#FlintFwd

FLINT, MI - Is it just me, or is there something positive in the air?

Hi, my name is Rob. I’m a 32-year-old dude from Flint, Michigan, and I love this city.

Flint has been the butt end of the joke for as long as I can remember. We’ve gone through financial turmoil, the branding of the “Murder Capital”, the Water Crisis, and so many other problems, all while the rest of the country at large has sat by and watched us struggle. But in that struggle, something really fucking cool has happened: our sense of community is returning.

As a white boy, raised alongside the black community my entire life, I was so proud to see Sheriff Swanson and our city come together to show actual solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Sheriff Swanson understood the assignment, as did the community.

While we are still working our way through the Water Crisis, over the last couple of years there has been a noticeable “vibe shift” downtown. The community—US—has been hard at work. New businesses are opening under new and young ownership. The Blight Removal project has been doing a great job of removing old homes and buildings while working on initiatives to connect our neighborhoods with clean and safe walkways. We are even in the middle of getting our own state park.

That brings us to today. We are in the most important election of my lifetime, and our choices are a convicted felon and a strong black woman… and somehow the country is struggling with this. What? How? It’s simple: ignorance. The thought that somehow if these marginalized groups are doing better for themselves, I, a white man, will suffer. That is not true. How do I know this? I am living it right now in the City of Flint. Black Lives Matter and everyone deserves to have a seat at the table. Period.

Here is my pitch: let’s keep moving #FlintFWD and be loud about it. My plan for the Flint City Times is to highlight small businesses, business owners, discuss city projects, local events, and to showcase the art and food that Flint has to offer. I want to help build community, foster positive growth, and provide the outside world with a snapshot of the positivity going on here.

Yes, like everywhere else, we have our problems. But while the country seems to struggle with an identity crisis, I don’t feel that same uncertainty here. We know who we are, and I couldn’t be prouder. Let’s help raise our community together, let’s support the businesses owned downtown, let’s show up to our town halls, let’s support our arts and artists. We are such a strong, culturally diverse community at a point in time when America needs to remember itself.

Let’s remind them.

Rob