News & Commentary

Regardless of your ethnicity, you have ancestors who were living somewhere in the world on the historic day of June 19, 1865.  For the black residents of Galveston, Texas, however, the day was like no other. On that day, a Union general arrived to Galveston, making the belated announcement that slavery had ended in the former Confederate states, including Texas—two and a half years prior. 

By Guest Blogger, Professor Bernadette Atuahene

The ACLU of Michigan sent a letter to the Taylor Police Department, urging re-training and policy changes for its officers in the wake of a traffic stop last year in which an African-American motorist was snatched from his car, put in a chokehold until he claims he blacked out and then, once arrested, stripped to his underwear and left in a cold cell for hours. The letter also calls for discipline for officers involved in the incident, in which 26-year-old motorist Calvin Jones was violently arrested. His wife and underage brother-in-law were also taken into police custody.

Given everything that Flint has been through in recent years, the last thing we want to do is beat up on the city’s challenged school district. While some critics may suggest otherwise, the legal action we took last fall aimed at improving conditions in the schools is simply designed to ensure that every child who walks into a classroom, including those who need special-education services, receives the support necessary to thrive.

A newly announced plan to permanently keep Flint on the Detroit-based regional water system has both sparked hope and raised important questions.

This story first published on the Detroit Metro Times.

By: Desire Vincent, Associate Director of Communications

Michigan public education is being eroded – through the advancement of for-profit charter schools, by way of threats of school closures, and now with the diversion of public school funding to private schools.