detroit - Jezebel

posts about #detroit more →
How Gardening Could Save Detroit: Amanda Rosman, Urban Education Pioneer
Pregnant Patrols

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

Dsmvwl Admin Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×

nyc-caribbean-ragazza
08/12/09

In reply to How Gardening Could Save Detroit: Amanda Rosman, Urban Education Pioneer
This interview was incredible. There is so much negative news these days.
It's great to read about someone who is passionate and making a difference from the ground up.
The inner cities do have a lot of problems. The Amandas of the world are part of the solution.
Reply

Alessar promoted this comment

Amanda313
08/12/09

In reply to How Gardening Could Save Detroit: Amanda Rosman, Urban Education Pioneer
Thanks for all of the positive feedback! I am so grateful to Doree for helping bring our project into the open (understatement of the year). I think it's great that featuring "interesting women" in her post can highlight the work of so many people in the community. Again, thanks for the feedback, but I want to recognize that I'm one of a group of five, including the lovely Julia Putnam, whose name was not included but whose dedication and work are integral to the project.
Reply

Doree Shafrir promoted this comment Amanda313 was starred Amanda313 was unstarred

MorvenSnookie
08/11/09

In reply to How Gardening Could Save Detroit: Amanda Rosman, Urban Education Pioneer
This is Nate Walker (working with Julia, Frank, Al, and Amanda) on the Boggs Educational Center. If you have more specific questions or comments about our project please visit our blog www.projecteducation.wordpress.com and comment under the post announcing this article. Thanks!
Reply

Doree Shafrir promoted this comment MorvenSnookie was starred MorvenSnookie was unstarred

SallySassyPants
08/11/09

In reply to How Gardening Could Save Detroit: Amanda Rosman, Urban Education Pioneer
What an amazing interview! I am so inspired by everything that is going on in Detroit right now. I've started doing urban gardening with Earthworks in Downtown Detroit and have really loved seeing what changing the landscape of the city can do for community. I would love to meet Amanda - I will have to keep my eyes out for her!
Reply

Doree Shafrir promoted this comment SallySassyPants was starred SallySassyPants was unstarred

kolea
08/11/09

In reply to How Gardening Could Save Detroit: Amanda Rosman, Urban Education Pioneer
This is so great! It is awesome to see education reform independently and from the ground up so to speak. (no pun intended) It seems urban farming, or any form of agricultural sustainability really doesn't seem to get enough play in schools or communities outside of rural areas. I'm really excited about the Boggs Center's progress. Congratulations!
Reply

AnnoyingFemaleLeadVoiceover promoted this comment Edited by kolea at 08/11/09 5:21 PM kolea was starred kolea was unstarred

dj_chick
08/11/09

In reply to How Gardening Could Save Detroit: Amanda Rosman, Urban Education Pioneer
Wow, Amanda is an inspiration! Three degrees, a kid, a full time teaching job, AND trying to improve education? Way to go. ;)
Reply

Doree Shafrir promoted this comment dj_chick was starred dj_chick was unstarred

AnnataMarcus
08/11/09

In reply to How Gardening Could Save Detroit: Amanda Rosman, Urban Education Pioneer
Hi from Amanda's sister: Amanda is on a lion safari right now in Oregon with her son. She is so excited by these comments. She'll get online and respond as soon as she can!
Reply

Yitzhak promoted this comment AnnataMarcus was starred AnnataMarcus was unstarred

bluebears
08/11/09

@AnnataMarcus: oh cool!
Reply

bluebears was starred bluebears was unstarred

EquityDreamer
08/11/09

In reply to How Gardening Could Save Detroit: Amanda Rosman, Urban Education Pioneer
Wow, this interview is so inspiring. I've been taking night classes to acquire my BA in order to get into teacher's college for 4 years now, while working full time. It's tough, but I thought it would be worth it to "make a difference".
However, the more I've been reading about standardized testing in school systems it's been making me wonder if I want to contribute to this rigid form of "education". This story reminded me that we can make a difference by forging a new path. I wish the founders the best of luck and I am impressed by their determination and innovative ideas!
Reply

