NEWS & VIEWS
Feedback
We received a number of comments in response to last week’s cover story by freelance reporter Natalia Holtzman about the antiwar student protests at the University of Michigan. While the mainstream media has labeled the protests as “antisemitic” and “proHamas,” Holtzman, who is Jewish, found a significance Jewish presence among the protesters.
Same with Wayne State’s encampment. It was full of engaged and respectful students demanding an end to war.
—@errrr_rrin, Instagram
@errrr_rrin too I still don’t understand
what protesting here will do. We didn’t start it, we don’t have troops fighting anyone in it.
—@co31379, Instagram
@co31379 our tax payer funded weapons facilitate it and our economy supports Israel through investments in both weapons manufacturers and other businesses. Protesting is demanding institutions like WSU change their financial portfolios to no longer invest endowment dollars in companies that profit from war and Israeli occupation.
—@errrr_rrin, Instagram
Stunning and brave
—Mary O’Keefe Re, Facebook
NEWS & VIEWS
The road to recovery
Paul Shankin turned his life around to save himself from drug addiction — and help others do the same
By Kate Moores
On June 8, 2023, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) posted a message on social media saying that it had responded to an unusually high volume of calls reporting suicide attempts and overdoses in a 48-hour period. “Many people are facing great personal challenges and there is help available,” the post read.
The message came amid a grow-
ing crisis of overdose and drugrelated deaths. In Oakland County alone, there was a 68% rise in overdose deaths from 2019 to 2021. In response, OCSO created a crisis response unit tasked with answering drug-related calls, conducting follow-up visits, and providing referrals to recovery and support services in 2022. It was one of the first police agencies in Michigan to do so.
Documents obtained by Metro Times through a Freedom of Information Act request revealed that a single officer followed up on all three of the overdose calls that weekend. Deputy Kyle Hayes of the crisis response unit visited each overdose victim the next day to see how they were feeling, and to offer referrals to support services. He took no action to investigate or arrest any of the
people he came into contact with; he was there to keep them from dying and to nudge them toward recovery. He also referred drug users to people like Paul Shankin — a recovering drug addict who now works to inspire others suffering from substance use disorder into finding their own pathway to recovery. He refers to himself as a “peer navigator.” Shankin works at Alliance of
Steve Norris and Paul Shankin of the Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities, a recovery support network in Oakland County.
DOUG COOMBE
Coalitions for Healthy Communities, a prevention, harm reduction, and recovery support network in Oakland County with a goal to combat the increase in co-occurring mental health and substance use problems in the county. The organization also tackles post-overdose calls with its group of trained peer navigators, like Shankin.
People like Shankin have never been more necessary. For years, illicit drug use across the United States has steadily been on the rise. No longer just an opioid epidemic, the drug epidemic has centralized around two categories of substances: synthetic stimulants and synthetic opioids. Of these, methamphetamine and fentanyl are responsible for a growing majority of deaths and overdoses.
The surge has sparked a shift in the way communities are addressing the crisis. Diverging from strict abstinence, many organizations are adopting a harm reduction approach, focused on keeping users alive. Shankin’s journey — from the reasons for his addiction, to his response and recovery — all mirror this shift, reflecting larger trends in America’s drug crisis.
Reason
Shankin was born in 1981 and grew up in a white, lower-middle class family in Warren, in a neighborhood which today he describes as being “just infested with narcotics.” His father, a roofer, and mother, a homemaker, both regularly used, exposing him to substance abuse at a very early age. “I knew what alcohol was, I knew what drugs were, when I was in elementary school,” says Shankin.
The summer before he entered sixth grade, Shankin graduated from the D.A.R.E program. That same summer, he started experimenting with alcohol and marjuana. Shankin was 11.
At home, both substance abuse and mental health issues were prevalent. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, one in four adults with serious mental illness turn to illicit drugs.
Over time Shankin says he developed borderline personality disorder, and that the scope and scale of his use expanded. “All through high school, I was using narcotics,” says Shankin. He began experimenting with all different kinds of controlled substances: psychedelics like mushrooms, LSD, mescaline, and ecstasy. Then he graduated to prescription pills.
“And I got out of jail, and then not even 24 hours, I was getting high,” says Shankin. “I just remembered how powerless and just distraught — I couldn’t believe everything that I had built up within myself to not use just vanished.”
