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00:02what up though detroit we are back with another detroit culture shifters your girl lisha b
00:07having another conversation with an amazing young man who has been killing the game and i'm
00:12definitely excited to talk to him because some people talk about investing in detroit's future
00:16but this man is actually building on it from transforming bacon lots to community spaces to
00:21creating pathways for young leaders to creating a bookstore in his childhood neighborhood we are
00:26talking to the man juan howard how are you doing this morning what up though i'm doing well i'm super
00:32excited to talk to you because one you were nominated by a couple of people and then two i've
00:37just been following your journey with howard bookstore but before we get to howard and all of
00:43the things that you are doing in 2026 tell me about who juan is born and raised here in the
00:48city of
00:48detroit on the west side puritan and shaffer community i do a couple of different things i care about our
00:54youth i care about my neighborhood that i come from i care about the city and so i try to
00:58let
00:58my actions reflect what i care about and i feel like with everything that you do it encompasses
01:03education empowerment and community would you agree that's very yeah with those being the pillars of
01:09what you do in your life what was the first like call to it because i feel like this is
01:13a calling for
01:14you so what was that first moment where you were like no i think i found it i think i
01:18found where i
01:19want to be i think it's chapters too i think it's layered right uh back when i was in high
01:23school i
01:24took a debate class and it kind of changed what i wanted my career to be in high school i
01:28went to
01:29become a lawyer based on the trayvon martin case that had happened oh wow uh and so that was like
01:33the first i guess like seed that was planted uh but then i got to college and things shifted a
01:40little
01:40bit uh and then i wanted to buy back i grew up right there on puritan and cheyenne and my
01:47great
01:47grandparents owned the house there we lost the house during the whole tax foreclosure thing
01:52um the house got tore down so it was just empty land and this was i want to say 2018
01:59that i approached the city like hey i want to buy back this this property and i was going to
02:04make it
02:05into a community garden i started learning about the term nutrition desert food desert all those things
02:09and i felt like it would be a good way to pay homage to my family although the house wasn't
02:14there
02:14anymore the land was and it was owned by the city and uh those plans fell through and i'll tell
02:19that
02:19story another day um on why those plans fell through i wasn't able to get that but i think that
02:24was
02:24probably the first real right like you have power to change the conditions not only for yourself but
02:30for those who are in community with you and i love that you actually were hands-on about it because
02:37i
02:37think a lot of times people will think up of ideas but they don't actually put the work to
02:42actually figuring out how to do it and sometimes if you talk to the right people you can get to
02:47exactly where you want to be absolutely absolutely i don't think anything is out of reach
02:51yeah like no solution no idea no project it's all tangible and doable right and i hope that
02:57what i've been able to do up to this point in my life is an example of that you know
03:01what i'm saying
03:01i hear good solutions every day yeah by actually implementing them and i think that that just
03:07starts with a belief that you can do it correct you know i love that we also have the connection
03:12point of wanting to be lawyers and then pivoting yeah you want to be a lawyer too i wanted to
03:16be a
03:16juvenile justice lawyer okay but growing up um my grandmother actually had a community garden where
03:2290 of it went to other people that's dope and i share her name as my middle name and i
03:27always wanted
03:27to make sure that whatever i did was in service to people because that's how my family raised me my
03:32grandparents and my mother so i was like how can i do that but still love what i do to
03:36wake up every
03:37day yeah and that's why i chose radio because i love music and that's been a huge part of my
03:41family's
03:42history but then also being able to inspire and platform incredible people like yourself to you know
03:48show that there are people who look just like us making a difference so i'm super excited to just
03:54get to know your story and for everyone else to get to know your story because someone could be
03:59watching this right now and be inspired by something that you say yeah so i'm super excited
04:03so first of all let's talk about umoja okay for some people who don't know the the lineage of that
04:09word or may not know like kwanzaa at all could you explain absolutely umoja absolutely so the word
04:15umoja it's a swahili word and it means unity it is also the first principle of kwanzaa um and with
04:21kwanzaa the seven principles uh all kind of designed to uplift the black community here in the united
04:27states it started i want to say in california but it's kind of spiraled off it's a somewhat of a
04:33global celebration of our heritage of our culture and when i select the name umoja i started umoja
