Stop Running. Start Rebuilding.

Detroit has always been the city where Black dreams took root — where Motown gave us a soundtrack, where John Conyers fought for reparations, where Coleman Young showed us what unapologetic Black leadership looks like. And yet, too often, when it comes to our neighborhoods, our people keep running — while others are running in; we need to start rebuilding.

For decades, Black Detroiters have been told that “success” means leaving. If you made it, you left the block. If you got a good job, you left the neighborhood. If you wanted safety or decent schools, you left for the suburbs. We were conditioned to believe that the only path forward was outside the communities that raised us.

Meanwhile, look around. The same homes, blocks, and corners our families abandoned are being bought up by white developers, Hispanic business owners, and outsiders with access to capital. They see opportunity where we’ve been taught to see only struggle. They see profit where we’ve been trained to see pain.

Let’s be clear: Black folks didn’t run because we don’t love our communities. We ran because survival demanded it. Redlining, over-taxation, disinvestment, crime, and failing schools pushed families out. But every time we leave, we give up more ground. We lose ownership. We lose leverage. And when we come back, the price tag has doubled — because somebody else has already claimed it.

We cannot keep playing the same game.

If Detroit is going to rise, we must rewrite the story. “Making it” can no longer mean abandoning the block. It must mean owning the block. It must mean transforming the corner store into a healthy food hub. It must mean turning abandoned schools into senior housing and youth rec centers. It must mean Hope Zones that make it economically smart to reinvest in Black neighborhoods.

We must flip the script. While others move in to harvest our culture, we must move back in to harvest our wealth. While outsiders see Detroit as an opportunity zone, we must see it as our inheritance.

Because here’s the truth: if we don’t invest in our neighborhoods, somebody else will. And once they do, they will own not only the land, but the power, the politics, and the future that should belong to us.

Detroit doesn’t need more runners. Detroit needs rebuilders. And the question we must ask ourselves is simple: will we keep running, or will we reclaim what was stolen and rebuild what was ours?

The time to choose is now.