank">Andre Henry</a> and Nick Barrett.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
This discussion needs to be happening daily, and we need to be having these kinds of talks both within, and outside of, the bubbles we've come to know.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheTableSetters/" target="_blank">Follow the Table Setters on Facebook</a>.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
If you live in Detroit, join us this weekend at Fort Street Presbyterian Church where we discuss:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1247991455377031/" target="_blank">Are White People able to Follow Leadership from People of Color?</a></div>
</div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-38299928219880995532019-03-29T10:23:00.000-07:002019-03-29T10:23:44.789-07:00Dismantling My Whiteousness, Live<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PlXuRyxDOgQ/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PlXuRyxDOgQ?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
Thanks to a generous partnership between <a href="http://www.newdetroit.org/" target="_blank">New Detroit</a> and <a href="https://www.twistedtellers.org/" target="_blank">The Secret Society of Twisted Storytellers</a>, I got to partake in a project to understand race as a social construct. Everyone received a free DNA kit to study both our ancestry and genealogy, to make connections to our shared histories and the authentic stories of where we come from, and where they intersect. My journey includes failing miserably as a "white savior" (thankfully!), and finding hidden white ancestors who were more violent than the people of Detroit I was taught to fear. Oh, and Solange Knowles is my 10th cousin....so there's that.<br />
<br />
Performed live at <a href="https://thewright.org/" target="_blank">The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History,</a> Detroit, MI, March 27, 2019<br />
<br />
(video credit: dad. :))</div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-17968367373925823682019-01-21T10:37:00.005-08:002019-01-21T10:37:37.854-08:00Inseparable from The Dream is The Letter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;"><i>Transcript of </i></span><i>Opening Reflections delivered at The Community House of Birmingham, Michigan at the 27th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration </i><i>entitled: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/280682665978812/?active_tab=about" target="_blank">THE DREAM: HOW DO WE LIVE IT? HOW CAN WE WORK TOGETHER TO MOVE FORWARD?</a></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">***</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha9gnwNL-Ss0cZ5qVwhE20aiDbUk4dkglfn7k0ur4oECFj2UD-buDoHvqFxLL37EGSg7XuuULIPzeyqKZfMnK-VrY3W5tqt5VQPoaxa8lTAezMtuPf1rd4vxFYf_EafHh7Ml_H7-mLEns/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-01-21+at+1.10.53+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha9gnwNL-Ss0cZ5qVwhE20aiDbUk4dkglfn7k0ur4oECFj2UD-buDoHvqFxLL37EGSg7XuuULIPzeyqKZfMnK-VrY3W5tqt5VQPoaxa8lTAezMtuPf1rd4vxFYf_EafHh7Ml_H7-mLEns/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-01-21+at+1.10.53+PM.png" width="300" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Good morning friends, family, and neighbors. My name is Matthew Schmitt, and I am humbled and grateful to be asked to open our time together on such an important day. I grew up just a mile from here, graduated from Groves High School, and currently live in Pingree Park on Detroit’s Eastside where Darcie and I are raising our two daughters within the context of a beautifully complex and resilient community.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I consider the context of our gathering today, <i>the Dream, how do we live it, how can we work together to move forward</i>, I find myself wondering if part of the challenge is to consistently practice waking ourselves up to more than Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. Many of you may have portions of it memorized, the epic and soaring call to action that, you may recall, he actually practiced first here in downtown Detroit about two months before the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. You will undoubtedly hear excerpts of it throughout the day on the radio, the news, (<i><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/pence-slammed-quoting-king-defend-wall-proposal-n960826" target="_blank">even in wildly inappropriate and shameful ways yesterday</a></i>) and that’s because it is indeed brilliant and inspiring. But I think, sometimes, what makes these ideas so hard to live out, is that we actually get stuck in the dream, a cloudy and hazy space that is not fully in touch with reality because it’s only part of the story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Let’s face it, Dr. Martin Luther King was not shot to death over articulating a dream. He was boldly speaking truth to power. Calling out individuals who created and supported policies and the systems of our society that heavily favored people who look like me over people who looked like Dr. King. And those bravely organized efforts were succeeding in bringing this truth to the light of day, ensuring that the reality of the injustice was made clear and unavoidable through boycotts and demonstrations that exerted economic pressures on those who were all too comfortable with the status quo. This was waking the rest of the world up to the injustices suffered too long by black people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now, as important as it’s ever been: we must ask how far have we actually come? Another way to ask: Have we dismantled the systems that promote some people as inherently more valuable than others? Or do we still tend to prefer the absence of tension, which King calls a “negative peace,” instead of the presence of justice, which he describes as the only real peace.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">During some of my coursework at Fuller Theological Seminary in California, we looked at Dr. King’s <a href="https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Letter_Birmingham_Jail.pdf" target="_blank">Letter From A Birmingham Jail</a> in the context of studying prophetic texts. Now, of course, I need to make it clear <i>here</i>, that we’re talking about Birmingham, Alabama. Anyway, our professor taught that prophetic writings were not exactly predictions of what would happen in the future. Rather, the prophets in ancient sacred texts were often marginalized people who believed firmly in the mandates and promises of the scriptures, and were unafraid to share their oftentimes harsh warnings with the broader society. In this light, Dr. King's writings from inside a cell certainly marched in step with this rich and controversial history. The letter was a response to a statement issued by eight white religious leaders who had publicly criticized Dr. King for engaging in the “illegal” activity of demonstrating against segregation. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In looking over Dr. King’s words again to prepare for this morning, I was struck nearly breathless at how much it felt like this letter could’ve been written only yesterday. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: left;">
<i><span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. History is the long and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;">What might Dr. King have to say about today’s rhetoric labeling economic refugees and asylum seekers as dangerous criminals seeking to harm and destroy American citizens, when the vast majority that I’ve met in Aqua Prieta and Nogales along Arizona’s border are farmers and families with children. They’ve asked me why Americans are so afraid of them.</span><span class="MsoCommentReference"><span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;"></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">King lamented, “<i>I wish you had commended the demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer, and their amazing discipline in the midst of the most inhumane provocation” </i>and I wonder how might he have celebrated the <a href="https://womenintheworld.com/2015/09/29/when-police-turn-violent-activists-brittany-packnett-and-johnetta-elzie-push-back/" target="_blank">bravery of the 12 year-olds a few years ago in Ferguson </a>who gathered peacefully to promote more equity in how communities are policed, even amidst being tear-gassed. Have we adequately celebrated these young people?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When he wrote: <i>Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed. And that the word “wait” has almost always meant “never.” </i>I find myself wondering how I might apply this wisdom in conversations with Detroit neighbors who are still waiting for the loan to fix their roof, and waiting for car insurance to be less expensive than 2 mortgages.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dr. King writes about being <i>gravely disappointed with white moderates who are more devoted to order than justice.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This echoed with my years spent as a <a href="https://www.doornetwork.org/los-angeles/" target="_blank">non-profit ministry director in Los Angeles</a>, hosting groups on mission trips from all around the country, coming to assist with relief efforts for the nation’s largest homeless population. Early in my time as director, when we focused on compassion, the mission trip participants (who were mostly middle to upper class white, our European descended groups), felt good about themselves, good about having done something to alleviate their tension with having more than others. But when we started making correlations to systemic realities that dug into what might be needed to truly bring racial and socio-economic justice, they often pushed back: why are you talking about race? Why are you talking about injustice? We were just here to serve and volunteer? We didn’t cause any of these people’s problems! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I, too, found myself very disappointed with the pious self-righteousness of these groups, or what I started referring to as “Whiteousness” after an activist friend shared the word with me. I mean, what good was service if you were only doing it to feel good about yourself but were not willing to pay closer attention to the societal circumstances that helped to create these situations, and how you might unintentionally be supporting that very system? It’s actually what led Marvin Wadlow and I to launch <a href="http://www.thetablesetters.org/" target="_blank">The Table Setters</a>, a non-profit dedicated to creating face-to-face discussions around these kinds of issues, and thankfully, enough of those mission trip leaders recognized the need to dig deeper within their churches and schools to help us get started. But we certainly have a long way to go. I, too, certainly have a long way to go in dismantling my own tendencies and biases.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How do we live into the dream of a diverse sisterhood, a vibrant brotherhood, a people recognizing their shared humanity? Again, I turn back to Dr. King’s letter, where he provides touchstones in the work towards true peace and justice: after deeply listening to people when they express their pain and recognizing that injustice is truly alive, (and I would add making it our default to <i>TRUST </i>those lived experiences), after recognizing that attempts at negotiation are impossibly incomplete when there is not equal representation of power at the table, when the people who are most impacted by the decision about to be made are not allowed to have a say in what’s about to happen, after all this work has been done, we must also recognize that non-violent direct action is a critical next step. He writes, “<i>Non-violent direct action seeks to establish a creative tension that a community that has consistently refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Friends: where can we build upon this creative tension today? What issues need to be confronted? Where do we <i>know </i>injustice exists, and are we willing to at least risk our reputations to point it out? Or better put, as the <a href="http://soulascriptura.com/" target="_blank">Reverend Denise Anderson</a>, former moderator of the Presbyterian Church of the USA, charged the Presbytery of Detroit yesterday after reminding us that Rosa Parks craved justice so much she put her livelihood on the line, </span></span>"What do you crave so much that you are willing to risk your comfort, your privilege, your esteem, your very lives for it to come to fruition?"<span style="font-family: inherit;"> How can people like myself, who have never had to endure losing a family member to an act of racial or religious hatred in our lifetimes, step into this tension as trusted allies? Not as a savior, not as merely a supporter, but as a person who deeply believes that any act of injustice on any one person is a threat to justice everywhere? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Because, in this letter from a jail cell, Dr. King teaches that “in a real sense all life is inter-related. <i>[We] are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="line-height: 18.546667098999023px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">During one large church group that Marvin and I got to work with from Littleton, Colorado, some of the teens opened up about how incensed they were that, when yet another school shooting happens in a mostly white suburban area, some reporter always says, “they never thought it would happen in a peaceful place like this.” These young people blew me away by seeming to intrinsically understand that injustice and danger can lurk anywhere and articulated a sense that a society that can degrade any group of people actually sets into motion a cycle of dehumanization that can lead to all kinds of terrors for everyone. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18.546667098999023px;">I believe Dr. King prophetically, and now I am using the term more in the lines of forecasting, I believe he may have imagined some of the nightmare scenarios we are experiencing in today’s headlines. After all, how can we truly be a free people if we can also recognize that some people are “more free” than others? That’s not freedom at all, it’s not true peace, and we have to combat this lack of equity now more than ever.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So let’s imagine 2019 as a year of building up what King called, “creative tension.” A year to out-create the hate that is floating all around us, too often punctuating our airwaves and eardrums. May we actively step into a way of being that is more courageous than cautious, may we recognize that waiting for the next Martin Luther King Jr. to arrive on the scene may be prolonging the “wait” towards “never”, and may we recognize that we’ve always had everything we need to bend history towards justice. We have ears. We have hearts. We have hands. We have feet. We have voices and votes and bodies to walk alongside in this work towards real freedom.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693333625793457px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s how we use all our gifts that reveal the true contents of our characters.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfyUb5ojrdTFg8iCUG2QyjH7Shmmkcp3PlobzMl7548OFOWKv8K9FiCTj3O0Pa53mu8Hz7nrcwnYnJjKdvm4lwhSuSZOy7BUFxNgY_fV-ePpVPDAAC5XXthE5NULcB5URbZGvjB9XInNQ/s1600/IMG_0328.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfyUb5ojrdTFg8iCUG2QyjH7Shmmkcp3PlobzMl7548OFOWKv8K9FiCTj3O0Pa53mu8Hz7nrcwnYnJjKdvm4lwhSuSZOy7BUFxNgY_fV-ePpVPDAAC5XXthE5NULcB5URbZGvjB9XInNQ/s400/IMG_0328.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/RRDTF/" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">The Race Relations and Diversity Task Force of Birmingham.</a><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
</div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-4404518743994275062018-11-30T13:10:00.000-08:002018-11-30T13:10:37.584-08:00#Jesus'LifeMatters<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="249" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fmedvis.jackson%2Fposts%2F10212906504678006&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe></div>
</div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-66721125169142279832018-11-29T09:01:00.000-08:002018-11-29T09:03:21.639-08:00Who Get's Slapped in Detroit?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Turning the Other Cheek = Resilience</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
A live story, told November 27, 2018 at Red Bull Radio in Detroit about how turning the other cheek is actually an act of resilience, resistance, and strength. Part of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JustSpeakInc/?__tn__=%2CdK%2AF-R&eid=ARA3kpBSl-FabjoHvDyZlw7v5RIr_XEixT2-A1p3gxU2aLlEYg2JV_vtj_biQLTCirBHWGp6J5kjM1tY">Just Speak, Incorporated</a>'s Starting Point Storytelling evening. Who's cheeks are getting slapped in Detroit?<br />
<div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="1019" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fmatthewschmitt13%2Fvideos%2F10216436617201500%2F&width=500&show_text=true&height=1019&appId" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe></div>
</div>
</div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-22225340247155371102018-11-29T08:41:00.001-08:002018-11-29T08:41:12.467-08:00Dismantling Romanticized Demonizing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOseg7MePG6tbiadvglmQJtfAWX4Bd0i7dSrA0hGlKcu1yO8QUCHsugdGAE8U635TfEVsFobdnWzCIeBRXUelxv92tKpxTWhAivbh7ygPyAStIYcpv4ZTwZik_mXOlHcsj565Bb2P0JL4/s1600/46982113_2870254469652179_5868581104948084736_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="1080" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOseg7MePG6tbiadvglmQJtfAWX4Bd0i7dSrA0hGlKcu1yO8QUCHsugdGAE8U635TfEVsFobdnWzCIeBRXUelxv92tKpxTWhAivbh7ygPyAStIYcpv4ZTwZik_mXOlHcsj565Bb2P0JL4/s320/46982113_2870254469652179_5868581104948084736_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
This pretty much sums up the feeling I had when I launched this blog. Thank you @craigasauros. <br />
<br />
