Detroit Family Making It Work And Working To Make Detroit Better
16-year-old twins and parents each trying to tackle some of the city’s biggest challenges.
“You may not be able to do anything about the DPS system as a whole. You may not be able to do anything in Lansing as a whole or anything like that. But you can always impact your children directly,” says Daryl Harris.
Crime, blight, failing schools. There’s no shortage of conversation around the detractors to raising a family in the city of Detroit.
But families do remain and provide the necessary backbone to the city’s much-lauded revitalization. Families create community, improve neighborhoods, and turn floundering school buildings around. For these families, this is home. Detroit is a huge city with scores of neighborhoods, and thousands of blocks where families take root.
The Harris family — Wytrice, Daryl, Imani, and Amari — from the city’s East Side are all taking action to tackle some of Detroit’s biggest challenges.
16-year-old twins Imani and Amari and their mother Wytrice are all active with the group 482Forward, which organizes around Detroit public education issues. Their father, Daryl, works with Project Ceasefire, which aims to stop violence in the city. Both parents are pastors.
“Many of the residents of this city… they’re feeling hopeless,” says Daryl. “You may not be able to do anything about the DPS system as a whole. You may not be able to do anything in Lansing as a whole or anything like that. But you can always impact your children directly, even if that’s just picking up a book and reading.”
Imani joined Detroit Today in June to talk about her letter to lawmakers expressing her concerns and frustrations related to legislation meant to turn around the city’s schools.
To hear the entire conversation with the Harris family, click on the audio player above.
