Rooted In Community DTown 2015 Day 2 #RIC2015

Thursday was our day at D-Town farms run by the Detroit Black Security Network. When we got there the RIC planning crew set up breakfast and ate then we all played a big game of the Biggest Fan which is basically like a big game of rock, paper scissors where the person who wins becomes your cheering squad until the last person wins. After a rousing game of Biggest Fan, we then went on a tour of D-Town with Brother Kaddafi who gave a really great tour of the whole farm set up and Jaleel gave some information about the bees they have on site. Did you know that rubbing mud on a bee sting it takes the stink out?

Once they finished our tour of D-Town we grabbed lunch and boarded our busses to our respective tours. There were three tour options that where offered Oakland Avenue Artists Coalition & Incite Focus L3 Fab Lab, Feedom Freedom Urban Farm, and the Boggs Center.

Once our bus tours where over we all made our way back to D-Town for our group debrief. Everyone got into their tour groups first and discussed what they liked about the tours, what inspired them and what they would take back to their communities. They then got into home groups and debriefed about the various tours and then one person or a few people from each tour group would go up and tell us what they learned from their tour. Later after a catered dinner, we made a mini panel with some of the youth from Detroit Future Youth. They talked about the all the different things they do in Detroit Future Youth. One of the guys is an MC and using what he learns during his time with DFY to inspire youth. There was also another youth named Tigger who works at Earthworks Urban Farm and has been into farming since he was 6. Currently he works with little kids from 5-12 and is working on a farming card came for kids through the DFY. After the panel with Detroit Future Youth a few local folks came and rocked the farm stage for us with beautiful singing, guitar playing and spitting bars. Then we had a mini open mic with some of the RIC youth and then went back to campus after a long day.