Doree Shafrir promoted this comment Little Time Bomb approved this comment EquityDreamer was starred EquityDreamer was unstarred

bluebears
08/11/09

In reply to How Gardening Could Save Detroit: Amanda Rosman, Urban Education Pioneer
It's sad that after an overwhelmingly positive interview some people feel the need to respond with the same old tired "Detroit sucks" jokes.
Reply

bluebears was starred bluebears was unstarred

stacyinbean
08/11/09

@bluebears: It's almost like it's just natural to say at this point, I grew up there and still catch myself making comments that are similar. Definitely doesn't help anybody out, but it's also tough to be positive when half your family has been hired, fired, re-hired, re-fired, re-hired, and then laid off in the past five years.
Reply

stacyinbean was starred stacyinbean was unstarred

Little Time Bomb
08/11/09

@bluebears: I thought the same thing. It's like people read the article and then mised the entire point. I think it's wonderful to read about the community building efforts of people in a struggling city.(Which I have to admit is also always going to be my city)
Reply

Little Time Bomb was starred Little Time Bomb was unstarred

bluebears
08/11/09

@stacyinbean: yeah but that has nothing to do with the actual city of Detroit. Thats a state-wide problem.
Reply

bluebears was starred bluebears was unstarred

TheEternalOptimist
08/11/09

@bluebears: Thank you for saying that. Detroit does not suck. It is a city with a lot of problems, but we are doing our best to overcome them. There is still a lot of good here.
Reply

TheEternalOptimist was starred

angryblackgurl
08/11/09

@TheEternalOptimist: Thank you, I was born and raised in Detroit(now in NYC), and to dismiss this city that has been in a economic depression for many years...is terrible, and insensitive especially for all the wonderful people, that are just struggling to survive in a city that is scorned by the entire US. Thank you Amanda for not giving up!!!
Reply

angryblackgurl was starred angryblackgurl was unstarred

lurkystars
08/11/09

In reply to How Gardening Could Save Detroit: Amanda Rosman, Urban Education Pioneer
Thanks, Doree, for such a great interview. It's not often that Detroit gets any national attention for something positive. Yesterday, a news clip came out that a Wayne State University physician discovered a cancer vaccine, but I don't know if anyone actually saw that.
As a Detroiter, I can absolutely confirm that Detroit needs a lot of work, yes, but a little encouragement to those who are actually trying to do something positive means everything. And there are more positive things going on than one might think.
Reply

Little Time Bomb promoted this comment lurkystars was starred lurkystars was unstarred

Little Time Bomb
08/11/09

@lurkystars: love from one Detroit area Jezzie to another!
Reply

Little Time Bomb was starred Little Time Bomb was unstarred

bluebears
08/11/09

@Little Time Bomb: :)
Reply

bluebears was starred bluebears was unstarred

bluebears
08/11/09

In reply to How Gardening Could Save Detroit: Amanda Rosman, Urban Education Pioneer
Dorree I love this new feature. Great interview! I have a question I don't know if Ms. Rosman could answer in the comments. I'd love to know what she thinks about the current situation with the DPS (I read today that Bobb is getting ready to announce criminal charges) and whether she had any indication of the level of waste and corruption while she was employed there.
Reply

Edited by bluebears at 08/11/09 3:32 PM bluebears was starred bluebears was unstarred

funnyface
08/11/09

In reply to How Gardening Could Save Detroit: Amanda Rosman, Urban Education Pioneer
I love this. I'm all into things like this right now. Have read a lot about Geoffrey Canada and the Harlem Children's Zone. And my husband is currently involved in a research project with an inner city elementary where they've implemented just having PE every single day before the kids' hardest class, and serving them good food. It's improved grades, cut down on discipline problems, and has been entirely financed by businesses in the community. I'm really excited about new ways of thinking in education.
Reply

funnyface was starred funnyface was unstarred

anonymousryan
08/11/09

In reply to How Gardening Could Save Detroit: Amanda Rosman, Urban Education Pioneer
I admire the commitment, I couldn't help but be cynical in a place like Detroit. That place is a world class shit-hole. The best thing they can do is give the children a chance to go to college and escape the sucking depression of Detroit.
Reply