This use continued after he turned 20 in 2001, paralleling the dawn of the opioid epidemic in the United States.
In the late 1990s, pharmaceutical companies began to aggressively market prescription opioids as nonaddictive, leading doctors to massively overprescribe opioid painkillers like OxyContin. Prescription pills gave way to widespread misuse and addiction among users, who turned to heroin in the 2010s, and later synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
The first time Shankin saw OxyContin was when a friend, recently discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps, was prescribed 80 milligrams of the drug to treat an injury from basic training. “He just had, like, bottles of it,” says Shankin. “He introduced that to me somehow, and I eventually got hooked.”
Shankin began seeking drugs in doctor’s offices, feigning symptoms in return for diagnoses and prescriptions. He had learned how to communicate with doctors to get any medication he desired. When he wanted to try Adderall, he Googled “why people take Adderall” and studied the symptoms of attention deficit disorder.
“I had gone into a place and just acted,” Shankin says. “Like, ‘This is what happens to me when I’m at home, I can’t keep my attention for more than five minutes,’ and just play completely dumb to the whole system.”
Shankin was part of a greater trend in overprescription. This was before Michigan’s Automated Prescription System, a tool used by prescribers and dispensers to track controlled substances, assess patient risk, and combat prescription abuse and diversion at the prescriber, pharmacy, and patient levels. This is why pharmacists ask for a patient’s ID when dispensing controlled substances.
“So I was part of that whole problem in the beginning,” says Shankin. Shankin quickly became depen-
dent, trading OxyContin for heroin when the cost of prescriptions became too much.
Heroin is a semi-synthetic opioid synthesized from morphine. Used for its euphoric and pain-relieving effects, it can be injected, smoked, sniffed, or snorted. The drug is powerful, both physically and psychologically addictive, and carries a high risk of overdose and death. However, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, heroin deaths have been decreasing in recent years, with 13,165 deaths reported in 2020, 9,173 in 2021, and 5,871 in 2022.
That is likely because today, heroin is being replaced by fentanyl and other synthetic opioids in most drug markets. As a pharmaceutical it is administered as both an anesthetic and a painkiller. When removed from its medical setting, it is highly addictive in part because it comes so concentrated. Ounce for ounce, fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than pure heroin. It is also cheap and easy to produce. The white power can be sold alone, mixed with other drugs, or stamped into pills mimicing prescription medications.
The New York Times reports that fentanyl is lowering life expectancy in the U.S. and becoming a leading cause of death in recent years. In 2021 alone, fentanyl was responsible for 108,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
By the time he entered his thirties, Shankin had tried cocaine, methamphetamines, heroin, fentanyl, ecstasy, molly, psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, marijuana, alcohol, mescaline, angel dust, Xanax, Adderall, OxyContin, Opana, Percocet, Vicodin, Norco, Valium, and Klonopin. But he settled into using crack cocaine and methamphetamine. “I was Stimulant Guy,” said Shankin. “I always liked drugs that got me up.”
For Shankin, 2016 was a blur. He doesn’t remember when or in what order many of the following events
happened. But by the end of the year, his wife filed for divorce and his younger sister had died of a fentanyl overdose. He was also homeless, sleeping on friend’s couches, and in abandoned houses around Seven Mile and Gratiot. At times he was sleeping outside. “It was just one of them cycles of where I knew I was really strung out,” he says.
Then he overdosed.
Response
When he overdosed, Shankin had just checked into the detox wing of a Meridian Treatment Center in Waterford. He was using fentanyl and prescription valium and smoking crack cocaine. The combination proved severe enough that reviving him required five doses of Narcan: three nasal sprays at the center, and two injections later on at Pontiac Central Hospital.
But the shock to his system was no match for the draw of the drugs. “I ended up walking out of treatment, like, two days later and was getting high again,” says Shankin.
Countless times, Shankin attempted treatment through standard fiveday detox programs at facilities like Sacred Heart in Richmond and Meridian in Waterford. Most of these programs are designed to safely get substances out of a patient’s system, prior to inpatient treatment. They aim to get patients as healthy as possible before their discharge date, but users often forgo follow-up treatment and, without the proper support and coping mechanisms, end up using again.
