School for disabled slated to shut says DPS Emergency Manager, parents and students protest
Students, parents and supporters protest the planned closing of Oakman Elementary Orthopedic School which specializes in teaching children with disabilities, outside the headquarters of Detroit Public Schools Thursday, May 23, 2013. Last month, Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Roy Roberts announced he will shut Oakman Elementary Orthopedic School. One of four DPS schools listed to be closed, [...]
More than 100 arrested at Chicago schools protest
An estimated 5,000 parents, students, teachers, public school employees and community residents rallied in Chicago Wednesday, March 27, 2013, against an announcement by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Public School Board to close 54 public schools in the city next year. The closings will affect more than 30,000 students, primarily in low-income black and Latino areas [...]
Detroiters Rally Against New EFM Kevyn Orr on His First Day at Work
Citizens protested Monday morning, March 25, 2013 outside the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in Detroit where Kevyn Orr, the newly appointed Emergency Financial Manager for the city was beginning his official first day on the job. Gathered outside during a blast of late-winter snow, a coalition of about 100 community, labor and faith-based supporters [...]
Woman Crashes Pickup Into Soul Food Gas Station
A woman crashed a truck into the HP Soul Food Valero gas station at the corner of McNichols Rd. and Woodward Ave. in Highland Park Saturday, March 23, 2013. Owner Hassan Beydoun says the woman crashed into the building, got out of the pickup, flipped off her high heels and ran down the [...]
Detroit Youth March Against School to Prison Pipeline
A group of about 150 students, parents and supporters of Detroit Youth Takedown marched from Cass Park in downtown Detroit to the Wayne County Jail to protest the school to prison pipeline Saturday, March 23, 2013. During the 1.5 mile trek through downtown marchers chanted, “Stand up for education and say no to incarceration!” They [...]
Paris – Detroit: connections revealed.
As part of the Detroit Design Festival 2012, Detroit Artist Greg Fadell ties two historic cities together in his four-story work of art “Paris of the West” at Willys Overland Lofts in the city’s Midtown district. Fadell describes his concept for Paris of the West: Detroit’s connection with France is historic; I am using [...]
Hundreds Protest Outside Gov. Rick Snyder’s Economic Summit in Detroit
About 200 supporters from We Are Michigan, a coalition of faith, labor and community based groups protested outside Cobo Center in Detroit today where the Michigan Economic Summit took place. Meanwhile, inside Michigan Governor Snyder addressed an audience who paid $150 each to hear him speak during the summit. We Are Michigan demonstrated in opposition to [...]
Corporate giant Century Aluminum holds West Virginia retirees hostage in exchange for cheap power.
This story has come full circle. In February 2012, I covered the heartbreaking struggle of Century Aluminum retirees in Ravenswood, West Virginia as they fought for the return of healthcare benefits – paid for through decades of wage deductions while with the company. A month later that year, they struck a deal with Century and [...]
Food Not Bombs Rocks Trumbullplex to Feed Detroiters
Kicking off a new year, the Detroit Food Not Bombs chapter held a fundraising and canned food drive Sunday March 3, 2013 to raise money for their upcoming campaign to feed Detroiters free, healthy, hot Vegan and Vegetarian meals. Held at the Trumbullplex Detroit’s sexiest anarchist collective, six bucks got goers food and entertainment featuring: Five [...]
Governor Snyder Announces State Take Over of Motor City.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder today announced that he will appoint an emergency financial manager to the city of Detroit during a meeting in the Maccabees Building on the campus of Wayne State University Friday March 1, 2013. During a town hall style meeting filled with community and business leaders, students, clergy and members of the [...]
“ARBEIT MACHT FREI” Graffiti Artist Comes Forward in Facebook Post
The mysterious author of the “ARBEIT MACHT FREI” graffiti installation at the Packard Plant in Detroit has come forward. An artist named Penny Gaff , alleging to be the author of the work issued this response at 11:03 Tuesday February, 19 in the comments of my post on Facebook of a Detroit Free Press article about the infamous [...]
