Detroit teens take charge: Youth lead conversations with mayoral candidates

Teen HYPE: Voices of Detroit’s Youth takes an honest look at what young people in Detroit are facing — from school and safety to opportunity and belonging. Produced by Model D in partnership with Teen HYPE, the series invites readers to listen, learn, and reflect.

What could a bunch of teenagers possibly care about Detroit’s mayoral race? They can’t even vote. 

How much could they know about the issues facing the city? They have not been around long enough to know what’s what. 

Turns out, they know and care quite a bit.

On Oct. 16, local youth organization Teen HYPE, along with Skillman Youth, hosted an event called Candidate Conversations with mayoral candidates Mary Sheffield and Solomon Kinloch at the Detroit Public Theater. It was a chance for young people to ask questions important to them in front of a crowd of Detroit teenagers.

The topics might surprise those cynical about our nation’s youth.

This was not a debate. Sheffield and Kinloch came in and talked to the teenagers separately, with Sheffield leaving just before Kinloch arrived, each responding to questions without fear of contradiction.

While most questions were asked to both candidates, a few were tailored specifically toward a candidate, notably about how Kinloch, as a pastor, would represent people of other beliefs.

Topics varied considerably, but almost always, the kids connected it to their communities. Questions about safety referenced not being safe in their own home. One young lady who asked about gun violence mentioned concerns at her school earlier that week.

An unexpected question from a teenager was about gentrification, its unevenness in rebuilding the city. 

Tenth grader Tyriq Aaron grew up outside of downtown. He said the potholes in his neighborhood were never filled, and broken sidewalks were never fixed, while downtown always has smooth streets, and construction happens within two weeks.

“So, what steps would you take to make sure every neighborhood in Detroit receives equal attention and improvement in order to make two Detroits in one?” he asked.

Displacement in the name of gentrification was also discussed, specifically how it related to a pre-gentrified Cass Corridor, where hookers, heroin, and violence played a key role. 

Aaron acknowledged the importance of cleaning it up, but brought up the forgotten side.

Not everyone living in Cass Corridor back then was a criminal. Many residents who tried to stay were priced out, displaced, and lost their community due to gentrification. As the city is now growing again, he wanted to know how the candidates were going to keep more people from experiencing this in their neighborhoods.

For Lesya Johnson, a senior and youth leader of Teen HYPE, the big point of interest was mental health, a topic near and dear to her since she plans to make it her career. 

She wanted to know what would be done to make sure there would be enough mental health resources and that they would be widely accessible. 

School-related programs and youth employment programs were also big issues. The students pushed for longer periods for those employment programs and asked why many of these summer jobs the city helps kids find sometimes don’t begin until late July, when school is out in early June.

The group really responded when candidates talked about neighborhoods and community-based solutions to problems.

“It really stood out to me how intertwined every issue is,” says eleventh grader Lucy Stern. “Education connects to housing, to safety, to community investment. I also understood more clearly that progress takes more than one person or position. It requires collaboration across systems.”

These kids were not political junkies in adolescent bodies looking up interviews in between homeroom and gym. Taking part in the discussion awakened something in them.

“I never really paid attention to politics and what happens in Detroit, so this event made me pay attention to our environment more and whoever is elected as mayor on Nov. 4th,” says Aaron. “I plan to see if they stuck to their word.”

Before the event, Teen HYPE helped prepare the kids for the discussion.

Most were far more familiar with the role of the U.S. President than the city government, specifically how Detroit runs. 

“We had to give them a civics 101 class,” says Noran Alsabahi, Teen HYPE Youth Engagement Specialist and event organizer. 

Moderator and Bridge Detroit journalist Orlando Bailey also helped the teens refine their questions, sent them back for kids to rewrite and refocus so they would get the best answer. Bailey also taught them the best ways to ask the questions so their concerns would be on the minds of the city’s future mayor.

For her part, Alsabahi provided the necessary resources and any guidance they needed but allowed them to explore their topics and plan their questions on their own. As a result, the conversations were a reflection of the youth of Detroit.

That was the whole point.

As Asabahi said, “They are going to be running the city, let’s get the youth involved.”