"Detroit is a window into the future. Through this window we see an inspiring site of deeply grassroots and living visions of a just and democratic community. Community resistance to corporate polluters in Detroit, including oil refineries, coal power plants and the world’s largest waste incinerator, continue to hold the frontline against the destruction of the planet. Meanwhile resistance to such corporatization strategies such as predatory lending, water privatization, prisons and police brutality are matched with equally powerful models of resilience; such as community gardens, cooperative economics, freedom schools and transformative justice. Detroit can be a model of the Just Transition to sustainable communities that we require; one in which exploitive jobs that cause ecological devastation and compromised health are replaced with meaningful work in our own interests; restoring our labor and our resources to the web of life."
Those words are from an Eco-justice declaration.
An activist and hip hop artist from Detroit talked about some of those community self-help and poverty issues in an audio interview with myself, and another local activist. Here's that interview — with the summary that we've posted with it –
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We interviewed Invincible, a Detroit hip hop artist and activist, after her show at the LOLA music and arts festival in London, Ontario, Canada. At LOLA, Invincible performed with Miz Korona and DJ Dez.
You can listen to the interview here — on the Media Co-op.
During the interview, Invincible shares her views about the role of hip hop in cultivating social change. Experiences and wisdom from communities in Detroit, Michigan are communicated throughout the recording.
Some of what Invincible had to say revolves around the "Detroit Summer" / "Emergence" single which she recently released with Waajeed.
This interview was recorded and edited for the Media Co-op, and a local radio station (CHRW).
The SafeSpace project that Invincible mentions is a local support centre for sex workers, and women in crisis here in London, Ontario. The SafeSpace "model is one of empowerment with the goal of meeting women where they're at and helping sex workers operate with safety and with dignity."
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