Ask yourself, ask your church, how do they feel about this statement. </div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-74436850968308298532018-11-16T23:45:00.000-08:002018-11-22T03:37:00.740-08:00Thank You, Teen HYPE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZS8sPpbe-Ts9CGZmLqtELQaxqiDg1DcMvPgAluUPJx9OCG1klJKX0w23mrdMwKEzKBA-h43VgYR6dk5YUtfs6sBmjY9kjZSJSrKZXfpmU_LIcQejGuc5FBht3-qzo_Ic2WauN2FYqSQ/s1600/TH-RFTW-FB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1200" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZS8sPpbe-Ts9CGZmLqtELQaxqiDg1DcMvPgAluUPJx9OCG1klJKX0w23mrdMwKEzKBA-h43VgYR6dk5YUtfs6sBmjY9kjZSJSrKZXfpmU_LIcQejGuc5FBht3-qzo_Ic2WauN2FYqSQ/s400/TH-RFTW-FB.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">With a complicated array of emotions, or as I've overheard the kids saying, "all the feels," I am stepping away from my role at <a href="http://www.teenhype.org/" target="_blank">Teen HYPE</a>. I got to serve here for my year-long <a href="http://www.challengedetroit.org/our-history/year6-fellows-2017-18" target="_blank">Challenge Detroit </a>Fellowship, and though I'm looking forward to moving on and connecting more deeply with ongoing community activism and neighborhood work in our city, I will miss these young people. I will miss this dedicated staff. It is <i>not </i>an overstatement to say it truly has become a second family.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Before working here, I split my time being a teacher evaluator in Detroit Public Schools and a Lyft driver. Most of my daytime passengers were Eastsiders who needed rides to work at plants in the suburbs. Black Eastsiders who taught me that taking a Lyft is more reliable than trusting the DDOT bus to be on time; who taught me that even though ride-sharing is expensive, it is still more affordable than owning a car and paying between $500 and $600 a month for the country's most ridiculously expensive auto insurance. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">When I was in the suburbs, as Lyft works, I would get requests near where I'd drop off my neighbors. Now, it's true that <i>most </i>of my passengers, regardless of the zip code they resided in, were kind and considerate people. But it is also true that the only awful experiences I had were <i>all in the suburbs</i>. The rudest, most demanding, and most threatening individuals I had to share a car-space with all hailed from Oakland and Macomb counties. The average riders north of 8 Mile were adults who needed rides because they had a DUI; older folks needing to get to doctor appointments and run errands; or city folks needing rides back to the city around 3pm after their morning shifts at GM in Warren and other plants.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But as I've written about in previous posts, even the nicest suburban passengers would, too often, utter disparaging comments about Black Detroiters. Rarely was this venomous or said in a way that echoes what news outlets might call "racist behavior." No, this was the euphemistic comments that "nice" white people speak when they are <i>sure </i>only white people are listening, things like: </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>"I've also thought about being a Lyft driver, but aren't you worried about picking people up in Detroit?" </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ37BXzeZy0Y0loqZiBUWLYISf2-c02deiHAA9Y8f4Mqu9F3fHILKqexXPJidHM0BVdhcPnYTwL-zcUBlxBM5uXC-cxgBy2xDjc3XOu5pSsdzDm1_gYMHY3HRLZTWJ-Tlw9pJFIelcTAI/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ37BXzeZy0Y0loqZiBUWLYISf2-c02deiHAA9Y8f4Mqu9F3fHILKqexXPJidHM0BVdhcPnYTwL-zcUBlxBM5uXC-cxgBy2xDjc3XOu5pSsdzDm1_gYMHY3HRLZTWJ-Tlw9pJFIelcTAI/s400/images.jpeg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">The King of Badmouthing Detroit</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">Now, as you can imagine, I'd almost always push back and challenge their assumptions. I made it my mission to dispel the single story they'd been spoon fed about Black Detroiters by the likes of Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Palpatine, eh, Patterson, and the rest of his Stormtroopers. Mostly white men who'd designed the northern suburbs to serve as a sort of Intergalactic Empire fleet surrounding Detroit, once the most prosperous city in the world, with Patterson's rhetoric armed like the Death Star itself, intent on obliterating. (<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/01/27/drop-dead-detroit" target="_blank"><i>If you don't believe me, read this article, "Drop Dead, Detroit!</i></a>")</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Patterson's descriptions about Detroiters have been far too effective for decades, and he keeps getting re-elected. (Not even mentioning his policies!) If, as you're reading this, you believe that you're certainly going to get mugged if you find yourself too many blocks astray from Woodward, and too far north of the Boulevard, his words have sunk in. Now I'm not saying there are <i>no</i> dangers in this city. Every city has dangers. But to be fair, so does every college campus. So does every suburban high school, (just ask our kids in the "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/11/01/i-am-i-belong-massacre-generation/?utm_term=.5d456ab8312b" target="_blank">massacre generation</a>"). So does every home with a parent misusing drugs, whether that is crack cocaine, crystal meth, or prescribed narcotics. And desperation and despair, especially when mixed with firearms, is extremely dangerous everywhere. But Patterson's powerful platform has purposefully shaped the hatred of Detroit. His trickled-down ideology fueled the shock and outrage our suburban neighbors would hurl at my parents as we were heading out to events in the city, stammering so hard their pink faces turned red, shouting, "are you crazy, do you wanna get your kids shot?" </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Back on the roads, some of the most disturbing comments I'd hear from my afternoon passengers were about the teenagers in
Detroit when we'd be driving by high schools letting out. The sentiments seemed to fall into two categories: either these young people were reduced to merely criminals-in-training, or they were just pathetic and needing of an overwhelming amount of charity, so much help that those "compassionate" riders felt hopeless.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Amidst these juxtapositions floating around in the backseat of my Honda, it dawned on me:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I didn't really <i>know </i>any Detroit teenagers. So when Teen HYPE offered me a role, I enthusiastically joined the team.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY7CAVXlemsrlo9cUkB_rcoiznlOsMa0R6K3l-zuupkTEXbBFtsBuhi3lqreOAfnkdwU6bpgWPka899gXr97pWot2kz8VQNoOQqwacXzH-Sw_56j6Jjqk2M3GsgkLk4F2WL3YkvtG68GM/s1600/IMG_0127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY7CAVXlemsrlo9cUkB_rcoiznlOsMa0R6K3l-zuupkTEXbBFtsBuhi3lqreOAfnkdwU6bpgWPka899gXr97pWot2kz8VQNoOQqwacXzH-Sw_56j6Jjqk2M3GsgkLk4F2WL3YkvtG68GM/s400/IMG_0127.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That time they taught me Crazy 8s</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">When I started as the Manager for Mission Advancement in the summer of 2017, I was struck with the strong
sense of welcome from both the staff and the teens. Not the simple, hi-nice-to-meet-you indifference. But <i>welcome</i>. Act silly with us and play improvisational theater games, Mr. Matt. Look at my prom photos! Do you have kids, Mr. Matt? Bring them by to visit! Sure, they can come with us to Cedar Point!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">At the time, I was the only white person on staff,
and being that I entered the space as a <i>"straight"</i> white male (straight is not really
accurate, but that's for another blog), I knew I was entering a sacred space as an outsider. Even though I had a legitimate job, I was still a guest, especially as far as the youth were concerned. And yet, the welcome I experienced at Teen HYPE reminded me of how the New Orleans East community fed me vegetarian gumbo my first year as a teacher in 1999, even after going through a meteoric burn-out when I was exposed as a ridiculous white savior wanna-be. I knew a little better this time, I would enter with a posture of listening, of gently asking to hear stories and share pieces of my story when asked or when it seemed appropriate. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Sadly, in my active listening, I can affirm that there are, <i>indeed</i>, dangers in Detroit. But not so much for me. More for the kids growing up here. There is trauma involved when too many fathers and uncles are taken from families and have long prison sentences for petty drug crimes. There are fears walking to and from school, with subtle and overt pressures to engage in all kinds of risky behaviors. There is anxiety living amidst jobless and bankrupt neighbors, or even caretakers, within a city that recently declared bankruptcy, whose desperation might lead to destructive outbursts. Mental health is a real concern here; suicide prevention interventions are truly needed here. More job opportunities are also critical, jobs that meet a diverse range of needs and draw from a diverse range of talents. And though I can't put my finger on it directly, I believe that the Pattersonian messaging, recycled over and over again, has not only infected the thoughts of our suburban communities. I suspect those negative views of Detroiters have been internalized by our young citizens, and may have a subconcious impact on their collective sense of self-worth and value.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>But these realities are not the whole story. </b> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Teen HYPE is interrupting this narrative in a profound way by first acknowledging the real struggles that young people face, but then never allowing that to be where the story gets stuck. And this, for me, tells me Detroit's future is in much better shape than we've been led to believe. I can say that I've gotten to know young people who are poised to become our city, state, and nation's vision-casters, organizers, and leaders. These are brilliant, resilient, compassionate, and hope-filled members of our community. And that is something to celebrate.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In fact, I am literally overwhelmed with how much positivity I experienced during my time here. So here are some snapshots of the story, but keep in mind that these are only some moments from the past 18 months of Teen HYPE's nearly 15 year journey: </span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzYmV2UwTIuyYsWKyC-50_A8zTOtuTziwqHchkwxEjgfLcNlpyzB0xwqg-l7vJiDVbw4atgUcGw-YNeQLJxf9aKayznq_mfutCjpFF5drRtrXwZiks3ReXXQBcR-6-u8u88O16KcmXBcE/s1600/Studio+Museum+of+Harlem.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzYmV2UwTIuyYsWKyC-50_A8zTOtuTziwqHchkwxEjgfLcNlpyzB0xwqg-l7vJiDVbw4atgUcGw-YNeQLJxf9aKayznq_mfutCjpFF5drRtrXwZiks3ReXXQBcR-6-u8u88O16KcmXBcE/s400/Studio+Museum+of+Harlem.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Studio Museum in Harlem</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">In the summer of 2017, we took a leadership development retreat to New York City, where staff and students alike studied restorative justice and legal advocacy for people in Harlem who couldn't afford to hire attorneys. We also studied comedic timing on Broadway, both at an actual performance and afterwards while we were cracking jokes around Times Square!</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT0DrzJcsbhCUyJmpxn-bdOvHP0ONTaABk72FRc9IvqGTq-4UKayGsVTN9R0rpsLGZ3P3wrvvE15VaAGnZUUZYhZtXmlikKJBgByiBmxsfgszxjS73oqLOIO1Qe4zwwX6n5RTPUbP_-cc/s1600/DSC01955.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT0DrzJcsbhCUyJmpxn-bdOvHP0ONTaABk72FRc9IvqGTq-4UKayGsVTN9R0rpsLGZ3P3wrvvE15VaAGnZUUZYhZtXmlikKJBgByiBmxsfgszxjS73oqLOIO1Qe4zwwX6n5RTPUbP_-cc/s320/DSC01955.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Practicing Design Thinking with Detroit Riverfront Conservancy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">Later in 2017, The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy invited our young people to a "Design-a-Park" event, where students were asked to imagine and articulate how money should be spent on a new outdoor community space. It was there I learned that Belle Isle used to have free parking, and our students were of one mind that any new park needed to remain free and open to everyone.</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGSUvWugn8bXG-632StYKpMED6Zfn-fDusH3LMyFeIRuG8twRqRp5cc5KRDLv3I_O3bLVKt6vqAc3iDhw4DSDiVEQRd6TzRBubGnfAIcVKEoHGNxFuMPizJsn4ejegMtBmriVhrYEqQAg/s1600/TeenHype_SpringPlay2018-361.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGSUvWugn8bXG-632StYKpMED6Zfn-fDusH3LMyFeIRuG8twRqRp5cc5KRDLv3I_O3bLVKt6vqAc3iDhw4DSDiVEQRd6TzRBubGnfAIcVKEoHGNxFuMPizJsn4ejegMtBmriVhrYEqQAg/s320/TeenHype_SpringPlay2018-361.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the opening scenes of <i>Mis-Taken?</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgNl5vV4BUBFqeqlepvcBcd5tBzHdgeJEQaPhG7VcZVbBTfWJzMx7_jYc583Z4fY2Lp7NBQjY2Gdx2FLLmVX0tjbNJKLuOTyZ78x0JVVuv95rAgsv3fRNX6YgeK8D0wwTrD0zC-QWZb7g/s1600/TeenHype_2018ArtShow-430+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgNl5vV4BUBFqeqlepvcBcd5tBzHdgeJEQaPhG7VcZVbBTfWJzMx7_jYc583Z4fY2Lp7NBQjY2Gdx2FLLmVX0tjbNJKLuOTyZ78x0JVVuv95rAgsv3fRNX6YgeK8D0wwTrD0zC-QWZb7g/s320/TeenHype_2018ArtShow-430+-+Copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, CEO Ambra Redrick and Alum Mia Monet at art show</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEILqURD1SDc4GwfZIo3iryIwxENSq3FnBJOVMNIomOArY5J-lVtVI5FcL3nnFzVJoEyf2DQ-IwYLbN_rFe24aLxvXMLVjrGM2kxp2TR3gjmrEYLaOOq3busEPg_zjCDHZ7Km0ag_FaBI/s1600/IMG_0668.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEILqURD1SDc4GwfZIo3iryIwxENSq3FnBJOVMNIomOArY5J-lVtVI5FcL3nnFzVJoEyf2DQ-IwYLbN_rFe24aLxvXMLVjrGM2kxp2TR3gjmrEYLaOOq3busEPg_zjCDHZ7Km0ag_FaBI/s320/IMG_0668.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alternatives To Jails</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Early 2018 brought the debut of our annual play, <b><i>Mis-Taken?</i></b>,
which grappled with the complicated emotions, fallout, and social
impact that mass incarceration has had on our young people. We researched the <a href="http://www.avaduvernay.com/13th/" target="_blank">loophole in the 13th Amendment</a>
that permits an insidiously hidden form of modern slavery; we learned that 228,000 kids in Michigan have a parent in prison or on
parole; we cried alongside members who told heartwrenching testimonies; and then we braided all of these strands of story together into one stunning production. We also
produced an art exhibit showcasing original pieces from Detroit
high-school students alongside work from women and men, many mothers and fathers,
currently held in one of Michigan's prisons. Our work within this realm was so well respected that the <a href="https://www.detroitjustice.org/" target="_blank">Detroit Justice Center </a>collaborated with our teens to conduct a Design Thinking session on what Wayne County might do instead of spending $533,000,000 on a new jail. One idea they centered on was to create Detroit's first restorative justice center.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cMdGnj15IF0/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cMdGnj15IF0?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP3SjPXSqgm6vW-_mnSNiIoRHllSZaO1Rg472XXDaS5EY8ieeD8FTD2i9BaQKOSScPBobf7tvcgh-sO4uCz2H4V5wVjq9s-AsWp7jLcXOLZfcWmya3x7_Xc_gkzSLBtafh01V3sYgvM60/s1600/DSC03933.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP3SjPXSqgm6vW-_mnSNiIoRHllSZaO1Rg472XXDaS5EY8ieeD8FTD2i9BaQKOSScPBobf7tvcgh-sO4uCz2H4V5wVjq9s-AsWp7jLcXOLZfcWmya3x7_Xc_gkzSLBtafh01V3sYgvM60/s320/DSC03933.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Garbage Bag Chic</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3szBUDyFej_f5lFpwJ5BCzFZdxypM52GO-Db8JPH7GXRieDTwbqrWSBfQWZcQmaiMbahAKDDVYZueMtalmm6ea0Zq1bilLFI0JLk8YWQ71zgRuyVxQcz74N-tIguS6qobss1YePnr5AU/s1600/DSC04133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3szBUDyFej_f5lFpwJ5BCzFZdxypM52GO-Db8JPH7GXRieDTwbqrWSBfQWZcQmaiMbahAKDDVYZueMtalmm6ea0Zq1bilLFI0JLk8YWQ71zgRuyVxQcz74N-tIguS6qobss1YePnr5AU/s320/DSC04133.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gearing up to climb in West Bloomfield</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5iuSuxk2ggcbkx9Qfr5sOZnEV_8d7N3MPlQfjQV8zBqPstXxxmxiDNeZ3fs6bd0WTGUDwPN1-WEBs2nnidQvy-9c2HfCULy9XNmUbx5qtiZinBh4b9u8ICA2kPKGjk4re7gJTJ6u4-hQ/s1600/39748547_10161243375445355_6793848920297439232_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5iuSuxk2ggcbkx9Qfr5sOZnEV_8d7N3MPlQfjQV8zBqPstXxxmxiDNeZ3fs6bd0WTGUDwPN1-WEBs2nnidQvy-9c2HfCULy9XNmUbx5qtiZinBh4b9u8ICA2kPKGjk4re7gJTJ6u4-hQ/s320/39748547_10161243375445355_6793848920297439232_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camp Miniwanca</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Over the summer of 2018, we deepened bonds through
experiential learning trips. We screamed and cheered together on
high-ropes courses in the forest; we discovered some hilariously wacky
creativity during a Project Runway-style unconventional materials
fashion show challenge; and we enjoyed Michigan's lakes, rivers, and
dunes. At our all-night overnight, once enough of the new Peer Educators learned the epic Teen HYPE Pledge, I got schooled in the game of GaGa
Ball, (which delighted my nine-year-old daughter because she had been
trying to explain it to me for weeks...) Thanks to these new teens in my life, I was able
to show off my skills when I got back home. And, both my daughters were invited back on the Cedar Point trip for the second summer in a row!</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgloV3XIpML1j0ErBJPm6fBHwvI_4rFKQmbCmNPALJK34UBSun6uKCfR7op7PofNm8zK4X0ogqyQHnzL8MK5s3HgYQGAfF4kHgZuiy9vmWGPqNlAon0Bb4_pLl7s9SwJlL70gDiEZJ1lOI/s1600/Suicide+piece_July26_2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="640" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgloV3XIpML1j0ErBJPm6fBHwvI_4rFKQmbCmNPALJK34UBSun6uKCfR7op7PofNm8zK4X0ogqyQHnzL8MK5s3HgYQGAfF4kHgZuiy9vmWGPqNlAon0Bb4_pLl7s9SwJlL70gDiEZJ1lOI/s320/Suicide+piece_July26_2018.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cobo Hall Presentation</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Amidst all of this fun, our teens were reporting that
more needed to be done for mental health awareness and suicide
prevention for their peers throughout the city, especially for kids who
come from families that stigmatize counseling as an indicator of
weakness. Though we didn't exactly realize it at the time, these early
conversations were starting to lay the groundwork for the 2019 stage production that
is currently being written, entitled, <i>"Hidden In The Shadows." </i>Peer
Educators wrote original poems about how suicide and depression had
touched their lives very personally, and were asked to perform them at a
gathering of mental health professionals at Cobo Hall. Friends we had
made in Queens the summer before came to help our young people create
their own public service announcements around mental health and
