In this episode of The Common Wealth, we dive into the complex and far-reaching impact of the Gordie Howe International Bridge project on Southwest Detroit. From promises of revitalization to concerns about displacement, our conversation explores both the benefits and the burdens this massive infrastructure project has brought to the community. We’re joined by three deeply knowledgeable and passionate guests: Theresa Landrum, longtime Delray resident and environmental activist, Laura Chavez-Wazeerud-Din, Former President and CEO of the Southwest Detroit Business Association, and Simone Sagovac, Project Director of the Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition. Together, they unpack the meaning of “community benefits,” the Community Benefits Agreement tied to the bridge, and how area residents and small businesses—especially in the Delray neighborhood in Southwest Detroit—are navigating the economic fallout and opportunities that have come with this development. Tune in for a candid conversation about equity, resilience, and the real cost of progress.
In this episode of The Common Wealth, we dive into the complex and far-reaching impact of the Gordie Howe International Bridge project on Southwest Detroit. From promises of revitalization to concerns about displacement, our conversation explores both the benefits and the burdens this massive infrastructure project has brought to the community.
We’re joined by three deeply knowledgeable and passionate guests:
Theresa Landrum, longtime Delray resident and environmental activist,
Laura Chavez-Wazeerud-Din, Former President and CEO of the Southwest Detroit Business Association, and
Simone Sagovac, Project Director of the Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition.
Together, they unpack the meaning of “community benefits,” the Community Benefits Agreement tied to the bridge, and how area residents and small businesses—especially in the Delray neighborhood in Southwest Detroit—are navigating the economic fallout and opportunities that have come with this development.
Tune in for a candid conversation about equity, resilience, and the real cost of progress.
Professor Dana Thompson's UM Law Faculty page - https://michigan.law.umich.edu/faculty-and-scholarship/our-faculty/dana-thompson
Professor Dana Thompson's LinkedIn page - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-thompson-jd-aba10b22/
University of Michigan Law School's Community Enterprise Clinic - https://michigan.law.umich.edu/academics/experiential-learning/clinics/community-enterprise-clinic-0
Theresa Landrum - https://caphedetroit.sph.umich.edu/project/theresa-landrum/
Simone Sagovac - https://www.detroiturc.org/southwest-detroit-community-benefits-coalition
Laura Chavez-Wazeerud-Din -https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-chavez-wazeerud-din-842b18191/
Gordie Howe Bridge Community Benefits - https://swdetroitcbc.org/about-us/
Gordie Howe Bridge - https://gordiehoweinternationalbridge.com/
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Hello and welcome to the Common Wealth. Your podcast about community development in Detroit and other urban communities. This is your host, Dana Thompson , law professor and attorney. This podcast explores the various projects, laws, policies, ideas, and activities used to address the pressing issues facing Detroit and other urban communities. The Commonwealth will engage in thought provoking and lively discussions with a range of thought leaders, including those from the grassroots community, government academy, philanthropic sector and beyond.
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We will examine the projects, laws, policies and activities used to develop urban communities and whether these tools are able to create systemic change and economic justice in these communities.
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When we think of Detroit, our thoughts naturally gravitate towards its iconic automobile industry, its profound musical legacy, including Motown and techno music, the resilience of its black and brown communities, the challenges of urban disinvestment, and the ongoing efforts towards revitalization. However, we often overlook the fact that Detroit is a border city. Detroit borders Canada, and the Detroit Windsor Border Crossing is one of the most strategically important trade corridors in the United States.
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According to the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, approximately 40% of U.S. Canadian trade passes through the Southeastern Michigan border. Crossings under the United States Canada Mexico agreement. The agreement that replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. Most Canadian and U.S. goods crossed the border tariff free, making products cheaper for consumers and trade easier and more profitable for businesses.
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The Detroit River is a crucial trade route connecting the United States and Canada, and has significant historical and economic importance because of the importance of creating accessible and open trade routes between Detroit and Windsor, Canada. There have been several developments to facilitate these routes. The first was the Michigan Central Railway train tunnel, opened in 1910. The second was the Ambassador Bridge, opened in 1929.
00:02:36:10 - 00:03:07:01
The third was the Detroit Windsor Tunnel, and now we have the Gordie Howe International Bridge project. In 2012, the Michigan and Canadian governments agreed to build the Gordie Howe International Bridge to address concerns about the ability of the Detroit Windsor infrastructure to handle traffic across the border. The Gordie Howe International Bridge Project is a $6.4 billion project that consists of six lanes crossing the Detroit River.
00:03:07:07 - 00:03:40:24
It connects Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. The bridge deck construction is set to be completed in July 2024, and the new bridge is scheduled to open in the fall of 2025. The construction of the new bridge has brought jobs and will continue to facilitate trade between the U.S. and Canada, and specifically between Detroit and Windsor. Among other benefits, the new bridge also has the potential to stimulate new jobs in Detroit, as well as opportunities for small businesses in Detroit.
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However, it has caused some major impacts on the Southwest Detroit community in which it is located, particularly in the Del Rey neighborhood. These impacts include increased pollution, truck traffic, residents being displaced from their homes, and the loss of local businesses. Today, we have three guests who will discuss the Gordie Howe International Bridge Project. The negative and positive impact of the project on the Del Rey neighborhood.
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The meaning of community benefits and the community of benefits. Agreement between the bridge developers and the local community in Detroit, and the economic drawbacks and benefits to small businesses, especially those in Southwest Detroit. Our guests today are environmental activists and Del Rey resident Teresa Landrum. Lora Chavez, the president and CEO of the Southwest Detroit Business Association and Simon Segovia Project director for Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition.
00:04:50:03 - 00:05:20:13
Thank you for joining the podcast today. So first, I'd like to start with Miss Landrum. Miss Landrum, you're a dedicated community organizer and activist. You've been fighting environmental injustices for over 20 years, and you've lived in the 48217 area, I believe, for your entire life. Yes. And thank you for the opportunity to come and talk about community impacts for residents.
00:05:20:17 - 00:05:52:01
Absolutely. A lifelong resident of Southwest Detroit, 40 217. That's great. That's great. So why don't we first just start talking about when Delray residents learned about the construction of the Gordie Howe Bridge. What were some of the concerns? Well, when we first heard about it, because you have to understand, Delray encompasses part of southwest Detroit. 40 217 is a community that is south of southwest Detroit.
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Okay. However, I have family that lives in Delray. I attended high school in Delray. Okay. And when you first heard about the bridge project. It was in the, I would say.
00:06:04:03 - 00:06:04:14
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Early.
