And I think that is a great example of where protecting a public space like that and how it welcomes Detroiters of all backgrounds is really the challenge going forward.I think about a place like Clark Park in southwest Detroit, which hasn't seen a great amount of investment.
Running the ad sales department on the print side. I too am a Detroiter . I was born in New Jersey, but moved here when I was seven.
plan here is I'll ask him questions for the first 30 minutes or so, get Jalen to share a little bit about his perspective as a Detroiter who's gone on to stardom, and then we'll make sure to open it up to questions in the second half and take live questions here. We'll have a mic that we'll pass around.
Many of them know you from your public profile today. But a native Detroiter , you were here at the University of Michigan in the early '90s, which meant you were growing up in Detroit in the '70s and '80s. Maybe you could just give us a little context for your experience growing up and we'll build towards your observations of how Detroit has changed.
And we're really clear, and we know that those are the preferences. But we want to make sure that Detroiters have choice, that they're safe, and that they're protected. I mean, I would just make things like a slightly different take.
But do you think that that's something that's specific to Michiganders or Detroiters more so? I think it's more specific to Detroiters . Because Troy, for instance, one of the suburbs, you either went to Athens or you went to Troy.
So there are real consequences to these and breathing all the stuff. So I think it's 40% of Detroiters don't have access to the internet, whether on a computer or on their phones, have absolutely no access to the internet.
When I think about that drive down into Detroit as a teenager with friends, and we'd go and walk around the abandoned Uniroyal tire plant, which of course is something that Detroiters I guess have always done-- Yeah it's a little bit of a right of passage for-- Continue to do. Yeah, yeah.
One of the reasons why we got that moniker was this march in the background here. In 1963, 125,000 Detroiters marched on Woodward behind Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. C.L. Franklin, Walter Reuther, and Mayor Jerome Cavanagh, in what was the largest civil rights demonstration up until that time.
So there are real consequences to these and breathing all the stuff. And it was also people that had so much more societal power than the average Detroiter .
So there are real consequences to these and breathing all the stuff. just came out with a wonderful album called "Resurgent Cineribus." Sterling's a generational Detroiter , a fascinating, brilliant man.
or Washington, DC, or even New York. And it really is about making sure that the spaces feel inclusive for all Detroiters . I think that when I go out on the waterfront, which is one of my favorite public spaces in the city of Detroit,
Currently we kicked that off a couple of weeks ago. Bike lanes-- and obviously, there's Detroiters who have always ridden bikes. They've always been-- like, I think the statistic is 30% of Detroiters don't own a vehicle.
There's a diversity of people who need mobility in their city. There are people coming in, there are native Detroiters , there are people who are going out, there are tourists. There are all different kinds of people.
I love that you mentioned that. But do you think that that's something that's specific to Michiganders or Detroiters more so? I think it's more specific to Detroiters .
So have been to Copenhagen two or three times over the last year, have developed relationships with folks on the panel, and really have been Olga's complement on the city side with respect to a design strategy and really thinking about inclusive design for all Detroiters . And we'll get into that as Seth kicks off the Q&A.
And some of the new spaces, such as Spirit Plaza, it's actually under construction right now, that was a temporary public space right in front of City Hall that was really promoted to be the civic space where Detroiters could protest, come together, picnic, and just do large scale events.
Bike lanes-- and obviously, there's Detroiters who have always ridden bikes. They've always been-- like, I think the statistic is 30% of Detroiters don't own a vehicle. So that's pretty high in the Motor City.
That hasn't existed for a very long time. And you see the people there, most of them Detroiters .
Why don't I turn it over to you to give us a little bit more about your background? Sure. Well, I wasn't born in Detroit, but I'm a native Detroiter . And I was raised in the city.
Detroit has been going through? It could be. I think the key thing is that a book about Detroit, I think, can-- I won't say can only be written by a Detroiter , but it helps if you have someone who is very familiar with what Detroit was and what direction it's headed in.
As I was reading this, almost nothing is out of bounds for you. And I love that you have how-to chapters in the book, like how to party like a Detroiter , how to be gay in Detroit, how to be a woman in Detroit, how to raise a child in Detroit.
So there are real consequences to these and breathing all the stuff. Marsha Music is another one who is also a writer in the city that is absolutely brilliant, also a generational Detroiter .
in business attraction and real estate development and community development prior to coming to Design Corps. And now I'm on the other side, really trying to figure out how do we help Detroit-based businesses and Detroiters build a larger market for Detroit design, not just locally, but worldwide.
And a big group of them, like probably 15, almost 20, are all working around youth development and in this education space. Because the creative talent that is innate in our kids, you know, these young Detroiters are the generation of next designers who can create the AI that's not racist, that can program the autonomous vehicle in a way that maybe is going to take
Do you think that your first book could become a template for Philly and Oakland and some other cities that are experiencing what Detroit has been going through? It could be. I think the key thing is that a book about Detroit, I think, can-- I won't say can only be written by a Detroiter ,