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Engaging with…the Reality of Government Assistance
By Brad O’Neil The headlines won’t seem to stop. Drug testing recipients of government assistance, threatening the removal of cash assistance from families with children who miss too much school, establishing limitations on food items that can be purchased with food stamps…it goes on and on. The latest example – even eliciting a lengthy segment […]
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Think Before You Slide
By Marissa Luna Kevin Orr, Governor Snyder’s appointed Emergency Manager, began depriving thousands of Detroiters of water last summer. The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) is going to continue to shut off water to tens of thousands of families in Detroit in the coming months. This is happening despite the fact that we know […]
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Emergency Mismanagement
A few days ago, the Coalition for the Future of Detroit’s School Children made waves in the years-long struggle for Detroit Public Schools (DPS) by recommending that DPS dump the Emergency Manager and return the elected Detroit School Board to power. The Coalition’s recommendations come pretty much on the heels of Governor Snyder appointing Darnell […]
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Complacency with Second-Class Citizenry
By Denzel McCampbell In the last few weeks, there has been a national uproar in response to the “religious freedom” bill that was signed into law in Indiana. Answering to the controversy over the legislation that many said would be a license to discriminate against the LGBTQ community, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson announced that he […]
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Engaging with…the Benefits of Earned Sick Leave
By Brad O’Neil Last week, a package of bills was introduced in the state House to help survivors of domestic abuse protect themselves. The bills would create a confidentiality program for survivors, extend unemployment benefits to them, ban discrimination in renting, and allow for the use of paid sick days to make things like medical […]
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Engage Michigan Job Announcement: Development Coordinator
Engage Michigan JOB ANNOUNCEMENT Development Coordinator Application Deadline: April 17, 2015 or until the ideal candidate is identified. Engage Michigan is organizing for progressive change. We are hiring a Development Director to help make that happen. This position may be housed in either our Detroit or Lansing office. Position Overview: The Development Coordinator plays a […]
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It’s Time to Talk About Sexual Assault
By Marissa Luna April is Sexual Assault Awareness month. It’s encouraging that more and more people are recognizing that we all need to take responsibility for preventing sexual assault and domestic violence, and ending victim blaming. As Sexual Assault Awareness month begins and we consider the ways in which we can work together to end […]
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Tragedy in Detroit: Pile On or Rise Above?
It’s hard for me to link to such an ill-conceived and cynical work as was produced by Nolan Finley in the Detroit News. It purports to come to grips with the recent tragedy of intense child abuse where two children were found dead in a freezer. I say purports to come to grips with the […]
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Engaging with…the State Budget
By Brad O’Neil Federal budgets, state budgets, city budgets – they’re always in the news and they’re always being fought over. They’re dense, boring, and often so partisan we tune them out and read the next article. Who cares anyway? Well, we should all care because Michigan’s budget is perhaps the truest reflection of the […]
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Detroit’s New Reality Requires New Thinking
By Kim Hunter My coworker, Denzel, recently said something that really struck me as we stood outside of Wayne County Treasurer-Elect Raymond J. Wojtowicz’s office with a man handing out anti-foreclosure flyers. We were waiting for people to come out of a meeting with the Treasurer where they were delivering petition signatures from almost 10,000 […]
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