Shankin says people put too much faith in these treatment programs. “If you’re strung out on some drugs,” he says, many people think that “all you got to do is go to a treatment center and then get off of the drugs, and that’s going to fix everything.” He continues, “That’s the misconception of it — that it’s like a fix-all package.”
As part of his treatment, Shankin was prescribed Suboxone, a medication used to treat opioid dependency. But he even started abusing that. Medication-assisted treatments like Suboxone and methadone target the brain’s opioid receptors, allowing users to function without opioids. However, the drugs used in medication-assisted treatment only work for opioids. They are virtually useless on stimulants.
Shankin was on a variety of substances when he overdosed. He described taking heroin to come down from days high on crack cocaine, only the heroin was actually
fentanyl.
In this way, too, Shankin was part of a concerning trend. Laced drugs and polysubstance use are making substance abuse less treatable and more deadly. Speedballs, or goofballs, are mixtures of heroin or fentanyl and methamphetamine. The intention is to offset the drowsy effects of opioids with the “fireworks” of meth. According to the CDC, in 42% of opioid overdoses there is a stimulant present. So Shankin was walking a dangerous line.
Soon after, Shankin was arrested and sent to jail for possession of a controlled substance.
The whole time he was in jail, he was determined to stop using. In addition to his sister’s death and the divorce, he felt like had not seen his kids “in forever.” In his cell, he told himself again and again: “I’m not going to get high, I’m not going to get drugs anymore.” He thought he had reached a turning point.
“And I got out of jail, and then not even 24 hours, I was getting high,” says Shankin. “I just remembered how powerless and just distraught — I couldn’t believe everything that I had built up within myself to not use just vanished.”
Recovery
Eventually, Shankin found sobriety through the Twelve Step program. He has been sober since 2018.
Twelve Step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and Gamblers Anonymous are rooted in abstinence and fellowship. They function as a support group, encouraging members in their sobriety, and helping them to learn how to live a new life with a new code of behavior.
“There’s just a network of men that took me under their wing and literally just retaught me how to live life from the scratch,” says Shankin. “I mean, all the way from just brushing my teeth and taking a shower every day to eating three times a day, to physical fitness, to getting up early in the morning, going to work.”
This support system empowered Shankin, and he started developing principles to apply to his daily life. “They taught me how to start giving that back to people,” says Shankin. As he regained control of his life, he felt a strong need to help others who were struggling with addiction. That desire led him to his work with Alliance, which in turn helped stabilize him. “It ensures my ability to be able to stay sober,” Shankin says of being a peer navigator. “As long as I do that, I can do this until the day I die.”
Now, Shankin starts his day around
6:30 a.m., attending his daily recovery support meeting. Then he calls work to receive his plan for the day. He spends the next 8 to 12 hours connecting with post-overdose users via call, text, or, if unresponsive, by visiting their homes, going door-to-door with deputies from the Oakland Country’s Crisis Response Unit. His focus: to build rapport and trust with people in high risk situations, and to let them know there is help available.
Fentanyl has made high risk situations more common and fatal, making overdose reversal medications like naloxone crucial to saving lives.
For years, naloxone or Narcan, has been the only available option. In November, Oakland County Sheriff’s Office became the first in the United States to deploy Opvee, a new life-saving intervention for treating overdoses. According to the FDA, Opvee may be more effective in reversing overdoses from synthetic opioids like those from fentanyl.
Reflecting
Shankin’s story has a happy ending: He is a Twelve Step sponsor, a taekwondo teacher, and a father to his children. But for many others, abstinence-based programs like Twelve Step do not work. Shankin knows that the pathway he took to get clean is not always what people need. And it is different from what he does at Alliance.
At Alliance, Shankin is a Harm Reduction and Recovery Support Specialist. Unlike the Twelve Step program, a harm reduction approach does not push abstinence, but instead prioritizes safe drug use. Organizations offer users sterile equipment, tools to check their drugs for the presence of fentanyl, and medication to reverse overdoses, blunt cravings, and ease withdrawal-induced nausea.
Having lived through the journey of addiction and coming out the other side, Shakin understands how it is for people in these high-risk situations. Being a peer navigator is where Shankin
marries his experience with his work in harm reduction.