substance misuse. </span> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3sCXhiwKfzbC7AenTHp0B4koGLgVWbuz122sQzzB1zdNXK-sqwvJ8bIoNgYA7_f1hocdgruWfq10e8tardgq4p5arcMo2-EM2BbCAmVpcX85RLeglIX4_yAPD89e3ZQMr4KNYOJtCQpA/s1600/DSC04175.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3sCXhiwKfzbC7AenTHp0B4koGLgVWbuz122sQzzB1zdNXK-sqwvJ8bIoNgYA7_f1hocdgruWfq10e8tardgq4p5arcMo2-EM2BbCAmVpcX85RLeglIX4_yAPD89e3ZQMr4KNYOJtCQpA/s400/DSC04175.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ambra, Brandon, Marlowe Stoudamire, myself, and Dorothy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dorothy Smith, our Senior Manager of Strategic Partnerships, and I collaborated with Marlowe Stoudamire of <a href="https://www.marlowestoudamire.com/butterfly-effect-detroit-1/" target="_blank">Butterfly Effect Detroit </a>to host a new series called <i>Courageous Conversations</i>. Our vision was to create a teen version of the <a href="http://www.urbanconsulate.com/" target="_blank">Detroit Urban Consulate</a>. Marlowe and Brandon, one of our Peer Educators, facilitated a heartfelt and moving discussion about the resiliency many teenagers have to discover within themselves to grow up amidst really challenging, and too often, traumatic situations within our city. </span></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjEHEOi8Hu9UDIbhM5iJ3C0zW_8FD7t3txlFIxPekgv5oKdVUMlbWcZA9X1CtDzYVoCSPvFA1sL2dcIzjzZOkwAp0U5h1TJLYX2sYM2xrdY3JAabHytHzOYywZFcYEZwEPKxrwwtL8_1c/s1600/Youth+with+microphone.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjEHEOi8Hu9UDIbhM5iJ3C0zW_8FD7t3txlFIxPekgv5oKdVUMlbWcZA9X1CtDzYVoCSPvFA1sL2dcIzjzZOkwAp0U5h1TJLYX2sYM2xrdY3JAabHytHzOYywZFcYEZwEPKxrwwtL8_1c/s320/Youth+with+microphone.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Youth Summit Breakfast, 2018</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">This connected quite seamlessly into our annual YouthQuake last August, where our core Teen HYPE leaders welcomed new high school students into the fold during a week of community service and civic engagement. The week led up to our Youth Summit, where these teens brought their stories and newfound perspectives to the table in dialogue with Detroit city council members, pastors, educators, entrepreneurs, and developers. If the city wants young people to stay and live locally after they turn 18, we fervently believe they need to involve their voices at the planning tables, immediately. We set those tables.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5yiWBUkF26jXidkpk4Q2YhJ88qoRrpvSa8nz-5brqGu4S4d957daZKqnD9MwWoWVJX9dWPF-Q3Ggq07RrArH1GSqUYFo_Rxd3UYyYl5boa3NKLck8tcfklOoWCveIha-xZyZC6vpVrvg/s1600/img_0195.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5yiWBUkF26jXidkpk4Q2YhJ88qoRrpvSa8nz-5brqGu4S4d957daZKqnD9MwWoWVJX9dWPF-Q3Ggq07RrArH1GSqUYFo_Rxd3UYyYl5boa3NKLck8tcfklOoWCveIha-xZyZC6vpVrvg/s400/img_0195.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teen HYPE with Mayor Mike Duggan, city leaders, and health professionals</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">And finally, linking to Teen HYPE's longstanding commitment to providing excellent sexual health education throughout Detroit's high-schools and middle-schools, Mayor Mike Duggan launched <a href="https://detroitmi.gov/departments/detroit-health-department/programs-and-services/idecide-detroit" target="_blank">iDecide Detroit</a>. Dozens of locations throughout the city will provide teen friendly services and access to STI Testing, condoms, birth control and counseling. Teen HYPE members were asked to help advise and then became the literal face of the entire campaign, providing photos, televised interviews, and promotional materials to get the word out. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP6pf5WTPd5TjdH8Ha3uUsRDEV5HNiNtJ9-MvkOvEgl2pZOHVRd-33EwV3jzAITY2RouS-zCyrXBrDgWFYOJrBOtxhLbPNXfxBX3AK7emuNjmeWC0dI9vCoKayAMfyG0I5nzBPmIjK8zU/s1600/idecide.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="799" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP6pf5WTPd5TjdH8Ha3uUsRDEV5HNiNtJ9-MvkOvEgl2pZOHVRd-33EwV3jzAITY2RouS-zCyrXBrDgWFYOJrBOtxhLbPNXfxBX3AK7emuNjmeWC0dI9vCoKayAMfyG0I5nzBPmIjK8zU/s640/idecide.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teen HYPE youth on billboards and buses to promote <a href="https://detroitmi.gov/departments/detroit-health-department/programs-and-services/idecide-detroit" target="_blank">iDecide Detroit</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">To L. Brooks Patterson and all your many fans, I want you to know: </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Teen HYPE proves that you are very wrong about Detroit</b>. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">You've missed it. And, for your lack of being in touch with reality,
I feel sorry for you. But the young people who are growing, learning, and leading are preparing to take your place,
soon. You really should mark your calendars for the 2019 play, but please don't come if you're not willing to listen with an open heart. </span></span></span> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Before signing off and pushing <i>publish</i> on this blogpost, I also must take time to celebrate and express deep gratitude to my coworkers. I have been taught, time and time again, that it is not the job of Black people, or predominantly Black organizations, to teach Whiteous people about reality. It is not the responsibility of people with brown skin to help people with pink skin understand their explicit, implicit, and too often, complicit roles in systemic racism and its connection to chronic poverty. It is not black folks job to make white folks feel comfortable. And yet, you decided to do just that with me. I am forever grateful for your trust, patience, and friendship:</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">To Dee for teaching me all the ins, outs, and politics of coalition building in Detroit while listening to me vent and vent and vent about the insanity of eTapestry: thank you.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">To LaRon, and Olushola, for teaching me how to tie a bow-tie and then just doing it for me when I couldn't get it right: thank you.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">To Sherisse for showing me New York City through your eyes, and hanging out with me in Austin when we were trying to figure out what exactly they meant by <i>Detroit Style Pizza</i>: thank you.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3YqPUohtflmyCgyLupZ5I4kPcg_hShDpOgxItPjcwU9IszP2C6Dls7kzWQmvdBpQOQkE4da-c-p4vGhYUbGOdKISB5w0_EWcucQ1GmVkmsJx0y9T96wn-54gweyU2a2gP0-CeQ2G6xqY/s1600/IMG_1870.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3YqPUohtflmyCgyLupZ5I4kPcg_hShDpOgxItPjcwU9IszP2C6Dls7kzWQmvdBpQOQkE4da-c-p4vGhYUbGOdKISB5w0_EWcucQ1GmVkmsJx0y9T96wn-54gweyU2a2gP0-CeQ2G6xqY/s400/IMG_1870.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From A Night In Paradise at The Whittier, 2018</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">To Hugh for teaching me a little of the dance routine for <i>This Is America</i>. And for naming me Matty Ice: thank you. Truly, there's like 4 humans who are allowed to use Matty. You're one of them.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">To Ife for teaching me the joys of veganism even though I'm not there, yet, and for letting me drop in on your Yoga classes: thank you.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">To Stephen-the-soon-to-be-Rookie-no-longer, thanks for letting me stir the pot in your Aaliyah versus Beyonce battle. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">To Camille for reconnecting me to what is going on in the gay community, how much different it is than I remember from my days in Ann Arbor, and for letting me rest my healing leg on your office chair after my surgery: thank you.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">To Tora for having grace with me when I totally was confused about who your partner was...thank you. People are still laughing about that one.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">To Mary for teaching me the secret powers of the P.S. in annual appeal letters even though you know that's not my native language, and for asking me to help design the donor appreciation event: thank you.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">To Myriha for helping me find my creative voice again, by showing me the power of activism through art: thank you.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">To Demitria, that after all you've been through, you still had time to bring a forgetful guy his keys. Thank you for opening your life, and your journey, to all of us. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">To Callie, Callie, Callie Callie Callie, for best friending me over <i>Game of Thrones </i>and not firing me when I couldn't quite remember our secret handshake week to week: thank you. And thank you for razzing me, time and time again. Just remember, paybacks are on their way.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6nCHHX_HC7NecsIRJXBcSao4LxmDHzmPtNSv5zC5w0BBabKYASUUOqy2E_S1bkbYJ8Ze1GZS5oLx4zX-hu_7Ri0ijoH50Lri3QHjHO87SGtibatl_6urnLsEMpFDrS8qLSLxWhAe4iho/s1600/Franky%255B1%255D.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="550" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6nCHHX_HC7NecsIRJXBcSao4LxmDHzmPtNSv5zC5w0BBabKYASUUOqy2E_S1bkbYJ8Ze1GZS5oLx4zX-hu_7Ri0ijoH50Lri3QHjHO87SGtibatl_6urnLsEMpFDrS8qLSLxWhAe4iho/s320/Franky%255B1%255D.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">COO and Co-Founder Franky Hudson</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">To Franky for always opening your heart to my girls, and always opening your spirit to our discussions about life, mental health, and how important it is to pray about decisions when it comes to this work: thank you. Thank you, also, for your grace with me as I slowly recognized that the privileges I had when I ran <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DOORLosAngeles/" target="_blank">DOOR Los Angeles</a> are not afforded in quite the same way to you and Ambra running Teen HYPE. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaoDlIdf1zjr3BC3H6eOsh1tgHpJeGrCOlyR3DqZt5ayoC-AEeH6CYNdcvrAhPYfRZY1DdnzCY8Doipdc63f4ur47jIXL8oDcljraDWTipM4RzLbcr7K9ZW31va9H5Yq7_B0qIMrWa3pc/s1600/Ambra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaoDlIdf1zjr3BC3H6eOsh1tgHpJeGrCOlyR3DqZt5ayoC-AEeH6CYNdcvrAhPYfRZY1DdnzCY8Doipdc63f4ur47jIXL8oDcljraDWTipM4RzLbcr7K9ZW31va9H5Yq7_B0qIMrWa3pc/s320/Ambra.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CEO and Co-Founder and <a href="https://www.walkerslegacy.com/walkers-legacy-honors-detroit-women-business-leaders-at-annual-power-awards/" target="_blank">Walker's Legacy Power Award</a> winner, Ambra Redrick</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">To Ambra for taking a chance on me when I accidentally applied because I wasn't Millennial enough to grasp LinkedIn: thank you. And thank you for all the many talks about compassionate activism, for hearing me out when I didn't understand, for letting me in on the skepticism and scrutiny you and Franky have had to face as two incredible black women running a critically needed, though often misunderstood, non-profit. Thank you for allowing me to conduct my job like a community organizing peacemaker, to listen, learn, and work hard to build bridges between everyone.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">You are family, because you chose to adopt me. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">With love and admiration,</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Matty Ice </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>"Make yourselves at home and work for [Detroit's] welfare. Pray for [Detroit's] well-being. If things go well for [Detroit], things will go well for you." </b>-Jeremiah 29:7, The Message <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(with additional paraphrasing)</span></i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">P.S. You can truly know that you're investing in Detroit's future by giving to Teen HYPE today. Choose positive youth development that isn't afraid to confront real barriers and build sturdy bridges of ample opportunities. <a href="https://www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/teenhype2018/matthewschmitt" target="_blank">Make your #GivingTuesday donation here!</a></span></span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="427" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FTeenHYPE%2Fvideos%2F353231222080509%2F&show_text=1&width=560" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="560"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-81523648261297820052018-11-10T06:11:00.003-08:002018-11-16T23:49:23.040-08:00On White Fragility, Again<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">Once again, #DismantlingWhiteousness is NOT about how much I hate white people or my own skin. It's demanding that white people own up to our major roles in creating, causing, perpetuating, maintaining, and ignoring real life injustices against people who aren't able to "pass as white."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If your pinkish-orangish skin can't handle that and is now turning darker shades of red, you suffer from #WhiteFragility. But it's really like this:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF_1Li66GoMUQ_g1ArNVHTHEo5mnGx03xoB7CMBpgqZcukAwxbRVGnvenGDjQBIf_ghSoQjMHKLCSIpFvg2jZGdbDkHAvX0CKOBUd5sRrqmw4cOT9XXq4DpSgiuJ8FC2AxDYKPJaKLQlE/s1600/235952-vintage-merry-go-round-an-old-rusty-merry-go-round-at-an-abandoned-school-dated-1923-in-kentucky-usa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="450" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF_1Li66GoMUQ_g1ArNVHTHEo5mnGx03xoB7CMBpgqZcukAwxbRVGnvenGDjQBIf_ghSoQjMHKLCSIpFvg2jZGdbDkHAvX0CKOBUd5sRrqmw4cOT9XXq4DpSgiuJ8FC2AxDYKPJaKLQlE/s400/235952-vintage-merry-go-round-an-old-rusty-merry-go-round-at-an-abandoned-school-dated-1923-in-kentucky-usa.jpg" width="400" /></a>Imagine two kids on a playground: They both love the merry-go-round you have to push to keep spinning. But one kid never lets the other kid get on by herself. Recess after recess goes by and the first girl just keeps riding the merry-go-round on her own and won't get off so the other kid can. One day, the kid who's been waiting for her turn decides to just jump on while it's spinning. The first girl starts crying and whining, and goes to tell the recess teacher that the second girl "pushed" her off. She probably will say she got hurt and carry on in such a way that the teacher has to call the other kid's parents. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">White Fragility is like that. People of other skin colors are making some gains and more able to demand equal spaces at the table, equal places in government, equal turns on the playground equipment. Instead of sharing, we complain and whine and say we're getting hurt by this. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This fragility is the fuel that ignites injustice towards greater insanity. In playground terms, it balloons into the bratty kid telling her parents that another kid hurt her on the merry-go-round, those parents getting the playground condemned; and blaming it all on "kids like those." But keep spinning long enough, and gentrification might come around the mountain and repaint that "vintage merry-go-round" and start charging admission for entrance to the playground, or just make sure it's in a part of town that only some can still afford to live......</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAPZJRorY-2LT1R2BNDUbm3xSnVFfUv1G95K2x6EhjoIXKtCqYe3tT4ZLJ2kxJ-mxFuUGlTRRKUlU-0Fzt_kdKCI7Ntoe6rvXJLK_Hq2bfnY4F_X1Pm1vOQJiB_0jLks6-QxeycRF6aS8/s1600/girl-staring-at-a-broken-playground-merry-go-round-BEA2HK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1300" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAPZJRorY-2LT1R2BNDUbm3xSnVFfUv1G95K2x6EhjoIXKtCqYe3tT4ZLJ2kxJ-mxFuUGlTRRKUlU-0Fzt_kdKCI7Ntoe6rvXJLK_Hq2bfnY4F_X1Pm1vOQJiB_0jLks6-QxeycRF6aS8/s320/girl-staring-at-a-broken-playground-merry-go-round-BEA2HK.jpg" width="320" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>My white sisters and brothers, do we want to go down in history as the world's brats? As the world's biggest ball hogs? As the world's biggest cry-babies?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If only this were contained to just playgrounds, and not out in backwoods and city streets and deserted areas along borders where bodies have literally been piling up for hundreds of years.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">And if only it didn't fuel the insanity of things like zip code segregation and land development and gerrymandering and prison sentencing and lynching and planting drugs in people's cars and.....</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">There is no strength in pretending ignorance. It's cowardice. But when <a href="https://janeelliott.com/" target="_blank">Jane Elliott</a> asks us, as white people, if we would like to be treated like black people are treated in this country, and none of us raise our hands....we are not ignorant. We know something isn't fair. We know we have the longer end of the stick. Even if we aren't rich and even if we've had our share of struggles. We still know something is deeply wrong.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It's time for taking turns and maybe, just maybe, as we begin, letting the kids who've been waiting on the sidelines get a longer turn than us. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">And you will certainly make mistakes. I often say, the
world won't end if someone calls you a racist. You'll be okay, and you
can try again, you can get back on the merry-go-round. Far worse than
being called a racist, is having to walk through this world in a body
that is directly threatened and harmed by racism. So please keep that in mind, but try. Try to take turns and gain perspective in the waiting.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">It doesn't have to stay this way. </span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RwA_4OamFhI/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RwA_4OamFhI?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-67472192080056462672018-07-25T16:33:00.004-07:002018-07-26T05:01:41.811-07:00Becoming The Neighbor<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
What is it that makes a few city blocks feel like a neighborhood? Of course, the schools, churches and businesses matter. But underneath those infrastructures, within those buildings, living and working and laughing and arguing, are the people. People who have gifts and needs and hopes and fears and dreams alongside other people with all of those things going on as well. People who have stories to share. </div>
<br />
I’ve always seen storytelling as the most distinct element of being a person. When you think about it, it’s kind of a defining aspect of humanity. Other creatures communicate, and certainly some exhibit shades of empathy, but not in the unique way we do as people.<br />
<br />
