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Don’t Shut Them Down
By Kim Hunter You may recall the massive protests and international news coverage garnered when the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) began cutting off the water of tens of thousands of Detroit families. Any household that owed $150 or more was subject to shut off even though documents attained through the Freedom of Information […]
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We Can’t Breathe
By Marissa Luna I went to a hearing that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) held at River Rouge High School last week. Over 100 residents from around Wayne County and other parts of the state turned out to hear about the plan that the MDEQ is writing that will require DTE Energy to […]
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Engaging with…Earned Sick Leave
By Brad O’Neil The United States is the only industrialized country in the world that doesn’t guarantee a minimum amount of earned sick leave, vacation leave, or parental leave to its citizens. That’s right, we’re the only country where you’re on your own if you or your family gets sick and you can’t make it […]
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Fourth Time’s the Charm?
By Kim Hunter Recently, the third Detroit Public Schools (DPS) Emergency Manager, Jack Martin, made news when he left that post with a $50,000 bonus for reaching “no specified benchmarks.” His replacement, Darnell Earley, the fourth EM in six years, was appointed by Governor Snyder just in time to prevent the legally elected Detroit School […]
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Correcting the Department of Corrections
“The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky If the great Russian novelist quoted above entered some of Michigan’s prisons, he’d find officials, some paid with our tax dollars, complicit in the rape and abuse of minors by adult inmates. He would find basic violations of law […]
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Engage with…the ACA at the Supreme Court
By Brad O’Neil As many as 8.2 million people in 34 states, including Michigan, could have their health insurance coverage taken away if the Supreme Court rules to cancel federal tax credits that have helped people buy insurance. Yes, you read that correctly – they could lose the coverage they just gained. Thanks to the […]
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Detroiters Can’t Depend on the “Kindness of Strangers”
By Kim Hunter Detroiters have been waging battles on many fronts to hold onto their homes, businesses, communities, and the city during various crises. We’ve used our own mowers to cut vacant lots, banded together to battle bank foreclosures and keep our neighbors in their homes, and fought to keep water flowing to thousands of […]
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It’s OK, Patricia Arquette
By Marissa Luna I hope that if Patricia Arquette learned one thing after her Oscar acceptance speech and subsequent backlash from every corner of the Internet it’s that words matter. The Oscars were last Sunday and Patricia Arquette won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “Boyhood.” In her acceptance speech, she […]
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Trans Lives Matter
By Marissa Luna I had the pleasure of hearing Laverne Cox speak at Saginaw Valley State University on Tuesday. She was visiting Michigan, one of many stops across the country, to give an hour-long lecture called “Ain’t I a Woman: My Journey to Womanhood.” You don’t know the meaning of fabulousness until you’ve felt her […]
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Engage Michigan Job Announcement: Social Justice Organizer
Engage Michigan JOB ANNOUNCEMENT Social Justice Organizer Application Deadline: February 20, 2015 or until the ideal candidate is identified. Engage Michigan is organizing for progressive change. We are hiring a Social Justice Organizer to help make that happen. This position will be housed in our Detroit office. Position Overview: As the Engage Michigan Social Justice […]
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