04:41debate team at the time the idea for it started in a notebook while i still was in college in
04:45my senior
04:46year at western michigan university the pandemic i graduated dead smack during the pandemic 2020
04:52and my goal up to that point was to go right into law school after undergrad but i did not
04:57want to
04:57do law school virtually yeah all classes were virtual at that time and so as i was waiting for
05:02them to lift the virtual hold on school so we can go back in person i hadn't taken the lc
05:07or anything
05:08i was just waiting yeah and i was reflecting as i think many of us were doing during the pandemic
05:13got a lot of time to think how did i get to this point i was i want to say
05:17i was never really shy
05:18but i was really chill and laid back i'm still pretty chill and laid back but uh i resorted back
05:23to my debate class and that kind of gave me the boost to do what i was doing at the
05:27time i was the
05:28president of the black student union come on now um i had led soldiers in the military i i had
05:34leadership positions on how did this somewhat chill laid back kid get to this point and debate was the
05:39origin of it so i was like what if i did that same thing that was given to me to
05:42more detroit youth but
05:44starting earlier i started when i was in 10th grade with debate umoja debate team started with
05:48sixth graders so i started kind of brainstorming what this debate team would look like i wanted to
05:55be very intentional with the name i wanted it to be like a cause sign to our people and what's
06:00blacker than umoja right right and uh and i was also inspired by nipsey hustle at the time to his
06:05brand the marathon continues i was just studying brands and studying names and they meant something
06:11you know whether you knew what the company or organization was the marathon continues it sends
06:18a call signed to you yeah i wanted umoja to do the same exact thing and as i was brainstorming
06:22umoja i was going to call it unity debate league i feel like unity is what our community needs
06:26it's like nah unity debate league is kind of corny and uh and i was like wow what about umoja
06:32and it also is a good way to make people curious about what the word actually means so people actually
06:36research it after hearing umoja debate league what does this word mean and then it kind of
06:41sends them down a spiral of their own education of it but that's kind of like the origin of how
06:45umoja the name came about and all the programming and the strategy and everything else rolled out
06:50right after i love that you made sure to still be a student because i think a lot of times
06:56people
06:57don't remember that to be a leader you have to be a student you can't teach someone what you don't
07:02know so the fact that you studied these brands you you identified you know their structure their
07:08mission and was like okay i like what they're doing now how can i make it my own so that
07:12people
07:12can feel the same way that i feel about like you said nipsey hustle because once you hear about that
07:16marathon you you're immediately thinking blue you're immediately thinking nipsey yeah so i love that
07:22you were able to use what you learned and then create it for umoja now i understand why debate is
07:28necessary because i loved my debate class in high school i think that's probably why so many of my family
07:34members thought i was going to be a good lawyer yeah but why was it debate that you chose and
07:39what
07:39do you think debate can do for people who are not even thinking about law as a field of study
07:45but like
07:45what do you think debate does for the youth that you partner with yeah so i think debate is a
07:49vehicle
07:50and the vehicle is a tool pretty much for disguise learning is what i call it so through debate in
07:58order
07:58to be a good debater you're going to be sharpening your critical thinking skills to be a good
08:02debate you must be quick on your feet you must understand the topic in a very very deep way
08:07so critical thinking is increased through debate that's been proven you know through studies your
08:12confidence as a speaker has been proven debate does that for you uh your conflict resolution skills
08:20is amplified through debate as well as the the the empathy that we need within our communities as well
08:26so for me debate again was a vehicle to get young people to all those different traits and
08:31and all these traits more importantly they're transferable these are all transferable skills
08:36once you're a critical thinker in the debate realm you apply that to other areas of your life as well
08:40right once you're confident enough to speak on a stage in front of a crowd or audience of your
08:44peers and parents and attorneys and everyone else you can do that anywhere you can advocate for yourself
08:49and for your peers once you understand how to resolve a conflict a debate is a disagreement
08:55there's two sides who disagree on something once you know how to resolve that conflict in a way that is
09:01intellectual when you go out into the neighborhood some arguments won't even be heightened that way
09:07because you have conflict resolution skills that you learn through the debate practice right and the
09:12most important one well they're all important i think they're all equally important so i won't say the
09:15most important but a big one is empathy we make in our debate we make our students debate both sides