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2000, to a degree, under the information that was given to us, the former governor, Jennifer Granholm. And we were asked to come to the Delray House, which is a community center that was under the Detroit Parks and Rec. Turned over to the community, and they asked residents that lived, had family to come in and to listen to what this project would entail.
00:06:33:10 - 00:07:00:05
We were told that it would encompass, 12,000ft plaza. I'm not mistaken. And we were concerned about it being close to the high school that I graduated from, southwest, Southwestern High School. And we were concerned about truck traffic. We were concerned about the impact on people that lived in Delray. What would it bring to us? We knew more truck traffic.
00:07:00:10 - 00:07:28:24
We knew dust from the truck traffic. We knew it would bring other things that we felt would be harmful. And the negative impact was the pollution. Wow. Can you talk a little bit more about the pollution that was created as a result of this construction? Okay. We know that Detroit is called the Motor City. We are considered the city that puts the world on wheels.
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And so in the area of Delray, we had many, many factories that were subsidiaries to the automotive industry. We had turned steel. We had Fleetwood, Cadillac. We had Cadillac itself. And we had all the smaller companies that supplied automotive parts. And then we also had the glue factory, the
linen factory, the cement factories. We knew that in the building of this bridge, there would be more aggregates that would come in the form of piles of dust all around the community.
00:08:02:03 - 00:08:24:07
And there's a high level of particulate matter, which is two point 5 p.m., 125. And those things are things that can be inhaled. And we already had a challenge with the air being poor. The area of Del Rey itself, as you tried to point to one seven, has a history and a legacy of poor air quality.
00:08:24:11 - 00:08:54:00
The smells from the wastewater treatment plant, which was under the Detroit Water and Sewage Department. And so we were concerned about the chemicals. Concerned about the construction, the truck traffic and the increase of particulate matter, which cannot be attributed to, triggering asthma. And we have a high rate of asthma in Del Rey and in Detroit right now, Detroit is known to have the highest hospitalizations of asthma in the nation.
00:08:54:02 - 00:09:24:22
Well, my children are being born with asthma. Are now in their mature ages. They are now getting asthma. And and we feel that is part of the impact from the truck traffic from the dust that will come from the construction of the Gordie Howe Bridge and then a missile circle that will tell you more about the truck impact, because we also did a truck traffic study of all the communities that would be impacted by the bridge and in the vicinity of the bridge.
00:09:25:01 - 00:09:51:22
Okay. So when the project was initially proposed to the residents, were there any discussions about the benefits? And that's where, before salmon came in. It was a group, we call core residents. Doctor Dolores Leonard. She's a pillar in the community of southwest Detroit that has often spoken out about poor air quality.
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And we had a senior organizer, Rhonda Anderson, from the Sierra Club. We also had
communications with the University of Michigan. And if I'm not mistaken, you know, I think it was Wayne State. And also, I think Michigan State University. We also sat down with Michigan and Michigan, but the Federal Highway Administration to talk about what it means for a bridge to come into a community that was really heavily populated?
00:10:24:24 00:10:51:15
And we know that over the years, because of the downturn of the auto industry, people were leaving, people were dying due to various illnesses. What would it be in it for the community? And we were told we're in the business of building bridges and roads, not single family homes, not senior housing. So we knew then that was going to have a serious impact on the population of Delray.
00:10:51:17 - 00:11:35:11
Not only the population of Delray but the population of neighboring 48217. Because before you get to Delray you have to come to 40 217 with a first party, a city coming north on I-75. And then with the last part of the city leaving south on I-75, because we have bordering Lincoln Park, Melbourne, they are rerouting. Okay. So when the bridge is backed up, we often the Ambassador Bridge, the only bridge that we had at the time, the trucks would idle by our school, the trucks would idle by our community center, which is right on the expressway, because when they brought I-75 through the city of Detroit, they brought it right through the center of
00:11:35:11 - 00:12:00:02
42 and seven, which impacted the community that I live in. Pardon me. African-American. By the expressway coming through. Many of the residents had to leave because of eminent domain. So a lot of my classmates at the time the school was Boynton. Had to leave there. So we had to leave and we said well we were kindergartners, first graders, we didn't understand in the 50s and 60s what that meant.
00:12:00:04 - 00:12:37:20
They would tell the teacher, try to explain this to us that the government had the right to make the decision where you lived at when they called. Progress. And so that's when I first learned about what I call and others call transportation racism. Okay. Can you describe what that is historically and data shows and that many of the roadways were formed and they were planned to come through low income African-American black communities or people of color.
00:12:37:22 - 00:13:01:10
To have the least impact on the white communities that surrounded them. And we're a borderline community 42 and seven. But we have other cities that are right around us. Okay. And sounds like continuing to, you know, with this project, the history even with black bottom right was taken up. So 375 you go through and curve to Detroit.
00:13:01:13 00:13:27:24
And so now we see this impact again. And we came out in force and we objected to the bridge. We were really against the bridge. And we appealed to Jennifer Granholm, the governor at the time, not to harm our community. We had been harmed by I-75. We had been harmed because when my parents came up here in the 30s and 40s, they were redlined, forced to live in areas like Ecorse and southwest Detroit.
00:13:28:01 - 00:13:49:01
And we were not able to purchase homes in Greater Detroit. And we are separated from Greater Detroit by three basket bridges. The Rouge Bridge that goes up and down, that connects, and it's at the mouth of the Hood River, and then also fourth Street and Oakwood that connects our section of 4.2 and seven to the city of Detroit.
00:13:49:05 - 00:14:09:19
Then we had the Miller Diggs Bridge, which is over by the former Ford Rouge steel mill, which is now currently Cleveland-cliffs. So in order for us to get to Greater Detroit, we had to go over bascule bridges when I was a child and even in high school. So this connectivity was meant to connect all the way from Florida, all the way up to Suzanne Marie.
00:14:09:21 - 00:14:40:09
Who did it impact? It impacted black low income people of color communities. I mean it's historic across America, right? Absolutely. So I'm going to shift to Miss SAG back. And, I'd like you to address community benefits. And, you know, we've heard about the negative impacts of the project. Concerns of the community with the impacts of the project.
00:14:40:09 - 00:14:48:14
So can you talk about your, your role and what community benefits are?
00:14:48:16 - 00:15:16:14
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Sure. Back during when the environmental study had to be performed on the bridge and the draft came out, that was when people recognized the extent of what wasn't going to be remedied by the project. Impacts are the main impact. And so that's when it came to get together. We decided we should do something. Community benefits agreements are really just contracts between two parties or any parties to deliver something that isn't guaranteed otherwise.
