Karen Weaver's Fight for Clean Water November 2017 | Page 4

A few weeks ago, a fire broke out at Cooley, which Snyder closed after the
residents invested millions in its renovation. The bond money is now owed by
the old school district. This fall, City Council decided to use taxes collected to
pay down that debt to build an Arena for the Pistons. As the downtown rises
from the ashes of Detroit’s former greatness, many residents wonder if
Detroit’s neighborhoods are being forgotten. Coleman Young Jr. is one of
those people.
He says he’s a “What you see is what you get kind of person”. Over the years
he has had to learn to value himself and self-encouragement. He’s found that
his purpose is to uplift and encourage others. He says we must do things based
on what’s right for public good, not just what the monetary value of the goal
is. That’s selling out, he explains. “Leadership is compelling people to do the
right thing.”
Unemployment runs at more than 23 percent in Detroit neighborhoods, the
level of poverty is unforgiving. In Detroit, people are collecting rainwater to
flush toilets.
Most kids have no place to play in their neighborhood, while billions of
dollars are going downtown to create a playground for suburbanites. Sure, we
know that the arena provides jobs selling hot dogs, but is that enough?
“People are dying from policies Duggan is putting out there; foreclosures, lost
pensions, healthcare, water shut-offs. Too many are struggling.”
CONT’D