09:20of an argument and so whether they agree with the topic or not they have to understand that side of
09:26it yeah that translates to what we see happening in our neighborhoods in our country overall right
09:31like people are on so far different sides right of everything but debate teaches you to kind of
09:37understand maybe not agree with what the other side is saying but maybe understand their perspective a
09:42little bit more than what you might have without debate so i think it's robust and the benefits that it
09:48provides a young mind i'm not just saying because i teach debate i don't know of another activity
09:53um that does all these things in a way that is disguised because everything i just named young
09:59person they might not tell you that they're gaining these skills right but they they enjoy arguing kids
10:04like to argue correct and through that we get them we hook them in with the fact they like to
10:09argue
10:09but now that you're in it you want to argue or to be good at it you're going to gain
10:13these skills along
10:14the way for me i didn't realize debate had that effect on my life until i was in college right
10:19as i was reflecting in 2020 i took the debate class when i was a sophomore that was like 2013
10:242014 or
10:25something like that right so i think the best education sometimes the one that you don't even
10:30know that you're getting i do agree because i feel like a lot of times when kids don't realize that
10:36they are in that teaching environment they are able to absorb it a lot more and i love that you
10:40hit on empathy because i do believe that in debate it's the point is to understand both sides you can
10:49only argue your case so much and you're really really a good debater or a good um what's litigator
10:56if you are able to see their perspective and then flip it yep and be able to do that on
11:02a drop of a
11:03dime because you're not going to know what they're saying ahead of time but knowing your comprehension
11:09what you've read and what you've researched but then being able to flip it and be like actually
11:14well thank you for that perspective but here's my rebuttal exactly i i love that that's the critical
11:19thinking aspect of it too right like you have to think deeper about it yeah like yeah you prepared
11:24these things it's these preparation so that's another important thing i think that translates you
11:28have to be prepared to be a good debater but but yeah you said it you get it it's it's
11:33incredible what
11:34you are doing now i know that you can't technically speak for the kids that you have worked with but
11:38what has been the um the best part about working with the kids is it them coming back and saying
11:44oh
11:45my god i didn't realize that you were teaching me these things or i don't want to speak for you
11:49but
11:49what has been that moment that has been really rewarding with having you moja so it's been some of
11:53that but it's also transformation um i believe that confidence is so critical to any in everything
12:01because if you're not confident about what you're doing or who you who you are what you're saying
12:06you know you can have the best messaging where if you're not confident and relaying it then it'll
12:09kind of fall on deaf ears to some extent right i've seen students in real time gain confidence
12:15i've seen young people who are stuttering and shaking and scared to death to get up and speak in front
12:21of
12:21a crowd and in two months you would think they're on the pathway to being a lawyer how strong how
12:27poised
12:27they were articulate um their posture is different to see that transformation in a couple of months
12:33um and i and i know umoja isn't the only factor in that right they have families they have coaches
12:40they have educators and everyone else who play a role of our ecosystem but i will say i think umoja
12:45played a good role in that but to see that transformation of confidence um instantly and this is just one
12:52instance right but umoja has a little bit over 400 kids in our program right now amazing 22 schools
12:59and that story can be told about pretty much any of our students we take them all too so there's
13:06no
13:07criteria to be a part of umoja there's no gotta be a 3.0 student no um whether you shy
13:14whether you're
13:15a straight a student or not whether you want to be a lawyer whatever the case might be if you
13:19want to
13:19be involved with debate we have a space for you um at umoja in particular at the school that we
13:24partner with so we take them all and so we've seen a little bit of everything i love that i
13:29love that
13:29you are able to meet them where they are and then they can elevate on their own time i think
13:34that's
13:35also the beauty of why i love theater and working with kids in theater because i can relate to that
13:40watching these kids come in not knowing how to read a script not knowing how to memorize and
13:44feeling really scared to perform in front of people but then what two three four weeks later
13:49you're like hold on now taraji is that you what's happening right now so i love that you are so
13:54hands-on in your kids and clearly just from the way that you're smiling about them you clearly are
13:58passionate about what you do so now because apparently you're a jack of all things now let's switch over
14:05to howard family bookstore as a book lover i got so excited when someone told me about the grand opening