Little Time Bomb promoted this comment anonymousryan was starred anonymousryan was unstarred

Little Time Bomb
08/11/09

@anonymousryan: Wow on so many levels. I can't be alone among the Detroit Jezzies in finding this statement off base. I think you may have missed the entire point of this article. It is in fact about the exact opposite, building a community so that Detroit has something to offer its children. One of these is a hopeful viewpoint based in love... the other isn't. Guess which side you're on.
Reply

Little Time Bomb was starred Little Time Bomb was unstarred

anonymousryan
08/11/09

@Little Time Bomb: I had.. negative experiences in Detroit. Needless to say, I really respect what she's doing and wish I cared that much about anything.

But you can educate kids all you want, the prospects for jobs in Detroit are dismal. Then again, if Detroit started producing stellar graduates jobs might move there. You'll have to excuse me for being cynical about that, though.
Reply

anonymousryan was starred anonymousryan was unstarred

TheEternalOptimist
08/11/09

@anonymousryan: You need to live here BEFORE you can make any comments like that. Who cares that you had a bad experience here. This place still has good in it, and good people too. Next time you're here, maybe find a fellow Jezzie to show you around.
Reply

TheEternalOptimist was starred

lilliputzian
08/11/09

In reply to How Gardening Could Save Detroit: Amanda Rosman, Urban Education Pioneer
can anything save detroit? besides, given their proclivity for burning things down i think we should all be exhorting urban detroit farmers to stop using slash and burn agriculture. seriously though, i hope something goes right for detroit. they've been backsliding for the last 50 years.
Reply

Little Time Bomb promoted this comment lilliputzian was starred lilliputzian was unstarred

Little Time Bomb
08/11/09

@lilliputzian: "Given their proclivity for burning things down" I assume you're referring to the Devil's night fires? Those peaked over two decades ago in 1984. Since that time Detroit's efforts to curb the problem have become a widely acknowledged success. The city used a pretty amazing model of community participation.
Fires in the city now mostly fall into three types ; families unable to pay for winter heating using dangerous alternative methods, neighbors torching abandon buildings the city wont tear down, and abandon homes occupied for various purposes catching fire.
Please don't make cheap generalizations about a place that others are fighting passionately to keep alive and vital.
Reply

Little Time Bomb was starred Little Time Bomb was unstarred

Fancy Pants
08/11/09

@lilliputzian: Your generalizations are tired and twenty years old. Detroit does not have "they" problems; these are "we" problems that affect all Americans.
For those who want to learn more about Detroit and how to help, there was a great article in The Urbanophile recently. I encourage everyone to read The Origins of the Urban Crisis by Thomas Sugrue to really understand how we have failed this city.
Reply

Doree Shafrir promoted this comment Fancy Pants was starred Fancy Pants was unstarred

envirodesigner
08/11/09

In reply to How Gardening Could Save Detroit: Amanda Rosman, Urban Education Pioneer
As an environmental designer I approve of urban gardens, they're a good way of bringing in local food and foster a sense of community. You just have to make sure the soil is clean (no sewage or pollution) so that it won't leach off into the food.
Reply

stacyinbean promoted this comment envirodesigner was starred envirodesigner was unstarred

thisispaisley
08/11/09

@envirodesigner: that's why they're gardening in raised beds, all of the soil in Detroit is filled with lead.
Reply

stacyinbean promoted this comment thisispaisley was starred thisispaisley was unstarred

envirodesigner
08/11/09

@thisispaisley: oh that is not good, but a nice simple (and probably cheap) solution.
Reply

envirodesigner was starred envirodesigner was unstarred

Earlier discussions Other discussions Show all discussions Show featured discussions only Start a new discussion

#detroit

Jezebel

SUBSCRIBE TO Jezebel

How Gardening Could Save Detroit: Amanda Rosman, Urban Education Pioneer

Pregnant Patrols

Login

Reset Password

Register

Submit Your Comment