Peter Linebaugh addresses “the commons” at Occupy Ypsi teach-in
Our Occupy Ypsi teach-in on Saturday went really well. Hopefully, at some point in the near future, I’ll have an opportunity to go into everything that was covered. For the time being, though, I wanted...
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As much fun as you can have in San Antonio without pissing on the Alamo
In spite of what I may have told you, I didn’t just fly into San Antonio a few days ago to piss on the Alamo, and then immediately return home. As much as I like the idea of zipping into a city,...
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Raising the minimum wage in Michigan is the right thing to do
At the end of last week, Democrats in Lansing, led by State Senator Bert Johnson, proposed that we increase Michigan’s minimum wage to $10 an hour, from $7.40, where it’s been set for the past five...
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9 Lessons learned in Savannah
I spent the week before last in Savannah, GA, visiting my parents. Here are a few of the things that I learned while there.1. PAULA DEEN LOOKS TERRIBLE… Before leaving Michigan for Georgia, I gave some...
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Working way too hard on a post about Fort Pulaski that no one will care about
As I mentioned a few days ago, in my “9 Lessons Learned in Savannah” post, I spent some time earlier this month exploring the barrier islands off the coast of Georgia… chasing dolphins, swatting...
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Back in Black…. the apparent resurgence of blackface
I wasn’t going to comment on the University of Michigan frat thing that’s been all over the news these past few days, as I don’t think I have anything terribly insightful to contribute toward our...
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Michigan Musicians on Vacation: Matt Jones at Gettysburg, with Sarah Campbell
Occasionally, I get good ideas. I’m not sure if this is one of those times, but it occurred to me a few days ago that I should have a regular feature on the site in which I talk with local musicians...
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Merry Christmas from the people behind the scenes
From the garment workers of Bangladesh who died to give you those ‘everyday low prices’ you love so much at Walmart to the religious prisoners of China who made those holiday decorations you bought on...
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Frederick Douglas on the hypocrisy of July 4
In spite of the warrantless phone tapping, the daily drone strikes, and the fact that wealth is rapidly concentrating in the hands of just a few, I actually love America. For all of its flaws, I think...
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Watching Dinesh D’Souza’s “America: Imagine a World without Her” amid...
In 2012, when conservative author Dinesh D’Souza lost his job as President of The King’s College, an evangelical Christian school based in Manhattan, I didn’t think it likely that he’d ever have...
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Introducing Ann Arbor’s Aquarium Gallery
A few months ago, the Ann Arbor Awesome Foundation presented a $1,000 cash grant to artist Lea Bult for the establishment of a small, 24-hour micro gallery in what had been a vacant shop window looking...
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Exploring Ypsilanti’s place on the Underground Railroad: part one
On the evening of December 1, our friend Matt Siegfried, who I interviewed here not too long ago about Ypsilanti’s Native American past, will be at the downtown branch of the Ypsilanti District...
View ArticleNoam Chomsky on Ferguson: “This is a very racist society”
It’s been a several years since it happened last, but someone just used the n-word in a comment on this site. I don’t know that the context really matters, but it was said in relation to the recent...
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Exploring Ypsilanti’s place on the Underground Railroad: part two
This past November, I posted a lengthy interview with local historian Matt Siegfried about slavery, the fight for emancipation, and the role played by Ypsilantians in that struggle. We covered an...
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Judge Carlton Reeves, sentencing three white men to prison for the murder of...
In the early hours of June 26, 2011, 18-year old Deryl Dedmon, who had been drinking with friends, drove his pick-up truck over a man by the name of James Craig Anderson in Jackson, Mississippi,...
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HP Jacobs, runaway slave turned state senator, doctor and university founder,...
Earlier this year, in the second installment of our interview with local historian Matt Siegfried on slavery, the fight for emancipation, and the role played by Ypsilantians in that struggle, we heard...
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Two awesome teen murals unveiled in Ypsilanti in just one week’s time
On last night’s episode of the Saturday Six Pack, I talked with Ypsi Community Schools (YCS) art teacher Lynne Settles, an Ypsi High student by the name of Paris, Jackson-based artist Douglas Jones,...
View ArticleWho are the women in the new Historical Women of Ypsilanti mural?
A few days ago I posted an interview here with Ypsi High art teacher Lynne Settles about a new mural on the subject of local women’s history that she and her students had been working on in downtown...
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Nkrumah Steward on befriending the descendant of those who enslaved his...
We’ll start off this Saturday evening’s episode of the Saturday Six Pack with Canton writer Nkrumah Steward. If Steward’s name sounds familiar, it’s likely because a recent story of his, about...
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Elected leaders and civil rights organizers join Sheriff Clayton to discuss...
This evening I attended the Unity Town Hall at Eastern Michigan Union, during which Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, Black Lives Matter Organizer Myles McGuire, Wahstenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton,...
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