Poverty.
Lack of education.
Gun violence.
And of course, racism.
The problems are well-known; many can articulate the societal issues that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But it is even more poignant when the issues are acknowledged by the young.
The Detroit Pistons sponsored a private community conversation Thursday night between law enforcement, community leaders and youths.
The pandemic prevented it from being held at Detroit Police Athletic League headquarters downtown, but roughly 60 participants logged in for the video conferencing session.
Many spoke; but the kids’ words were impactful.
“I’m really excited that we have so many participants from many organizations and that we have a good collection of young people from Detroit here today with us,” Pistons vice chairman Arn Tellem said in welcoming attendees.
The purpose was to engage members of the Detroit community in a candid conversation about the challenges, the personal responsibility to create positive change, and ways to work together to build a stronger community.
PeacePlayer, an international non-profit that uses basketball to promote conflict resolution among youths, organized the talk.
David Cassel, PeacePlayers’ head of U.S. strategy and operations, brought a relaxed tone, telling participants that no one expected systemic problems to be solved in two hours.
But in creating an atmosphere where young Detroiters can express themselves, maybe it can be a small step in creating future leaders who can bring thoughtful solutions.
Problems, opportunities, solutions
Tellem opened the event by noting the funeral of civil rights icon and U.S rep John Lewis held earlier that day.
“If he were here speaking to us, he’d be urging us to carry on the good fight, cause good trouble, as he would say, to bring about the painful – yet necessary – dialogue to have in our community where we’re bringing people together and hopefully emerging as a better society,” Tellem said.
After a short introduction, participants moved into eight breakout groups where they were asked to note the problems faced by society and possible solutions.
After a timed discussion with smaller groups, all participants returned to the larger chat to discuss findings.
There were no surprises.
But there were many hopeful and thoughtful words from young people like Southfield Christian senior Caleb Dixon.
“We know what we have to work on, and we should do some things differently, but we are great city and there are no Utopias on the planet,” Dixon said. “Every city is going to have its issues. Detroit has seen our issues overtelevised and it’s important we spend some time reminding one another that I love you.”
The event was the latest in a series of community efforts initiated by Pistons owner Tom Gores’ statement in response to the wave of protests across the nation sparked by the death of George Floyd and the country’s history of racism and inequality.
Gores’ response highlighted three main areas of civic engagement:
- Galvanize voter registration.
- Rally 2020 Census participation.
- Unite the community by building bridges between youth and law enforcement.
The Pistons have complete multiple public service announcements reminding Michiganders the importance of voting. The organization has made the Henry Ford-Detroit Pistons Performance Center available to serve as a receiving center for four voting precincts for the Tuesday primary.
Conversations are on-going with the Michigan Secretary of State and Detroit City Clerk offices to secure PPC as a satellite polling site for the November general election. A training session was held Tuesday at the PPC.
Organization reps are planning to go door-to-door in mid-August in the neighborhoods surrounding the PPC to encourage Detroit residents to fill out census forms. Pistons employees will be given the opportunity to volunteer to make calls to remind Detroiters to turn in census forms.
The organization has also released videos to continue the conversation around social justice as part of the equality platform. The PSAs feature Blake Griffin, Luke Kennard, and Pistons coach Dwane Casey.
“When we get lost in the rat race of working or school, we tend to forget we love each other, that we are successful, that we do have great programs in this city,” Dixon said.