From the intersections of Van Dyke and Mack, the overlapping of the Pingree Park, Islandview, and Village neighborhoods in Detroit’s 48214, Edythe Ford shared an idea with me. “We need a community newspaper. Not just an informational newsletter, but a new newspaper that’s all about this community and our many, many voices.” <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxTCcVUVNYu9cQ__aTh8XI3VY9IcEuIoMJ7_GfZ4zrPsogKIo_N59aJcfubQgnD-_kvBeiQ__LadfZ9QJ6zCwviisliaXoGjJfqI7gFUe0ovR1o2nf1GWU8d9IceDh7Ep7PFFAp6TyQOw/s1600/EdytheMatthew.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxTCcVUVNYu9cQ__aTh8XI3VY9IcEuIoMJ7_GfZ4zrPsogKIo_N59aJcfubQgnD-_kvBeiQ__LadfZ9QJ6zCwviisliaXoGjJfqI7gFUe0ovR1o2nf1GWU8d9IceDh7Ep7PFFAp6TyQOw/s320/EdytheMatthew.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Great. How do you create a newspaper? I had no idea. Especially one that would be more about collaborative storytelling than investigative journalism.<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>Maybe it should start with working on becoming a good neighbor?<br />
<br />
I grew up at the intersection of 13 Mile and Southfield. I was blessed to have parents who did not heed some of our neighbor’s dire “concerns” back in the 80s and 90s <i>("how can you take your kids to Detroit, you’re just going to get them shot!” More like threats than warnings…..)</i><br />
<br />
I’d often tell my suburban friends about my love for Xochimilco’s back in the day, and they’d usually just scratch their heads. Even so, my knowledge of the city was certainly limited to Southwest, the old Tiger Stadium, some parts of Midtown, and Trapper’s Alley. Before moving to this Eastside neighborhood two years ago, I’d never seen it. The closest I came was Great Aunt Dorothy’s funeral at Mt. Elliott Cemetery, but that’s a far cry from the vibrancy of Pingree Park. <br />
<br />
As part of my fellowship with <a href="http://www.challengedetroit.org/the-fellows" target="_blank">Challenge Detroit</a>, we were asked to partner with a local non-profit for our final project. Edythe’s idea was compelling, so we met up and got to work. Early in the research, I met with Adam Selzer at <a href="http://www.civilla.com/">Civilla</a>, as they had printed a really attractive paper. “Anyone can make a newspaper, there's really no magic to that. But asking and answering 'who is our audience and what do they care about,’ is how to build a readership.” With so many different people in the 48214, this proves to be no easy task. Not only that, some might say printed media is a dying art. But then again, vinyl records are back in action, so maybe what goes around truly comes around?<br />
<br />
Years ago, when my family was driving along Mt. Elliott to bury Aunt Dorothy, one extended family member kept making disparaging comments about Detroiters. “See, this is why you shouldn’t give nice things to black people. Look at how they’ve ruined these beautiful old homes.” The teenager version of me was angry with him, but I didn’t have the courage to fight back. What I wanted to do instead, even then, was get out of the car and go meet the families living in those homes and hear their stories. <br />
<br />
I’m certain I would’ve heard something similar to what my current neighbors are teaching me: they’ve applied for loans to fix the caving-in roof but the bank tells them the repairs are more expensive than the house is worth. Once so many auto industry jobs left, steady income was much harder to come by. So a vastly disproportionate amount of wealth was circulating out in the suburbs, the place where I grew up, where we were able to fix our roof when the time came without too much trouble.<br />
<br />
With that memory, I decided to start my explorations, or neighboring, along Mack Avenue. Edythe had already started polling residents about their overall interest in a paper, what types of content they might read, and what issues mattered to them. So I focused on businesses, wanting to first reach out to resilient owners who’ve been here for years, even decades. Sure, there are exciting new storefronts popping up in The Villages and along Jefferson, and we certainly want to celebrate and make space for that as well, but first and foremost, start with the people who’ve been holding this part of Detroit together all these years. <br />
<br />
I met Joe at Bewick Market, Ruby at Jay’s Flower Shop, got to sit down and really chat with Darius at EJ’s Social Club. Eric Hood Jr. shared a bit about the story of Hood’s Tires, and Eric Hood Sr. began to fill me in about the interconnected ecosystem of business owners along Mack. Louis Nafso, owner of Motor City Market Place at the Eastern edge of our zip code, generously shared his perspectives on the need for more focus on residency around his block. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuKzoEKeHTRGpKk5x6kS_5lZ4e1S1hPXt1_311weOBFS-lq7KWL-gmG6JQ6vWo5MwTnlWNMEf7ndF5wkMvwBlSFq1KvegbVrbYqNpXHQSbkN8DTabjK7-A5BZh8It6URl-kZsCcV-Oa8Q/s1600/EricHoodMatthew.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuKzoEKeHTRGpKk5x6kS_5lZ4e1S1hPXt1_311weOBFS-lq7KWL-gmG6JQ6vWo5MwTnlWNMEf7ndF5wkMvwBlSFq1KvegbVrbYqNpXHQSbkN8DTabjK7-A5BZh8It6URl-kZsCcV-Oa8Q/s320/EricHoodMatthew.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
And these are just a few of the stories I got to hear on two summer afternoons. Imagine what else we might all learn together.<br />
<br />
Our hope is to create a newspaper filled with compelling narratives from our diverse Detroit community. We certainly want to focus on the positive stories, but we also want to not shy away from the friction. Alongside being a writer, I am also co-founder of <a href="http://www.thetablesetters.org/">The Table Setters</a>, a small non-profit dedicated to creating vulnerable and brave intersections between groups of people that, because of how zoning and residential laws of the past have sequestered us into homogenous groupings, never cross paths. I’ve learned that authentic diversity is actually really, really hard. Tolerance is easier, but we all know tolerance goes out the window when conflict hits. That script is well-worn. Like when an accident on your street brings everyone out, and then because everyone is out, old wounds resurface and fights break out and suddenly you have three options: take a side, try to be a peacemaker, or remain indoors and not get involved. <br />
<br />
Diversity is indeed hard work. But I think striving towards equitable diversity is the only way forward. It’s one thing to come to the table, it’s quite another thing to come back to the table, again and again, with hope that doing so will truly build up a stronger community.<br />
<br />
In that spirit, The Neighborhopes to make space to explore tough questions:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0mvznvlgu8k3qIoBm0EmwIOItCvHPQFRBq3fV_MyWz4aag-H-QkxoDl3n48MsjHx7XrHwc_jwkDuJiGBjqaL9wj7vaNPMI_vxOkUcQJTgpLWhoE5ytogCeRyUt6olE_N2qS_ntJwDGDs/s1600/IMG_1435.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0mvznvlgu8k3qIoBm0EmwIOItCvHPQFRBq3fV_MyWz4aag-H-QkxoDl3n48MsjHx7XrHwc_jwkDuJiGBjqaL9wj7vaNPMI_vxOkUcQJTgpLWhoE5ytogCeRyUt6olE_N2qS_ntJwDGDs/s320/IMG_1435.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div>
<i>As Detroit is changing, is it for all of us, the newcomers and the long-term residents? And if it’s unbalanced, how can we redirect in mutually beneficial ways?<br /><br />Knowing that the suburbs were intentionally designed with legalized segregation, what will it take to make a more integrated city? Could we do it here? Places like The Commons give me glimpses of hope.<br /><br />What might it feel like if we strove to become color-brave instead of color-blind? <br /><br />How do we celebrate the successes of schools, churches, and businesses and help to share the wealth in our community?<br /><br />How might we hold each other accountable to actively listening to each others’ perspectives? And, as a European American who gets to be called “white,” how can I do a better job of trusting the ideas of my neighbors with more melanin and many more drops of sweat, tears, and even blood, in this place called Detroit?<br /><br />How do we work together to find a good balance between all of our needs to feel safe, both physically and socially, with our hopes to not diminish the full humanity of people who are different from ourselves on the grounds of race, class, gender, age, cultural, economic backgrounds?<br /><br />How do we become better and better neighbors to one another? </i><br />
<br />
I pray this paper may become a bridge building space. I look forward to hearing and reading your stories soon, to learning how to be the best neighbor I can be. <br />
<br />
See you around.<br />
<br />
(this blogpost is also a draft of an article for an upcoming issue of the new community newspaper)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-9655711835743872782018-07-19T11:00:00.000-07:002018-07-19T11:00:07.954-07:00544 Days....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
544 days of learning just how far wealthy white male privilege stretches. Piles of shocking moments, new depths of indecency, seemingly endless passes granted. The ability to be purposefully underprepared, purposefully obtuse and contradictory, unashamedly self-serving, unapologetically dishonest, and even outright threatening: these allowances are not granted to everyone. Not even every "leader of the free world," whatever that is supposed to mean....<br /><br />We've seen that massive human power, left unchecked and without accountability, leads towards monstrosity. I write against the spectre of whiteousness, which is the assumption that everything "white" is the most "natural," "best," the most "human." When that fallacy is joined with great money and power, it has historically proven to be destructive. Yes, for all people who are not white, wealthy, and male, but I believe it hurts every single one of us. I am recovering, still, always, from how this assumption has marked my life, both with blessings that I am learning to not take for granted, but also with an expectation, both overtly and deeply hidden in the fabric of our social systems, to keep this as the status quo. It comes out in ugly ways in my arguments with the woman who married me, with my expectations about "how something is supposed to go," with some of my deepest struggles. Please continue to hold me accountable. <br /><br /><div>
#DismantlingWhiteousness is about finding more authentic and deeply formed love by looking outside that status quo. It's about recognizing that diversity was part of the plan, part of God's endgame, and what ultimately brings more strength, resiliency, and beauty in our day to day living. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
-Matthew</div>
<div data-block="true" data-editor="6v866" data-offset-key="f7a63-0-0" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="f7a63-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; position: relative; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span data-offset-key="f7a63-1-0" style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
</div>
</div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-21251991554847032792018-04-26T11:22:00.001-07:002018-04-26T11:22:33.131-07:00The Fire Hazards of Diversity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Here's the truth: diversity is hard. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Do we let our child cry herself to sleep or comfort her because she's expressing irrational fear over the sounds of the radiator? This is a question that two different parents, that would be Darcie and I, come at from two different angles.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Our last play at <a href="http://www.teenhype.org/" target="_blank">Teen HYPE</a>, focusing on the deep challenges caused by the over-incarceration of parents in Detroit, sparked a range of conversation and dialogues. So for next year's production, do we go deeper into the school-to-prison pipeline? What about school shootings and gun violence? Or should we turn away from the "confronting barriers" of our mission statement and focus on "celebrating youth?" These are real questions that our staff is wrestling with today, but beyond that, what do the young people have to say about all of it? Literally, hundreds of ideas are bouncing around right now.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgout6n76ELgmdBCa13SbE1a7DXJVzkj5jLrSrpAiM3I75fwBiTEn-3IC8MSNOyvviYBRH8_tqQm2oDUTVHv1D32vgNfQc3YQS8ovI_I0nuNe4CsTId7SDa-il2ZhfCce2P-nBi2-rfi1k/s1600/Living-Room_E%2540033x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgout6n76ELgmdBCa13SbE1a7DXJVzkj5jLrSrpAiM3I75fwBiTEn-3IC8MSNOyvviYBRH8_tqQm2oDUTVHv1D32vgNfQc3YQS8ovI_I0nuNe4CsTId7SDa-il2ZhfCce2P-nBi2-rfi1k/s400/Living-Room_E%2540033x.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">At<a href="http://www.challengedetroit.org/" target="_blank"> Challenge Detroit</a>, my team is currently working on imagining how the Detroit Historical Museum can harness the successes of the nationally recognized <a href="https://detroit1967.org/" target="_blank">Detroit67 </a>exhibit and related events (detailing many perspectives on the uprising in Detroit during the summer of 1967), and move forward with new themes and structures that invest teenagers and young adults for the long haul. If Mayor Mike Duggan truly wants <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2018/03/06/mayor-mike-duggan-detroit-children-state-city/400824002/" target="_blank">Detroit's youth to "stay in Detroit,"</a> what kinds of investments and plans do we have to engage their interests, ambitions, hopes and dreams? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">As much as I celebrate the active pursuit of expanding diversity, I recognize how tempting it is to want to just work alone, or seek out people who think exactly like I do.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">******</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">In the early days of <a href="http://www.thetablesetters.org/" target="_blank">The Table Setters,</a> Marvin and I were working on a presentation for <a href="http://www.doornetwork.org/losangeles/" target="_blank">DOOR Los Angeles </a>about racial reconciliation. We knew that we agreed that using the text commonly known as The Good Samaritan (though Jesus never uses the word "good"), was the right foundation. We wanted to underline that sometimes <i>the best idea,</i> the most compassionate solution, comes from the person you might be inclined to look down upon, the person you might see as the enemy, or in the case of DOOR, the person you came to "serve" in your mission work. But where to go from there? Marvin gave me a few weeks to put together the flow of a presentation that we would review together, while he was sourcing video content and other material.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibovqgIDcSUWbpQFn16mlar1EUUAzBozzfsnuJBe0BHXoqoc9M9mJBAONIawIhH3dBxFOGBGIRtnf-APA-w2FJQkkvEpRzbgUs2aMgtPpnSt5Yi-7Km7WFHXOUKXkubGd-fo3UA_xJTc4/s1600/TS+Logo_2_final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="561" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibovqgIDcSUWbpQFn16mlar1EUUAzBozzfsnuJBe0BHXoqoc9M9mJBAONIawIhH3dBxFOGBGIRtnf-APA-w2FJQkkvEpRzbgUs2aMgtPpnSt5Yi-7Km7WFHXOUKXkubGd-fo3UA_xJTc4/s200/TS+Logo_2_final.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">I started. Then I scratched my head. A lot. Was I going to focus on reparations? Was I going to focus on the loophole in the 13th Amendment that repackaged slavery into the modern prison industrial complex? Was I going to keep the conversation centered around black and white issues, or should I weave in dynamics of injustices done upon Native, Latinx, Asian, and Arab-American peoples as well? If I do so, will it just water everything down into the basic "tolerance training 101" that we had both grown so tired of? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">But on a deeper level, I wanted to have something to show Marvin that I had truly been listening to the issues he was most concerned about. In short, I wanted to present him something perfect.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Marvin asked me to show him what I was working on. I hemmed and hawed, <i>uh, gimme another day or two.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">On the morning of the third day past my deadline, he texted, "<b>CALL ME.</b>" I was walking along Ventura Boulevard in Los Angeles to catch the bus into Hollywood. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">I called him. He asked me if it was ready, and I stalled with rifling through some of the questions I wrote above. He interrupted and a huge argument erupted. I'll spare your eyes the curse words.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><i>"Why are you trying to shut me out of this plan?! Why won't you show me pieces of what you're working on?!"</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><i>"You can see it, but you said you wanted me to have a full draft ready!!"</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><i>"Oh, I'm about to call you the white devil! Just like always, white people take the story from people of color and shape it how they think it should be."</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><i>"You kinda just did call me the white devil!"</i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">By this time, we are yelling near the top of our voices. I've just watched the bus roll by and I've stepped into an alleyway. I failed to notice a man, I presume living homelessly, sitting on some crates alongside the building. He gets up, taps me on the shoulder, and scoffs, "man, keep it down, some of us are trying to rest in this alley!" </span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">My face was hot with a new embarrassment amidst my anger. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Marvin thinks I'm talking to him, <i>"I don't need your apologies anymore, I'm sick of this waiting on you, I'm ready to just be done...."</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">I interject, <i>"No, I was saying sorry to the homeless man I just woke up from our yelling."</i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Pause. One or two beats. And then, Marvin just busts out laughing. So hard I think he might be crying. But it's clearly laughter. And it's contagious, starting to catch a fire inside me as well. Both of us gasping and trying to come up for air, he's joyfully working to convey that he's standing on his porch in Burbank in his boxer shorts, yelling his head off at this white guy on the phone, and his neighbors must think he'd lost his mind. It's a pretty epic scene. A story we love to tell.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Then Marvin starts to reflect on how <i>this is just what makes it hard:</i> one person trying to get it perfect to impress another person, meanwhile shutting that other person out of the decision making process, even unintentionally. It threatened to upend our entire project. We decided to meet up at a coffeeshop and just hash it out. We decided instead of calling it quits, we bring everything we'd gathered up to then. We decided to come back to the table. I'm thankful for that man who interrupted our argument, I looked for him later, but I think he actually caught the bus I was supposed to be on.