This year, Michigan Radio is trying something new.
Instead of sending a reporter in to tell stories about MorningSide, we’re inviting the MorningSide community to tell their own stories.
From family histories to local happenings, we want to highlight narratives that feel true and honest to the people who experience the neighborhood every day.
I’m Imani Mixon, and I'll be working closely with resident storytellers to sharpen their audio production skills and create episodes for MorningSide 48224, a community podcast. After graduating from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and living in Chicago for a couple of years, I returned to my hometown to discover stories of neighborhood change. I’m motivated by what people hope, wish, and work for within their communities.
Did I mention that I’m from MorningSide?
Our first (and my favorite) family home was on East Outer Drive. MorningSide provided the landscape for some of my early milestones including my parent’s marriage, my baby sister’s arrival, and eventually letting go of our new house.
In this first installment of our podcast series, I talk about how the big developments in our household were dwarfed by the community-wide changes happening in 2001, specifically the housing market decline. Its wide-reaching effects still ripple through the neighborhood today.
Over the last few months, I’ve gotten reacquainted with the neighborhood by speaking with residents, some of whom are featured in the debut episode. We've talked about the obstacles and opportunities that the neighborhood presents.
Certain community concerns including foreclosure, education, business and residential development, employment, and safety come up in every conversation. We’ve also talked about why people are committed to staying in the neighborhood and what they would like to see in the future.
For the next year, I’ll be working with the people of MorningSide to develop and uplift their own stories in their own words for their neighbors. Our only assignment is tell a story from a community point of view, and that can come to life in so many different ways.
Under the direction of the voices that matter most, our community podcast aims to shift the perspective from third-person news reporting to first-person experiences.
MorningSide 48224, tell me more.
If you’re a MorningSide resident with a story to tell, MorningSide 48224 wants to hear from you! You can email Imani Mixon at: morningside@michiganradio.org. Or call: 313-640-2908.
Get episodes of MorningSide 48224 sent straight to your smartphone or computer. Just subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.
MorningSide 48224 is a project of Michigan Radio and the Detroit Journalism Cooperative. It gets support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
