Lettie-Ann Miller, a Detroit teenager who likes to wear her hair in multiple colors, grew up with a negative impression of her neighborhood.  

Fifteen-year-old Lettie-Ann was planning to leave the city as soon as she graduated from Osborn Math, Science and Technology High School where she is a sophomore carrying a 4.0 grade point average.

But that was before her involvement with Our Life in the D, the innovative journalism and youth leadership development project launched by Michigan’s Children in 2010. “Before I didn’t know much about Detroit,” she said. “I just thought it was a place where I lived. Now I consider it more like a home.”

Lettie-Ann is one of the dozen youths in the Our Life in the D program, teens who are learning to ask questions, explore solutions for issues facing children and families in Detroit and to write compellingly from their points of view in an accurate and fair manner.

According to OLiD’s managing editor, China Cochran, Lettie-Ann has blossomed from a smart, but shy 14-year-old into an active and engaged member of her community.  

“She knew that when she grew up, she wanted to leave Detroit but being in the program she learned more about” the city, Cochran said. “And she wants to be here. If she goes away to college she wants to come back to help Detroit and make a positive impact.”

Lettie-Ann already is having a positive impact on the Osborn community, said Wayne Ramocan, program coordinator for the Osborn Neighborhood Alliance. “Lettie-Ann, particularly over the last summer, has been covering our stories and doing a lot of stuff. That’s why we felt it was so important to recognize her for that.”

Just before Thanksgiving, the ONA gave Lettie-Ann its Youth Community Leader award as part of the Osborn Community Pride Week. Lettie-Ann’s stories appear on the OLiD website – www.ourlifeinthed.com – and in the Osborn Voice community newsletter.

“There has been a difference in how people are responding” to the youths voices participating in OLiD, Ramocan said. “We’ve been partnering with Our Life in the D and China and Danielle (Daguio, the OLiD assistant editor) and the kids. We’re using it as a catalyst to: One, strengthen our partnerships in the area; and, two, to tell stories and disseminate information through the Osborn Voice; and, three, with Our Life in the D’s goals to really share those positive stories.”

Lettie-Ann also was honored on November 19 by the National Congress of Black Women – Greater Detroit Chapter for her accomplishments that include honor roll status at Osborn MST, her work with OLiD, and her “compelling opinion piece on her first experience taking the bus” in Detroit, according to the NCBW.                                                                      
 

State Rep. Alberta Tinsley-Talabi and Lettie-Ann

“Our Life in the D taught me stuff about journalism and I was able to do better in school,” she said. “I was a good writer before but the teachers said since I got into the program that my writing in school has improved. … With Our Life in the D I got to learn about discovering different neighborhoods in Detroit, and I got to find out more about the mayor and City Council and things like that.”

Detroit Councilmember JoAnn Watson and Lettie-Ann

Since the program launched its website in November 2010, the OLiD journalists have posted more than 115 stories and eight You Tube videos, and they have engaged in numerous community events and forums.

Lettie-Ann joins several young OLiD journalists who have been recognized in their communities and by other organizations for their work, their commitment to improving their communities, and for their potential as future leaders.