“Peer navigators have a unique language and understanding of what people are going through,” says Steve Norris, Director of Harm Reduction and Recovery Support at Alliance. “They can really approach those situations from a more empathetic and compassionate perspective.”
Reflecting on his experience, Shankin feels there was always part of him that had enough. “I really didn’t want to be doing this. I didn’t want to be using, I didn’t want to be living like this, and I did not know how to get out of it,” he says. “But there was nobody there that wanted anything to do with me.” He said that is where the importance of harm reduction comes in: “it doesn’t cancel them out as a human being.”
At its most extreme, harm reduction looks like safe injection facilities, heroin-assisted treatment, and decriminalizing the possession of all drugs, including hard drugs like fentanyl and meth. Radical harm reduction plans have already been rolled out in Oregon and Vancouver, to mixed results.
The shift has not been without controversy. Critics claim the harm reduction approach enables drug users, while supporters claim it keeps users alive while providing them with access to treatment and support.
In March, the governor of Nebraska vetoed a bill that would have legalized needle exchanges in the state.
But supporters have good reason: as drugs are becoming more fatal, they argue, keeping people alive is more important than ever. In 2021, Joe Biden became the first president to endorse harm reduction.
Oakland County is far from the Vancouver model. But it has acknowledged that the old approach isn’t working. In addition to the Crisis Response Unit at OCSO and partnerships with organizations like Alliance, they have together established a fatality review board, used to catalog and analyze every overdose death.
The board follows each life, from birth to death, identifying what the issues were, where public health corrections failed, and how we can do better as a county.
For Shankin’s part, harm reduction is the way forward because for the first time users are “not being shamed from the jump.”
“To not judge them, but to be with them and also hold them accountable where they’re at, has been something that has been pretty awesome to witness.” says Norris.
“They got the support that’s literally being brought right to their front door,” says Shankin, “It’s pretty powerful.”
Overdose reversal medications like naloxone, or Narcan, can help save lives. DOUG COOMBE
NEWS & VIEWS
Lapointe
Michigan’s Democratic women trash Trump’s ‘Project 2025’
By Joe Lapointe
Literally and figuratively, Mallory McMorrow of Michigan threw the book at former Republican president Donald Trump at the Democratic National convention in Chicago last week. Thump! It bumped atop the lectern on the podium when she slammed it down.
McMorrow, a state senator from Oakland County, made her point with the oversized prop that represented the so-called “Project 2025” — plotted by Trump’s supporters.
She said the right-wing blueprint for extreme change in government could turn Trump into a dictator if the former President is elected over the Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, on Nov. 5.
“If Donald Trump gets back into the White House he’s going to fire civil servants, like intelligence officers, engineers, and even federal prosecutors, if he decides that they don’t serve his personal agenda,” McMorrow said. “They’re talking about replacing the entire federal government with an army of loyalists who answer only to Donald Trump.”
McMorrow was one of several, highprofile Michigan women to make prominent appearances at the festive, four-day event. The major purpose, of course, was the nomination of Harris — the second-ever woman atop the ticket — to replace the retiring President Joe Biden. In harmony with that, the convention spotlighted elected women officials in their prime who are still rising in popularity. And, because Michigan is one of at least a half-dozen “swing states,” it made sense that several from the Great Lakes State would take the stage. Most prominent was Governor
Gretchen Whitmer, who wore a silver pin that showed Michigan’s two peninsulas. Among the others were Elissa Slotkin, a U.S. Representative from Michigan running to replace the retiring U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow; and Dana Nessel, Michigan’s attorney general.
“In Lansing, they call me ‘Gov,’” Whitmer said. “But, in Detroit, they call me ‘Big Gretch.’”
She recalled a casual diss when Trump was president.
“Donald Trump called me ‘That woman from Michigan,’” Whitmer said. Then she theatrically brushed her left shoulder with her right hand as if to dismiss the remark like so much dandruff.
“Being a woman from the state of Michigan is a badge of honor,” Whitmer continued. “Like women across America, we G.S.D. — get stuff done.”
More specific about policy was Nessel, who is gay and married and wary of both Trump’s proven misogyny and the kangaroo Supreme Court. During his four years, Trump packed the court with three religious fundamentalists who helped destroy a woman’s constitutional right to choose abortion.
