Highland Park’s Mama Shu nominated for CNN’s Hero of the Year award

Detroiters can submit ten votes a day until Dec. 5 to help Mama Shu win the award and $100,000 prize

By Layla McMurtrie

Nov 15, 2023 at 1:21 pm

Image: Mama Shu was named one of CNN’s top ten heroes of 2023.

Mama Shu was named one of CNN’s top ten heroes of 2023. Avalon Village

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Since 2009, Shamayim “Mama Shu” Harris has channeled the grief of losing her sons into beautifying Highland Park’s Avalon Village.

Now, her work has earned her a place in CNN’s “Top Ten Heroes of 2023” and a spot in the running for “Hero of the Year,” as well as the $100,000 prize that comes along with it.

“I feel absolutely honored to have a space in the top 10,” she says. “I’m happy for Avalon Village and I’m excited for Highland Park, Michigan.”

In 2016, Mama Shu launched the Avalon Village nonprofit to transform vacant and abandoned land in the city from “Blight to Beauty,” starting on Avalon Street between Woodward and Second Avenues. She purchased dozens of abandoned lots and provided needed services for local youth. After cleaning up the area for years, Shu wanted to continue that work on a larger scale, inspiring community members in other local neighborhoods to do the same.

Along with national recognition for this work, if Mama Shu won Hero of the Year, the money would give a jumpstart to what she wants to do next with Avalon Village.

Among those things would be expanding the Avalon Village healing house and working to widen services for local youth through the nonprofit’s Go Back project. She also hopes to add a cafe, a school, and a greenhouse to the area at some point in the future.

“Having our work be presented to the world, to me, is a beautiful thing because it also helps other people that live in blighted neighborhoods, and that live in spaces that are not safe, that are not secure, that are unhealthy for them, be able to see what a space can be transformed into,” she adds. “Being able to showcase our space and how we're transforming it will be something for people to see that it can actually be done.”

Through Dec. 5, people can submit ten votes daily to help Mama Shu take home the title.

“As it relates to the prize that we win, I know that I would help to expand and just do more work for the people,” Mama Shu says. “I know that I’m a hero and I know that I would represent exactly what being a CNN hero would be.”

The CNN Hero of the Year award winner will be announced on Dec. 10 at 8 p.m.

The Homework House and Jakobi Ra Garden at Avalon Village.

Last building demolished for ‘Blight to Beauty’ project in Highland Park’s Avalon Village: Founder Mama Shu hopes to inspire other cities to beautify their neighborhoods

Location Details

Avalon Village

32 Avalon St., Highland Park Wayne County

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About The Author

Layla McMurtrie

Layla McMurtrie is the digital editor of Detroit Metro Times. She's passionate about art, music, food, and Detroit's culture and community. Her work has been featured in the Detroit Free Press, Between the Lines, and Metromode, among other Michigan publications.