14:10so walk me through why this bookstore was so important for you to take on yeah and i'm actually go
14:17back a little bit further first um i believe that youth development and community development
14:22have to go hand to hand they they literally have to as you develop a young mind you must develop
14:27the
14:28community that they live in as well and first umoja village was the first development i grew up on
14:35puritan i believe you start right in your backyard uh affect what you can affect change you can change
14:40you know act locally but think globally yeah it's kind of like the way i approach things
14:44come on jim so so the first so the first part of it of this community development piece was these
14:51three lots that we brought on we purchased on puritan and stansbury now i told the story a little bit
14:56earlier about i wanted to buy the lot that my family had to turn to a garden that fell through
15:01um a couple years later it became available we can buy three lots a couple blocks down the street
15:05from where i grew up on puritan and stansbury and we transformed lots it was blighted it was trash
15:10people were using as a dump site and we made it into what's now called umoja village it features a
15:15community garden it features a stage it features a community tool shed um features art that is made
15:21by our students summer camps are held there yoga sessions are held there art in the park gardening
15:26sessions earth day cleanups the whole nice hosted right there at umoja village so that was the first
15:32community development piece that's on puritan and stansbury one block and that we bought that land
15:37in 2022 2024 comes around one block over 13803 puritan 13803 puritan becomes available for purchase
15:46that is the home of what's now called the howard family bookstore so the village our garden is one block
15:52away from the bookstore wow and even kind of going back a little bit further i guess when i first
15:58came
15:58home from college back in 2021 i graduated 2020 december 2020 i came back home 2021 and i wanted
16:05to develop puritan so i wrote down periods and write down the address for all the abandoned buildings
16:09that i saw 13803 puritan was one of the abandoned buildings that i wrote down and so i called all
16:15these
16:15people that i see in the abandoned buildings i sent letters to them and everything i figured out who the
16:18owners were i didn't get a response something told me just to go back to that old notebook i write
16:23down
16:23everything so i'm right through the old notebook and i just googled the address again see what was up
16:30that building was for sale february of 2024 so i called my realtor and i said hey let's take a
16:37look
16:37at it this building was vacant for over two decades my entire life it has been vacant i used to
16:43walk past
16:43the building on my way to john r king middle school uh walk home passing it again my best friend
16:49lived on
16:49the same exact block and so i'm like let me just take a look at it and when i seen
16:54it it was in
16:55rough condition it was a it was an abandoned building right over 20 years uh but i was thinking
17:01to myself initially a coffee shop i think that those third spaces are you know essential to getting
17:08people together and where else will you meet your neighbors in that community there's nothing there
17:13right you know maybe like the churches and stuff but that's not everybody's jazz that's not what they do
17:18they want to do other things or meet other places as i walked through it i said okay coffee shop
17:24then i
17:24went home and i was just thinking about being a solution our literacy race here in detroit needs
17:29some work not just amongst young people but adults to everyone yeah everyone you know we can improve
17:35our literacy rates and that's not the idea for it's going to be a bookstore and coffee shop and it's
17:42right there next to umoja village um and it's going to be like a whole community hub that we're going
17:46to
17:47create so i made an offer you know they declined the offer we it was it was tug and pull
17:52for some
17:53time we agreed on a number and then june of 2024 we closed on 13803 puritan and then we got
18:00busy
18:01we got to work with the construction of it in august of 2024 and uh we opened up uh april
18:0825th 2026
18:09how does it feel to like because i don't even think that's manifestation like you wrote it down and
18:15you just made it happen like how do you feel now walking through those doors every day being like
18:21whoa this used to be like a a building that i walked by that didn't even think yeah could look
18:27and provide this for people like how does it feel to walk through those doors now it feels amazing it
18:32feels amazing it is so i can't i can't put into words um again i walked through that building many
18:41times
18:41when it was lifeless yeah literally when i say that but it wasn't no plumbing wasn't no electrical
18:47wasn't in the hvac you know i i think you've seen some of the photos of what it was before
18:52it was
18:53it was an abandoned building and to see kids laughing and reading and elderly people coming in and buying
19:01coffee and telling us how proud they are of this being in their neighborhood now
19:06i'm i'm a happy man i feel like i'm i'm this cheesy person that always thinks that like the