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitia9TCfITBypmF2lvMnBXik83jpWaQav1I_4AJNE9N6RyRHwAcm9MhSXc8MQfijVisX0PNqmWjU5dkmfIXwxYx8POVgOhwmHegpKY0JPltao9g6rdma8Vqr0muHz2wsLZidm5bE-NaYU/s1600/12513597_10153848001541575_6158036744415795702_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitia9TCfITBypmF2lvMnBXik83jpWaQav1I_4AJNE9N6RyRHwAcm9MhSXc8MQfijVisX0PNqmWjU5dkmfIXwxYx8POVgOhwmHegpKY0JPltao9g6rdma8Vqr0muHz2wsLZidm5bE-NaYU/s400/12513597_10153848001541575_6158036744415795702_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<b style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Diversity initiatives are indeed a good thing, but so many stop short of actually considering the challenge that will come when diverse ideas collide.</b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> Ideas that come from our experiences of being diverse in genders, religious beliefs, countries of origin, and how society has treated us based on our skin color and other things we have absolutely no control over. Who gets the final say? Who gets the veto power? Marvin and I realized how critical it was that our own workflow was a microcosm of the challenges every organization faces when they claim to honor diversity.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">So: our honest solution was that we just have to keep showing up and doing our best. Listen, reconsider, and come to the best conclusions we can make when everyone feels like their contribution has been respected. The perfectionist in me has to constantly learn there is </span><b style="font-size: 12px;">so much work, so many bad and unjust habits to dismantle, and so many true opportunities for incremental healing embedded in the process alone</b><span style="font-size: 12px;">. Which means that sometimes, the process employed might be more important than the end product.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">I bring this forward with me in today's work.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">******</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">I've come to see Challenge Detroit as a place where we whittle big questions down to, hopefully usable "idea kindling." Some of us bring our talents to focus on the small but very necessary twigs, while others contribute larger sticks as structural support. As we only have six full working days with each project, this is what we can realistically provide. We invite the partner to light the match and hope that our concoction of ideas, generated by a diverse bunch of individuals, actually catches some fire. Of course, the partner will have to supply the logs for sustainability.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Our aim is to present something balanced and effective, that can be stoked to generate more and more warmth and energy. But if anything is out of balance, the fire might not start, or the fire might explode into something destructive that threatens future processes. 1967 didn't just happen. That bonfire was building for decades and decades and might have been prevented if the major change agents in the city actually took time to value the input of each member of the city, not just their highest paying customers and constituents....</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">So how can we honor everyone's ideas and still produce really good results? How can Detroit move forward in a sustainable way for everyone who calls this city home, for everyone at this table? There is so much energy, so many sparks flying right now, that I'm thankful that the Detroit Historical Society is working on how to come together in new and sustainable ways to prevent the fiery summer of 1967 from happening again. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">I believe change might have to happen slower than many people like to consider, but I also think that there can be healing in the process if we commit to staying at these tables and making sure we value the thoughts and perspectives of each person sitting next to us. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">It will not be easy, but I believe it will be worth it. If we commit to keep coming back together.</span></span><br />
<br /></div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-75005311296186036752018-03-31T18:17:00.002-07:002018-03-31T18:20:09.642-07:00#AntiRacismForLent 2018 Final Week<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's been a challenge and an honor that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/AndreHenryMusic" target="_blank">Andre Henry</a> asked a bunch of white Christians to educate other white people about the specter of systemic racism for Lent. You can see the entire project here: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Repenting-Of-Racism-For-Lent-541184482935538/" target="_blank">Repenting Of Racism For Lent</a>. Our final post is below, in the form of a conversation between collaborators Luke, Maddie, and myself:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="552" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F541184482935538%2Fvideos%2F562660277454625%2F&show_text=1&width=560" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
****</div>
And I'll close with this: on Good Friday, Darcie and I took our daughters to the <a href="http://www.prisonarts.org/">Prison Creative Arts Project's</a> Annual Exhibit of Art by Michigan Prisoners. PCAP's mission is to bring those impacted by the justice system and the University of Michigan Community into artistic collaboration for mutual learning and growth. This was a foundational program in my life, and it's something I look forward to every year. <br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Reflect on Jesus’ habit of spending time with the unheard and unvalued, the marginalized. I confess that one of my strongest lessons on who Jesus is came from a <a href="https://dismantlingwhiteousness.blogspot.com/2016/02/why-dismantling-whiteousness.html" target="_blank">lifer named Levi</a> many years ago, who I wrote about in the launch post of this very blog, and many times since....</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I invite you to listen with your eyes and your heart. <br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlhTTiibi-z5lfFEUBVCrPwN9pSwFxBJdcrduoJqC7Tkx5Fa2aGgNNvr2yK81pIH9K4xstDn64xfRbntjcTmr8Rif3DRLAjcSR8fHJuzueww7pJJ7aDXUEHeVLkabq57G-DZssGrNcpW0/s1600/IMG_0784.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlhTTiibi-z5lfFEUBVCrPwN9pSwFxBJdcrduoJqC7Tkx5Fa2aGgNNvr2yK81pIH9K4xstDn64xfRbntjcTmr8Rif3DRLAjcSR8fHJuzueww7pJJ7aDXUEHeVLkabq57G-DZssGrNcpW0/s400/IMG_0784.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" style="color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; outline: none; text-align: left; width: auto;" tabindex="0">Just Human (A Portrait Study), by Payaso</span><span class="fbPhotoTagList" id="fbPhotoSnowliftTagList" style="color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><span class="fcg" style="color: #90949c; font-family: inherit;"> </span></span> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu_TgDjJ_0xlB6vgsHSWtPWzQItNUqqy4RPA3UNalK3Ec4OCpWV00qMzm6D9H6-N8Le3QwJ4MQGAVJfLXvmlU92OQniWl34Wt_qYDZQ6Y7RpKmnjAsgpvcpJtaL8j5-O4HOMCmd_6OCsU/s1600/IMG_0785.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu_TgDjJ_0xlB6vgsHSWtPWzQItNUqqy4RPA3UNalK3Ec4OCpWV00qMzm6D9H6-N8Le3QwJ4MQGAVJfLXvmlU92OQniWl34Wt_qYDZQ6Y7RpKmnjAsgpvcpJtaL8j5-O4HOMCmd_6OCsU/s400/IMG_0785.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" style="color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; outline: none; text-align: left; width: auto;" tabindex="0">I Need to Breath, by Sara Ylen</span><span class="fbPhotoTagList" id="fbPhotoSnowliftTagList" style="color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><span class="fcg" style="color: #90949c; font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv1eTL0qqtp2096ft4ZawXrXN1EypQl1A_bdfuvpn2AOgS8KXA1hXL7AmMj72EGAOmaiXSFb8irQ3qBs3T5DWCVoAf7idINWTPOqgq3Xipru5psY81OjKir_l9TMmmxOJqTKB6S_ELfvM/s1600/IMG_0786.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv1eTL0qqtp2096ft4ZawXrXN1EypQl1A_bdfuvpn2AOgS8KXA1hXL7AmMj72EGAOmaiXSFb8irQ3qBs3T5DWCVoAf7idINWTPOqgq3Xipru5psY81OjKir_l9TMmmxOJqTKB6S_ELfvM/s400/IMG_0786.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.000000953674316px; text-align: left;">Prisoner On a Field of Flowers, by Oliger Merko</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqvQpvrphev4dpzr0VmGlCUVZyViqCrMra9Svc9Zkf3j7mFnOkBujq0oupZnHbnPK69_1gPy2-BZ9GQ0jIjQsOSxBVPUyHipYyqVUHdPCP0u7BjvWcgx-45L1bcAMr8eu_koD2BBAT9ZE/s1600/IMG_0787.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqvQpvrphev4dpzr0VmGlCUVZyViqCrMra9Svc9Zkf3j7mFnOkBujq0oupZnHbnPK69_1gPy2-BZ9GQ0jIjQsOSxBVPUyHipYyqVUHdPCP0u7BjvWcgx-45L1bcAMr8eu_koD2BBAT9ZE/s400/IMG_0787.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" style="color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; outline: none; text-align: left; width: auto;" tabindex="0">Better Times Self Portrait 1980, by Cory Hill</span><span class="fbPhotoTagList" id="fbPhotoSnowliftTagList" style="color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><span class="fcg" style="color: #90949c; font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgihrhV4uOJzL0-iRi_dh4SJujWLjEYFT2Zj8bpW-lwBDJp_WMy894ZCGnivNlEqwkeyhQUhVzBbGSqE9zNl9vFn-_GsKC7WLrE-xBTumTAVfvltqazd4uX1gdz3JxvLovhnjBpBAJGnIk/s1600/IMG_0788.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgihrhV4uOJzL0-iRi_dh4SJujWLjEYFT2Zj8bpW-lwBDJp_WMy894ZCGnivNlEqwkeyhQUhVzBbGSqE9zNl9vFn-_GsKC7WLrE-xBTumTAVfvltqazd4uX1gdz3JxvLovhnjBpBAJGnIk/s400/IMG_0788.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.000000953674316px; text-align: left;">Imaginary Celo, by Oliger Merko</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpLtw2CFrsL-KXvreLRaRe-wByOT5dYlDx9pTUjsStnhsum01U7i7hZ0Ztd9mKAZCQ2ZPhn5LI7tKUZKgcAcCoOuBsX3kelMxZaa9aCDgCbFH46aaD0YFjErKdz_dsGtxd0b6EiiGzV0/s1600/IMG_0789.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpLtw2CFrsL-KXvreLRaRe-wByOT5dYlDx9pTUjsStnhsum01U7i7hZ0Ztd9mKAZCQ2ZPhn5LI7tKUZKgcAcCoOuBsX3kelMxZaa9aCDgCbFH46aaD0YFjErKdz_dsGtxd0b6EiiGzV0/s400/IMG_0789.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.000000953674316px; text-align: left;">Mindtricks, by Sludge</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGw2US5_3gHrEThqpXQO9FM3IzUADIvYZ0vXlZtSYGiM22n3BYOjBbxalPwWwYOT29XKQrRw2Ys7UfTlBJxl44txH0oN_XGWQ6EcvOElJhpaPEki3SibbgT9FNxnWPTAE1YV6qvRQHpsA/s1600/IMG_0790.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1201" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGw2US5_3gHrEThqpXQO9FM3IzUADIvYZ0vXlZtSYGiM22n3BYOjBbxalPwWwYOT29XKQrRw2Ys7UfTlBJxl44txH0oN_XGWQ6EcvOElJhpaPEki3SibbgT9FNxnWPTAE1YV6qvRQHpsA/s400/IMG_0790.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.000000953674316px; text-align: left;">One Of A Kind, by Susan Brown</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMH9EyKeeFYZGkrWRf7Fw_8GdcePVf_D_D1-ffiNtN4NgDsetXHxQX5EoCezOG6CySKJZcexrGeNuh4n9imfIl0qOzCn4CN9Bhtx9mpUKM3eMPhPydLZNsdlIHjL-NKLczHSTc6mn9Z8/s1600/IMG_0791.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMH9EyKeeFYZGkrWRf7Fw_8GdcePVf_D_D1-ffiNtN4NgDsetXHxQX5EoCezOG6CySKJZcexrGeNuh4n9imfIl0qOzCn4CN9Bhtx9mpUKM3eMPhPydLZNsdlIHjL-NKLczHSTc6mn9Z8/s400/IMG_0791.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" style="color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; outline: none; text-align: left; width: auto;" tabindex="0">Time to Bloom, by Susan Brown</span><span class="fbPhotoTagList" id="fbPhotoSnowliftTagList" style="color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><span class="fcg" style="color: #90949c; font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRuX63EPAR27-WcYxPgOGJ1yxtSv23T9J9fwRsTlKPhLr1ly-sUOH5e9PdR_nFU2c7Tt3aEfhRzaYD-Np_M2BI-4dlIWiXARn5CeFbwsHnb1ScukGyTS62459ZnLpoFhZCX2uElCBF9HQ/s1600/IMG_0792.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRuX63EPAR27-WcYxPgOGJ1yxtSv23T9J9fwRsTlKPhLr1ly-sUOH5e9PdR_nFU2c7Tt3aEfhRzaYD-Np_M2BI-4dlIWiXARn5CeFbwsHnb1ScukGyTS62459ZnLpoFhZCX2uElCBF9HQ/s400/IMG_0792.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.000000953674316px; text-align: left;">Painting His Way Home, by Martin Vargas</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNxD_-E6-6MemlkN47-8Sj_8i2plQJZTs2prJ29ancLB3V-VDSLJH7lG-ErY7Fx5KnTMQni05MthIHk6TS7ZwS-4vyvXunxW0sG8H3eAskYOaIiK88uJcl5L58edTVgav3vYFLabv_Y0/s1600/IMG_0794.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNxD_-E6-6MemlkN47-8Sj_8i2plQJZTs2prJ29ancLB3V-VDSLJH7lG-ErY7Fx5KnTMQni05MthIHk6TS7ZwS-4vyvXunxW0sG8H3eAskYOaIiK88uJcl5L58edTVgav3vYFLabv_Y0/s400/IMG_0794.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.000000953674316px; text-align: left;">Erasures, by Yusef Quavo</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwBaXDA85OQfmBi_ynLhjjIL3fIQjOZsd5057QDIjJIonGvzEGpBEZ8Y4NNnz4PL3CVU8QILeZRJrDLqphLZDZQtkiFoG5rzoLj1Yrk3nI1vot1IDq1ll3J3Pk8-dWtCYDAKnwoqc4F4/s1600/IMG_0795.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwBaXDA85OQfmBi_ynLhjjIL3fIQjOZsd5057QDIjJIonGvzEGpBEZ8Y4NNnz4PL3CVU8QILeZRJrDLqphLZDZQtkiFoG5rzoLj1Yrk3nI1vot1IDq1ll3J3Pk8-dWtCYDAKnwoqc4F4/s400/IMG_0795.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.000000953674316px; text-align: left;">Stigma, by Nicole Kipfmiller</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7CKz3oCe2AuQq8nMmd2b1MH_QydFwqcatDNAe6zjub7RkqcZlazlZ0GZZ0iwOZpxJ3M8tlPT9_MaRy_24K4rCOL22i9nP99jMqiMW0Z_bDE2NoH27qnK2B3OmA5gNCgGsaPMqGENEoD4/s1600/IMG_0796.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7CKz3oCe2AuQq8nMmd2b1MH_QydFwqcatDNAe6zjub7RkqcZlazlZ0GZZ0iwOZpxJ3M8tlPT9_MaRy_24K4rCOL22i9nP99jMqiMW0Z_bDE2NoH27qnK2B3OmA5gNCgGsaPMqGENEoD4/s400/IMG_0796.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.000000953674316px; text-align: left;">Prison Life, by Oil City Choppers</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX_dG_3H7MbmB3y5vvG1nF5ecpvOXDzSF4FVgdueY_4aSfLEP3Q502r1PUFXcNiE1lhNgLoT1DzGUbj1tNfPIwWntHdEsDqMxGddHTIzHauTGIvBd-Wg8JddHUPf63afpjB0-hO8Fnq04/s1600/IMG_0797.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX_dG_3H7MbmB3y5vvG1nF5ecpvOXDzSF4FVgdueY_4aSfLEP3Q502r1PUFXcNiE1lhNgLoT1DzGUbj1tNfPIwWntHdEsDqMxGddHTIzHauTGIvBd-Wg8JddHUPf63afpjB0-hO8Fnq04/s400/IMG_0797.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.000000953674316px; text-align: left;">A Life Tougher Than Normal, by JAE</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbn0TheOoZ45CoZEkdQkFiJxdbno9OmlFRwOcF0wm9pE0M5UD27_Pk3tIoY_4iQ-t05lCUL2KXn9-nXA_lnxo8ThHt00g8NWwI1_uir4KSomUYiVx_vMgTILSZl6WJd27pcmXdsS8rwS4/s1600/IMG_0798.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbn0TheOoZ45CoZEkdQkFiJxdbno9OmlFRwOcF0wm9pE0M5UD27_Pk3tIoY_4iQ-t05lCUL2KXn9-nXA_lnxo8ThHt00g8NWwI1_uir4KSomUYiVx_vMgTILSZl6WJd27pcmXdsS8rwS4/s400/IMG_0798.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.000000953674316px; text-align: left;">My Entire Prison Closet, by Jillybean</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEqg7dwoEOguzFAcy09WmwdiXncLCuWtOebidV_cVuchVTzbyrjuRTmLlwtJn-0ueGdin4pgSCzR8fzlxy_6T-5iEfQy2V3Gx1NggSFycJ1kxkYUsbkQurMXZA2MZrHAjOj9y5D2Lk4l0/s1600/IMG_0799.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEqg7dwoEOguzFAcy09WmwdiXncLCuWtOebidV_cVuchVTzbyrjuRTmLlwtJn-0ueGdin4pgSCzR8fzlxy_6T-5iEfQy2V3Gx1NggSFycJ1kxkYUsbkQurMXZA2MZrHAjOj9y5D2Lk4l0/s400/IMG_0799.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.000000953674316px; text-align: left;">Will You Stop For This, by Spyder</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIzPRAYvNV3cg1R2lIMm-oFaapeoUnKLW20GpqRLlPqhiUnfO-vxfyskSXudf5q0ZH8PYzhqSVFWU3JZ33Nru3H6Any8H5rZbHE6_-EcOWxMJOkioy-zLEJCFsii_jjvXhpTH0UXuiTPg/s1600/IMG_0800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIzPRAYvNV3cg1R2lIMm-oFaapeoUnKLW20GpqRLlPqhiUnfO-vxfyskSXudf5q0ZH8PYzhqSVFWU3JZ33Nru3H6Any8H5rZbHE6_-EcOWxMJOkioy-zLEJCFsii_jjvXhpTH0UXuiTPg/s400/IMG_0800.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.000000953674316px; text-align: left;">Father and Daughter Time, by Curtis Chase</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwzVGuYexAb7_rpdUuiaYI6P5fhQxKzU5MHoxhGLjc3_WZrq8CbUk9NWk16TSdNZunl0vxEn-QzZIXaR_BiZTeCOHxFToMNohT0eqqT0T2SWLFci2VUBIbAWyRkJm2L88UUdJN8AhtT8Y/s1600/IMG_0802.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwzVGuYexAb7_rpdUuiaYI6P5fhQxKzU5MHoxhGLjc3_WZrq8CbUk9NWk16TSdNZunl0vxEn-QzZIXaR_BiZTeCOHxFToMNohT0eqqT0T2SWLFci2VUBIbAWyRkJm2L88UUdJN8AhtT8Y/s400/IMG_0802.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span aria-live="polite" class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" style="color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; outline: none; text-align: left; width: auto;" tabindex="0">Face of a Nation, by Tran</span><span class="fbPhotoTagList" id="fbPhotoSnowliftTagList" style="color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><span class="fcg" style="color: #90949c; font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgetxgKLDohoir7e5fPDsKGBse2oP2D5aMoTk1ixS8qvFV8VUrJsTZLckc7h3o7Ey_7HYxNvDVF7PPLbJyCI7ssWSpPpnHAONyHEgJ9niaxlT6vE6cBah3xw7ALT7Z8J1kFbOagWAw0rg8/s1600/IMG_0803.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgetxgKLDohoir7e5fPDsKGBse2oP2D5aMoTk1ixS8qvFV8VUrJsTZLckc7h3o7Ey_7HYxNvDVF7PPLbJyCI7ssWSpPpnHAONyHEgJ9niaxlT6vE6cBah3xw7ALT7Z8J1kFbOagWAw0rg8/s400/IMG_0803.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.000000953674316px; text-align: left;">The Bridge of Peace, by Free Ray Gray</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_YUlD4qnaJHCsU1HKAJ9NLk1riUqdsPLWVk22xhCzHUETnxH8J0a9SfrcAuBGNWUwolXByqDIdhKxtupzUc5SM22zPd-3kwIDc0xlJn6VYD7gE9KWT8BN6rm0BFNvXvYXENJi0gmTxw/s1600/IMG_0804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_YUlD4qnaJHCsU1HKAJ9NLk1riUqdsPLWVk22xhCzHUETnxH8J0a9SfrcAuBGNWUwolXByqDIdhKxtupzUc5SM22zPd-3kwIDc0xlJn6VYD7gE9KWT8BN6rm0BFNvXvYXENJi0gmTxw/s400/IMG_0804.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.000000953674316px; text-align: left;">Boxer’s Dreams Deferred, by Hoodybraids</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyAMvAcFMGZ_cmgEpZfECav8dGLIgbmvWktjkZQveAV3_pKA2BUuFy51JaNeBqqjRdRj9vjSzFbDOOf5NtH2pYP94akN0FZ6Q04Z8vTfLo8P8T0Qjc8Ia_sEm5rFkKyeHr_uq7Ewpu6DI/s1600/IMG_0805.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyAMvAcFMGZ_cmgEpZfECav8dGLIgbmvWktjkZQveAV3_pKA2BUuFy51JaNeBqqjRdRj9vjSzFbDOOf5NtH2pYP94akN0FZ6Q04Z8vTfLo8P8T0Qjc8Ia_sEm5rFkKyeHr_uq7Ewpu6DI/s400/IMG_0805.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.000000953674316px; text-align: left;">God’s Love, by Jason Stafford</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYcjH6hJKva5N8xYr_EQITGJdRkk1OF8PpKwTTpkNxgppdDmUjFG349xKvi4QDpl26gOuvA9qO711TYBLcd_PdQGfSS2ttroz2uiFKtlfAJRVxXAjEssD8CD9BnKhaLgzU2PsKaMcZNUM/s1600/IMG_0806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYcjH6hJKva5N8xYr_EQITGJdRkk1OF8PpKwTTpkNxgppdDmUjFG349xKvi4QDpl26gOuvA9qO711TYBLcd_PdQGfSS2ttroz2uiFKtlfAJRVxXAjEssD8CD9BnKhaLgzU2PsKaMcZNUM/s400/IMG_0806.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.000000953674316px; text-align: left;">The Artistic Drive Personified, by Bryan Picken</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2RSszavQTDl34l_lT2yM6doiIQxjbyfg-m9WdgJz8c2J56CYPA9hRSRDOYsiDJXRz0xTwFL67drIlPnvzFsw3egjGX8PgNzeO_w1HewA-PQ-RPW3s4mSKitezjVez0gP5YMFZhNfn1Gw/s1600/IMG_6121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2RSszavQTDl34l_lT2yM6doiIQxjbyfg-m9WdgJz8c2J56CYPA9hRSRDOYsiDJXRz0xTwFL67drIlPnvzFsw3egjGX8PgNzeO_w1HewA-PQ-RPW3s4mSKitezjVez0gP5YMFZhNfn1Gw/s400/IMG_6121.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Sarayu, by Sara Ylen</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMUPPjtq9c_1dzFmu61T5XyfeZo4Y3N_rVu0kNib15IaDckVxcaLTSqkVNjz68Zh8T3m5yiSHCGWlLRjqEOquIlcY235xdRoLM9JOu3FSDWFgX5q3aDORGRRoUmAKRVICKBJAWdKK1IFs/s1600/IMG_0793.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMUPPjtq9c_1dzFmu61T5XyfeZo4Y3N_rVu0kNib15IaDckVxcaLTSqkVNjz68Zh8T3m5yiSHCGWlLRjqEOquIlcY235xdRoLM9JOu3FSDWFgX5q3aDORGRRoUmAKRVICKBJAWdKK1IFs/s400/IMG_0793.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: , , "blinkmacsystemfont" , ".sfnstext-regular" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.000000953674316px; text-align: left;">Harlem, by Tommy Curtis Owens</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-51327386168567402532018-03-26T06:11:00.000-07:002018-03-26T06:11:44.571-07:00Challenge Detroit: Interview with Matthew Schmitt<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
