August 6, 2012
Detroit is in rough shape. Almost everyone knows that Detroit has become the symbolic center of the recession, with everything threatening to go belly-up at any moment, and the looming threat of bankruptcy hanging over the entire city, which is almost impossible to fathom. Fortunately, while politicians haggle and companies crunch numbers, Joshua Smith—a 9-year-old Detroit resident—has decided to actually just do something practical: open a lemonade stand, make some money, donate all the proceeds to the City of Detroit. Which sounds very sweet and sort of naive until you read the part about Joshua raising a whopping $3,450 from his lemonade stand, getting donations from all over the world, hosting the members of the Michigan men's basketball team and earning a nice little $2,000 scholarship for down the road. "I'm really happy that a lot of people supported me," said the savvy businessman. “It was successful but tiring.” Successful but tiring sounds like as good a business model as anything, so let's hope Detroit's politicians are paying attention to Joshua Wise's shrewd strategy ...
3 Comments
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Jim Bob commented…
This is frustrating, and it is very sad to see something of this caliber and quality posted on Relevant Magazine's website. Yes, Detroit has been hit by hard times, and I will hand it to this youngster for earning a significant amount of money and being so generous as to donate it to Detroit. But would this be posted about a young boy in any other city? I would have to argue no, which is why this it is so frustrating that Relevant has posted this. The point of the matter is that Detroit has gained a certain negative stereotype from the American media. Relevant acknowledges this, but this post is only contributing to this negative image. Yes, Detroit is struggling, but it is really not all that bad. There is hope in this city, case in point is this story about a youth taking the initiative to invest in his own city, and there are people who love this community and have committed their lives to it. There are people in the city's government who care about the city as well and want to see it renewed. So please, Relevant, stop with the ignorance about Detroit. Stop feigning as if you deeply knew the city's problems. You don't know the city, and you don't know the politicians. You are supposed to be looking for the Gospel in our culture. Try to espouse and name the same hope in renewal that is evident in the Gospel you claim to profess instead of working against that very hope.
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Benh2o commented…
Negative? I don't know. Yes, Detroit has some hope. There are some significant nonprofits going strong. There are good things happening, though not as loud or as noticed as the bad. But this article isn't all that negative. It's showing a kid trying to make a difference. That, my friend, seems like hope. It seems like truth. It seems a lot like selling what he has and giving it to the poor. That sounds a lot like the gospel to me. When you take your personal ties, whatever they are, out of the story and hopefully see this is just a story about a boy that was doing what he could with what he had. Poorly written headline? Yup. Worth ruffled feathers? Not so sure.
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Jds3230 commented…
I don't think you adequately read my response. my friend. I certainly acknowledge that there is hope in this story: "There is hope in this city, case in point is this story about a youth
taking the initiative to invest in his own city, and there are people
who love this community and have committed their lives to it." The point that I am making, and what you overlook, is that this Relevant post is clearly not just about a boy doing what he can with what he has. Rather, it perpetuates a continued stereotype about the city of Detroit and makes assumptions about Detroit, assumptions that are unfair and outdated.
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