00:15:16:15 00:15:36:16
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So not guaranteeing the project, no laws were going to provide for it. So, we decided to create the Community Benefits Coalition and fight for community benefits. It was a whole process. Years and years of organizing kind of make you make them by working. Trying to discover because there was no roadmap there was this is what you do.
00:15:36:16 - 00:16:06:00
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This is how you get it. I had no idea we would land in Lansing speaking to House and Senate committees, residents over 60 residents went many times to Lansing. Fighting for benefits when the legislation would pass. Well, the legislation didn't pass. It took a while longer. Then Governor Snyder got in and, much to our surprise, there was a changed shift in the administration and in wanting to actually include community benefits.
00:16:06:02 - 00:16:29:03
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So eventually it happened. Through, lots of thousands of postcards and phone calling days and like I said, the traveling to Lansing and, you know, hosting dinners and different ways that people were speaking out and showing up, working at city council using public comment time. So there's a lot that goes into just saying that these benefits come.
00:16:29:05 - 00:16:51:08
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And so it was initially in 2014 when the community benefited and sorry, when the land for vacant land was needed for the project for the first time with the city council and said with the sale of this land, there should be community benefits for the money in exchange. And at that point, it was the initial $750,000 that went to, take care of the community, asked for.
00:16:51:08 - 00:17:08:22
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We had a lot of vacant homes, charred open basements that children were walking past and were going to go to the recreation center. So with that funding, that was when we were dug in with newly in office to do something about blight. And so we said, perfect, let's, you know, deal with the blight in Delray, dedicate that money toward community benefits.
00:17:08:22 - 00:17:33:11
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And so that's what happened. Council dedicated half of what was 1.4 million offered. So that ended up taking out 65 vacant homes, building the base of the trees, and setting a precedent for what we knew that we wanted, which was to connect any revenues, you know, coming to the project with benefits. So we had to do a lot of different community studies that countless counts for, multiple times.
00:17:33:11 - 00:17:55:10
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But we didn't. We did it for monitoring. We did a door to door health survey. Now since we've also done noise studies and more study. But back then we did that and partnered with the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Faculty actually came with us to Lansing to give comments about the impacts of air pollution and health in the community, and how much worse it would be.
00:17:55:12 - 00:18:23:01
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And then we brought together the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services with the City of Detroit Health Department, and talked about what was really going to happen, because, again, I love what's happening. All these trucks coming. It doesn't violate what the Clean Air Act provides. Okay. You look at our air monitors and with air monitors, but when you take an area, the environmental study for this project said that truck traffic will more than double.
00:18:23:03 - 00:18:27:14
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But air quality will improve. And we knew that. That doesn't make sense to anybody.
00:18:27:16 - 00:18:28:22
Absolutely not.
00:18:29:00 - 00:18:54:14
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And when you have all these trucks. So the 10,000 trucks that are crossing our current border crossing, we would have at least double that. And now landing in an area where we don't have a border crossing. So it's a much bigger change and impact. The infrastructure for the customs crossing is 165 plus acres of land, and then you're going to have all these trucks that are going to be lining up and you have it.
00:18:54:16 - 00:19:15:02
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Stratus two. We talk about del because that's where the customs area is being built. Ramps on the freeway and directly on the other side along the service road. You have the most populated area of the city of Detroit with the most children and the most children under five. And so this is an area that's going to be hit hardest because that's where the trucks line up, as well as in the 42 and seven.
00:19:15:02 - 00:19:15:12
Community.
00:19:15:12 - 00:19:17:04
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Where I spoke about.
00:19:17:06 - 00:19:17:17
Okay.
00:19:17:21 - 00:19:42:11
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So it was really important that we pursue greater protections. So come 2017, when the rest of the city's property was needed for the project, we worked, at that time then with the city administration, with the governor's office, and we were able to win, or over at that time, $45 million in community benefits. And so over 30 million went to two programs.
00:19:42:13 - 00:20:09:20
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One is for, it's already completed, and that was to provide homes along 7575 homes, got windows and air filtration. And it's great homes to mitigate the noise pollution. And then there was an actual home swap program. So residents who were left by the project, which we called stranded throughout the project. And also right along I 75, they had the option to swap their house for another house in the city, a fully renovated land bank.
00:20:09:22 - 00:20:32:19
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Oh great. And so another 250 families were displaced by the bridge project. 43 businesses, five churches, including the first church built by and for African-Americans in the city of Detroit and Saint Paul and. And this Latin American church, first Latin American Baptist church. And so you talk about where this project landed.
00:20:32:20 - 00:20:54:24
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It landed in the heart of a building that had that history, and that in another part of Del Rey with a different history. So there's that, right. But these benefits programs were unprecedented at the time. And now others. And after that, we were able to get an additional program for another 10 million Canadian funds that was directly through the contract with the bridge developer that was eventually hired.
00:20:55:01 - 00:21:15:14
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And that program delivered a Delray home repair program, where most of the residents, almost 100, got new roofs on their houses that they could have chosen between roofs, windows. There wasn't enough to do it all. And then there was a whole array of grant making, small grant making that many community organizations in Southwest Interior could benefit from.
00:21:15:14 - 00:21:27:03
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And there were other funds allocated to do things like provide some vehicles for some of the southwest organizations to provide transportation for seniors, transportation for cars.
00:21:27:05 - 00:21:28:00
Others.
00:21:28:02 - 00:21:44:04
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And a lot of these snowbirds programs that provided food, to, food banks in the southwest. And so there's just different kinds of investment. Not so much. There's still issues that we have. The impacts that are going to have to influence the trucks.
00:21:44:06 - 00:21:44:21
That's right.
00:21:44:24 - 00:22:04:08
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And so they're all of the things that need to happen. Things that all of us are actually working on. And that relates to making sure that we have healthy truck routes through our community. You mentioned NAFTA. Start with the trade agreements. And back then there weren't the trade agreements that guarantee an environmental impact study be done.
00:22:04:10 - 00:22:05:01
Right.
00:22:05:04 - 00:22:09:23
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So all of a sudden I live a couple blocks from a bridge. I've been in that spot for 30 years.
00:22:09:24 - 00:22:10:17
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Okay.
00:22:10:19 - 00:22:36:11
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Earlier with the daily truck impacts along I-75. And what's that? What's the past? The trucks started coming. Going to Windsor to eat Chinese and Indian food. And I stopped going to the theater up there. I mean everything changed. And so the impacts are tremendous when you concentrate a lot on trucks and the policy, the things that we know about health, public health and the policies to support that are not in place.