My <a href="http://www.challengedetroit.org/" target="_blank">Challenge Detroit </a>Fellow Feature Interview,<a href="http://www.challengedetroit.org/blog/fellow-spotlight-matthew-schmitt" target="_blank"> originally published here</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ebv3p0SvJ4c/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ebv3p0SvJ4c?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<b><i>Tell us about one of your favorite neighborhoods in Detroit and what makes it unique?</i></b><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
In 2016, we packed up our life and moved back to Detroit from Los Angeles. Darcie and I had been feeling increasingly called to move back, so we took a leap of faith with our two daughters. I had grown up in the suburbs, at 13 Mile and Southfield, and had always loved spending time in the city, mostly downtown and Southwest. Knowing that one of our deepest longings was to live in closer context with neighbors, and that our girls would be raised in a diverse community, both socio-economically and racially, friend after friend kept pointing us towards the 48214 zip code and the <a href="http://www.mackave.com/" target="_blank">Mack Avenue Church </a>community. For about 8 months, we rented an apartment in Pingree Park and worked jobs with Lyft, The New Teacher Project, and Citizen Detroit. And then in May of 2017, we were able to buy a home for our family of four, just a block away. We have been blown away by the kindness and intentionality of our neighbors, both from within and outside of the church. Sitting on our porch swing, walking to the park, clearing out overgrowth in alleys, and even having to get up early to shovel snow has provided a tapestry of invaluable moments connecting to families and people who’ve lived here for decades. <a href="http://www.maccdevelopment.com/" target="_blank">MACC Development</a>, the CDC of our church, has just opened <a href="https://thecommonsdetroit.com/" target="_blank">The Commons</a>, the first laundromat/coffeeshop/tutoring/community gathering space at the corner of Van Dyke and Mack. It’s only been open for two weeks, but already I’ve caught conversations about the pros and cons of charter and public schools; a hearty Kendrick vs. Tupac debate; and a sustained celebration of the new Black Panther movie. All over the low buzz of laundry and espresso machines doin’ their thing.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2p0hYoQVHpQQ9PtzmMMFVQYxnWqOoVyFJdwhJ3althmvYu8VQrQebK8bT68kQzf14yOqdVi19aPlX9Qn3g9vl_e5-fW6BSnqABRm_rswHmPLo0vkW2A0L9yvgLloGdwpoO6xfVUf4dr8/s1600/IMG_3273.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2p0hYoQVHpQQ9PtzmMMFVQYxnWqOoVyFJdwhJ3althmvYu8VQrQebK8bT68kQzf14yOqdVi19aPlX9Qn3g9vl_e5-fW6BSnqABRm_rswHmPLo0vkW2A0L9yvgLloGdwpoO6xfVUf4dr8/s200/IMG_3273.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><i>Tell us about the challenge project you’re currently working on, what are you learning from the experience? </i></b><br />
<br />
Currently, my team and I are working with the <a href="https://buildingdetroit.org/" target="_blank">Detroit Land Bank Authority</a> to help them streamline the process of selling vacant lots to community partners and non-profits. We have interviewed about a dozen representatives from churches and service agencies looking to buy adjacent land for community gardens, outdoor performance spaces, and other projects they hope will bless their neighborhoods. The process of buying any property can be daunting and intimidating, but the mission of the DLBA is to see lots purchased and re-activated by Detroiters as soon as possible. I’ve learned that there is some confusion between the function of the DLBA and that of the Wayne County Treasurer, the entity involved in foreclosing and auctioning homes, too often starting a process that evicts people from homes they’ve lived in most of their lives. It is also clear to me, that if not done with ample care for these long-term residents who have challenging financial situations, the Land Bank’s urgent mission to deplete their property holdings as soon as possible will tip the balance of ownership towards those with the most ability to pay quickly. Thus, the Land Bank must proceed thoughtfully and attentively if they are to ensure that Detroit remains a city that is truly for everyone, and not just people like myself who had the means to move back from Los Angeles and purchase a home.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgba3qp6C3SpROAKU5hccy7bL8K97VFEoj3iRJvlsff_Yh8GsoVO5zHoAOOt0nYv8hpC8taoJ7U4YvEFBvG0HLXpLeSSVpe9wUv-sqW3h5pVxEZY7BsQpJ4D1cKWjXVzT1mQPQfENdBWgc/s1600/27654756_10160457299610355_5734538268670230249_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgba3qp6C3SpROAKU5hccy7bL8K97VFEoj3iRJvlsff_Yh8GsoVO5zHoAOOt0nYv8hpC8taoJ7U4YvEFBvG0HLXpLeSSVpe9wUv-sqW3h5pVxEZY7BsQpJ4D1cKWjXVzT1mQPQfENdBWgc/s320/27654756_10160457299610355_5734538268670230249_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<b><i>Tell us about your host company and your role in the organization.</i></b><br />
<br />
At my host company <a href="http://www.teenhype.org/" target="_blank">Teen HYPE</a>, I serve as the Manager of Mission Advancement. Teen HYPE’s mission is to Celebrate Youth, Confront Barriers, and Build Bridges, and they do this in a variety of ways. Each year, the organization produces a stage production that shines light on a particular aspect of being a teenager growing up in the Detroit of today, so the play is written in large part by the students themselves. This year, our topic is the negative impact of long prison sentence on the families of the incarcerated, particular the kids. With my experience having served at the <a href="http://www.prisonarts.org/" target="_blank">Prison Creative Arts Project </a> at the University of Michigan, I was brought on board to help develop the curriculum and plan some events. We had learned that about 90% of the teens that make up the leadership of Teen HYPE are experiencing a parent or close family member either in prison or currently on parole. Where I grew up, just north of 8 Mile, this is definitely not the reality. So, we watched Ava DuVerney’s documentary <a href="https://www.netflix.com/Kids/title/80091741" target="_blank">The 13th</a>, exposing the massive expansion of private, for-profit prisons in our country, and the troubling reality that slavery might be operating under a different disguise. We pondered the ideas of over-incarceration and over-policing of some communities. Ultimately, we asked: what are the emotional, social, and economic impacts on the kids who have to live in the reality of having a caretaker taken away? We invited students and people who are currently incarcerated to submit artwork for a gallery and community conversation, and this ultimately led to our stage production called <b><i>Mis-Taken?</i></b>, performed 5 times in early March of 2018 to roughly 4,000 student and community members. The response was overwhelmingly positive. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<b><i>What kind of impact do you hope to have with your host company and within the city?</i></b><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "open sans" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>Teen HYPE is doing critical work. I hope that while I’m here I can do my part to get the story out to both Detroit as well as the suburbs. I know full well how suburban folks often misunderstand my neighbors in the city, how that trickles down to expecting the worst from our local teenagers. These misunderstandings lead to ill-informed assumptions and continued disconnect, and this nudges people into making both political and everyday choices that continue to damage communities outside of downtown. I am living a very different reality, seeing every day how resilient and brilliant our teenagers are, how they have hopes and dreams and ideas that could truly move Detroit towards becoming the kind of city that sets an example for the rest of the country. I will continue to build bridges towards new perspectives and possibilities. <br />
<br />
<b><i>What are you most looking forward to during springtime in Detroit?</i></b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b>This will be the first spring in our new home in Pingree Park, so I’m excited to start planting vegetables in our backyard garden, to finish fixing our porches, and to start having neighbors and friends over. I am also looking forward to cheaper gas bills, as it’s been a really long and cold winter!<br />
<br />
<b><i>How do you believe your fellowship will shape your career moving forward?</i></b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b><a href="http://www.challengedetroit.org/" target="_blank">Challenge Detroit</a> has provided me with a range of Detroit perspectives on business, politics, development and community activism. Just over half way through this fellowship, I am grateful for the stories and lessons I’m learning. I will continue to work on <a href="http://www.thetablesetters.org/" target="_blank">The Table Setters</a>, the non-profit that Marvin Wadlow Jr. and I officially launched in 2016 to produce improved relationships across humanly created racial, socio-economic, political, and religious lines. We combine launch events in churches, schools, businesses, and civic institutions with customized plans for ongoing cultural accountability. We’ve seen that diversity training days are never enough, but that ongoing relationships that nurture connections and share brokenness, hopes and dreams, can be mutually healing and productive. Challenge Detroit has revealed to me, time and time again, how very true and critically urgent this is, what with the rancorous divisions in our city and country. I also sense that I will reconsider my call to ordained ministry, as this Fellowship has required me to take a significant break from my coursework at Fuller Seminary. I sense a growing call to community development, to continue learning how to really listen to people, story by story, and discern how to rebuild, or many times, build for the first time, trust between neighbors and neighborhoods in Detroit and the surrounding suburbs. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8NbRSdQb5pNEMVbxn2n_st5Mdsjh1_WugP6M62F5ryJreQv3rdByNxUIZ6GI0IRvB4q-fhkI8AHV8wrC-rwqxvNG8Ed2MKcrxKCo-c4jZqDkXTgBy8T1dc0QyI4K3sU5CYrk-LhtmOtg/s1600/_Fellows.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8NbRSdQb5pNEMVbxn2n_st5Mdsjh1_WugP6M62F5ryJreQv3rdByNxUIZ6GI0IRvB4q-fhkI8AHV8wrC-rwqxvNG8Ed2MKcrxKCo-c4jZqDkXTgBy8T1dc0QyI4K3sU5CYrk-LhtmOtg/s400/_Fellows.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-10592143853174164402018-03-16T20:29:00.000-07:002018-03-16T20:29:33.074-07:00#AntiRacismForLent Week 4: Community & Beloved Community<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
What is community? How does it come into being? Do people always, "naturally," group together with their own "kind?" Or, do we discover that systems have been in place for a long time to keep certain people separate from the ones who are most preferred?<br />
<br />
This week, I got to create the content for our Repenting Of Racism page, and I was excited to draw heavily upon my new life in the community of Detroit. <br />
<b><br /></b>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>How has your sense of the word “community” been limited to the neighborhood you’ve been living in? </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Do you find yourself living in a community that some might view as “over-advantaged?”</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>How have you mis-understood other communities?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>What is God showing you about His definition of community?</b></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="455" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D553853128335340%26id%3D541184482935538&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="699" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D554013831652603%26id%3D541184482935538&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="597" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D554370584950261%26id%3D541184482935538&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="430" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D554371551616831%26id%3D541184482935538&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe><iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="617" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D554372804950039%26id%3D541184482935538&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="589" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D554544381599548%26id%3D541184482935538&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Part of truly learning how to understand a community other than our own involves, first, removing the blockages and misconceptions many of us have been raised to maintain. One might argue that this is close to the heart of the Samaritan parables of Jesus, casting the hated outsider as the hero in several passages. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
For today’s #HabitOfJustice, watch this video by Imaeyen Ibanga on the community-based work of The Black Panthers. What surprises you as you watch? Does it rub against understandings you have trusted for decades about black activists? </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="444" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fbecausefacts%2Fvideos%2F199389867474394%2F&show_text=1&width=560" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Part 2, and if you have time to dig deeper: I, Matthew, personally invite you to watch this recent video made here in Detroit last December by Building the Engine of Community Development in Detroit (BECCD) about a diverse community bringing many stakeholders together to think deeply about change in our city:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/X_pVudGB7fQ/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X_pVudGB7fQ?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, and I was told by many of my childhood neighbors that black Detroiters were dangerous and ready to hurt me. Living here, I have certainly found that to be false, and beyond that, incredibly sad. This video shows a glimpse of the many ways a diverse community can truly commit to work together, despite disagreements and difference of backgrounds. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Based on narratives you may have heard about #Detroit, as the largest city to file for bankruptcy, how does this sit with you? -Matthew</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="636" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D555725351481451%26id%3D541184482935538&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Repenting-Of-Racism-For-Lent-541184482935538/?notif_id=1518569255511830&notif_t=page_fan&ref=notif">For more on Repenting of Racism for Lent, click here.</a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
***</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/antiracismforlent?source=feed_text&pnref=story" target="_blank">#AntiRacismForLent</a> is being facilitated by Maddie Joy, Luke Arthur, Lauren Grubaugh, Daniel Russell, Matthew John Schmitt, Meggie Anderson-Sandoval and Lydia Lockhart as sparked by an idea from Andre Henry. We invite you to join us in action and in conversation. Keep up with the daily habits of justice on the #RepentingOfRacism For Lent Facebook page, linked above.</div>
</div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-79690298653492743202018-03-04T10:00:00.000-08:002018-03-04T10:08:56.245-08:00#AntiRacismForLent Week 2: Communication<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This week, we focus on communication, how white people tend to "other-ize" people they deem as not white, or not "normal." A friend sent me this Key & Peele video, imagining a black teacher in a mostly white classroom, mispronouncing all the students' names. I definitely remember hearing painful stories of my African-American and Vietnamese-American students in New Orleans' reporting to me that various white substitute teachers had butchered names like Geraldnisha, Deshondalisa, Troychelle, and many others, and even would say insulting things like, "why couldn't your parents have just given you normal names??" This was certainly made to honor that struggle. <br />
<br />
How do I, how do you, treat people that do not pass as white like they are "other," like they are "not normal?" <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Dd7FixvoKBw" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
And, continuing on with our repenting of racism work for Lent, here were this weeks' posts:</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="398" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D547546925632627%26id%3D541184482935538&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="598" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D547959578924695%26id%3D541184482935538&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="300" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D548237568896896%26id%3D541184482935538&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe><br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="588" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D549333422120644%26id%3D541184482935538&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="281" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D549902282063758%26id%3D541184482935538&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="514" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F541184482935538%2Fvideos%2F550279482026038%2F&show_text=1&width=560" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Repenting-Of-Racism-For-Lent-541184482935538/?notif_id=1518569255511830&notif_t=page_fan&ref=notif">For more on Repenting of Racism for Lent, click here.</a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
