Until this year, Detroiter Allen Jackson’s summers had been filled with sports. But at sixteen, the eleventh grader decided that this summer, it was time to get a job.
With the city’s unemployment at record highs, Jackson’s chances of finding a job would have been slim if it were not for the Summer Youth Employment Program. Instead of being frustrated and broke this summer, Jackson found himself in the middle of a surprising adventure.
“I thought I’d be assigned to work outside,” Jackson said of the day he signed up for the federally-funded employment program. “I never thought I’d be running a magazine.”
This summer, Jackson and 25 other teens landed at Young Detroiter magazine one of the creative job placements that City Connect Detroit, the program’s administrator.
“We will have placed 7,000 youth in jobs by the time the program ends in March 2010,” said City Connect CEO Geneva Williams. “All work experience is valuable. But in addition to traditional placements with government or non-profit agencies, we were looking for opportunities to expose youth to business, green technology and creative jobs.”
Young Detroiter Magazine was one of those creative work sites. The magazine was started in 2007 by Rosetta LaMar, a 19-year veteran of General Motors who left when the company was downsized.
“It has long been a dream of mine to give back to the youth of Detroit,” said LaMar. “When I saw how negatively the media was depicting Detroit’s kids, I thought I would start a magazine to counteract that image.”
Her magazine—a non-profit supported by advertising, sponsorships, grants and old-fashioned fundraising—is now in all Detroit public high schools, along with schools in Highland Park, Oak Park, Inkster and Southfield. LaMar hopes to one day own a string of youth magazines in various states, with Detroit as the headquarters.
This summer, she agreed to accept 25 randomly young people from SYEP and expose them to journalism. Jackson turned out to be one of the stars.
“Like some of the other kids, Allen had his own personal issues,” said LaMar. “But he chose to step up out of his circumstances and make himself a better person.  He was such a remarkable young man.”
Jackson felt that his experience on the basketball court helped him succeed this summer. “This is a team effort, just like sports,” said the Allen Academy High School student. “But this job also took me out of my shell.  It was my job to make assignments and keep them on a publication schedule. I had to keep everyone on track.”
Jackson had said he wanted to attend Michigan State University to become a dentist before his summer job. Now, he’s also considering a career in business.
LaMar was also impressed by 14-year-old Briana Moore. Unlike Jackson, Moore had journalism in her blood before she worked at Young Detroiter Magazine.
“I love magazines, and after watching reality shows and TMZ, I knew I wanted to work on a magazine,” said Moore, who exudes a maturity beyond her years.
Moore was surprised, however, to find her place on the magazine was not in editorial, but marketing. “I tried marketing because I love to sell things, but having to write press releases also uses my writing skills,” she said. “I liked the idea of having to protect the marketing image of the magazine.”
Moore is entering Martin Luther King, Jr. High School this fall with a newly-kindled passion. “They should make the experience longer,” she said. “I love this job; it’s so exciting.”
“I just talked to Briana and her mom,” said LaMar. “They’re waiting for me to find the funding so that I can hire her back into the program.”
It has been LaMar’s life dream to launch a vehicle to promote the positive experiences of youth in Detroit. So it’s no surprise that in volunteering to train a random sample of teens this summer, Lamar found exactly what she was looking for: plenty of hope and lots of promise.