Michigan Radio’s Morning Edition host Christina Shockley talks with Neil Woodward, the state troubadour, for our ongoing series “Three Things.”

Neil Woodward starts off by explaining what it means to be Michigan’s state troubadour. “The word troubadour describes somebody that sings songs that tell stories,” explains Woodward, adding that the histories of cultures and civilizations used to be passed down from generation to generation orally, through song and poetry. As Michigan’s troubadour, Woodward specializes in the history of the Great Lakes Region.

For his first idea for the state of Michigan, Neil Woodward encourages citizens to contemplate what’s important in their lives. “We can clearly be doing a better job of pulling together and taking care of each other,” says Woodward.

Perhaps most importantly, Woodward wants to remind residents to recognize what they have to be grateful for. “Take a look around,” says Woodward, “This beautiful corner of the world we call home; this is a unique part of the world: The Great Lakes. There’s no place in the world like this.”

Once residents have recognized what it is that they value, Woodward urges them to work to preserve and nurture those things. Whether it’s local businesses, the children in our communities, the natural world, senior citizens, or our own health, Woodward wants people to actively protect those things they hold dear. “It’s all about trying to plan for the future and trying to leave this world in some kind of shape for the people who are going to be picking up the pieces,” says Woodward.

Not surprisingly, Woodward focuses on the value of arts and cultural activities for his third idea. “There’s just a lot of positive energy that comes out of something like, um, oh, singing?” jokes Woodward. Singing and other forms of artistic expression are too important to be left to professionals, says Woodward. He wants everybody to sing whatever they feel comfortable singing, whether they’re home alone or in front of a crowd. “It’s just a very positive thing to be doing,” Woodward adds.

Mr. Woodward sees parallels between the current situation in Michigan and the atmosphere across America during the Great Depression. Referencing the music and art that was created during the darkest economic period in our nation’s history, Woodward says, “When we look back on those days, we have a wealth of cultural information and very valuable things out there that tell our stories and that are worth preserving.”

As our Three Things series continues, Michigan Radio’s Morning Edition host Christina Shockley speaks with Detroit-based hip hop artist Invincible.

Rather than simply offering three separate things to help Michigan, Invincible decided to present three stages of a single process that she thinks would be helpful for Michigan communities. Invincible credits Detroit Summer, a youth-led organization in Detroit, with introducing her to the three-step process.

The first phase of Invincible’s process involves the residents of a community collectively recognizing the most important issues in their community and understanding the nuances of those issues.

The second stage depends on creative problem solving to envision alternatives. For this stage, Invincible stresses the importance of recognizing the artistic potential in the ideas of each person, saying, “Imagine everybody in the state is an artist.”

The final stage uses the first two stages to inform the creation of an alternative community-led institution. Using this basic framework, Invincible gives examples of each step of the process as she’s experienced it with Detroit Summer.

Detroit Summer volunteers began by teaming up with youth who were considering dropping out of school and interviewing other youth who were experiencing problems with Detroit Public Schools. Invincible says, “They took all those interviews and started researching, you know, what were the root causes for those different issues.”

After gathering testimonies and research about the problems with the schools in Detroit, the youth began creating poetry, visual art, and music in which they expressed what they had learned. “Some of them weren’t even necessarily songwriters or poets,” says Invincible, “but they used that process to unlock certain solutions that they wouldn’t have been able to imagine otherwise.”

Finally, the students took what they had learned and built their own curriculum. As an example, Invincible says, “A lot of students are dropping out because they feel criminalized in the schools and are dealing with unfair suspensions. And so one of the alternatives that the youth are developing is alternative ways to create safety in the school and mediation processes and trust-building processes in the school.”

Invincible encourages Michigan residents to support and learn more about community-led groups like Detroit Summer, but also to start similar groups in their own communities if none exist. Invincible says, “Whether you’re a musician or a painter, or whether you can’t hold a note or you can’t even draw a stick-figure to save your life, you know, we all have to tap into our inner artist and come up with these creative solutions to not just fix the symptoms or put a Band-Aid on these deep-rooted problems, but to actually create a whole new vision we haven’t imagined yet that will completely transform ourselves and the state in the process.”