Hey Everyone,
So we’ve been back from the Youth Bike Summit for four days and we haven’t said anything. WHAT HAVE WE BEEN DOING? Well, we drove all day on Monday so Tuesday involved a lot of sleeping. The past few days have been getting back to work here at the shop and reflection on what we saw at the Summit.
I wanted to take a moment to let you know that the trip was a great success! We were able to take four of our youth from the shop to participate in the summit. They met and were able to collaborate with youth from Chicago, Boston, Philly, St. Paul, NYC and other cities from around the country. We were able to put Detroit on the map!
Heather and myself are still writing and comparing notes. Just like our youth, we were able to learn from folks of all ages about the projects they are working on across the country. The summit was affirming, validating and encouraging to continue the important work we are doing. Bikes have always been important in Detroit. Car culture has worked hard to hide this history from us, but the tide is changing. Things are looking up, but Back Alley Bikes won’t rest until we see youth helping lead this change. Bicycles are the vehicles of youth who cannot obtain or afford a drivers license. For many of us, it is our first feeling of freedom at a young age.
The conference reminded us we aren’t alone in this work and reinforced that what we are doing is working. Now we have to do the work of formalizing our ideas and creating a concrete path.
In other words…there will be more updates once we all compare notes. Speaking of that, each of our youth were given the homework of writing up a summary of their experiences and naming one thing they will do to make Detroit a more bicycle friendly place for youth.
On the ride home in the van they spoke about getting the word out to more youth at their school. Considering how many youth are in Detroit and there was only four of them that got to experience the summit this year, they have a lot of sharing to.
Another idea that was brought up by Ian, was bringing the youth from Chicago’s West Town Bikes here to come ride with us. Over and over at the summit we heard stories and advice to start with the youth that are already sold on bicycling. By partnering with our friends at Southwest Rides and also bringing youth here to visit from West Town Bikes, our group of bike excited youth will be a force that cannot be ignored. All the youth that are on the fence about participating will definitely pay attention. Even if more youth don’t join us, we’ll have a good time keeping in contact with our MidWestern neighbors in Southwest Detroit and farther away in Chicago. We’ll see what else they come up with.
I know that I promised more photos but it turns out that when you are participating in workshops you don’t think about taking photos too much. I know Omari, a budding photographer, took some good shots he is going to share with me soon so watch out for those.
Alright, so check the website next week to see those write ups from our youth. Hopefully they turn their homework in on time…
If you(th) are interesting in attending the Youth Bike Summit 2015
First thing you should do is check out their website: youthbikesummit.org to get more information. It was announced that next years summit will be in Seattle (hosted by Bike Works).
At Back Alley Bikes we plan to open this opportunity up to more youth that participate in our programs. We plan to offer a few scholarships that youth can apply for next fall to attend the summit for free. This is a part of our commitment to develop youth leaders here in Detroit. Due to funding restraints we will only be able to offer so many scholarships. However, at the same time that the scholarship applications are released we will let folks know how much it will cost to send additional youth with our shop. This way those that can afford it or are able to do their own fundraising can also attend. Of course if you have ideas for raising additional funds so more youth can go with us please let us know!
Here’s to the past, present and future!
– jason x