Therefore the youth movement in Detroit has not really begun yet but this is a chance for those of us who are between 18-30 and even those who are in their teenage years and can’t vote to get our actions together to put together a slate of candidates who can represent the interests of youth like us. The Youth Movement in Detroit must begin now and the more 47,000 college age Detroit voters who were registered for May's special election to replace the shamed Kwame Kilpatrick and restore order to the city need to show up and show out starting now if we are get people with a youth agenda in the City of Detroit into elected office. This is once in a lifetime opportunity and it must begin with us the youth of Detroit showing up and showing out come this November.
So if we the youth of Detroit want candidates who represent our interest and can be a voice for than we need to start now by making sure that we volunteer for those candidates who have been there for us the youth from day one. We need to make sure people who meet with us and who listen to our needs and have developed ideas and plans that can benefit us the youth of Detroit are elected to public office not just in this November election but in every election after. The trade winds are blowing in Detroit and some might call it the change winds but corruption and the status quo of government is changing which is opening up a door for us the youth of Detroit to have a sit at the table like never before. While the election of Kwame Kilpatrick as Detroit’s youngest mayor should have signaled that, it didn’t pan out as many of us in the youth movement would have thought because corruption and the status quo remained supreme.
Now that many city council members are under Federal investigation and with Kwame Kilpatrick going down in a scandal, Detroit seems ripe for the picking in terms of change. In fact the election of Barack Obama as President inspired a lot of youth across America to get involved in politics but that movement in Detroit should not end now, in fact it should be the beginning of it. We need learn that Detroit’s Youth Movement should begin like never before for so many of Detroit’s top notch falling by the way side due to scandals and corruption cases. This is the moment where Detroit can truly change for the better but it all starts with us the youth getting the right people in office like we did for Barack Obama. We need to work now through Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other social networking to engage our friends to show up and vote as well as volunteer for political campaigns in the city. This is the opportunity where we need to get out and meet the 18 individuals running for City Council and Charter Commission and the 8 who are running for School Board and get involved in their campaigns like we did for than Senator Obama.
Detroit’s Youth Movement must begin now and it must begin with us keeping our political momentum going by staying involved in the political process. For far too long the youth in America particularly in Detroit have been ignored but this is the moment where we can no longer be ignored. In fact this is the moment where Detroit can be changed forever if we only came out and voted because it is city and state politics that affect more so than national issues. It is city and state politics that usually raise our taxes and create laws that impact our day to day lives faster than Federal politics. So it makes me angry when I hear of the 47,000-plus young potential voters which are simply those 18-21, only 1,315 actually voted -- just 2.7%! By comparison, in 2005, when about 28,500 18- to 21-year-olds were registered, 10% turned out. Adding in voters aged 22-30, (there are 92,949) doesn't help much. Of 140,000 total registered voters aged 18-30, fewer than 5,000 voted in May. We represented less than 7% of the turnout -- and reflected the truth that senior citizens still run things in Detroit politics. The big vote -- 58% -- came from people older than 50; 36% of the voters were 60 and older, according to city election records.
So many people in the City of Detroit continue to ask where’s Detroit’s future when we didn’t turn out and vote in May Special Election for Mayor and we didn’t come out for the August primary. The official numbers of the youth vote for Detroit hasn’t been released but from all accounts, probably only 7% or less of the youth vote came out meaning those 18-30. Therefore where are us youth people, why haven’t we come out to show we want change in the City of Detroit like we did for President. Detroit's future needs to get involved now and those of us who are called the vibrant newbies who would rock the incumbents' worlds and give the city a brand-new start need to get involved in the political process right now if we are to determine Detroit’s future. It is time that we sent shock waves to the incumbency of Detroit that we aren’t going to stand for the status quo and we need to work to get people on City Council who understand our message and who are willing to apply it.
However the low turnout is particularly tragic for us the young people who are working hard now for Detroit's future. But we shouldn’t be surprised by the low turnout because most American’s still don’t understand that change starts at the local level and that all politics are local. In fact, Detroit’s low voter turnout is not nothing new for the city and the youth vote has never been relied on heavily in the past although some might expected that to change since there was so much enthusiasm for the presidential election. However that was not the case but in order for that same enthusiasm to carry over to what happens in the city of Detroit, we the youth must recreate that enthusiasm and energy we possessed. Those of us who are a part of the Youth Movement in Detroit need to take the same outreach steps we did for the Presidential election and we must engage our families, friends, neighbors and strangers through the social networking sites and in person like we did for Presidential election. The Youth Movement of Detroit does have a stake in Detroit’s future like never before because when you look at it, Detroit’s unemployment is 22%, its high school graduation rate is between 24-38%, its adult illiteracy is 55%, and its Bachelor's degree or higher is 11% while its Graduate or professional degree rate is 4.2%. So with numbers like that, Detroit’s Youth Movement must begin now. With numbers like that we do have a stake in this city like never before because we have to change Detroit’s economic future, school system and political climate. It is up to us the young people to put the right people in political office who will give us not just a sit at the table but a sit, a voice and a platform to speak on and be heard from.
We are not powerless as some in the City of Detroit would like for us to think but we are powerless when we don’t vote. This is our opportunity young people to change the political climate in the city for the better but it starts with us being involved in the political process and getting out there to vote and to turn our friends out to vote. It is local government that impacts us more so than national government and that is why must get out and vote. We might be new to politics in the City of Detroit but if there is one thing that none of us can deny is that if we vote and if we put the right people in political office that speak for us than we have a sit at the table, a voice and a platform to speak from that can no longer be ignored by any political candidate seeking public office in Detroit. However it starts with us voting in the same numbers like we did for the Presidential election. If there is one thing, we need to learn is that we are only powerless and disenfranchised in the City of Detroit when we don’t vote and we don’t show up to get involved. That’s why we must wake up young people and get involved now in Detroit’s future while it is ripe for the picking.