***</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
#AntiRacismForLent is being facilitated by Maddie Joy, Luke Arthur, Lauren Grubaugh, Daniel Russell, Matthew John Schmitt, Meggie Anderson-Sandoval and Lydia Lockhart as sparked by an idea from Andre Henry. We invite you to join us in action and in conversation. Keep up with the daily habits of justice on the #RepentingOfRacism For Lent Facebook page, linked above.</div>
</div>
</div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-43013271103260570892018-02-24T10:04:00.001-08:002018-02-24T10:04:11.646-08:00All I Know, All I Know, Love Will Save the Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLCIgHHcKlx3iVh4Z_-2zWM2olgvqqslDQOWEwy8U_gEp7y9-8oQaK5YbIhAXwDBlvwd1CbKK0ikMeHqw8rbQQvAJ_tih4u6oBlR7TzPxnoVHSegumqZXQTTTI5Wxg_2IcimaSHOCpl4k/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-02-24+at+1.00.18+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLCIgHHcKlx3iVh4Z_-2zWM2olgvqqslDQOWEwy8U_gEp7y9-8oQaK5YbIhAXwDBlvwd1CbKK0ikMeHqw8rbQQvAJ_tih4u6oBlR7TzPxnoVHSegumqZXQTTTI5Wxg_2IcimaSHOCpl4k/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-02-24+at+1.00.18+PM.png" width="228" /></a>I confess, a little bit of a stretch during <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/repentingofracism?source=feed_text">#RepentingOfRacism</a> while giving up "white" entertainment, we allowed it because the main character is black and incredible, (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/JahiDiallo/?fref=mentions">Jahi Diallo Winston</a> is a glorious young actor, though the writers and producers are, indeed, all white...)... but we checked out <a href="https://www.facebook.com/EverythingSucks/?fref=mentions">Everything Sucks</a> on Netflix. It's 90s high school nostalgia for the two of us, complete with one character's die-hard love for <a href="http://dismantlingwhiteousness.blogspot.com/2016/02/how-tori-amos-primed-me-for-dismantling.html" target="_blank">Tori Amos.</a> Yes, completely set in a mostly white suburban high school, which is, yes, similar to the high schools Darcie and I attended. <br />
<br />
But...one scene has Jahi re-enacting 90s music videos, and he referenced this one. I had forgotten all about this song, and Yvette and Josh know how much this fit right into the lessons I re-learned this week:<br />
<br />
All I know, all I know is love will save the day. Thank you Des'Ree. <br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AZ6lk3XRp8c?rel=0" width="560"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-33868484761307083822018-02-23T10:52:00.000-08:002018-02-23T13:06:41.621-08:00#AntiRacismForLent Week 1: Entertainment and Representation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This week, we focus on entertainment, and representation, and why it matters. We ask how and what we choose to spend our "fun" money on, for those of us who have that in our budgets...<br />
<br />
If you think this is trivial, or that we should be "beyond" it, consider how much entertainment you watch, listen to, consume, stream, and consider how that shapes your understanding of the world: both yourself and how you view "others." <br />
<br />
Why do you think the way you do? How have you come to think that way? If you tend to live in mostly or all white areas, work in mostly or all white companies, how else do you form your concepts of other cultures?<br />
<br />
And thank you Rissa Long for sharing this with me, too:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="426" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FGoodMorningAmerica%2Fvideos%2F10155429507517061%2F&show_text=1&width=560" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="613" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D544170639303589%26id%3D541184482935538&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="533" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D544754709245182%26id%3D541184482935538&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe>
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="646" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D545196585867661%26id%3D541184482935538&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe>
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="552" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D545618525825467%26id%3D541184482935538&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="363" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3D546134845773835%26id%3D541184482935538&width=500" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="500"></iframe>
</div>
</div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-23634268995253915132018-02-17T11:31:00.000-08:002018-02-17T11:31:31.716-08:00#AntiRacismForLent, Day 4<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The #HabitofJustice on this #DialogueDay is to engage in at least 15 minutes of discussion with another white person regarding what you've learned about yourself this week. What is one behavior or attitude which you are committed to change? Pay close attention to your own implicit biases, especially ones that frame people of color in negative ways, and how a system that favors white people over everyone else has made your life more comfortable. </div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-b6578e04-a534-bd69-69d6-13a1a2a8a6b5"></span><br />
<br />
Here I am discussing week 1 with Lauren Grubaugh<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eEyZxiFnvuM/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eEyZxiFnvuM?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Repenting-Of-Racism-For-Lent-541184482935538/?notif_id=1518569255511830&notif_t=page_fan&ref=notif">For more on Repenting of Racism for Lent, click here.</a><br />
<br />
***<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
#AntiRacismForLent is being facilitated by Maddie Joy, Luke Arthur, Lauren Grubaugh, Daniel Russell, Matthew John Schmitt, Meggie Anderson-Sandoval and Lydia Lockhart as sparked by an idea from Andre Henry. We invite you to join us in action and in conversation. Keep up with the daily habits of justice on the #RepentingOfRacism For Lent Facebook page, linked above.</div>
</div>
</div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-49103576888604976012018-02-15T11:51:00.000-08:002018-02-15T11:51:02.049-08:00#AntiRacismForLent Day 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MlfdHT-eJeU" width="560"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
For today’s #HabitofJustice, we invite you to find a comfortable position, take a few deep breaths, and watch this video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlfdHT-eJeU">Author Jen Hatmaker On Raising Black Kids In America: 'This Is On Us ...</a><br />
<br />
Having watched Jen’s story, we invite you to enter into prayer, noticing: <br />
<br />
<i>- What moment was most life-giving or hopeful for you? Speak to God about this moment of consolation. Listen to how God might be seeking your attention. What might God be inviting you to be, do or change?<br /><br />- What moment did you find most upsetting or concerning? Speak to God about this moment of desolation. Listen to how God might be seeking your attention. What might God be inviting you to be, do or change?</i><br /><br />Write these reflections down to carry with you into the rest of the 40 days.<i> </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Repenting-Of-Racism-For-Lent-541184482935538/?notif_id=1518569255511830&notif_t=page_fan&ref=notif" target="_blank">For more on Repenting of Racism for Lent, click here.</a><br />
<br />***<br />#AntiRacismForLent is being facilitated by Maddie Joy, Luke Arthur, Lauren Grubaugh, Daniel Russell, Matthew John Schmitt, Meggie Anderson-Sandoval and Lydia Lockhart as sparked by an idea from Andre Henry. We invite you to join us in action and in conversation. Keep up with the daily habits of justice on the #RepentingOfRacism For Lent Facebook page, linked above. </div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-15651670272635493702018-02-14T07:50:00.004-08:002018-02-14T07:56:29.934-08:00#AntiRacismForLent:Day 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A Daily Prayer to Practice Anti-racism at Lent<br />
<br />
<br />
God our Creator, <br />
We affirm that You have made all people in Your image,<br />
Instilling us with dignity,<br />
Calling us good.<br />
You created us in a beautiful array of colors,<br />
Each one, fearfully and wonderfully made.<br />
<br />
<br />
God, in overt and subtle ways, we have been taught a lie:<br />
The lie of white supremacy.<br />
The lie that white lives matter more than other lives.<br />
This lie denies Your image In our non-white brothers and sisters.<br />
We confess of consciously and unconsciously falling prey to this lie.<br />
<br />
<br />
Eternal God, we confess the sins of our ancestors,<br />
Ancestors who built systems to enrich and empower themselves<br />
On the backs of millions of people of color.<br />
They carried out genocide against indigenous peoples.<br />
They enslaved Africans.<br />
They used and abused immigrants.<br />
The list of injustices goes ever on....<br />
<br />
<br />
God, we confess to actively and passively maintaining a system that sins.<br />
It denies healthcare to the needy,<br />
Incarcerates at a profit,<br />
Unjustly shoots precious lives...<br />
When any of Your children suffer, our souls suffer too. <br />
<br />
<br />
We confess that we fear the cost of following You, O God:<br />
If we stand up for justice,<br />
Our reputation may suffer.<br />
If we stop ignoring cries of injustice,<br />
We will lose the illusion of innocence.<br />
Ending our sin of ‘no action’ means we have to get to work.<br />
To ‘take up our cross’ is painful.<br />
<br />
<br />
And so, God of Justice, we come to You.<br />
Reveal to us our blind spots.<br />
Surface our unconscious preferences.<br />
Give us the courage to withstand honest self-examination.<br />
Give us the strength to fight for change that relieves suffering and provides fairness.<br />
Give us Your vision of the community You designed us to become.<br />
<br />
<br />
This Lent, God of Mercy and Hope,<br />
convict our hearts, stir our spirits, transform our minds.<br />
May this transformation create a ripple that lasts beyond this season.<br />
May it extend beyond our personal lives and into our communities.<br />
May we be agents of Your liberating work in the world. <br />
<br />
<br />
Amen.<br />
<div>
(Articulated by Lauren Grubaugh)<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Repenting-Of-Racism-For-Lent-541184482935538/?notif_id=1518569255511830&notif_t=page_fan&ref=notif" target="_blank">For more on Repenting of Racism for Lent, click here.</a></div>
</div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-56547609353963606112018-02-13T14:44:00.001-08:002018-02-13T14:44:42.776-08:00#AntiRacismForLent<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Friends of European Descent with skin the same color as mine: Andre Henry wondered, amidst his Facebook community, if white people might take on the task of educating other white folks about undoing systemic and overt racism: why it matters that we do this, what kinds of attitudes to work on adopting, and tangible steps that can be taken. For the next 40 days, several colleagues from seminary and I will be devoting time to this challenge, calling it #RepentingOfRacism and #AntiRacismForLent.<br />
<br />
We very much hope you engage, attempt, question, wrestle, pray, and open your hearts to actively fighting the impacts of ongoing racism in your consciousness, in your conversations, in your financial decisions, in your choices of entertainment, in the moments you find yourself where you know something is just wrong. <br />
<div id="fb-root">
</div>
<script>(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.12';
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script>
<br />
<div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/itsandrehenry/posts/10100375814018658" data-show-text="true" data-width="500">
<blockquote cite="https://www.facebook.com/itsandrehenry/posts/10100375814018658" class="fb-xfbml-parse-ignore">
樂樂樂
I wonder if I know any white people that would take on the following challenge for Lent. Every day for 40 days,...<br />
Posted by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2710877172677587197#" role="button">Andre Henry</a> on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/itsandrehenry/posts/10100375814018658">Saturday, February 10, 2018</a></blockquote>
</div>
</div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-26963567362579656532017-11-22T12:05:00.001-08:002017-11-22T12:05:17.176-08:00Malignant Whiteousness, by Donna Lillian Givins<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
<i>Today's words come from Donna Lillian Givins, CEO of <a href="http://ecn-detroit.org/overview/" target="_blank">The Eastside Community Network</a> in Detroit, and a new friend. It originally appeared on the Thinkofone blog here: <a href="https://thinkofone.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/malignant-whiteousness/">https://thinkofone.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/malignant-whiteousness/</a></i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFy3qwd-w6vMcpxlq5xv0wRzKB7YqH31L5v6TFWZ-stJ0jkJf0Y0H8sB2sNlWz4vmDSaWBZzAYxIsXx7ZncyxwZkWwxcD9xCRyET43o-xMd0f3QW4EvXEm9FW1EJYfQwIhRobvbul50F8/s1600/23658800_10213025708470867_1172706644489589107_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFy3qwd-w6vMcpxlq5xv0wRzKB7YqH31L5v6TFWZ-stJ0jkJf0Y0H8sB2sNlWz4vmDSaWBZzAYxIsXx7ZncyxwZkWwxcD9xCRyET43o-xMd0f3QW4EvXEm9FW1EJYfQwIhRobvbul50F8/s320/23658800_10213025708470867_1172706644489589107_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
Jesus commands us to love our enemies but what is love without understanding? Here is my attempt to understand the evil unveiled under the Chump aka Twitler aka Cheetolini, but never President because he is never presidential.</div>
<br />Malignant whiteousness is the damaged offspring of malignant narcissism inbred with righteousness and white supremacy. Whiteousness is a disease of distorted reality, of miseducation and misinformation and an aggressive denial of a threatening reality that all men are created equal. And women are equal to men. Like all malignancies, whiteousness spreads and it kills.<br /><br />Consider, for example, the malignant Whiteous alt-right movement of college-age and young adult white men who gather in online forums under the banner of Pepe the frog. Bred to be masters of the universe, they enter college at an immediate disadvantage to immigrant African and Asian and other brown students who prepare with precision, ace entrance exams and set every college-curve. They are educated alongside a growing cadre of the descendants of people their ancestors enslaved, who – freed from the shackles of Jim Crow oppression, illiteracy and poverty – assimilate comfortably into college and careers. And they are equalled or bested by women at every front – academically, socially, politically. Women, it seems, have reproductive choice, economic power and social identities independent of their menfolk.<br /><br />And so some whiteous men recede into righteous anger and resentment and enter into a fantasy world of white male triumphalism, replete with Pepe the Frog and nostalgic dreams of days-gone-by when women were powerless, Black people were subservient, and Asian ambitions were colonized. Math and science have been mastered by immigrant Browns and Blacks and, therefore, neither sciences or maths are trusted or respected fields. History is damning in its detail of past atrocities, hypocrisies, and worldwide oppression. Truth is, therefore, a lie.<br /><br />According to the Whiteous, America must be restored to the haven of privileged white maleness. Black people must be subdued, immigrants must be detained and deported and women, robbed of reproductive choice, must be returned to dependency on the goodwill of men. These beliefs are malignant because many people, wishing for a simpler past, grab pieces of these dreams without considering the whole problem they represent. They are dangerous because white supremacy is so ingrained in our national psyche and toxic maleness is so familiar that others unknowingly imbibe these lies without forethought or intent. They taste familiar. And they are deadly because the angered whiteous are violent and destructive and the people they target will not submit without a fight.<br /><br />I had a few friends who were favorite children growing up. These children were always the most admired, most supported, most rescued members of the family. On the one hand, the favored child was coddled and protected and the less favored child had to work harder for basic needs and supports. On the other hand, the favored child was more fragile, more in need of constant praise and adulation. The favored child developed into a narcissist believing with religious fervor in his own superiority and blaming every piece of evidence to the contrary on a biased and disloyal world. <br /><br />The less favored child was both strong and resilient unless s/he was abused or seriously neglected, which caused a host of other problems. This child learned at an early age to never depend on the world or other people for his physical or emotional needs; never to accept what the world had to say about him. He learned to make a way out of no way; to bury his emotional needs so deep that no one could dislodge them, sometimes not even himself or his wife or his children. Those who succeeded, learned to work twice as hard to get half as far. Those who failed learned to expect nothing, hope for nothing, and they learned how to handle having nothing – not prosperity, not peace, and — all too often — not life itself.<br /><br />Whiteous white people are those without a system for preserving healthy self worth; their worth is predicated on their superiority over others of lesser status. When my favored-child friends left home and were confronted with a real world that granted them no sense of specialness, many of them struggled and others found other ways to create a sense of self-importance. They became bullies or workplace sharks or abusive spouses.<br /><br />Whiteous whites are now living in a world where a Black man ascended to the presidency, brown people are dominating scientific and technical fields (hence anti-science), and other brown people are posing a threat to the preservation of their international privilege. And so we endure the backlash of hateful resentment – how dare you, how dare we, how dare the world question their divinity.<br /><br />They use proof of Black men broken by racism as evidence of Black inferiority. They use proof of American birthright of immigrant non-acceptance. They use proof of a God they forsake in every other way, as evidence of the evils of birth control and abortion.<br /><br />Malignant Whiteousness is evil and its danger must be confronted through resistance to the thinking, behavior, and actions of the Whiteous.</div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-14622299383036295382017-11-17T21:54:00.001-08:002018-03-04T10:07:10.800-08:00Mexicans, Blacks, Whites, Suburbs, and Hoods<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
