Blog
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Why I'm Investing in Detroit
Lots of people and jobs are exiting Detroit these days. Some say the final death knell is about to be rung as the life of domestic auto companies hangs in the balance. But now's not the time for any of us to turn away. The city needs our investment and commitment, which is why I've decided to put our Harwood Public Innovators Lab in downtown Detroit, June 2-5. Nothing seems to be going Detroit's way. For decades the city was said to be dying, only to rebound in recent years with pockets of rejuvenation sparked by the rise of new businesses, new construction, and a new attitude. But the emerging signs of progress could not hold off larger economic trends that have engulfed Michigan in an economic tsunami.
To make matters worse, the city had to endure the embarrassment of misdeeds and misfortunes by its former mayor, until finally he was pushed from office. And it continues to suffer the notoriety of its much-maligned football team, the Detroit Lions, which went 0-16 last season, a new National Football League record.
So, why put the Public Innovators Lab there? It's true we're launching this year a Kellogg Foundation-supported initiative in Battle Creek, Santa Fe, and, yes, Detroit, where local groups and organizations will apply our approach to accelerate and deepen their change efforts on issues of vulnerable children and families. But that's not why we're bringing the Lab itself to Detroit.
I originally planned to have the Lab in Atlanta or Las Vegas. But as the economic downturn worsened, I wanted to make a declarative statement about our own values and beliefs.
Too many people are talking about leaving Detroit and other hard-hit communities behind; too many news accounts tell negative stories of what "can't happen" in too many communities. If those of us doing this work do not act to support these communities, who will?
I'm not naive about any of this. I know first-hand just how difficult it is to create hope and change in hard-hit communities. I've spent years in Flint and other economically distressed places. I have failed many times, in public, trying to make good things happen. So, it would be far easier simply to look the other way.
But, like you, I got into this arena because I believe there are breaches in society that must be repaired. Progress, however slow, will only come about if each of us steps forward to do our part, and if we're willing to learn from our past mistakes and emphasize what works.
There are unbelievably talented and public-spirited people working in Detroit. For example, Arise Detroit, which is creating a permanent network of organizations and their volunteers to support children and families, is headed up by two Harwood Public Innovators Lab alumni, Luther Keith and John X. Miller.
Detroit Public Television is part of a growing network of stations adopting the Harwood approach developed in our ongoing collaboration with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for public broadcasters who want to strengthen their communities and deepen their own local significance. Mike Brennan, who heads the local United Way, along with many others is working tirelessly to strengthen the community. We've even located the Lab at the brand new Greektown Hotel which is in the heart of the city and has just hired 300 new employees.
I am choosing to bring our Public Innovators Lab to Detroit. I want to help develop and support a critical mass of local public innovators who seek to fight for hope and change. I want to do our part and make a clear statement: We believe in Detroit, its people, and its future come hell or high water.
Download a copy of Rich's essay: Make Hope Real and learn how you can accelerate change in your community and make hope real.
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Mourning in America
When Ronald Reagan first ran for president, his ads proudly proclaimed it's "morning in America." But 30-second spots and pep rallies won't address our current economic ills. For there is "mourning in America" this time, and if we wish to move forward, we must first understand and engage our sorrow head-on.
Just yesterday California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger began the process to lay-off 20,000 state workers. Every day the economic bad news piles up with seemingly no end in sight. Perhaps the end is just around the corner. I know I keep hoping for us to finally bottom out, and then start the process of recovery.
But in our eagerness for a quick fix, we may miss a key point.
We are experiencing fundamental changes to our economy, and our society, too. Take, for instance, America's auto companies. Their restructuring plans are due out today, and even if they re-emerge as healthy companies, they will have laid-off tens of thousands of American workers and shuttered scores of factories. The economic distress felt in communities large and small will last for many years to come. One need only look to communities like Flint to witness the long-term devastation and challenges in bringing about renewal.
But this time fundamental change is coming to every part of our economy and every region. From Bank of America and Citicorp, to Starbucks and Circuit City, to local restaurants and corner stores, we are seeing major economic and social upheaval. White collar workers who once thought they were immune to these economic travails now face dire straits. Many non-profits, public broadcasters and others are cutting back too. The death-knell for the newspaper industry seems to draw closer by the day.
Before looking ahead too quickly, we must take stock of where we are. Our nation is hurting. Industries are imploding. Communities are in trouble. I don't write this to sow pessimism -- not everything is gloom -- but the situation is serious.