00:22:36:13 - 00:22:59:09
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And right now, we finally, there's, a great plan that's going to be created. The city has hired a new freight director who started yesterday. We were planning for some federal funding along with the city to do some major projects, but there's so we're so far behind. There are so many projects and pollution just has an economic toll for everybody.
00:22:59:14 - 00:23:01:11
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Absolutely.
00:23:01:13 - 00:23:35:07
Absolutely. Wow. So, Miss Chavez, you head up the Southwest Detroit Business Association. You have extensive expertise in creating environments where people can thrive. And the organization provides really important resources for small businesses and educational programs. Can you talk about the impact of this project on small businesses?
00:23:35:09 - 00:23:47:12
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Absolutely. Again, Southwest Trigger Association has been around for nearly 70 years. And so as we spoke about this project conversation starting in 2012, you know, that's already 12 years ago.
00:23:47:13 - 00:23:47:23
Yeah.
00:23:47:24 - 00:24:12:23
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So when some owners say we're so far behind, it's because these conversations and these opportunities should have happened back then. So who cares for when the bridge actually comes to fruition? We're almost behind that. Is going to come and then we're still going to be working on what needs to happen for the community and what needs to happen for residents and, and businesses alike.
00:24:13:00 - 00:24:31:13
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And so there's still so much work, but, us specific, you know, I, I'm very thankful to have been a resident of for 8 or 9 the majority of my life, and I have the illustrious pleasure of being bused to Boynton in the 42 1700 as a youth as well.
00:24:31:13 - 00:24:32:01
Okay.
00:24:32:07 - 00:24:55:18
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You know, there was that, integration, right? They wanted to mix the black and brown communities together. And so the Latino children were then used and so I gotta take that scenic tour and those bridges to go to Boynton, middle school when I was in seventh and eighth grade. And so, when I advocate or when I, you know, kind of talk about things that we need for things to try and talk about the southwest as a whole.
00:24:55:22 - 00:24:57:17
Right.
00:24:57:19 - 00:25:23:10
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Because we are Southwest Detroit Business Association, we're not Vernor. You know, the Mexican Town Business Association, we are Southwest Detroit Business Association. So that the resources and benefits that I try to bring and barriers and you know, dismantling barriers and trying to bring resources to the whole community is super intentional. As long as, you know, myself and my team have been involved.
00:25:23:12 - 00:25:43:15
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And so when I say that, you know, there's so much, it's almost so hard to even start with, what is the problem, right? Yeah. So, you know, one of the things that I had just talked about, I had just been to a community meeting that Teresa liked, not too long ago, and we talked about, you know, bringing the scope of Southwest District Association over to the Kennedy Center.
00:25:43:15 - 00:26:06:20
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But in addition to that, you look at that Fourth Street corridor. I mean, there's no businesses there, right? Then now, of course, Del Rey, there's, you know, there's so many people that have gone, I don't know, what's the what's the amount of houses that are about 300, right. So then when you look at the Springwell corridor, which truly was a lifeline, 75 was a lifeline to the businesses over there.
00:26:06:22 - 00:26:30:03
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They're literally hanging on by a thread. And we have legacy businesses that have gone. You know, this project, the actual work and the actual construction of this project has made it so that freeways are closed and no one wants to travel that way. You know, I will say that Southwest Detroit 42 or 9.2 ten, had what they called a walkable business corridor.
00:26:30:05 - 00:26:41:02
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And it's not anymore. It's very scary to walk up and down those business corridors. We have businesses like, I'll say Vince's Pizzeria that was around for over 60 years. Gone. Completely gone. We have.
00:26:41:04 - 00:26:41:24
As a result of this.
00:26:41:24 - 00:27:03:24
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Project, correct. We have a family Tree that was Maltese owned in southwest Detroit. So small, like a dairy Queen type. Sold their business completely, got out of the business. So it's just not worth it anymore. You know, Comerica Bank just recently left Comerica Bank. Had been there since, I want to say, 1940. And Vernon is gone because it just doesn't make sense to be there anymore.
00:27:04:01 - 00:27:23:15
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You know, we have a legacy furniture company. 75 years, Daniel Furniture. They used to be, you know, they used to, you know, earn over a couple million dollars annually in revenue. And the owner of the furniture company says we haven't taken a salary in three years. We had to sell our main building, and now we're working out of our warehouse.
00:27:23:19 - 00:27:44:06
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And as owners of the company, they have not taken a salary in three years. They did their own study as to what since the development started, what it meant to their business and how much business they lost in the first two, three and four years. And then, you know, obviously with the pandemic, they got a little bit of a boost because that economic stimulus was super helpful for them.
00:27:44:07 - 00:28:01:24
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Right. They wouldn't be hanging on right now had it not been for that. That infusion. Right. But they're barely hanging on. And so when the bridge announced that there's going to be an additional year delay, these businesses are literally coming to me and saying load up. What are you going to do? How can you support us?
00:28:02:05 - 00:28:26:03
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You know, we can barely keep our storefront clean. You know, trucks throw rocks at our glass and we have to continuously repair, you know, our storefronts, the murals that were beautiful. My of, you know, dusty, dirty and dilapidated. The streets are now filled with dirt and debris and rock and so just imagine if you will.
00:28:26:05 - 00:28:45:01
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You have an amazing hairstylist that you love and you know, you're particular because we're all women and I know. And so I go there on a regular basis because it sounds great. I might come from down river because I really like this stylist. I don't want to go there anymore. Number one, because the freeway is congested.
00:28:45:02 - 00:29:09:07
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It's down to one lane. You never know when that spring is going to be actually open or not. So you have that. Then when you go to your favorite salon or your stylist, when you walk out, you just feel like you just got a, I'll say a spa treatment of dust. Right. Is that the experience that you just paid for, for you to go and get your hair done, get your nails done.
00:29:09:13 - 00:29:31:10
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You know, and I know it sounds very vain but this is the businesses on that corridor. Do I want to go to a food truck where dust and particulates are going to constantly be in my tacos or my or my, you know, hamburger, you know, is that what I want? Am I going to want to open a storefront and go into the grocery store and have to come out and be hit with all of this, you know?
00:29:31:12 - 00:29:58:09
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And so these stores definitely are struggling, you know, the storefronts, the retail shops, you know, the family owned mom and pop businesses that we have and, you know, we do pride ourselves on the fact that we did not leave the city of Detroit when population was leaving. Right. Detroit state. You know, I'll speak specifically to that spring Wells and Vernor corridor, in particular.
00:29:58:11 - 00:30:23:05
.
