Next Up: Thirsty Thursday- January 16 at Blackstone's- 5-7 pm
Robert McMahan, left, and Duncan Beagle, right.
Genesee County's Potential Semiconductor Industry- A Conversation with Dr. Robert McMahan
Our speaker was Dr. Robert McMahan, president of Kettering University. He spoke primarily about the semiconductor plant planned for Mundy Twp. He said Kettering’s involvement in the proposed facility is based around workforce training and development. Kettering received a
gift of software that is used to create semiconductors. The gift will enable the University to train young engineers on the use of the software.
McMahan said that the semiconductor plant has the potential to be multi-generationally transformative for Genesee County. It would be the largest semiconductor plant in the US, costing $50 billion and projected to be five times the size of Buick City.
He said the plant would create between eight and 10,0000 jobs directly associated with the facility that will be built in stages over about 20 years. Once complete it has a 40-50-year useful life. The goal is to have the first stage of the facility come online in 2029, and then successive phases of the plant would be built and come online with the latest technology for each phase, helping to keep it up-to-date and relevant.
The location on Hill Road near Jennings has access to heavy duty power, water from the Karegnondi Water system and heavy-duty grade roads. McMahan admitted there has been some opposition to the project locally, but that if the project receives the requested CHPS funding from the federal government, then it will move forward.
Concerns include the high volume of water needed to produce semiconductors and pollution from plant waste.
Kearsley St. Week- Friday, January 24 at noon at the Food Bank
New Member Introductions
On Friday, January 10, the Rotary Club of Flint introduced two members. Heather Marko was sponsored by Joe Fioroni and works in financial services. Among the things she shared about herself, she is a proud resident of Mott Park and lives in a house (the only one in the area) designed by Alden B. Dow.
We also welcomed Jennifer Conkright, who was sponsored by Dawn Hibbard and works at Mott Community College as a student success coach. Jennifer has a passion for social justice and enjoys the connections she makes with students.
When you see Jennifer and Heather in the coming weeks, please be sure to introduce yourself and make them feel at home!
Heather Marko, left, and Jennifer Conkright, right.
Calling All Crocheters!
Do you know how to crochet? If so, you can be part of a fun service project to share that skill with young people!
The Gloria Coles Flint Public Library is looking for people who crochet to help kids learn this skill. The program will take place on every Tuesday in April at 4 pm (that's April 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29). If you are interested, please reach out to Ann Marie Van Duyne.
MLK Day
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day will be observed on January 20. His "I Have a Dream" speech is one of the most widely-celebrated speeches in our nation's history, and there is at least one line that most people can recite by heart- "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
Sometimes, that line is read to mean that we should not see color- that it is virtuous to be "colorblind." An outgrowth of that notion is that we should not see or talk about race, or the racialized experiences people have of discrimination and prejudice. Another extension of that idea is that we should not look at history, policy, or conditions through the eyes of racialized experience.
However, a full reading of the text of the I Have a Dream speech shows that Dr. King believed it was vital to talk about race, to understand the racialized conditions we live in-- and to use that understanding as the basis for making positive change.
Here's a less-quoted excerpt.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?"
We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.
We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.
We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one.
We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for whites only."
We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.
No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
The full text is worth reading- and you can do that at the link below.