Yakini: Well, I’ve had dreadlocks for almost 30 years, so I don’t really frequent barber shops [laughs], but in the circles I run in, yes, it is being discussed. Even most recently, there was discussion just yesterday about busted water mains and about how there was one that busted by Campus Martius, and how quickly that was repaired, but there’s one on the city’s west side, which has been flooding the streets for more than two weeks, and there’s no relief for those residents. So there seem to be two sets of criteria in terms of how the city responds to things in these highly resourced areas and how they respond to things in the rest of the city.
MT: And that raises the issue of public policy decisions, and how they could help bridge that gap or in some ways exacerbate it.
Yakini: I would add that it’s important that people coming into the city spend their money consciously, because it’s possible to just spend money in these highly developed enclaves and not really spread that prosperity through the rest of the city. There are a number of businesses owned by African-Americans in the city of Detroit that are worthy of support by those moving into this community. I’ll start with, of course, D-Town Farm — I have a vested interest in that. We would certainly like people coming into the city of Detroit to visit D-Town Farm and get a greater understanding of the urban agricultural movement and how we’re using that as a lens, so to speak, to create social justice. But also you have places like Baker’s Keyboard Lounge on Livernois and Eight Mile, which is the world’s oldest jazz club. You have the Blue Nile restaurant, which is actually in Ferndale, outside the city limits of Detroit, but nonetheless an important, in this case, African-owned restaurant, which is simply a jewel in this community. You have Goodwell’s Natural Food Market on Willis near Cass that people should be familiar with and should support. And, of course, you have the Museum of African-American History, which is the largest African American museum in the country. So, all of those are the types of places that not only would newcomers benefit from in terms of their vision being expanded but also gives them the opportunity to spread some of the wealth that they may be bringing into Detroit, into communities and to institutions that are greatly in need of it.
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