We have always had what they called a vibrant bus business corridor and everywhere else in the city of Detroit, there were no businesses. These mom and pop shops made it happen. They lived in the community. They worked in the community, their family worked in the community. We have legacy businesses that have been here for generations and then ended up starting a new business because this is the community.
00:30:23:05 - 00:30:42:24
.
They wanted to continue to do work right now. Our population did not ever decrease. Our business has continued to increase. We didn't have resources from you know, obviously the city went through bankruptcy, so there were no real resources to give to those businesses to sustain. But I say it because of the grit and resilience of that community.
00:30:43:00 - 00:31:04:16
.
That's right. Now here we are in this development, you know, seven years into this development hanging on by a shoestring and all the things around us are booming. They're beautiful. They're vibrant. They're, you know, we have all this business over here and all these lovely murals over here. But where we started and where we are right now is very concerning.
00:31:04:18 - 00:31:30:03
.
It's very concerning. As the president and CEO of Southwest Detroit Business Association, and it's not when we think of. So when we take the approach of businesses, it's not just businesses. These business owners live in this. That's right. So it's our residents. It's been children. Simon and Theresa spoke when you think of that 75 there is Earhart Middle school, Mayberry Middle School and Mayberry Elementary School.
00:31:30:03 - 00:31:50:14
.
Western High school. They're the first ones to get all of that. Does all of that dirt. All of them idol trucks. It's coming right up to those schools. And so when we think about the residents, when we think about the young children, we think about just the street crossing. You know just just you have these trucks zooming through and it's not there's a lot to do.
00:31:50:14 - 00:32:11:11
.
Right. And so we just recently took a tour with the United States Department of Transportation. And I think EPA was there Health and Human Services and, and the Michigan departments of this as well. And it was you couldn't have created a more perfect. And I'm gonna use the word storm. You know, we took a tour on a tour bus and we took them through what I'm referring to as an industrial corridor.
00:32:11:11 - 00:32:38:07
.
Right. When the residents are so close, you know, surrounding that and I, you know, it was funny but not funny, but the person who was representing the United States Department of
Transportation said, oh, my God, is that our project? That's our words. Exactly. Wow. And when I say a perfect storm, if Hollywood had created a perfect particular light wind storm.
00:32:38:09 - 00:33:06:00
.
As we drove by the Mdot, you know, development. Right. It couldn't have been more beautiful in the worst way. Right. So she said, you know, they were asking for masks. They were asking all kinds of questions, no, we don't have masks because these residents, they live with us 24 seven and we're now and year seven, almost year eight of this, you know, they can't even walk out of their house without getting hit with dirt.
00:33:06:05 - 00:33:18:12
.
And she said, well, this is low hanging fruit. We can cover this. So you could have covered it seven years ago. Okay. A year and a half left of this. Right. Right, right. And today is the moment. Are those clouds coming?
00:33:18:14 - 00:33:20:03
Not.
00:33:20:05 - 00:33:43:04
.
No. So these were her words, not mine. This is low hanging fruit. Right. Cover this. And so. And she was appalled. I'll say she showed complete disdain for me. Right. And she couldn't believe it. But at the same time, you're telling us while you're in this, while you're driving through this, how do you feel? But then where's the action behind it?
00:33:43:08 - 00:33:56:03
.
Right. The part that I think all of us are asking for, like, help us. Help us keep our community alive. Help us keep our health, our community healthy. And this is just a basic quality of living, like.
00:33:56:08 - 00:33:57:12
Absolutely.
00:33:57:14 - 00:34:17:11
.
Asking for you to, to to to rain down millions on us. We're just asking you to give us clean, you know, clean living like I don't. I don't think anyone wakes up in the morning, says, I can't wait to get hit with a pile of dust in my face as I walk out the door. You know, or I can't wait to try to take my son or daughter so that they can get a nebulizer because they can't breathe.
00:34:17:13 - 00:34:43:15
.
You know, I mean, these teachers literally had nebulizer in their classroom because so many children have to have breathing treatments. You know, this is a regular in our community. And so when we talk about black and brown and specifically, I'll say, you know, we are known to be a welcoming community, an immigrant based community. And so a lot of times there are voices at the table, but it's as if our voices don't get heard.
00:34:43:17 - 00:35:07:06
How are you? So when Simon was talking about, you know, that all of the activity that the community has been engaged in to make sure that there were some benefits, that accrued to the community. And you were able to get 45 million.
00:35:07:06 - 00:35:08:00
.
Dollars.
00:35:08:00 - 00:35:20:13
Of community benefits. So how do you, how are you going to fight to get more?
00:35:20:15 - 00:35:24:00
.
So we're now at the stage of fighting for policy change.
00:35:24:02 - 00:35:24:24
Okay.
00:35:25:01 - 00:35:31:05
.
In the past to have, for example, we just bought and won a new dust ordinance in the city of Detroit.
00:35:31:09 - 00:35:31:19
Okay.
00:35:31:20 - 00:35:40:19
.
We have to make sure it gets enforced and with the budgeting is there for it. We're trying to make sure that there's budgeting for police ticketing. Violating truck drivers.
00:35:42:00 - 00:36:00:22
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We want to work with the trucking industry and help to change the culture of the companies. Yeah. Respect more. If they would just even abide by the laws and the signs that are up right now. And it would alleviate some people's grief. Trucks driving in the middle of the night when they're not supposed to be posted.
00:36:00:24 - 00:36:01:16
Right.
00:36:01:18 - 00:36:24:19
.
Also I mean there's a buffering ordinance coming down the pike this fall in the city of Detroit. We are fighting for a truck rights ordinance. We're working together with southwest organizations. We have a table with organizations in the southwest. City level. All meetings to deal with the truck traffic issues. The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments is now working on a free plan for the first time.
00:36:24:21 - 00:36:44:16
.
The city of Detroit mentioned they just hired a freight director. So a lot of the work that we're doing that comes together is having some traction. But things take a long time. Right. I'll give you an example. When we did the windows and infiltration along I-75. That's already been completed. It was roughly $34,000 per home.
00:36:44:22 - 00:36:45:15
Okay.
00:36:45:17 - 00:36:56:24
.
Work today post Covid or since Covid is now $56,000. Wow. So you can see even 45 million that the millions of dollars doesn't go that far.
00:36:57:17 - 00:37:20:06
.
Thousands of households were affected. So we have to look upstream right. Problems to make sure that the companies like aren't meeting the dust. The city has a good standard in this dust ordinance. It's calling for zero capacity. Of the project. Okay. So we want you to know the paving of yards if possible. We're also looking at the state.