Some people are now saying that President Obama needs to talk more of "hope" again, to give people a sense of inspiration. They say that his Inauguration Speech was too serious, too stern, too based in reality. Like a local chamber of commerce, they want him to convince people that their community is the best place on earth, immune from bad news.
But there are real losses in America. There are fundamental changes happening to various industries, communities, and in individual families. Ultimately, we will succeed in lifting ourselves up, and when we do our success will not come simply by putting all the pieces back together again in the same order and form. Humpty-Dumpty cannot be put back together again. Instead, we will create something new, which we have yet to fully imagine.
I have great confidence in our ability to tap our imagination and set out on a new path. But I also know that to engage our imagination in ways that matter, means that we must first understand where we are. We must be able to see with clarity the destruction and pain and dislocation occurring. And with such clarity we must make room to mourn: to see and grasp the losses involved, and to grieve.
I'm always reminded of the prophetic tradition which is often equated with calling people to imagine something different -- to look to the future. But in reading the prophets, I am more struck more by their call to see reality, to understand it, and to grasp its meaning. There is the need to know where you are in order to move forward.
To read more about how to both see reality and move forward download Make Hope Real
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Is Bipartisanship Dead Already?
The bipartisan vultures are busy at work, nit-picking to death President Obama’s desire for a more bipartisan approach. Too bad their short-sighted political maneuverings on the economic stimulus package blur them from seeing the emerging picture: a new political environment is just what people want. And make no mistake it will take a certain toughness to bring it about.
First, there are legitimate concerns about different facets of the timulus package, and good people on all sides will disagree. But the fact that the president’s economic package received only three Republican votes in the U.S. Senate has led many pundits and naysayers to proclaim that his bipartisan vision for the nation’s capital is dead on arrival. It’s true that he hasn’t received the kind of Republican support in either chamber that he had hoped for.
The president went to great lengths to reach out to Republicans since assuming office, hosting a Super Bowl party, traveling to the Hill to meet with House and Senate Republicans, inviting Republicans over for cocktails, dialing up Sen. John McCain, not to mention making numerous other entreaties.
The cynics suggest that all his effort was for naught. The proof is in the pudding, and the pudding, they say, tastes spoiled. They’re hunkering down for more partisan battles with delight. Representative Pete Sessions, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, compared his colleagues’ partisan efforts to the Taliban, saying, “Insurgency, we understand perhaps a little bit more because of the Taliban.” On so many levels, his comment is repulsive. We can do without such “audacity of hype.”
But naysayers and cynics include Democrats too. Some Dems wallow in a kind of “post partisan depression,” still angry over past misdeeds perpetrated by Republican presidents, including George W. Bush. Their memory is long and vivid. They’re busy puffing themselves up to embrace a winner-take-all approach to politics.
Some analysts say the president’s trip yesterday to Elkhart, Indiana, is final proof that any promise for bipartisanship has come and gone. His rhetoric was tough and pointed. For further proof, they cite his speech last week in Williamsburg, Virginia, at a Democratic retreat where he drew lines in the sand about his economic proposal and how willing he was to negotiate on certain issues.
Bipartisanship is a dangerous concept, because for some it means that everyone must get along, and all votes transcend party lines. I’m not sure that’s possible, or even desirable. For me, the test is how the different sides are engaging: Is there real debate, honest give-and-take, and good-faith efforts to understand differences, let alone the ability to work them out. Sometimes this will lead to common ground, others times people will go their own way. But it is this dynamic –and not whether everyone has gathered on the Capitol steps to sing Kum-by-yah – that will lead to a new political environment.
People are sick and tired of politics as usual. Instead of looking in the mirror and only seeing their own reflection, our political leaders must turn outward to see the realities in which people live their daily lives. People are hurting, and those promoting the petty politics of partisanship have worn out their welcome.
Finally, what I am advocating requires toughness, plain and simple. If one seeks a new way of doing business, then one must be ready and willing to call people out when they egregiously step over the line. Pete Session’s comment is but one example. So-called bipartisanship should not become an effort to smooth over all the rough edges, to accept any and all behavior, or to turn one’s cheek at each and every turn. It’s a fight for a different way to do business.
If we want to create a new political environment, then we must step forward and engage in the fight. Now’s not the time to give in to the cynics and naysayers.
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Do You Believe We Need Change?
Do you believe we need change? I suspect for most of you that's an easy question to answer. After all your work is about creating change. But if we believe we need change, it also follows that we need to think about and examine if we're being effective.
How can we be effective and still stay true to our aspirations?