[1] In an interview, Grace Lee Boggs recounts being influenced by Martin Luther King, Jr., "He proposed that young people ‘in our dying cities’ needed programs that were designed to change themselves and their society.
"[1][4] The goal of Detroit Summer was to develop a program where area youth could learn to become leaders to help shape the city's future.
Boggs recounted, "our hope was that Detroit Summer would bring about a new vision and model of community activism- one that was particularly responsive to the new challenges posed by the conditions of life and struggle in the post-industrial city.
"[5] For Grace Lee Boggs, Detroit Summer was to be a space where local youth could learn through practice and through engaging with others from different generations of activists and educators.
[6] Public art projects engages school age children in efforts to beautify Detroit communities and imagine possible hopeful futures.