00:37:20:06 - 00:37:36:14
.
The state that is the one that enforces the Clean Air Act. Our air permits are things that the city right now isn't engaged in enough. Like it's on the residents you know to appear at these and fight for us. Right. I mean pollution is really an all hands on deck problem.
00:37:36:17 - 00:37:37:08
Right.
00:37:37:10 - 00:37:59:08
.
Public health is where we want the health and our policies kind of approach. And, and we deserve it. You know, like other communities do. It's possible to get home improvements. It's just that the work has been, you know, shouldered and been fixed in our work. The communities work. Right. We are at the point, like we said, this meeting that just happened with the US Department of Transportation.
00:37:59:10 - 00:38:21:21
.
It's kind of a culmination of work that's been happening. But a new start, a new phase of work where we've got federal partners. Hopefully the state will engage, for example it's regulated at the state level. Asking you know can't we have cameras to stop these truck drivers you know cameras who are something regulated.
00:38:21:23 - 00:38:40:05
.
Would have to get changed for that. But we know that we've got all kinds of surveillance all over the place now. Right. And this could be really beneficial. You know. So maybe we should let local municipalities have the ability to do things and I don't want to argue for more surveillance, but we need and that's why we talk about the culture change.
00:38:40:07 - 00:38:59:08
.
Mean versus contract drivers. They're residents in the community. Oh, okay. So we don't want to give people a hard way to go through this, but we want to make sure the people are doing the best that they can, and we can try to help them. And same goes for industries. I mean, industry doesn't have to be as polluting as it is.
00:38:59:10 - 00:39:06:24
.
And put in better technology that exists now. But they're not choosing to do that. And it would improve the health for all of us. Okay.
00:39:07:01 - 00:39:37:24
.
I'm sorry I'm sorry. So just really quickly and I know this almost sounds like it's all negative, right? But we have to understand that there is a spectacular ness about this. And I know that that sounds so bizarre to even say it out loud. Right. But you know no matter what era we go to and we go back and we say oh look at when, you know the Ambassador Bridge was built or look at when the San Francisco Bay bridge was built, you know, there's all these amazing pictures of people with carousels and all of this beautiful ness.
00:39:38:01 - 00:40:00:01
.
And so 100 years from now, people are going to say, man, they made this really cool bridge in Detroit, right? But they forget the people that had to live through that. Right. And we all know that pollution doesn't stay in one area. Right. That's right. I think we all know that. And then in addition to that when we think about it, you know, we understand goods and services need to get from point A to point B.
00:40:00:07 - 00:40:21:24
.
So we're not disputing that. And the reality is, if this was truly something that was needed for us to really, you know, save it and make it be more economical for goods and services to pass. Okay. But the reality is, how can we do it where we're not putting the costs of life? Behind the cost that you're saving to get from point A to point B right.
00:40:22:00 - 00:40:45:10
.
That was a question that I posed during a meeting that we had a few months back, where we were calculating the life expectancy rate in southwest Detroit that is dwindling and dwindling and dwindling. Where are we calculating all of these children that are now having health risks? Where is that calculation when you're calculating what your bottom line is?
00:40:45:14 - 00:41:08:18
.
Right. Because you've dehumanized you've taken the human aspect out of it. We're no longer a part of that calculation. But we're a community that's thriving and has been here. My great grandfather came here in 1918. My great grandfather actually helped build the Ambassador Bridge. He helped rebuild the Belle Isle Bridge. So when people say, oh, Latinos just got hit.
00:41:08:18 - 00:41:29:09
.
No, we've been here a long time. Right. And so I say that wholeheartedly. And I say that because the reality is that our community was literally built on our back, and now it's beautiful. And so people want to come and they want to do these developments. We want development to happen with us, not to us. That's, you know, we want it to happen for us, not for us.
00:41:29:14 - 00:41:52:15
.
You know, and so when we're advocating and I think that, you know, some mornings say a lot of things and more polish than I do, I'll say. But the reality is that community benefits are very, very important. But there has to be something bigger than that. You know, and as someone has said, and Teresa, we are so far behind because this is happening.
00:41:52:17 - 00:42:07:21
.
It's happening. What are we going to do when community benefits are over? So what happens then? We still are going to have these trucks coming through with spray pollution. We're still going to have all these businesses struggling. We're still going to have all these residents that are sick. We're still going to have life expectancy.
00:42:08:00 - 00:42:37:19
.
So how do we continue to protect our community after community benefits are done? Right. And so, as you know, I, I call myself an advocate, you know, and I try to bring solutions to the table and I try to be pragmatic with my discussions. But as someone that I truly love, southwest Detroit, you know, love it. Whether it's the 42 17482932 ten, I love Southwest Detroit and I know what it has meant to me.
00:42:38:00 - 00:42:59:03
.
I am the daughter that southwest Detroit raised. And so when I'm out there and I'm saying this is my family, this is my life. These are my children. This is my, you know, my friends, this is who I'm speaking on behalf of is not just Laura Chavez, you know. Right. And we represent 1400 businesses, Southwest Detroit Business Association.
00:42:59:05 - 00:43:27:08
.
And so the voice that I carry is oftentimes a voice of immigrant based businesses that have not had a voice at these tables. And so I'm very honored. I'm very thankful. But there's so much to be done. And so these conversations have to be had. I think that there is, you know, there are good parts that come out of this, you know, and there are things that are, are amazing, right, that weren't happening before.
00:43:27:10 - 00:43:30:11
.
But the reality is we need much more.
00:43:30:13 - 00:44:06:02
Yeah. Miss Landrum. Right. Someone brought up something very important when we began our fight for the Fugitive Death Ordinance. It came out of the realization. That when Marathon
Petroleum Corporation was going to expand, to a $2.2 billion expansion. We asked what was in it for the community. And the challenge was nobody as Laura mentioned, was including the residents that were being impacted.
00:44:06:03 - 00:44:41:10
Right. Petroleum Corporation is in Southwest Detroit, 40 217. So when we asked what's going to happen to us when those trucks come from marathon, after they go from what they call a refining sweet oil to what they called refining heavy oil, we called it oil and we called it dirty oil because they changed the way that they in the method and what they were using from they went from getting oil, petroleum out of the ground that looked like maybe honey.
00:44:41:12 - 00:45:05:12
To go and get a trolley, from Alberta, Canada, coming through part of 95, passing that to equate to looking like molasses. Okay. So they had to change the way that they refined. The petroleum. Right. And that meant they had to take out the dirty tar sands.
