Students process fresh garlic at D-Town Farm during a cohort day in July

Semester in Detroit's 25th cohort is wrapping up their time in Detroit this week after another fruitful semester of learning, living, and interning in the city. Throughout their internships, our students did everything from troubleshooting and maintaining a new urban garden to sitting in on Street Outreach Court sessions. We're very grateful to the following organizations for hosting our group of 12 students (listed below) this summer.

 

In addition to their regular internship hours, the cohort spent Fridays in July volunteering with two community partner organizations as part of their Cohort Days. At the United Community Housing Coalition, students canvassed in northeast neighborhoods of Detroit for the Make It Home program to help residents stay in their homes. At D-Town Farm, students pulled garlic and beets and learned about food sovereignty with the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network.

Students help build raised garden beds at Birwood House's Gathering Space as part of Stephen Ward's class

SiD Faculty Director, Stephen Ward, introduced a new elective this spring, Theory and Practice of Visionary Organizing, which rooted students in the work of James and Grace Lee Boggs and explored their legacy and lineage in the city of Detroit. Students in Stephen’s class spent time learning from organizations such as Birwood House, Feedom Freedom Growers, the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership, and Detroit is Different. These rich experiences led to final projects in which students explored the work of the community partners and put their ideas into practice by developing projects that embodied visionary organizing.

Outside of classes and internships,, this cohort has spent their time enjoying weekly potlucks, attending Riverwise Magazine’s community events and drawing at Creative Roots studio’s Queer Figure Drawing nights among many other activities. We are grateful for the time these students spent challenging themselves in the program throughout the summer, and look forward to welcoming them to the SiD alumni community after their student showcase this Friday, July 29th!