In addition, the longest-serving justice — the gifted grifter, Clarence Thomas — also has threatened the constitutional right to gay marriage. “I’ve got a message for the Republicans and the justices of the Supreme Court,” Nessel said. “You can pry this wedding band from my cold, gay hand.”
As for Slotkin, she is in a close race against Republican Mike Rogers, a former Congressman from West Michigan. She blistered Trump on foreign affairs and for his self-centered patriotism.
Trump has lost his footing, raging off kilter in speeches and posts with personal insults of Harris and many others. He visited cops in Howell last week to read in a monotone a grim speech attacking immigrants as rapists and murderers.
Trump will make at least two more appearances this week in this state. He likely will continue his same, old pitch that he made when he first ran against Hillary Clinton in 2016: That immigrants are a threat to native “patriots” in a zerosum world.
Don’t assume his tired lies have no traction or effect. Trump gained national recognition for — among other things — falsely claiming President Barack Obama was not really born American and by hosting a fake “reality” show on TV.
But his political career now seems like a fading reality show, a tired act, mired in reruns, dropping in the ratings, with viewers channel-surfing for something new and better.
Specifically, she blamed Trump for a retreat by the U.S. from global leadership.
“The choice in America is stark: America retreating from the world, or leading the world,” said Slotkin, who served in the Central Intelligence Agency during the Iraq war. “Trump wants to take us backward. He admires dictators — a lot. He treats our friends as adversaries and our adversaries as friends.”
Among Trump’s “friends” are the dictators of Russia, China, and North Korea. He has treated the nations of NATO as shirt-tail relatives, moochers, and sponges of little use to him. On stage, Trump sometimes hugs the American flag, even when denouncing the state of the nation.
“Do not give an inch to pretenders who wrap themselves in the flag but spit in the faces of freedoms it represents,” Slotkin said. “. . . America doesn’t follow. We do not retreat. We are the damn United States of America. We lead!”
The motivating undercurrent for the blue team is the debate over abortion, which the Court ruled was a “states rights” question to be decided like human slavery was in the 19th Century, back when women couldn’t vote. This was another reason to feature Michigan’s female elected officials.
Unlike some states, Michigan reacted to the 2022 Dobbs ruling by approving a state ballot proposition that made abortion legal in the state constitution. Trump is trying to dismiss the issue now after bragging that his SCOTUS appointments resulted in the radical Dobbs decision.
Ever since Biden bowed out in July,
Despite his desire to separate himself from “Project 2025,” everyone knows it was written by his more “intellectual” supporters, including scholars from Hillsdale College and Michigan State. Some of the authors are angling for jobs in a second Trump regime.
So McMorrow — and others — issued a warning that rang all week through the convention hall.
“Under Project 2025, Donald Trump would be able to weaponize the Department of Justice to go after political opponents,” she said. “He could even turn the FBI into his own, personal police force. That is not how it works in America!” Her last quotation flips the script on Trump’s constant whining that Democrats use “lawfare” to punish rivals like Trump, a sex creep who has been convicted of 34 financial felonies for trying to cover up a hush-money payment to a sex-film actress with whom he once copulated.
Should Harris win, Trump will face more trials in more courts and the possibility of prison. Keep in mind that no animal fights back like a cornered, wounded beast and this is what Trump has become.
In his desperation, it is not out of the question that Trump’s proven sexism and racism might take a dark turn, at least rhetorically, against a biracial, female opponent. Many MAGA followers are gun groomers filled with right-wing propaganda and resentment. Watch out if he loses.
Should Trump win, it would be good to remember the lyrics to the song “The Snake” that Trump used to gleefully recite at his campaign rallies: “You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in.”
Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow hauls out a “Project 2025” prop at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. DPA PICTURE ALLIANCE / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
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2024 Fall Festivals
Upcoming Detroit-area festivals you don’t want to miss
By
Metro Times staff
around the corner, and metro Detroit is ready to celebrate.
There are tons of upcoming festivals to celebrate the end of summer and the start of the new season. If you love live music, carnival rides, great food, or just having a great time, there’s something for everyone coming up. Read on for our recommendations of the best upcoming festivals.