19:12if the walls could talk i feel like that building is was just waiting for joy to be back in
19:17it yeah
19:17because like you said i saw the the pictures you would have never i personally would have never
19:21imagined what it looks like now so just the fact that you said that there's laughter there's there's
19:27light and i love that you've created like you're building your block back like you're bringing
19:31this joy and you are cultivating something that people have been craving for i think third spaces
19:38are so needed especially what's been happening in the news with our youth where they're just going
19:43wherever they can go now they can literally walk down the street in their neighborhood and there's
19:49somewhere that they can go both umoja village and then hey let's walk down and get a book real quick
19:54guys yeah and the kids have really embraced i think one piece that i left out within a mile and
19:59a
19:59half radius of the bookstore there are six k-12 schools wow so there are six schools just within
20:06a mile and a half so that means a lot of kids are interacting with that space right they're walking
20:11past it where they're driving past it whatever that might look like they're interacting with that
20:16space and any given day after school you'll catch a bunch of kids in there doing their homework
20:22talking to my auntie who is the store manager messing around with the globe that we have there
20:27on the computer that we have available for them so they've embraced the space and i truly believe
20:33they feel like it's they have ownership of it yeah like they say like they say words like my bookstore
20:38like my neighborhood bookstore this is this is our you going to to the bookstore i think they have a
20:42sense of ownership of it which is important i think that's a big deal i think that's a lot of
20:48parts
20:48missing for a lot of um business owners i'll say is that they they don't allow the community to feel
20:55like they were with you and i think that you've done a really great job of walking people through
21:00and then also keeping it within where they can get to because it's also about access a lot of these
21:06kids can't just walk to a barnes and nobles or something because it's too far and they don't have
21:11the transportation but now they can literally access it by just walking on their two feet
21:16yep and and they see someone that comes from where they come from right that looks like them that has
21:22done it i believe that people in general but in particular young people engage with things they
21:28have close proximity to if there's close proximity to basketball courts you're going to produce a lot of
21:34hoopers right if there's proximity to theaters and acting class you're going to produce you know actors
21:40and actresses if there's bookstores that in close proximity then you're going to produce people who
21:46have a joy of reading with the right programs so you can't just put a building in you have to
21:49actually
21:50be able to reel them in with something that is tangible and makes sense for them right but ultimately
21:55if you put it there and you make it accessible for people they'll engage with it i love that and
22:01clearly the city loves it too because you've added another title to your repertoire but with 2026 being
22:07such a i'll just say i think that this word is not enough but this incredible like renaissance for
22:15you where you're you're essentially making everything that you envisioned into reality
22:21what do you want to see from this this hub that you've created because like you said it's like a
22:26six
22:26block radius or something yeah so what would you like to see done whether it's you creating it or
22:33whether there's someone else listening who might be like oh wait i actually have that idea like what
22:38would you love to see happen as you're building back the block essentially yeah so when i bought the
22:44building um i surveyed the community smart i asked people i said okay first you plan on putting a
22:51bookstore here what genre of books would you like to see is it autobiographies is it poetry is it
22:58children's books you tell us what you want to see and we're going to put that as our inventory
23:03the other questions i asked on that survey though were what is missing from this community
23:07what businesses are missing what organizations are missing and the top three responses that we got
23:12were a food option okay child care smart and a health clinic those were the three things that
23:21people told us that they want in that in that community so that's the answer i think that when
23:27community speaks we listen and that was that that's some of those things are in the pipeline i won't say
23:35too much but some of those things i mentioned um are in the pipeline to to be on puritan sooner
23:40than
23:40later i love that and i love that you said it plainly that if the community is telling you exactly
23:47what they want why not work to build that yeah that's when people start realizing wait no that's
23:53my bookstore no that's my clinic that's where i take my kids to the daycare like they feel ownership
23:59like you said because you listened to them and they felt heard and they felt seen and i think that
24:05what you have created is incredible it would be remiss of me to not talk about my my fave my
24:09girl dr
24:09lindsey who has a book in howard family bookstore was that also a huge draw for you to bring
