Running head: FLINT; THE CITY OF HOPE 1
Flint; The City of Hope
Elisabeth M. Hamilton
University of Michigan-Flint
FLINT; THE CITY OF HOPE 2
Growing up, people of every shape and size are constantly forced to deal with difficult
problems/situations. As a community, the people of Flint know a lot about this. Flint, MI is
constantly faced with negativity from the media and judgmental thoughts from those around
them. Flint, MI may seem like it’s falling to pieces, but it hasn’t always been like this. Flint, MI
has gone from one of the greatest cities in America, to one of the most dangerous cities. This
increase in danger has stemmed from there being poverty, lack of jobs, and a decreasing
population. However, even through all this destruction of a once great city, the people of Flint
have remained hopeful and continue to push through. Even through all these harsh times, the
civilians of Flint, MI haven’t given up. One prime example of this is the FlintFwd movement in
2016. The communities of Flint, MI pushed past the tough times and pulled together to spread
awareness of the conditions in Flint and promote the future of the city. FlintFwd was created by
Flint residents to help other Flint residents and bring support to one another while increasing
support from others. This movement did tremendous work towards the promotion of the city, and
it could have done a lot more had it continued. The FlintFwd movement ignited the city of Flint,
MI, however it did not do nearly as much as it could have to impact the city, and we must re-
light the movement’s spark to positively change the city of Flint, MI.
Originating in 1819, Flint, MI began as a trading post and developed into a well-known
city. Far before Flint was a center for the automotive industry, Flint was abundant in timber and
became a major agricultural center. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2016). This abundance of timber
led to the opening of the Durant-Dort Carriage company, making the city home to producing
more than 100,000 horse drawn carriages a year (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2016). This boom in
the horse-drawn carriage industry should not be a surprise, considering that Flint became the
center for automotive production shortly after. The companies producing the horse-drawn
FLINT; THE CITY OF HOPE 3
carriages became suppliers for Buick, giving Buick incentive to move from Detroit to Flint, and
thus began the economic boom that would takeover Flint. William C. Durant then chose to make
use of the cities resources, and opened the General Motors company in 1908 (Encyclopedia
Britannica, 2016). By the 1950s, this became the largest manufacturing complex for General
Motors and the 2nd largest manufacture of all automotive vehicles (Encyclopedia Britannica,
2016). This quick rise of the Flint brought families from all over to the city. The increased
production brought jobs, other businesses, and a purpose for communities to come to the city.
So, how did everything change? Sadly, in the late 1980s/early 1990s, General Motors relocated
(Encyclopedia Britannica, 2016), causing this economic boom to stop in its tracks. This began a
long decrease in the cities production, causing social and economic devastation to the city. So
quickly the city went from an expanding environment where everyone wanted to be, to the city