Michigan Renaissance Festival
Aug. 17-Sept. 29; Holly; michrenfest.com
Take a trip back in time inside the gates of the Michigan Renaissance Festival, celebrating its 45th anniversary this year. The annual tradition offers 17 acres of Medieval- and Renaissance-inspired shops, taverns, and a magnificent castle. There will be entertainment on the streets and stages, plus armored jousting, comedy and theater shows, music and games, rides, food, and more.
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Michigan State Fair
Aug. 29-Sept. 2; Suburban Collection Showplace, Novi; michiganstatefairllc.com
This annual tradition celebrates the end of summer with carnival rides, games, food, and more. There will be live performances, a petting zoo, and more fun for the whole family.
Arts, Beats & Eats
Aug. 30-Sept. 2; downtown Royal Oak; artsbeatseats.com
This annual festival unites foodies with art and music lovers for a weekend of fun. This year’s headlining performers include Keith Sweat, Cheap Trick, Tesla, and more.
Detroit Jazz Festival
Aug. 30-Sept. 2; downtown Detroit; detroitjazzfest.org
The city’s annual jazz music weekend, dubbed “the world’s largest (and best) free jazz festival,” is celebrating its 45th anniversary
this year. Performances will include 2024 artist-in-residence Brian Blade, alongside dozens of other jazz musicians.
Hamtramck Labor Day Festival
Aug. 31-Sept. 2; hamtownfest.com
For the past four decades, Hamtramck has celebrated the Labor Day weekend with this free festival. This year, the event will feature live music, food, beer, carnival rides, canoe races, vendors, and a parade. Jack White is even making a special appearance to perform with his former bandmates in the Hentchmen. Other acts include a mix of local rappers, rock bands, and other musicians. There’s something for everyone.
Smokin’ Jazz and BBQ Blues Festival
Sept. 6-7; Mt. Brighton; 4141 Bauer Rd., Brighton; brightoncoc.org
What could be better than live music and barbecue?
Plymouth Fall Festival
Sept. 6-8; Downtown Plymouth; plymouthfallfestival.com
This community staple includes favorites like the chicken dinner, craft show, car show, pet show, carnival, and more.
St. Lawrence Apple Fest
Sept. 6-8; St. Lawrence Church; 44633 Utica Rd., Utica; facebook.com/ applefestmi
Fall is not fall without fresh apples and family fun. This festival has something for everyone.
Dally in the Alley
Sept. 7; Detroit; dallyinthealley.com
Cass Corridor’s annual block party is packed with food, vendors, artists, and live music. The free community festival goes all day and all night, with five stages of music.
BRED Hip Hop Theatre Festival
Sept. 7; Detroit; hiphoptheatrefest.com
Hosted by Beats Rhymes Everything
Arts, Beats & Eats returns to downtown Royal Oak during Labor Day weekend.
Guide
Detroit, this festival will transform hip-hop songs into plays, merging the worlds of music and theater in a new way. The one-day inaugural event coincides with ELEMENTS Hip Hop Weekend and Dally in the Alley. In addition to new productions, the day will feature a block party with rap performances, DJ sets, panel discussions, dance battles, learning opportunities, virtual reality experiences, and more.
Apples and Honey Fall Festival
Sept. 15; Ann Arbor; funtober.com
This annual family event is open to everyone and celebrates Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah, with hands-on crafts, inflatables, apple and honey tasting, and more.
Frankenfest
Sept. 16; Historic Fort Wayne; 6325 W. Jefferson Ave., Detroit; frankenfest.com
This spooky festival features mystical artwork from local vendors, plus liter-
DIY Street Fair
Sept. 20-22; downtown Ferndale; ferndalediy.com
This annual three-day event features it all – bands, artists, breweries, food trucks, businesses, non-profits, and more. Anyone who loves shopping locally or has a DIY spirit should attend.
Funky Ferndale Art Fair
Sept. 20-22; Ferndale; funkyferndaleartfair.com
More than 140 juried artists and authors will feature their work at this festival, coinciding with the DIY Street Fair.
Northville Victorian Festival
Sept. 20-22; Northville; northville.org
This celebration opens with the Victorian Parade on Friday evening and continues through the weekend with live music, a saloon, theatrical performances, Victorian-era reenactors, educational presentations, craft vendors, duck races, a church service, and much more.
including Wyrd Byrd, Ziggy’s, Regal Beagle, S. Washington St., and Riverside Park. There will be vendors, live music, costume contests, and more.
