Invincible is talking here about “community-based conflict resolution” initiatives. One example in the D is the “Peace Zones for Life Program” put together by the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality. More info about Peace Zones for Life can be found here

Famed Detroit activist (and Detroit Summer co-founder) Grace Lee Boggs explained the story behind these “garden plots” in a 2011 profile:

Detroit…is creating [an] alternative — not in words but in action. There’s a group on the east side called Feed ‘Em Freedom Growers; if you don’t have food you can’t be free. Detroit has over 1,000 community gardens. Urban agriculture started very simply with some African-American women seeing some vacant lots. That’s how big changes take place, with small changes. Important changes always start from the bottom up. We think they come from the top, or start with millions of people. No, they start when some people respond to the historical context and do what needs to be done. That’s how revolution takes place

At least their hip-hoppers do:

Invincible

Elzhi

J Dilla

Black Milk

some white dude

Shout out to the homie Moses! Invincible here references Exodus 9:1:

Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me

She is critical of this style of politics, where one asks the powerful for change, and puns on the phrase “opportunity knocks” to advocate for a more direct action-based approach to social movements

Just remember that this ain’t a movie, dog!

Sunflowers are commonly planted in order to detoxify soil. The technique has been around at least since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986

That would likely be Detroit Summer co-founder Sharon “Shea” Howell. Hear an interview with Howell here about Detroit’s controversial “urban renewal” programs, which opponents like Howell see as a barely disguised land-grab

During Prohibition, Detroit was a huge center for bootlegging, due to its proximity to Canada. Also known as rum-running, the practice in the D involved “travel[ling] across the frozen Detroit River by car to Canada and back with trunk loads of alcohol.” Moving liquor between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit became so common that the route was known as the “Detroit-Windsor Funnel,” poking fun at the then-new Detroit-Windsor Tunnel

In recent years, there has been a huge push to build more casinos throughout Michigan. In January 2012, information came out about a planned petition drive to build between nine and eleven new casinos in various communities in the state

The D itself has three casino resort hotels – MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino, and Greektown Casino

Due in no small part to being the historic home of the United States auto industry, Detroit has poor air quality. According to the American Lung Association, the D is 17th most polluted city in the country by year-round particle pollution. Out of a population of about 5 million, almost 500,000 people have asthma