24:17local arthur's and people who looked like us into the bookstore too yeah yeah that was really
24:22important um representation is extremely important period you know that's a full sentence right there
24:28and the fact that again young people are going to be coming into this space this is a bookstore it's
24:33a
24:34business so it has to be sustained it has to make money it has to generate revenue but that's just
24:39one
24:39of the the many goals and that goal isn't even as high on the totem pole some of the other
24:43things
24:43like inspiration yeah right i want people i want this to be a hub that plants seeds and future
24:49authors people pick up these books say i can do this too and so the local author component was huge
24:54in that aspect so many people who books we carry outside our bookstore they say wow this is i couldn't
25:00get inside this store but man i'm happy that this is here and again people come in they see i
25:06don't
25:06know when i was younger i would think that you know you hear new york times and you think like
25:12a young
25:12mind might think that authors come from new york right just just that correlation you know but
25:18not like they come from detroit too yeah they might be your neighbors they might be one of your teachers
25:24they might be your doctor who's writing these books and i think it just opens up their minds to be
25:29able
25:29to see themselves in it so the local author piece um has been really really important for us and it's
25:35been one of the best-selling uh you know categories or genres that we have inside of the bookstore
25:41so yeah super super important for us to include them and it's group economics right as we win
25:46everybody it's enough for everybody to eat we all we all can win and by sharing this platform
25:52we do a consignment model you know we all can win and no one takes losses that way i just
25:58love this
25:59community-centric mindset that you have and clearly the community is loving it too so with everything
26:05that you've done from umoja village to the debate league to now howard family bookstore and all of the
26:10amazing other entities that you will create in the near future it would be remiss of me to not
26:15celebrate someone who you feel is making incredible strides that was the purpose of creating this series
26:21a lot of people don't get the platform or the recognition and they're doing amazing things for
26:26our kids our family for the community and i wanted to make a platform that for those people not just
26:32the
26:32politicians or the big names that we see in the news every day so is there anyone who you feel
26:37as
26:38though is really pushing the culture forward or is giving back to the community in a major way that
26:42you would want to see here on the platform oh it's so many people you can name them all go
26:47ahead
26:48keith butler okay keith butler comes to mind he has detroit boys mentoring uh keith is amazing
26:56uh zeke from new era detroit um i think you should interview dr lindsey archer and that's my girl i'm
27:04waiting for her to get off of her busy schedule yeah and maybe maybe we'll get that sooner rather than
27:10later you have miss harrelin she's over the michigan liberian association they do a lot of good work
27:15i'll stop there because i don't want to keep going and leave people out and people be mad at me
27:20and
27:20everything but oh wait one more daniel washington okay daniel washington he's the executive director
27:27of northwest goldberg cares and this brother is building parks in the neighborhood that he grew
27:33up in and he's renovating homes in the neighborhood he grew up in yeah he's he's doing his thing with
27:38it
27:38um but i can send you this is so many people but see just these five names are are the
27:44reason why i
27:45created this platform because i mean i know dr lindsey archer and but i i'm not privy to these
27:51other men and women so it's just like this is what i why i created this platform so that people
27:56just
27:56like yourself and these these men and women are able to have that moment to be like wow i have
28:02that
28:02recognition the city sees me the people see me even though they probably already get that love but i
28:06want it to be on an amplified space and i want to give my love to them as well so
28:10first and foremost
28:12thank you so much for being here i think again i've said it like 8 000 times during this episode
28:17i am super super proud of what you have done appreciate you so many people have literally
28:21sent your name to me being like if you don't get this man on this show you're doing it wrong
28:26and i
28:26said okay period as you said i'm gonna listen to the community because when the community speaks we
28:30listen yeah so thank you for being here let everyone know where they can find you and your businesses
28:35absolutely so uh you can find me on instagram at jerwan.howard j-e-r-j-u-a-n.howard
28:42uh h-o-w-a-r-d
28:44you can find umoja debate league on instagram facebook our website is www.umojadebate
28:50u-m-o-j-a-d-e-b-a-t-e.org umoja debate league is our hashtag on uh
28:57well not hashtag but our tag on
28:59instagram and everything else and then last but not least the howard family bookstore
29:03on instagram and facebook as well i appreciate you thank you for being here and i will catch
29:09y'all for the next episode of detroit culture shifters
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