(WWJ) Welcome to “Voices of the Community” ….with Lloyd Jackson. Today Lloyd is speaking with Detroiter Denise Mitchell owner and operator of Denise Mitchell Day Care. Denise has been a Detroiter for 35 years and runs her business out of her home in Green Acres area of northwest Detroit.
This area has gone through many changes over the years in residents…it started off as a mostly Jewish area then not long after the 1967 rebellion there was what was called white flight to the suburbs. African Americans then start moving into the area but now in the last 10 years the area has become more diverse with blacks, whites, Asians and other minorities.
Denise says she has a talent to control a huge crowd of children and make it enjoyable and educational and that's why she decided to open up her day care in the neighborhood.
Denise feels Detroit has it all. She likes being close to the sports teams, theaters, and great great food all easily assessable. But their are some things she's like to see improved in Detroit like its school system which she feels is ways behind other districts and makes it difficult to recruit younger families to the city.
Denise says she's marched in Detroit since the death of George Floyd and the marches she's been involved in have been peaceful and makes her so proud to be a Detroiter. She says there should be no Federal intervention.
Denise feels when there was trouble during marches in Detroit that people were brought in to start trouble and those people were not Detroiters. She says Detroiters have a closer relationship with it's police which makes the situation different here than in other places across the country.
Growing up in northern Michigan Denise says when visitors come to town the first place she wants to take them to is Belle Isle because they come to Detroit thinking it looks one ways but are surprised by the beauty of the island.
Denise is married with two grown children and says she loves her community and neighbors and never thought of leaving the city during its tough times.