35,000 March on White House, Demand Obama Block Keystone XL Pipeline
Billed as the largest climate rally in history by 350.org and the Sierra Club who both sponsored the event, tens of thousands marched on the White House in Washington DC to demand that president Obama not approve the Keystone XL Pipeline. Michael Brune, the director of the Sierra Club told the crowd, ”Obama holds in his hand [...]
Live PhotoBlog: Keystone XL Pipeline Protest in Washington D.C.
iPad, iPhone non-flash version click here Tens of thousands of people from all across the United States and Canada are expected to march in Washington D.C. today, demanding President Obama reject the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline. Check back throughout the afternoon for the latest images of this historic Climate Change Rally. To purchase image downloads or [...]
German Slogan Used Above Former Nazi Concentration Camps Appears in Detroit
The German phrase “Arbeit Macht Frei,” or “Work Sets You Free” in English, which once greeted prisoners at the entrance to Nazi concentration camps in Europe during World War II, mysteriously appeared in the windows of the walkway spanning East Grand Boulevard at the ruins of the long-abandoned Packard Automotive Plant in Detroit sometime in [...]
Among the Ruins of the Detroit Packard Plant
An afternoon exploring the remnants of a once automotive giant. Since its closure in 1958, the Packard Automotive Plant has served as a haven for graffiti artists, urban explorers, paintballers, auto scrappers and photographers. One such artist and photographer is Detroiter J Kyle Keener. Kyle has been exploring and soaking in artistic inspiration from this place [...]
First Nations ‘Idle No More’ gather in Detroit
Supporters of Idle No More held a round dance and prayers at Hart Plaza on the banks of the Detroit river January 20, 2013, “To bring awareness of the need of community and environmental healing”. The group assembled in honor and support of Chief Theresa Spence, Attawapiskat, who is in her 40th day of a [...]
Detroiters Protest Keystone XL Pipeline at Chase Building
Members of Occupy Detroit and opponents of the Keystone XL Pipeline protest outside the Chase building in Downtown Detroit, Michigan Monday January 7, 2013 during a national call by Occupy Denver for a day of solidarity actions to raise awareness and mobilize in support of the Tar Sands Blockade in Texas. Organizers said J.P Morgan [...]
Detroit Area Woman Faces Jail for Vegetable Garden
This story is from July 2011. Julie Bass, of Oak Park, Michigan planted a vegetable garden in her front yard to replace the grass that once covered it back in the spring of 2011. The Bass family planted the garden after maintenance to their septic line left the area bare. Instead of putting an expensive [...]
Groups Protest Gov. Rick Snyder at MSU Graduating Ceremony
Supporters of the newly formed group We Are Michigan, assembled outside the Michigan State University Breslin Center to congratulate graduating students as they headed for their graduation ceremony Saturday December 15, 2012. Members of the group also say they showed up to protest the policies of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder who gave the commencement speech [...]
Protest Against Right-to-Work at Michigan State Capitol
Union supporters and labor groups gathered in and around the Michigan state capitol building Dec 6, 2012 to speak out against right-to-work legislation that was being rushed through the lame duck session of the legislature. A large group of supporters gathered outside the senate chamber doors and a few pushed by a security guard toward [...]
Black Friday Protest at Walmart – Dearborn, Mi
A coalition of labor groups made it into the Walmart Superstore in Dearborn Michigan today as part of nationwide anti-Walmart Black Friday protests across the country.
Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects to be demolished with $6.5 million federal grant.
During a press conference November 15, 2012 at the historic Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects in Detroit, the city’s mayor Dave Bing, announced that the federal government has agreed to contribute $6.5 million to help tear down the deserted projects, just northeast of the city’s downtown. Built to provide affordable housing for the city’s residents in the late [...]
Detroit Water Workers on Strike
Workers feel that the city, management and Mayor Dave Bing have sold them out in favor of privatization and a no-bid $48 million contract with consultants to cut 81% of the Department’s jobs. DETROIT – Approximately 40 union workers from the American Federation of State and County Municipal Employees union (AFSCME) Local 207 walked off their [...]
Occupy Wall Street: A Birthday Celebration for the 99%
Hundreds of Occupy Wall Street supporters celebrated in New York City with a weekend of rallies, marches and events beginning Sept. 15th, leading up to the movement’s official anniversary on September 17th.
