Detroit poet and cultural architect jessica Care moore has never written for the moment alone. Her work speaks to memory and possibility at once, calling forward the ancestors while insisting on a future shaped by intention, care, and courage.
Ahead of Mayor Mary Sheffield’s public inauguration, Moore offered a poem that does exactly that, where she grounded a political ceremony in a way that only she could. moore, like Mayor Sheffield, centered her moment in the people.
The poem arrives as an invocation. It honors Detroit as a city that has endured, organized, dreamed, and demanded more for itself, particularly through the leadership of Black women who have long carried the work without always receiving the title. Moore’s words move with urgency and tenderness, weaving history, struggle, and hope into a narrative that feels both deeply personal and unmistakably collective.
In a city where poetry has often served as a form of witness and resistance, moore’s contribution stands as a reminder that art remains central to civic life. This was a declaration that affirmed community, accountability, and the sacred responsibility of leadership.
Published here in full, moore’s poem invites readers to sit with its language, feel its weight, and recognize the moment it marks.
On the occasion of Mary Sheffield becoming the first woman mayor Of Detroit, Michigan. Detroit Opera House. January 8 2026.
We Rise Higher
“The Beauty is in the Resume”
A Poem Honoring the 76th Mayor of Detroit,
Mary Sheffield
By jessica Care moore
Detroit Poet Laureate
When you are a woman in any race, the baton isn’t always
Passed to you with grace. Often times, one must go get
it with conviction, with purpose, with clarity.
August 5th 1824, the office of the Mayor is created
In the city of Detroit.
For centuries many men
would occupy that seat.
Until.
Until.
A nurses child
A preacher’s daughter with historical roots tracing
Back to the 1800’s.
A grandfather’s inheritance
Until she decided to put her foot on the starting line
Her distinct voice into the very male dominated sound of leadership
& began to move powerfully into her broader purpose.
On November 4th
Detroit didn’t cast this mandated vote for a politician
They voted for a person.
A hugger
A proud Detroiter
Raised on the westside.
A woman that literally pulls up for
The people, occupies the block and fills up auditoriums
With students for “A State of The Youth.”
A compassionate human, holding the line
for her resilient city.
She
raised up from a phoenix metropolis, an unburyable city
With unstoppable people, despite attempts to erase us.
This is what our sister Mary is made from.
One of those post rebellion babies
who sat at the hem line of elders
Taking notes and turning it into action.
Watched how they held it
Together.
skin and bone
underground & undertow
Detroit refined and yes, we know.
Yes sir, yes ma’am and What up Doe?
A city of masjids & churches
synagogues & temples
A city built by up south hands, & blue collar grit
A city that gave the world
Techno & Motown
Coltrane’s Harp & Smokey’s smile.
From the Davison to 7 Mile
Mary Sheffield has been in this work
for a while
The Beauty is in Her Resume
Legacy in her D.N.A.
A passed down perseverance she laced inside
running shoes. A focus that continues to grow
with time, with love, from family,
reflected through community.
She is the result of a recipe requiring patience
Some fire, an oven, a promise –
some love, some resistance,
Some swagger, some hope,
some joy, a lot of heart, some water
Less water shut offs.
some wonder
some time to cook
And eventually, she rises to an occasion
An historical moment in time
It only took us three hundred and twenty four years
To propel our beloved, tenacious city into a future
That is fearless, feminine, grassroots, and unapologetic
With commitment to equity and economic justice for all.
A leadership that wraps itself in the needs of neighborhoods
Invests in its citizens, feeds the hungry, inspires our youth
Gives voice to everyone who
Lives, works,loves, raises families
And has the audacity to dream here.
She has been walking the actual walk
And when she runs, she actually runs!
Because, We Run 313
During a time when it’s not always easy for black girls
to see themselves in the future.
We can ask Kentanji Brown Jackson
Ask Phillis Wheatley Ask Shirley Chisholm
Or we can reach into our own pantheon of leadership
About being a woman and being first.
Ask Erma Henderson
(it’s in the water)
Ask Kyra Bolden
(it’s the wrists)
Ask Charlene White
(it’s the fearlessness))
Ask Barbara Rose Collins
(it’s in the work ethic)
Ask Joann Watson
(it’s in the people)
Ask Rosa Parks
(it’s the courage)
Ask Ruth Ellis
(it’s in our hearts)
How we use our collective imaginations to see
Ourselves in a place, a seat, a position, a room, at a table,
others may not believe possible or even belong
To you.
To us.
To a city.
But, Mayor Sheffield
knows exactly who she is
& so does the D.
That’s why we are not surprised when her
First bold announcement as Mayor is centered
Around lifting up pregnant mothers and babies.
Our 76th Mayor understands that all
Of our cities’ children deserve a fair chance,
& fighting poverty is an investment
A recipe for humanity.
Whipped up in our soup kitchens, on the frontline,
In our classrooms, in our boardrooms, in our
Birthing centers, on the strong
Shoulders of every woman that came before her.
If you want to know how to make a city become
A leading example to the world.
If you want the people to thrive,
not empires.
Then you have to know
Who to hire!!
Congrats Mayor Mary Shefflield
Together,
Detroit
Will
Rise
Higher.
You see yourself in her.
Everyday person that loves helping people
She’s a hugger.
That’s why I rock with her