The Youth Movement in Detroit must begin now if we are to deal with the problems our city currently. If we are deal with Detroit’s high unemployment rate, high illiteracy rate, low graduation rate, low professional graduation rate, and high dropout rate than we must start by electing people to school board who care about youth in DPS. If we are to deal with these issues, we must elect people to city council who have innovative ideas that will not only build on our economy but diversify while balancing our city’s budget and providing better city services as well as quality of life in the city. If we are to deal with these problems than we need to get involved in Detroit’s politics right here, right now. We can’t wait any longer to see the change in Detroit that we want to see. We don’t have power if don’t use it and our greatest power is voting and making sure those who should be in office gets in office and those who shouldn’t get elected out. Voting is the most powerful weapon we as citizens have in terms of politics because if we don’t vote, we can’t change the political landscape in Detroit or anywhere and if the status quo knows that it will be a low vote turn out they believe that their job is safe. Then if we the youth of Detroit don’t vote than it gives political candidates even more of a reason to ignore us and our issues which is why we need to change this.
We are the sleeping giant in the city of Detroit and if the Youth Movement begins now than we can be forever awake in a city longing for real change. We can change Detroit’s politics but we have to get it in gear now because what’s on the horizon for Detroit can be a Youth Movement that changes the way Detroit thinks, Detroit acts, and Detroit believes. The Youth Movement in Detroit must know that this is our moment to push to the polls like our grandparents and great-grandparents did. If the huge 168-candidate council race didn’t turn out and the chance to elect new school board members as well as candidates for charter commission than what will turn us out young people. What will lead the charge for change in Detroit for us young people? Detroit is ripe for civil unrest. Look at the reality of the City of Detroit and why we are headed towards anarchy unless we the young people install real ideas, real solutions and innovation in a city longing for new blood.
Detroit has a never married rate of 43.6%, a now married rate of 31.2%, a separated rate of 4.2%, a widowed rate of 8.3%, and a divorced rate of 12.7%. Therefore where is the family atmosphere in Detroit? Where is the youth of Detroit running out to get married? Where is the youth scene in Detroit and where can we make our niche in Detroit if we don’t make it now? Detroit needs young families and we are the ones who can start this revitalization of Detroit by being ambassadors for our city. The Youth Movement in Detroit must begin now with Detroit ranking #1 in the nation in violent crime and Wayne County, Michigan, losing more than 89,000 residents from 2000 to 2006 -- a loss of 4 percent of the county's 2 million residents while a third of the population in Detroit lives in poverty. This is where we as the young people of Detroit come in at. We can create the solutions to Detroit’s public safety problem. We can be the police officers and law enforcement in the city that patrols our streets and build relationships with the community to fight crime. This is where we the Youth Movement of Detroit comes in at in terms of coming up with solutions to deal with poverty in the city as well as ways to attract new businesses to the area in order to repopulate not just Detroit but Wayne County, one of the biggest counties in Michigan.
With many of Detroit Public Schools not making AYP and the City of Detroit being $300 million in a deficit while DPS is $259 million deficit, it is no wonder why we the Youth Movement in Detroit can have a real chance of being involved in the political landscape in Detroit as well as the educational, economic, social and cultural landscape of the City. The Youth Movement in Detroit must begin now in order to deal with the budgetary issues plaguing our city and school system as well as to get rid of the corruption that is involved in our city government and school system so that the citizens of Detroit get the type of services it should be getting and the students of DPS are getting the type of education it should be getting. The Youth Movement is a part of DPS because all those students who attend DPS should be outraged that their school district is in a deficit while many of them don’t have toilet paper in their schools, their school buildings are falling apart and they don’t have up to date textbooks. That is why it is those 470,000 registered young voters in Detroit who put Obama in office who need to connect with the youngsters of DPS who can’t vote to start a revolution in Detroit that is built on solutions to the problems that plague us.
The Youth Movement in Detroit is the sleeping giant that can deal with how to repopulate the city that has gone from being a little over 1 million to now probably having a population of 700,000 or less. The Youth Movement in Detroit must begin now if we are to deal with the fact that the average price of a home is now $18,513 and it’s getting worse. Detroit is facing a crisis of epic proportions that officially puts Detroit statistically (and real term) on par with the great depression. Detroit has superseded New Orleans as the “worst city” in America…. but New Orleans had a Hurricane they could assign blame to… Detroit has no such natural disaster crutch. Therefore it is up to us, the Youth Movement of Detroit, those of us of high school age to 30 and even those 35 and under to take over the city to create solutions to problems that ail us. The Youth Movement in Detroit must begin now and we must wake up because Detroit’s future is in our hands not now but right now. Therefore if we don’t wake up now than when will we wake up to change Detroit’s political, cultural and social climate forever.
Most people don’t get second chances to change their lives yet alone a third, therefore young people, we don’t know if we will get second chance to change Detroit’s direction and to play a pivotal role in reshaping the city so now is our time. This is our moment to reshape Detroit’s history. This is our chance to re-energize impact and change Detroit in a world class city that all people can come to and achieve excellence. The Youth Movement of Detroit begins now and it can begin with us electing people to City Council, the Charter Commission, and the School Board who believe in what we believe in and who are willing to adopt our ideas, our policies and bring many of us as young people into the fold of city government in larger numbers than the Kilpatrick administration. The Youth Movement in Detroit must begin today and it must begin not now but right now. Therefore this is our moment, this is our chance and this is our opportunity so let’s not allow this moment, this chance, and this opportunity to slip through our hands because we don’t know when another one will emerge for us.
This is Detroit’s YOUTH MOVEMENT! I’m Involved & Ready, Are You?
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