Rudy and Celah of <a href="https://graceandtwofingers.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Grace And Two Fingers</a>, a show where "a Mexican and Black guy from the hood in Los Angeles talk about what Jesus has done and is doing," invited me & Marvin on their podcast with the question "why do Black and White people fight so much?" This blossomed into a rich and funny conversation about the intersections of faith, racism, "Whiteousness," Jesus and the humor that can be found in the tensions when we keep coming back to the tables.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Take an hour and dig in, you won't be sorry.</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U0-9FlVwiC4?start=1&autoplay=0" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/103889657115005773316" target="_blank">+Matthew John Schmitt - The Table Setters</a><br />
<a href="http://www.twitter.com/matthewjschmitt" target="_blank">@matthewjschmitt</a></div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2710877172677587197.post-92136189010301404102017-09-21T07:15:00.002-07:002017-09-21T13:03:23.116-07:00Detroit. Challenge. Circuitry. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdjWMlfyKxUU69j4yg63Y0ZyDEMHncSxwnqsKIQCuNrO0l07Vrf1WKQ7rmVYvqYH-1F7I04egeppBSK1oW1FUVOjKLGwX_2pcdLm3jsLPQJ1it4w1OGm4v88RhJelWFvdBuANbslETVVM/s1600/IMG_0307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdjWMlfyKxUU69j4yg63Y0ZyDEMHncSxwnqsKIQCuNrO0l07Vrf1WKQ7rmVYvqYH-1F7I04egeppBSK1oW1FUVOjKLGwX_2pcdLm3jsLPQJ1it4w1OGm4v88RhJelWFvdBuANbslETVVM/s320/IMG_0307.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
Garlin Gilchrist III speaking about his bid for</div>
<div>
City Clerk at Lauren Hood's SpeakEasy</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So, I wanted to write a stellar blogpost about the challenges of Detroit that I've come to see, now living here for a year. I want to write a whole piece about over-privilege and arrogance and delusion and racism and the profitability, both economically and politically, of negative stereotyping of brown-skinned people and how that is the real reason Detroit looks like it does, but can't quite find an entry point. Possibly here....did those of you who live in the suburbs know that in the 1950s onward, before Civil Rights legislation put an end to it, that white families, and <i>only </i>white families, were encouraged to move to the suburbs because the government provided all kinds of financial subsidies making loans easier to access and the ability to own a large suburban home more affordable than renting in the city?<br />
<br />
<i>(But, again, <b>only</b> if you were white, very clearly, written into the laws. Talk about how big government has supported and created economic gains for some people, and their descendants, who currently lash out at government assistance for people who are financially struggling. Do they know that their ability to amass such a comfortable living, and for some, the ability to go far beyond that, was sparked by a massive welfare program that literally created suburbia?)</i><br />
<i></i><br />
However, this blog keeps urging me to get personal, to be vulnerable and honest. Authentic. And to reflect, once again, on my need to dismantle some of my own Whiteousness.<br />
<br />
Last week I was inducted into the 6th Team of the <a href="http://www.challengedetroit.org/the-fellows" target="_blank">Challenge Detroit Fellows</a>. It was an immersive week learning about critical work being done by awesome networks of people in Detroit, and a week of learning how the history I alluded to above creates a particularly complicated set of obstacles for moving forward. But one thing kept nagging me all week:<br />
<br />
I feel too old for this.<br />
<br />
I admit, I looked around the room at the Millennials and kept feeling like, "I should be elsewhere, I should be further along than this, why can't we get <a href="http://www.thetablesetters.org/" target="_blank">The Table Setters</a> to jump to the next level yet?" Though the Challenge Detroit staff reassured me that every year there are people in their late 30s and some who already have kids, it would seem that this particular year, I'm that guy. I'm the only one who's married, the only one with kids. It didn't help when one of the presenters, who I've known this year from other networking, asked me, "aren't you too old for Challenge Detroit?" And of course, a peppering of comments in sessions like, "you all are too young to remember VHS tapes," etc. <br />
<br />
But then, on our final day, <a href="http://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2016/03/26/detroit-neighborhoods-desantis-cdam-ltu-development-philanthrophy/82159756/" target="_blank">Maggie DeSantis</a>, founder of Building the Engine of Community Development in Detroit, kept explaining her lifelong journey through advocacy and community engagement as "circuitous." There was no real map to get to where she's at.<br />
<br />
Circuitous. Circuitry. Connections and energy flow and repair and rewiring and restoring and reminders. My fuses have been a bit blown out from the past year. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1xRAn-tknSrVQnG-_2IyjG9Lw7BIG4ruX8SynMosuCXN4ViVqEWJzvfhOcWrRxpw3t2mcGVVyoXtbdF7TJMNOcsUkOdw3SsbOMjrc7wIvDhL6dvhsLKauWwD8RHAPewS31bdjTiUulU/s1600/IMG_0273.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1xRAn-tknSrVQnG-_2IyjG9Lw7BIG4ruX8SynMosuCXN4ViVqEWJzvfhOcWrRxpw3t2mcGVVyoXtbdF7TJMNOcsUkOdw3SsbOMjrc7wIvDhL6dvhsLKauWwD8RHAPewS31bdjTiUulU/s320/IMG_0273.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
A few days earlier, we had done a high ropes challenge as a team. With my climbing partner, Jasmine, we were supposed to get ourselves up a hanging ladder made for a giant. The rungs were too far apart to reach without working together. We were about 2/3 of the way up and feeling like giving up (both of us enjoyed a gratuitous use of the word "motherf***er uttered in harsh whispers only the two of us could hear.) And Arnesha, from down below, called up to me, "go Matt, you're a dad, you can do anything!" She literally flipped and recharged the phrase that I had been muttering internally (<i>ugh, you're the old dad</i>), to a statement of respect and empowerment. <br />
<br />
A resurgence of energy infused me, and Jasmine and I made it to the top. Jasmine literally pulled me up to the final rung and then we both grabbed the top of the platform.<br />
<br />
Maggie DeSantis described her circuitous route, and I started remembering something, something I've known for decades now, something I was in danger of forgetting. In the <a href="http://lsa.umich.edu/pcap/" target="_blank">Prison Creative Arts Project</a>, we used to engage in this activity called "Cops In The Head," which was part of Augusto Boal's Theater of the Oppressed. One person was to imagine all the people who've spoken into their lives, positively and negatively, and then assign those people to be characterized by the rest of the group. The person would explain the roles: like a coach who had encouraged; a grandmother who was always mean and judgmental, etc. The person would walk through this group, gauntlet-style, and the negative people would shout discouragement while the positive people would whisper closely in your ear to help you get through the staged turmoil. Everyone always cried, even the biggest muscled men I worked with years ago on the inside. <br />
<br />
Here I was feeling too old, feeling like I had somehow failed to achieve "what I'd been supposed to have achieved by now." But Maggie got me thinking about cops in my head, and the voices of guidance and love, too.<br />
<br />
I was succumbing to my own Whiteousness. I won't name names (so don't ask), but there have been suburban neighbors and even family members who ask questions that deeply imply, or outright state, that I'm not yet good enough, stirring up the overwhelming narrative of where a man, and definitely a white man, should be at this state in his life....<br />
<br />
But voices like Arnesha's cut through that last week. I'm a dad. She doesn't know this, but my first month as a dad was horrible, and it set a precedent of insecurity that still haunts me today. I've worked hard to redeem that, and the joy of being the person who delivered our second child is something that, even as I type this, nearly brings tears to my eyes. And so I remembered, that all along the way, it has been primarily African American folks, mostly women, who've offered me the most reminders of my worth and my capabilities. (Remember Matthew, you wrote this not too long ago: <a href="http://dismantlingwhiteousness.blogspot.com/2016/04/to-black-women-who-loved-death-out-of-me.html" target="_blank">To the Black Women Who Loved the Death out of Me</a>.) It was the black mothers and aunties in New Orleans who first addressed my debilitating perfectionism with love, grace, and humor. It was Latinas in Los Angeles who fed us and allowed us to be part of their families' lives that taught me what it really means to take care of a family, despite great odds and daily fears. It's important to note that almost all of these women love and follow Jesus, too.<br />
<br />
This past year has been monumental, with all "the feels" (a new phrase I'm learning from my Millennial peers.) We've had great blessings: housing and neighbors and a diverse school community and outreach to us. We've almost let the stress of not finding jobs to tear our marriage apart. I'm not saying that lightly. <br />
<br />
On the job front, though, I also needed to confront some of my expectations and internal pressures based on the privileges I've been brought up with. It is clear to me that I've been created to build bridges between racial, socio-economic, and interreligious divisions we've allowed to fester in our country for far too long. I am passionate about deconstructing narratives that have favored abusive rises to power on the backs of others. In our country, that is White Supremacy. Period. Full Stop. Given that sense of call on my life, my job journey just may well be "circuitous." <br />
<br />
I recently had the privilege, yes privilege, of being a co-panelist with the brilliant <a href="https://www.facebook.com/dennis.talbert" target="_blank">Dennis Talbert</a>, and he helped to break apart the buzzword of "white privilege." It comes down to how many opportunities are laid out in front of you. Opportunities to get jobs, opportunities to get invited to attend life changing events, opportunities to exist in a way that is less about mere survival and more about moments of really thriving. I've had more opportunities laid out before me than most of the students I've had the privilege of teaching. I would say it also comes down to how many chances you get if you make a mistake, which I suppose is also another way of saying, "how many opportunities will you be granted to prove your worthiness and goodness in society." <br />
<br />
I applied to all kinds of non-profit jobs, ministry roles, community engagement and development roles throughout these past 12 months while driving for Lyft (a specific opportunity available to me because I have the privilege of owning a car) and working as a part-time teacher evaluator. Not once, but several times, I knew I was a top choice as I was called in for several final interviews. But I didn't get the jobs, and I was becoming increasingly heartbroken and fearful. As a finalist, I was invested in who actually got those jobs, and 90% of them went to black men and women who had lived in Detroit proper their entire lives, or at least much longer than myself. <br />
<br />
And this is right. I can hear some of you, (in fact, some of you have said it directly), <i>but isn't that reverse racism? Isn't that discriminating against you because you're white?</i> Do you know that, sadly, most of the jobs in the city today are held by white people from the suburbs? Maybe you don't care about that, but those of us who are fighting for justice and equity in the level of opportunities have to accept the fact that it means that if we are successful, white men like myself might have to learn a bit of something that people of color have had to have, in abundance, for decades: patience. Patience, and of course, just a fraction of the patience that's been endured by people who look different than myself. And, for the person who asked me if this was reverse racism, did it ever occur to you that I may not have been as qualified as the people who got the jobs? Even if all things were equal in terms of qualifications, I stand fully supportive of the fact that my non-profit directing experience in LA was seen as less preferable than a person who has worked hard alongside their parents to endure the lack of jobs in Detroit all these years. That certainly offers them an edge on my experience. If we are both wanting to work to create more job opportunities for Detroiters to work in Detroit, especially the communities of color who've been shut out of too many roles for too many years, my lack of being hired makes sense. It is <i>just.</i><br />
<i></i><br />
But this year also meant I had to keep experiencing rejection. Which is always hard, especially for a perfectionism-prone mindset like mine. I've woken up hearing the voices: <i>what's wrong with you, why can't you find a job, you should've done this instead of that, you should've</i>.....and then <span id="goog_1832535852"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/">Teen HYPE<span id="goog_1832535853"></span></a> called a few months ago offering me a job alongside becoming a Challenge Detroit Fellow. I'll write more about Teen HYPE in the future, but for now, it's been an honor to step into a program that celebrates the youth of Detroit by confronting barriers and building bridges. And I heard<a href="http://dismantlingwhiteousness.blogspot.com/2016/02/why-dismantling-whiteousness.html" target="_blank"> Levi's voice</a> from years ago inside Western Wayne Correctional Facility, encouraging me to help tell the full and honest stories. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Last week, the team of fellows were invited to attend <a href="http://www.detroithomecoming.com/" target="_blank">Detroit Homecoming</a>. It was, again, all the feels. Exciting, infuriating, confusing, inspiring, exhausting, and fun. And humbling, for me. Because here I was coming off a week of feeling old and, full disclosure, a little arrogantly "above" all these younger folks in my cohort. Detroit Homecoming was very well attended, it was noisy and abuzz with energy the entire time. Though we weren't supposed to do this, and even got in a little bit of hot water afterwards, the team of fellows began to send group messages to each other during upsetting moments of presentations; during moments where someone didn't understand a policy being described, to celebrate the Diva-tastic moments of Mary Wilson. It was bonding. It was informative. It was sneaky, sure, but I wouldn't trade it in. We were all helping each other to stay engaged and up to speed with what was going on, especially during a two day period where we had very limited time to reflect and process.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhshDBl7sHrXsyxKCbNALZ9mSS8UK1QYdpimSgqfrJ_kyxOFs6EFEUok1ZdFARFTPFcjOTfwclyRBAiVFGo94aZJeZ6CJU1lHGAQ8kzs1poP6po86CQi4jIGzYi72rGE-NrH9nV71ZU36U/s1600/IMG_0305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhshDBl7sHrXsyxKCbNALZ9mSS8UK1QYdpimSgqfrJ_kyxOFs6EFEUok1ZdFARFTPFcjOTfwclyRBAiVFGo94aZJeZ6CJU1lHGAQ8kzs1poP6po86CQi4jIGzYi72rGE-NrH9nV71ZU36U/s320/IMG_0305.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
I felt part of the team. I felt cared for. I noticed others weighing in and questioning and supporting and challenging one another. Eric and Monti taught me about the United Nations' <a href="http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/" target="_blank">17 Sustainable Development Goals</a>. I learned phrases I had always wondered at the meaning. Summar helped out by taking my daughters to the stadium bathroom at the Tigers' game. I felt like this is going to be an important step in my circuitous path. <br />
<br />
So here I am, the guy who preaches to appreciate all kinds of diversity and the blessings and challenges that arise from that, the guy who says you've got to push through the awkward discomfort and even the offensiveness sometimes to discover our mutual value....I had to relearn that Millenials are incredible and sometimes when they (and me) are on our phones we aren't less engaged: we're super engaged and working through this. ( But, of course: we should not be on our phones in intimate neighborhood meetings when people are expressing their hopes and dreams!)<br />
<br />
I am looking forward to working with this team all year. I hope that my experiences have something to offer, and yes, even my age. But I can already sense that I have much to learn on the road ahead from these effervescent and deep thinking people in their twenties. The energy is palpable.<br />
<br />
Circuitry. A circuitous route, but a valid one nonetheless, as Maggie reminded me. I can't wait to keep plugging in, networking, finding how to best use our energy and ideas to really celebrate what has been going well in Detroit despite great obstacles, and how we can move forward together. Racially, generationally, socio-economically, and amidst the variety of our belief systems and backgrounds. We all have something to offer, we truly all do. Less factions, and more interconnected, intersectional, ebb and flow of energy and ideas and hope.<br />
<br />
<a class="g-profile" href="https://plus.google.com/103889657115005773316" target="_blank">+Matthew John Schmitt - The Table Setters</a><br />
<a href="http://www.twitter.com/matthewjschmitt" target="_blank">@matthewjschmitt</a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZaYZtn4TyRVUCroPe6mHTpflq9hQr82di9KLChiXKOJYF0eJmHSyb4WMIuKrYwJRnRgr90U7r6icNtbjwgmsEgBS63Xc4GNePp88WQOxS3ly1MIFkPjnW-IXOLAm2F2EmPBaUHncGZiA/s1600/IMG_0269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZaYZtn4TyRVUCroPe6mHTpflq9hQr82di9KLChiXKOJYF0eJmHSyb4WMIuKrYwJRnRgr90U7r6icNtbjwgmsEgBS63Xc4GNePp88WQOxS3ly1MIFkPjnW-IXOLAm2F2EmPBaUHncGZiA/s400/IMG_0269.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Matthew John Schmitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06069544727426043745noreply@blogger.com2