I believe that public speaking is important, because it allows the ‘communication’ of effective messages, and messaging. It allows individuals, organizations and communities to be inspired — and then to rally together to move forward.
I enjoy speaking, but I have a problem with people who only speak, and yet do not act. We have a lot of this going on in society today. This is why I say, “Ph.D’s are good, but Ph.Do’s are even better.”
Detroit is a place — an American city — that is not only important to the residents of Detroit, it is important to America. It is at the very center of the American success story. The American ‘up from nothing’ story. The American ‘come back’ city story.
Detroit will come back. I promise you this. Detroit is across from Canada, as but one of the many attributes of Detroit and its surroundings.
The only question is when will Detroit come back, for whom, and with whom. The city center — the downtown — is already on its way back, with corporate investments and a young, educated, mostly mainstream populous finding comfort in the gritty substance of Detroit-center-city.
I am concerned with the rest of the city, and the balance of the city population. And this is why Operation HOPE and I, along with a growing list of HOPE Partners, have made real commitments to advance financial inclusion, and building an economy for all in and for Detroit. We call this vision Detroit Uplift 2020.
We have already opened one HOPE Inside location in Detroit, and we have growing, soon to be announced commitments for others.
This week I will return to Detroit, to speak before my friend Sandy Baruah’s Detroit Regional Chamber, Detroit Police Conference. Get more information on this important meeting of leaders here.
Following the Detroit Policy Conference, meetings with the mayor and other stakeholders in the city, I was asked to moderate an important Black History Month Program that evening for Detroit Public Television, American Black Journal and PBS, entitled “Closing the Wealth Gap.”
Let’s go…