00:45:05:14 - 00:45:34:09
And they were going to put more sulfur dioxide, more benzene, more lead, more lead, more manganese into an area that is over inundated so that we had to address it with the state. The city was not involved. We have to every time we get a new administration we have to educate them as residents will lay people. We have to go down and say you know what the airport is going to depreciate.
00:45:34:11 - 00:46:01:10
The truck traffic is going to increase diesel fuel emissions which byproduct is black carbon. Black carbon on expressways is going to impact our health more. So we talked about policy. We talked about change. So first victory in a sense we had more victories was the fugitive dust ordinance around the petcoke, which is the byproduct, the dirty to trash that comes out of refining tar sands.
00:46:01:10 - 00:46:19:23
Okay. And they were storing it on our waterfront. And they said no, we won't have a problem. We said, what about two trucks coming through the community to get to Detroit box stores to place them on the store. And the trucks were dirty. The dust was flying, the trucks and the piles of aggregate were not covered.
00:46:20:04 - 00:46:42:08
So that blackness was flying all over the air. So when it snowed in the wintertime people had white snow. We had black snow. Wow. Because of the dirt and coming from the trucks. So we fought for them to wash the trucks, to cover their trucks. We had the company of Detroit Bulk Storage and EDW, which hauled the slag that came out of steel processing.
00:46:42:13 - 00:47:12:24
They said it's not feasible for us to cover the trucks because the aggregate is hot. It was burning the tops that covered it. So they sacrificed our air in order to assist the businesses. So in my opinion. In my opinion, yes, absolutely. Our city has not stepped out on protecting the people and creating environmental justice for people that have suffered so much legacy pollution that injustices over the years.
00:47:13:03 - 00:47:37:20
So that Fugitive Dust Ordinance was something very important. So we were able to advocate for three cities. River Rouge and Detroit to keep Petcoke off the waterfront. Wow. And it was our Canadian neighbors that brought it to the attention because our voices and information had more health impact concerns for ourselves and our children.
00:47:37:22 - 00:48:07:15
But our Canadian partners and one of the ferry operators, they were along the waterway, Detroit River, doing business, and they saw this huge black dust cloud coming from the United States going to Canada. They filmed it. Okay. Back to us. We go to the city council and that's how the fugitive or desk ordinance happened. We were out there beating pots and pans and screaming on the railroad tracks about our help because there's no buffers.
00:48:07:15 - 00:48:28:14
Right. We have public housing that has white boxes right where they were putting the pipes. And we had businesses blind. These are the piles right. There is a United States Post Office. We had the riverfront apartments, the expensive apartments. Right. Their windowsills and their balconies were being covered with black stuff. Streets. And then we advocate for street sweeping.
00:48:28:18 - 00:48:52:04
So we were going around. We just pumped I hey it's not annoying but we were just asking for things that we felt we could get at this level. Right. And talk about cumulative impact and how we can help change policy. Right. Every two years you have an election. Is it for the senators, the state rent, state reps, or every year for the city people?
00:48:52:07 - 00:49:11:13
We were trying to see how we could coordinate between the state and the city to get protections for us. Right. And there's a lot I talk about. We were not in those rooms when the decisions were being made that were being made for us, without us. Right. And said, if you're not, at the table, you're on the menu.
00:49:11:16 - 00:49:20:24
That's right. So have residents considered running for office or whatever we've had? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
00:49:21:01 - 00:49:39:15
.
And then. No, that's a really good question to ask. I think that and some of the work that someone lives in the neighborhood. Is a neighborhood. I recently moved out but I'm coming back. But I've lived all over southwest Detroit. One thing that we see is that you know our work.
00:49:39:17 - 00:49:41:01
.
It's not free either.
00:49:41:03 - 00:49:43:04
Right. Absolutely.
00:49:43:06 - 00:49:43:19
.
And this.
00:49:43:19 - 00:49:44:19
Energy. Yeah.
00:49:44:20 - 00:50:07:05
.
I mean I'm not you know I have so much admiration for mom. She would go out in the middle of the night with a flashlight showing on the sign that no truck is supposed to be driving on the street at this time, you know? And tireless hours working and trying to educate people. But the reality is all you gotta do is drive through our neighborhood.
00:50:07:06 - 00:50:30:11
.
Yes. You just got to drive through. Right. We don't have to do another study. We don't need another survey. We don't need to knock on any more doors now. It's that you just drive through our neighborhood. And so there's, there's a lot of different components to it. And, and as Theresa and Tilman have said so beautifully it's it's not this didn't start with the Gordie Howe project.
00:50:30:12 - 00:50:51:03
.
Right. And so that's what we want to make sure of. I mean I want to make sure that development is constant. Right. And it's constant in our community. And again, we are a border town because of the Ambassador Bridge. But now we're really with two international rights, basically a mile from each other, which is in itself just ridiculous.
00:50:51:04 - 00:51:14:01
.
Right. Just leave that on the table. Right. And so the reality is, is that this problem, these problems have happened for generations. And so it didn't just start. The good thing is that, you know, people like salmon Theresa, myself and legacy leaders that have been fighting the good fight for a very long time. At least we're making a movement.
00:51:14:03 - 00:51:35:00
.
But there needs to be so much more movement that was made prior to this. And so as you know, it's just so amazing to me how technology moves so fast. But laws don't. Right. You know. Right. Right. You know you, you know the internet, all this cool stuff happens really really quickly. But when it comes to actual laws.
00:51:35:02 - 00:51:55:12
.
It takes forever and so much work and so much explanation and, and it almost has to be. And this is going to sound so horrible. But it almost has to be someone who makes the laws that have to be directly impacted. Yeah. Is it wrong to say that? But that's all. Absolutely. Someone who actually is there that is a, you know, decision maker.
00:51:55:14 - 00:52:20:12
.
They have to be the impacted party for them to say. You know this makes sense to me. This has been decades. Right. And so yeah it's not you know I don't say that. You know there's what has been good about this Gordie Howe right. Is community benefits? Right. And that there has been stuff that has actually moved on that, you know, that has helped a lot of the communities. 00:52:20:12 - 00:52:26:20
.
You know, and honestly, I think that they have tried to do some good things, you know, and.
00:52:26:20 - 00:52:27:08
And
00:52:27:10 - 00:52:59:18
.
And try to be a better partner with development, you know, and so I don't want it to seem like it's like you know, us versus them. But it is definitely a David and Goliath fight that we have been in for decades. And this is just one of the newer projects that is affecting and impacting our community and our resilience and grit, determination and, you know, hard work and warrior mentality is what's going to continue us to do this fight for, for, right, for our for our neighborhoods.
