Growing up in Flint, all I wanted to do was get out of there!

My senior year of undergrad, though, something changed. I began to see the city for what it could be rather than what it is portrayed as. I went to an ArtWalk. I started going to a local church. I explored the Farmer’s Market more thoroughly than before. In short, I realized how much I would miss it.

We have such a bad reputation that even those of us living in it feel there is no room for hope. That’s part of the reason I want to return to Flint and work there–to show people that, yes, we have our bad points, we might even be 90% in the gutter…but there’s still that 10% that shines, and that means that there is hope. I want to help to make people aware of this 10% and to work to make Flint a place we can truly be proud of. Because it can happen.

This blog, in addition to being a portfolio for my work as a library studies student and librarian, is also a tribute to my hometown. I combined these two in a recent assignment, where I observed people shopping at the Flint Farmer’s Market. The Market is part of that 10% that shines. I have been to many farmer’s markets, including well-to-do Ann Arbor’s market, and I still believe that Flint’s is the best. This is not just hometown bias, either. Go to the market and look around–you’ll see what I mean. If not, here’s my paper–I’m working on finding a Web 2.0 tool to render my drawing of the market more beautifully, but until then, here is what I have. I hope it makes you think twice about what you know about Flint.

observations