My first short column in the Detroit Free Press is published today. It's part of a series I'll be writing from Nairobi. Here's the opening:
As a 30-year-old who chose to move to Detroit from Boston three years ago, I’m constantly asked, with varying degrees of bewilderment, “Why?” The short answer: I want to live in a city that is in the making, rather than one that is already made. While I’m fond of Boston, it’s a city that is overly comfortable in its habits, with little room to re-imagine how things are done.
Meanwhile, in Detroit, the do-it-yourself ethic is not only fueling the city, but creating a space that is nothing less than a laboratory to experiment with new models of what a “successful” city looks like.
[...]
In Detroit, it is the movement, the possibilities, and the process that is exciting to me. I came here to learn from it and in whatever way I can, to add my spark to the creative fire.
And this, too, is why I have ventured to Kenya. This East African nation is itself still in the making. The country has yet to celebrate its 50th anniversary and it only just recently approved a brand-new constitution. Demographically, Kenya is disproportionately young: 70% of its citizens are under the age of 30.
In the heart of a Michigan winter, I left for Nairobi, thanks to a Fulbright fellowship that is giving me six months to write and to facilitate writing workshops in Kenya's capital city.
In related news, the Freep got an overdue website redesign in the last week; it is a much cleaner, more professional, and easily navigable news source now. My kudos to the team that finally got that done.
Great intro Anna! Keep us posted when more installments come out. Mingi karama.
Posted by: Andy | February 01, 2011 at 08:31 PM