Community Engagement : Videos

After all the talk of Detroit becoming a hotbed of innovation and inspiration, the first-ever #UIXDET conference set out to show it during a three-day large-scale idea exchange featuring innovators from across the country. See for yourself! Video by Iron Coast Video. read on…

For the last 3 years, UIX has been documenting the growing movement of artists, makers, entrepreneurs and innovators leading creative neighborhood transformation in Detroit. In this look back, photographer Doug Coombe shares some of the people, projects & places he has captured along the way. Want the full experience? Join us at #UIXDET Sept 24-26, 2014 in Detroit. Music: "Baptism" by Passalacqua, off their new album CHURCH. read on…

Interested in Detroit creativity and innovation? September is the time to dive in. Join us for Detroit Design Festival (September 23-28), Urban Innovation Exchange (September 24-26), Dlectricity (September 26-27), and Meeting of the Minds (September 30-October 2). For more info, visit http://UIXDetroit.com/events. Video by DLECTRICITY. read on…

Dan Kinkead, director of projects of the Detroit Future City (DFC) Implementation Office, discusses the future of Detroit Future City and how his team is taking the next steps from strategic framework study to physical implementation. Video by DETROIT LIVES! read on…

Writer, teacher and MIT Media Fellow Shaka Senghor recently gave the last talk of Session 10 on "Passion" at TED2014, receiving a standing ovation from the national audience. While we wait for the footage, here's a video from Senghor's earlier talk at TEDxMidwest, which starts with a literal bang: When he was 19, he shot and killed another man. At the time, he was a young drug dealer “with a quick temper and a semi-automatic pistol.” Senghor says that the “23 years since have been a story of apology, acknowledgement and atonement.” read on…

Recycle Here! was formed in 2005 to address the need for recycling options in the City of Detroit. What began as a grassroots neighborhood recycling event has evolved into a city-wide, fully-funded, neighborhood recycling program. As founder Matthew Naimi says here in the video, "It's one of the most Detroit things you're ever gonna see." Video by DETROIT LIVES! read on…

To those who think Detroit is closed for business, Avalon International Breads owner Jackie Victor says think again. Jackie opened her organic bakery in Detroit's Midtown in 1997 and she's seen a lot of changes in the city during the past 17 years, with more changes still to come. read on…

For our last issue of 2013, we're taking a look back at one of our favorite videos from the first two years of UIX. In case you missed it the first time, here is Amy Kaherl from Detroit SOUP talking about their monthly fundraising dinner to support local projects. Video by DETROIT LIVES!  read on…

Khalil Ligon is the project manager of the Lower Eastside Action Plan (LEAP), a grassroots community organization that seeks to address land use issues and development planning on Detroit's lower-east side. Video by DETROIT LIVES!read on…

Erik Howard is the co-founder of Young Nation, a non-profit organization that promotes holistic development of youth in urban settings through building relationships, community education, and passion-driven projects. See him and several other UIX innovators on Friday, April 12 starting at 5:30 p.m. at MoCAD as UIX celebrates our one-year anniversary with a special UIX+ArtXDetroit discussion on placemaking. Video by DETROIT LIVES! for Detroit Creative Corridor Center. read on…

Chazz Miller is founder and director of Public Art Workz (P.A.W.S.), an organization in northwest Detroit creating innovative public art projects that inspire and encourage community participation, and the artistic visionary who joined John George and Alicia Marion to create Artist Village, the micro-neighborhood that is headquarters to Motor City Blight Busters. Video by DETROIT LIVES! for Detroit Creative Corridor Center. read on…

Kiva Detroit co-founder Rishi Jaitly talks about his work with Kiva Detroit and the Knight Foundation at the Revitalization & Business Initiative's Detroit Shift conference, held at the University of Michigan's School of Business is association with Model D's IdeaLab. Video by RB Conference.read on…

John George, founder of Motor City Blight Busters, says enough with all the talking: "Get off your ass and do something." Which is exactly how Blight Busters came to be. Tired of a house in his neighborhood being used as a crack house, he took it upon himself to board it up. Since then the nonprofit has boarded up, secured, demolished, rebuilt, repainted or otherwise positively impacted some 1,500 houses in the city with 120,000 volunteers logging almost 700,000 hours. You want change? Do it yourself. Video by DETROIT LIVES!read on…

The North End is one of Detroit's outer-lying communities that was hard-hit by decades of disinvestment, but the Vanguard CDC works hard every day towards education development, community development and economic development in the North End community so that everyone has "an on-ramp" to join "the prosperity highway." Video by DETROIT LIVES!read on…

How do you promote a greater understanding of Detroit's shared history and empower the next generation of changemakers? Soh Suzuki of Detroit Asian Youth (DAY) Project shares his work to engage young people through community projects. Video by DETROIT LIVES! read on…