{"id":4507,"date":"2026-02-15T21:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T21:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/15\/detroit-street-filling-station-launches-salon-series-with-imagine-doing-better\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T21:49:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T21:49:11","slug":"detroit-street-filling-station-launches-salon-series-with-imagine-doing-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/15\/detroit-street-filling-station-launches-salon-series-with-imagine-doing-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Detroit Street Filling Station launches salon series with \u2018Imagine Doing Better\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>About 30 people gathered at the vegan restaurant <a href=\"https:\/\/thelunchrooma2.com\/detroit-street-filling-station-1\">Detroit Street Filling Station<\/a> Tuesday evening to envision a better future with Paul J. Fleming, associate professor at the University of Michigan\u2019s School of Public Health, through stories from his newest book, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/pjfleming.com\/imaginebetter\">Imagine Doing Better<\/a>.\u201d The event kicked off the restaurant\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thelunchrooma2.com\/campaigns\/view-campaign\/CDae_-_mnl9LR18DdOZ8VZX5aGudbyl94hH2Jc8YAUwmzQn4w9k4Ge2rzaFTriNfSIwd4LGPwPzlHaU7ofb7B00vlG34KpSv#:~:text=WE%20ARE%20LAUNCHING,about%20important%20topics.\">new salon series<\/a> \u2014 a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intersectionalitytraining.com\/whats-a-salon\/\">space<\/a> for people with similar interests to exchange thoughts, ideas and opinions \u2014 which will bring various presenters to the restaurant.<\/p>\n<p>Fleming opened the talk by inviting audience members to describe their current thoughts on a better world.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we want to be building a better world, we need to start by imagining it,\u201d Fleming said. \u201cWe need to think about what is in that world. What systems exist? How do we treat each other, right? What does that better world look like?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To illustrate this, Fleming shared an anecdote from his life as a parent, recalling his son\u2019s first trip to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.homegoods.com\/\">HomeGoods<\/a> after the COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s sort of like seeing all this stuff, and he sees this very \u2014 what I would consider very small \u2014 toy aisle,\u201d Fleming said. \u201cBut to him, \u2018Oh, my God, look at all these toys,\u2019 right?\u201d Fleming said. \u201cHe had been limited to the toys in our house and a few different families that we were connected with during the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fleming said his son had a fixation on a plastic T-Rex toy Fleming thought was mediocre.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wasn\u2019t very impressed by the toy, but my son was very impressed,\u201d Fleming said. \u201cThat HomeGoods aisle was less than 1% of the things that this kid could have spent his money on, right? The world of possibilities for his money was much wider, but he was constrained in his thinking.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Fleming applied his experience with his son to the concept of constrained thinking and to examine how society works to solve issues. He said rethinking the factors that influence policy decisions is important in moving forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf our goal as a society is safety, then what are all the things that make us feel safe?\u201d Fleming said. \u201cIf our goal is health, what are all the things that contribute to us being healthy? This story really connects to the ways in which we all can be constrained in our thinking, to what we see in front of us, or what we have had in our own life or our own communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Fleming referenced the process behind <a href=\"https:\/\/www.house.mi.gov\/hfa\/PDF\/Alpha\/Ballot_Proposal_2018-2_VNP_Redistricting.pdf\">Michigan Ballot Proposal 2 of 2018<\/a>, which created an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/micrc\">Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission<\/a> to help prevent political gerrymandering in Michigan, as an example of applying consistent effort. He said when participating in advocacy efforts, continuing advocacy over time is more important than one big moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was going to take sustained organizing and sustained effort,\u201d Fleming said. \u201cWe need to be thinking about the marathon, not the sprint. The challenges facing us are so large (that they) can breathe a bit of hopelessness and frustration,\u00a0 but if we focus on what are the small steps that we can take it helps propel you along.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The event then opened up to group discussion. Audience member Marly Durst said people need to promote sustained change by encouraging others to reject the contribution of money to harmful corporations, eventually creating a shift in attitude.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to be more willing to have those conversations with people and reject it on an everyday basis, little by little,\u201d Durst said. \u201cThey\u2019ve got lots of money, but it takes a shift in consciousness of what\u2019s acceptable and what\u2019s not.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Detroit Street owner Phyllis Englebert compared <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/ann-arbor\/increased-ice-involvement-heightens-fear-sparking-policy-response-in-ann-arbor\/\">recent actions<\/a> by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ice.gov\/\">U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/a> to historical moments of inaction, such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/education\/lessons\/japanese-relocation\">World World II Japanese Internment Camps<\/a>. Englebert said audience members should reflect on the complacency of people in times of injustice and consider their historical implications.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cThere was no mass protest against (Japanese internment),\u201d Englebert said. \u201cWe let that happen, and those people are still dealing with intergenerational trauma all these years later. What would I have done if I was there during that time? Well, now it\u2019s our time, right? So what are we going to do? \u2026 Are we going to stop it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with The Michigan Daily, engineering lecturer Laura Murphy acknowledged the interdisciplinary responsibility for advocacy. Murphy said she feels there is a connection between social justice and engineering.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI teach equity-centered engineering for grad students,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cSo much of the conversations we\u2019re having are, \u2018How do we incorporate the sort of socio-technical perspectives into our work?\u2019 I feel like you can\u2019t be an engineer and not be thinking and talking about immigration at this time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After the event, Fleming told The Daily in an interview he hopes the event will build community and encourage people to continue mobilization efforts despite feelings of demotivation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI found a lot of energy in the room and was excited to connect with different folks,\u201d Fleming said. \u201cMy hope for this event is that people (will) better connect with their neighbors, with other folks in the community, and don\u2019t feel a sense of hopelessness and a sense of immobilization in this current moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-4    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><em>Daily Staff Reporter Rebecca Borlace can be reached at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/business\/detroit-street-filling-station-launches-salon-series-with-imagine-doing-better\/mailto:rborlace@umich.edu\"><em>rborlace@umich.edu<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About 30 people gathered at the vegan restaurant Detroit Street Filling Station Tuesday evening to envision a better future with Paul J. Fleming, associate professor at the University of Michigan\u2019s School of Public Health, through stories from his newest book, \u201cImagine Doing Better.\u201d The event kicked off the restaurant\u2019s new salon series \u2014 a space [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[208,2931,881,160,4252,623,4251,663],"class_list":{"0":"post-4507","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-detroit","9":"tag-filling","10":"tag-imagine","11":"tag-launches","12":"tag-salon","13":"tag-series","14":"tag-station","15":"tag-street"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4509,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4507\/revisions\/4509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}