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📸 “Transportation is a civil right. Mobility in Detroit is very important because we have so many people who don’t have access to information, or goods, and getting around from neighborhood to neighborhood is very difficult. The fares have recently increased by 50 cents for the buses and for many Detroiters who are below poverty line, it’s a huge amount to them. It’s about being able to get around and provide for your family. And access to better education and jobs. I’ve been advocating for improvements in mass transit and making sure that mobility is equitable, affordable, and easy to access. It all starts with grassroots – holding our elected officials accountable.”⁠

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📸 “It’s all about balance – exercise, physical, mental- everything.”"

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📸 “It’s nothing the music scene in Detroit – it’s very professional, top notch. A lot of famous musicians like Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars – their musical directors come from Detroit. We kinda have that special touch that you can’t get anywhere else."

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📸 “It’s nice being downtown in the middle of summer, it’s the perfect time to be down here. You haven’t always been able to do this in Detroit – it’s nice to be part of the revitalization.”

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📸 “I can’t stand the cold. I hate it, hate it hate it. I’m going back down south as soon as I save enough money by selling buttons. In the winter time I hate this area. I don’t like the snow. I don’t like the cold. I left in January, came back in June and there was STILL snow. There’s constant cold, never a warm day. I’m doing the best I can.”

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📸“He’s really funny. He knows how to make me laugh.”⁠ “Apart from looks, I love her personality.”

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📸"No comment." ⁠

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📸 Part 2 of 2: “Kids come up in broken homes then go on to break into homes. Sometimes all they know is violence and anger. Violence begets violence which begets mental illness which begets more violence. Learning how to break that cycle is tough without having a family support system. One of the biggest issues is parents that don't want to have the appearance of their kids not being normal. A kid might be having a problem and a social worker wants to tell the parents and they’re like “no, that's not my kid. He's fine. He just needs more sleep.” Or something crazy like that. When, no -- he's actually depressed, suffering from PTSD, or highly stressed out.⁠ We’re trying to do something about it at the Center for Youth Development. We do suicide prevention in high schools around Detroit. Suicide is a big thing that nobody wants to talk about. Every time I go into a classroom, I ask the kids, “Do you know somebody whose talked about or committed suicide?” And at least 75 to 80 percent of them raise their hand. It's a problem in the city that nobody's really trying to talk about but that we are trying to address.”

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📸 Part 1 of 2: “It’s not normal for people to be robbed, it’s not normal for people to be shot, for their friends to be shot or to live near violence. But these sorts of things are normal in the City. People experience them and just go on about their days. It all might not manifest itself that day, but the symptoms of PTSD are very wide ranged. Depression, all this stuff runs rampant. And there’s not a lot of mental health services here. In the black community, especially among black males, they shoulder the burden of the whole world on themselves and don't know who to turn to and don't know how to turn to people. It's a combination of not wanting to ask for help, help not being available, and not knowing how to ask for help. People don’t talk about it. Nobody wants to admit to being depressed or suffering from mental health issues. Or how messed up it is that they know somebody that got robbed, shot, killed. People don't want to appear weak. People don't want to appear, you know, not normal.”