Margaret Fornes
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At the third annual Detroit River Youth Career Expo last weekend, young adults along with their teachers and families came to the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority to learn about a variety of water-related education and career pathways. The recruiters and professionals at the event shared opportunities in sectors including maritime trades, STEM, health and education, culture, communication, and education. The 100+ students in attendance had a wide range of interests, skills, and backgrounds but all had one thing in common: their personal connections to the Detroit River.
In addition to a career expo where recruiters from various industries spoke with students, the event also included a special program featuring conversations with four notable “river people” from Detroit, who shared with students stories about both their work and their local communities’ relationships—past, present, and future—with the River. “We can always bring people together to make and grow power,” said Yolanda Jack, panelist and actor and community engagement manager at the Wright Museum in metro Detroit. “This water connects us all, no matter where we come from or what our stories are.”
The River People program was organized by U-M’s Detroit River Story Lab and the National Humanities Center as part of the second annual Being Human Festival spanning the month of April across the United States. “This space is a unique opportunity to have cross-disciplinary conversations and learn from professionals that work with the river in many different ways,” reflected Jason Young, Director of the Institute for the Humanities at the University of Michigan. “Having young people here is equally important, because intergenerational conversations are just as important as interdisciplinary conversations.”
Young, along with three other faculty from the University of Michigan, led conversations with the four River People alongside student representatives from the Detroit River Scholars Youth Leadership Council, who each spoke to their own relationships with the river, posed questions to the speakers, and responded to themes the River People highlighted. The students reflected on spending time with their parents and families around the river, reiterating the significance of the water through their stories, memories, and reflections.
Panelist, journalist, and author Anna Clark spoke to this in her writing, placing emphasis on the life-giving nature of freshwater in Michigan, but noting that “it also instills in us a responsibility to care for it that we cannot take for granted.” In addition, the panelists expressed similar excitement to focus on storytelling relating to the river. “There are a lot of technical things to talk about when you’re working with or doing research on the river, but to really breathe life into the work we need to tell stories about the river,” says Anishinaabe artist Hadassah GreenSky. “Even the stories we don’t think are important or seem small to the storyteller need to be told; that is how we form a connection to the river.”
Rochelle Danquah, an educator and historian focusing on the underground railroad and freedom-seeking in Michigan, stressed the importance of honesty and candidly telling stories to recount history. “We have to take up space in the narrative to contribute to the Detroit River story. All stories about the river need to be told honestly and without misinformation, a feat that is challenging with the existing fragmented narratives and documentation of historic freedom-seekers in Michigan.”
The students facilitating and in attendance seemed highly engaged with each of these discussions, sticking around after each of the four sessions to ask personal questions, learn more about the challenges today’s river stewards face, and envision their own future roles as River People in Detroit. As the youngest people in the room, the students, not surprisingly, focused many of their questions on the future, asking pointedly, “How do we prevent another crisis like Flint?” and “How can we do more to care for the Detroit River,” as well as picking the presenters’ brains about water shutoffs, social justice, and survival in challenging times.
Hadassah GreenSky provided some particularly memorable insights in response to students’ interest in connecting more meaningfully with the river. “Water cares for us the same way we care for water. To think about how we can best help, protect, and care for the river, we have to help ourselves first to bring the best we have to offer to the water.”
“With enough creativity, passion, and ingenuity,” added Jack, reflecting on what inspired her to make change with her career, “we can make everything have a strong impact.”
