An aging gardener in Detroit taught me something about adversity and transformation. He plants in abandon spaces and grows food for himself and the community including durable, nutritious crops like kale. He chooses them because they are sturdy in the face of rough conditions. When it frosts, they transform. These crops are made better by harshness and cold which triggers a flow of sweetness into the leaves. It is similar to the lessons available from bees: that patches of diverse plants provide nourishment for creatively intelligent creatures to produce a sweet harvest that can be enjoyed and shared generously with others.
Last November a frosty chill—an over leveraged landlord and light-rail construction—settled over 30+ creative entrepreneurs, forcing them to vacate their spaces in the landmark Chittenden & Eastman building on University Avenue. The good news? A developer with deep pockets will tend a neglected historic building and bring it to life with new residents. The bad news: those small businesses and some amazing talent moved out.
Believing innovation and productive creating will shape our future, 25 citizens representing several sectors mobilized. The goal? To stabilize and cultivate the conditions likely to produce ways for more people to make a living by their creative capacities, thus creating jobs for today and careers for tomorrow. It’s urgent now. Half the avenue is under construction; the retailers we buy our soup, coffee and services from have lost 25% of their business.
Those of us who live, work, and socialize here describe our area as having a vibe. A lot goes on behind humble walls and closed doors. We are busy as bees. In this hub between two urban centers coexist a high concentration of historic buildings, manufacturing and trucking companies, recyclers, small box retailers, nonprofits, charter schools, healing professionals, cultural organizations, restaurants, artists and creative entrepreneurs. Our intersection appreciates its history as a crossroads when Kasota wetland (located on the West side of 280 near Como Ave) was an oasis on the path that led the original people toward the prairies and hunting grounds, and wagons of pioneers headed westward on Territorial Road.
As we considered our options, we decided to launch plans for a Creative Enterprise Zone (CEZ). Our vision is that this Zone will be a livable, mixed-use neighborhood, recognized and sustained as a center of creativity and enterprise. http://sapcc.org/cezplan. This plan is not simply an attempt to hold on to what we’ve got, but to imagine and work toward a shared better future.
We named this effort a Zone because we understand that to thrive, we need a wide space with a combination of ideas and interventions. An article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review (http://www.ssireview.org/pdf/2011_WI_Feature_Kania.pdf) reports that non-profits and funders can limit results by relying on isolated approaches. A blog presents ideas and efforts worthy of study: http://thrivingtoo.typepad.com/thriving_too/2011/04/big-society-.html.
As we’ve worked, we’ve been learning to lead like bees. Bees do not pretend to be able to do their work alone. Rather they demonstrate shared vision, actively using efficient, regular communication. They engage in long range planning with short term strategies, and appreciate harmony, productivity, sustainability. By practicing interdependence they demonstrate a type of symbiosis known as mutualism which means an association between unlike organisms beneficial to each of the members. Instinctively adaptable, they keep it simple.They do not expend all their energy on one project. By distributing authority they also create a succession plan. Working for the good of the whole, they will make the ultimate sacrifice while working toward an expansive future. But they can’t tolerate poisons and many hives have suffered collapses.
The heavy equipment excavating the new infrastructure kicks up dust as we cross the ruts and holes on University Avenue. Rather than await frosts, dislocations or extinctions, we are choosing to strap on wings and buzz over barriers to find the sources that will feed our productivity. We’re excited for the potential of the sweetness of shared producing and look forward to others joining us in fulfilling the vision.
~ Catherine Reid Day is a guest contributor.
