11 Things I Loved About TEDxDetroit 2016

The day of TEDxDetroit has become one of my favorite days of the year here in Detroit. It’s always been a great day of infotainment, new experiences, inspirational moments, Detroit pride and a chance to reconnect with old friends. Yesterday was another great TEDxDetroit day. 

Coleman Young kicks things off. Not the man, but the Foundation. Some were surprised by not only the inclusion of Coleman Young’s legacy in the program, but the fact that it was the first thing on the agenda. After all, there are strong feelings – of love or hate – from those who lived through the Coleman years here in Detroit. Speaker Khary Turner, executive director or the Coleman A. Young Foundation, did a good job of outlining both the man and what he meant to the city of Detroit. He openly acknowledged the mixed feeling Detroiters have about him, but went on, in 8 minutes no less, to detail his legacy. We learned a lot of stuff we didn’t know about both Mayor Young’s personal life and how much he was able to get done for this city. I think a lot of people walked away with a new appreciation for the man. It was a bold move and a good start to the day. 

Detroit Bluegrass named Kentucky. If that was a surprise for the older folks in the crowd, I think Detroit bluegrass band Shine On Kentucky Moon was a surprise for the youth in attendance. I don’t think they knew there was a bluegrass element to the local music theme. I thought they were wonderful and enjoyed the performance very much personally. But some of the younger people looked confused or ambivalent about the whole thing. They did look and sound like a bunch of hillbillies. For those of us who grew up in rural Northern Michigan – we know Michigan hillbillies are a real thing. And these ones sounded real good.

The most entertaining talk of the day. For my money, that title belongs to Aaron James Draplin of Draplin Design. I didn’t actually learn anything about design, although I saw some good design. But Aaron’s rapid-fire trip through his personal journey from being born in Detroit to living now in Oregon and doing work for the likes of Obama and Bernie Sanders brought more actual LOL’s per minute than most comedy shows I’ve attended. When they post this year’s talks, make sure you watch this one!

A return to skill trades. Adam Genei of Mobsteel had an inspiring talk on how we lost a generation of people with the ability to create trade with their hands. He talked about how the 90’s lead us to believe we were becoming a service economy Many manufacturing left the country. So, when they started out to manufacture custom cars, some of the machinery needed wasn’t even available in this country. And a lot of the knowledge they needed rested in the heads of people who had since retired. The good news was, this cycle of manufacturing going overseas meant we could restart it here with a clean slate. And that’s what they’re doing, through hard work and perseverance. His ending message to the high school students in the crowd was, “We need the skill trades. Learn to do something with your hands, your minds, work hard and you will be successful.”

The most awesome science of the day. There were several good science-based talks this year. My favorite was from Dawn White founder of Accio Energy. They are creating a new way to tap wind energy with panels that require no moving parts like the wind turbines you’re used to seeing. They look more like solar panels. The screens pull electrons from microscopic water droplets that pass through them and then they create energy from these charges. Their goal is to change the world of wind energy and protect the planet. I like it.

Bringing down the house, part one: Kisma Jordan’s thunderous voice rang out across the crowd creating both a booming sound and silence all at once. Then a band appeared behind her as if by magic. If you get the chance to see her – do it!

The woman you most want as your neighbor. Shamanism Harris or Mama Shu as she invited us to call her, is an amazing woman doing amazing things for her community. She has so many job titles, you wonder when she has time to do all the amazing things she’s working on. She’s a minister, works with the Highland Park police, is their Chaplin, and oh, by the way, runs a little project called Avalon Village that is transforming her community in real, significant and inspiring ways. So much so that Ellen invited her onto her show and donated a $100k house to her project. They are working to bring their neighborhood back, reclaiming abandoned areas to create a park. Reclaiming abandoned homes to create a “homework house” where kids and safely work on their school projects in computer labs, a place to eat, to do laundry, to study, to connect with others in the community. Mama Shu said, “I want for my neighborhood what I want for myself. Instead of looking for a beautiful place, create one.” and told us all to persue our dreams and “have no fear.” 

3 amazing poets. TEDxDetroit featured three amazing poets, the youngest of them was only 15, who’s powerful spoken word performances brought chills and applause to the crowd. Zaria Ware, Wes Matthews and James Kaymore all shared very personal and moving thoughts on both their own experiences and our shared life in this world. 

Bringing down the house, part two. Mike Ellison also gave a moving spoken word performance, followed up by the most rowdy, get up on your feet and shake it performance of the day. When the full group hit the stage, they did it with a bang and in the most energetic way imaginable. I loved it. The crowd loved it. It shook everyone out of their late afternoon sleepiness. 

My misty eyes moment. I’ve always been a bit of theater geek. I met my wife in high school doing summer theater. But Katie Mann and Annie Klark have taken it to a new level with their 4th Wall Theater Company. They talked about how disabled kids don’t have a lot of extracurricular activities to choose from and how theater is a perfect fit. For instance, if you’re awkward social and aren’t sure how close you should stand to people, the blocking of theater teaches you where you should stand. They talked about one student came off stage and was happily gushing about how everyone was staring at her – because she was doing something good, not because she was different. And then they brought out their down syndrome choir to perform sign language interpretation while someone sang “why are there so many songs about rainbows.” The joy on those kids faces when they received a thunderous standing ovation was a special moment. Unfortunately my allergies must have acted up at that exact moment, because my eyes were suddenly a bit watery.  

There were so many other great talks and performances. I’m sorry I don’t have time to detail them all. I loved how Satori Shakoor’s Secret Society of Storytellers grew out of her Moth experience, how Lisa Waud’s flower house created beauty out of 2 homes bought for $500, how Eric Thomas showed love in his “I hate Detroit” talk, the magic of digitally preserving the Hiedleberg project by Dave Meeker’s photogrammetry/drone/virtual reality idea, the literal magic of Rick Lax and so much more. 

If you get the chance, watch the TEDxDetroit talks from this year. Or better yet, make sure you get there in person next year.Thanks to Charlie and his amazing crew for consistently giving us a great day in Detroit.

Mike McClure, still basking in the TEDx Detroit glow