00:52:59:19 - 00:53:00:02
.
Right.
00:53:00:02 - 00:53:21:00
And, and lift in a voice, lower about something very important as we 've been in this 30 years. And as she said it didn't start with Gordie Howe. Right. We had the marathon expansion to point to. We had the building of the Oakwood pumping station. KSO. You know, I captured the overflow.
00:53:21:02 - 00:53:48:18
Because in our area, that was under the Kilpatrick administration. Well then we've had the Detroit Salt Company. We had two salt companies. We had the Morton Salt which was the table salt. Then we had to Detroit Salt Company, which excavated the roads on the side that are being sold in Michigan. Well, they were blasting underneath our homes calling sinkholes and sinkholes, causing our pavement.
00:53:48:20 - 00:54:16:02
I had a new driveway. Okay. In six months, it was cracked. And then the foundation of our health was shifting. We had to go to the city council and advocate and tell them there's a problem. And then what the victory came was that city council, we told them to rescind their contract. And but they had to go in and they changed the spaces where they instead of blasting under the city streets and people homes, they changed direction.
00:54:16:04 - 00:54:36:16
Right. And the way they excavated salt, they used the same mixture of chemicals that Timothy McVeigh used to block the Federal Building. Wow. Right. They went from that to liquefaction where they could get the pillars off the shafts. Okay. So our voices are very important because we are the experts. We live it every day.
00:54:36:18 - 00:54:59:07
We have to tell them what's happening. As Laura said if they're not living it is not, you know, out of sight, out of mind. And we had a professor, professor Nick Schreck. University? Right. Taught us pollution. 101. Okay. And he said when they looked at a plan. To come and open up the industry or expand the operation.
00:54:59:12 - 00:55:25:09
They actually weigh how many casualties of life will be lost. Wow. And we were like what. So they know it's impact right. Absolutely. Fighting for our unborn children is being impacted. They're being born with asthma because of pollution, because of things that are impacting them. And what we asked for, the Gordie Howe Bridge, we asked the biggest question that nobody talked about.
00:55:25:11 - 00:55:46:08
How were they going to mitigate the legacy pollution that was left there from the previous factories? They had no answer. So when they began to build the Gordie Howe Bridge, all that dust and pollution was flying around. And as Laura said when they did that tour the perfect storm came up. Right. Actually see what we see every day.
00:55:46:14 - 00:56:01:21
Yeah. I was growing up. We were used to the brown air. We were used to the foul odor. We were used to the black. We were used to it because we did not know it was not normal. Right. People moved away or we left to go back down south, and we had cleaner air. And we can breathe better. Rain?
00:56:01:23 - 00:56:26:04
Yeah. So we had a young African American asthma educator. Her name was Elizabeth Milton, and we got into one of the local churches because the churches are hubs. And as someone told you, we lost churches. Right. Churches. We had lost historical buildings right in this process. So where's the protection for the people that are our taxpayers that are productive, constructive citizens?
00:56:26:06 - 00:56:48:08
What is it? Are we the sacrifice and we call this, you know, impact a community sacrifice? Right. And as Laura said years ago, I coined and trademarked that pollution has no boundaries. And then people begin to pick it up and we have this and Martin. He came in. He said we have the right to breathe. And they pick that up and they use that as a mantra.
00:56:48:14 - 00:57:11:04
Right. Children, we are impacted right. With the high rates of cancer, with the high rates of upper respiratory diseases. And we are now asking for health impact assessments when large projects like that happen. Right. We are fighting for that on a state level. Yeah. We'll get to come to the table in my opinion is the city council.
00:57:11:05 - 00:57:37:08
We have not seen the city council or our mayors step out on that. Yeah. But like Laura said, we're at the door knocking. Asking them to come and let us stand because we want to talk about how we can work together. Right. And it's so important for you all to be there. And it's so important because you've laid such important groundwork.
00:57:37:10 - 00:58:10:20
And it's terrible that the community has to do that and that, you know, the developers, the elected officials are not doing that, are not protecting the community members. But there's precedent with the community benefits program. And, they understand that the community has a voice. It's just you've unfortunately, you still have to be vigilant and continue to fight, this important fight.
00:58:10:22 - 00:58:29:24
.
You know, I mean, the same day that we had that tour, obviously, the Fugitive Dust Ordinance passed through the city council. You know, so there I you know, I think that again, having, city council that understands what's happening, you know, they come to our meetings a lot of time, and we just had many waters at your meeting.
00:58:30:01 - 00:58:49:02
.
You know, Gabriella does come to a lot of meetings, and she holds a lot of meetings over Pam Park. And I think that sometimes it is the education piece. Right? And so that they can understand and invite them into the community, not just stay at their office downtown. But come see what's happening. Yeah. I think that that piece is important.
00:58:49:04 - 00:58:53:11
.
You know, I say we need that relationship. We have to do a good job.
00:58:53:12 - 00:58:54:09
Absolutely.
00:58:54:10 - 00:59:10:20
.
We have to respect each other. We have to make sure that we're having conversations with each other. And I think that, building those relationships and, again, you know, as people get voted in and voted out, it's like you have to keep starting a new relationship. You guys start dating all over, you know. Right. And so there's that part of it.
00:59:11:00 - 00:59:31:11
.
But at the same time, you know we're in it. 100% in it. Yes. I have not been the president of South
Central Business Association for 30 years. But I've lived in this community my entire life. Right. So I've been a community advocate since I was probably 12 or 13 years old, just seeing things happening in and around my community.
00:59:31:11 - 00:59:49:13
.
And how can I help? Right. And I think that that's really the stance that a lot of residents have in southwest Detroit, a lot of business owners have. And then we have, you know, amazing legacy leaders that have done the work for decades. And so I am just someone that's trying to pick up those pieces and continue to carry that torch on.
00:59:49:18 - 00:59:50:18
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But there's so.
00:59:50:21 - 01:00:20:09
Much work to be done. Absolutely. Well, we do have to end our conversation. Thank you so much for sharing all of your, your information, your, your, strategy. And just, you know, the stories of what's happening in the community. And thank you for your important work. It's really, really appreciated. And I hope you continue to fight on.
01:00:20:09 - 01:00:55:02
This has been the Commonwealth Podcast. The Commonwealth is a production of the University of Michigan, Detroit Center and the University of Michigan Law School's Community Enterprise Clinic. The Commonwealth is hosted and executive produced by me Dana Thompson. It is executive produced by Feodies Shipp the Third with production support from Tiffany Chiang and Akita Kotian.