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Then, of course, there is
the history of her family and their long-time involvement
with the city. In the 1950s, her grandfather, Horace
Sheffield, Jr, a noted civil rights leader, founded the
Detroit Trade Union Leadership Council, an organization that
led the effort to ensure the inclusion and advancement of
African Americans in the labor movement in general and the
UAW in particular.
Her father, Horace
Sheffield, III, is an ordained minister of some note in
Detroit. Mary Sheffield, also an ordained minister and the
youngest person ever elected to Detroit City Council when
she won her seat in November 2013, has a resume of community
activity that belies her youth.
She’s a board member of
the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and the Continuum of
Care, a member of the National Network to Combat Gun
Violence and of the People for the American Way’s Young
Elected Officials. She remains involved in outreach efforts
dealing with youth violence.
There are, in effect, many
ways in which Council Member Sheffield can help to make a
difference in the city she loves. “I want to be a part of
rebuilding and its revitalization,” she says of that
commitment.
Serving on City Council is
certainly not the only way in which Sheffield feels that she
can be a vital part of Detroit’s renaissance but “I
understand its very important role in that process.”
For Sheffield the process
of Detroit’s revitalization includes addressing, and
correcting, several key issues facing the city’s residents,
especially youth violence, education and inclusiveness.
The youth violence issue
is of primary concern and most of her work over the past
number of years has been focused on working with young
people to contain the devastation such violence causes. In a
city with slightly more than twice the population of Toledo,
there are, on average, 10 times the annual homicides.
Education draws a lot of
her attention because as she sees it, “the entire system is
dismantled.” The Detroit wreck of an educational system, of
course, and the epidemic of youth violence are not
unrelated.
Then there is the critical
issue of inclusiveness. So much of the emphasis on
rebuilding Detroit in recent years has been placed on
providing incentives to draw people into the city from other
parts of the country. “A lot of people feel as if they are
being pushed out, they feel excluded when so much is about
bringing people here. There’s resentment toward
non-residents,” says the council member.
Although Sheffield is at
the very start of her political career, it’s never too soon
to speculate on the long-term possibilities and wonder what
she has in mind for her future.
Another term on council,
to be sure, she says. Then it’s a matter of “where people
want me,” she says.
“I do want to continue to
serve in a capacity of local politics,” she adds. “I let my
spirit guide me. But I want to focus on problems and
solutions rather than on a particular position.” |