Hamtramck Neighborhood Arts Festival
Oct. 5; hnaf.org
Unique to a typical festival, artists participating in this event will host the community at their home studios, front porches, parks, coffee shops, or galleries around the city. The community-organized festival allows anyone in the city and surrounding neighborhood to contribute or host an event, and attendees to curate their own experience.
Detroit Fall Beer Festival
Oct. 19; Eastern Market, Detroit; mibeer.com
ary guests and paranormal experts. The event, featuring hourly aerial performances, food trucks, and more, is free to the public, with free parking too.
Frankenmuth Oktoberfest
Sept. 19-22; Heritage Park; 601 Weiss St., Frankenmuth; frankenmuthfestivals.com
With Frankenmuth’s unique German heritage and culture, this event aims to preserve the sights and sounds of the Munich Oktoberfest. The festival features old-school entertainment, dancing, souvenirs, and food selections, plus authentic Hofbrauhaus Oktoberfest beer.
Romulus Pumpkin Festival
Sept. 20-22; Romulus Historical Park; 11147 Hunt St., Romulus; romulusgov.com
This annual three-day event begins with the Parade of Lights. There’s also a car show, a craft show, music, food, crafts, and games for all ages.
Michigan Antique & Collectibles Festival
Sept. 23-24; Midland; miantiquefestival.com
This long-time Michigan tradition gives attendees the opportunity to shop from 1,000 antique dealers, plus see a car show, swap, and more.
Murals in Islandview
Sept. 23-28; Detroit; muralsinthemarket.com
In partnership with the Gilbert Family Foundation and Design Core’s Month of Design, 1XRun is bringing Murals in Islandview, a spin-off of Murals in the Market, back for its second year. This time, the event will feature ten new artists set to paint ten new murals throughout the neighborhood.
Ypsi Freakfest
Oct. 4-6; Ypsilanti; facebook.com
This fun and freaky event will take place at different venues around Ypsilanti,
This Michigan Brewers Guild festival is one of the largest all-Michigan beer tastings around. Attendees can enjoy food from Detroit area restaurants and listen to a line-up of local musicians while sipping fresh, local beers from Michigan breweries.
Youmacon
Oct. 31-Nov. 3; Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center and Huntington Place; youmacon.com
Detroit’s premier anime and gaming convention will be buzzing with cosplay, panels, gaming tournaments, and special guest appearances.
Motor City Comic ConFall Edition
Nov. 8-10; Suburban Collection Showplace, Novi; motorcitycomiccon.com
Now happening twice a year, this event allows comic book fans, sci-fi enthusiasts, and pop culture lovers to enjoy meet and greets with famous actors and creators. There will also be exclusive merch, cosplay, panels, and more.
COURTESY PHOTOS
CULTURE
Film Plenty of (alien) life left in this franchise
By Jared Rasic
Alien: Romulus
Rated: R
Run-time: 119 minutes
Depending on what you think of the Alien franchise, the following statement will either sound like a huge compliment or damning with faint praise: Alien: Romulus is the third best film of the franchise by a hair.
Set between Ridley Scott’s 1979’s seminal sci-fi/horror masterpiece Alien and James Cameron’s 1986 action extravaganza Aliens, director Fede Álvarez has not only made an intensely violent and visually gorgeous Alien sequel, but also something that fits nicely between the two originals. It has some pretty glaring and, frankly, baffling flaws, but it’s pretty damn fun anyway.
Starring Cailee Spaeny who, after playing Priscilla Presley in Sophia Coppola’s Priscilla a wide-eyed photojournalist way in over her head in Civil War, a young male quantum scientist in Devs, and now a hard luck space orphan in Alien: Romulus, is doing one hell of a job reinventing herself with every role she chooses.
Spaeny carries Romulus with effortless charisma as Rain, an orphan who, along with her “brother” Andy (played by the film-stealing David Jonsson), a synthetic human programmed to take care of her, is desperate to escape the indentured servitude the two besties find themselves in on the sunless colony of Jackson’s Star. Along with a handful of poor and desperate young miners like herself, Rain and David head to a massive, derelict WeylandYutani space station, the Romulus and Remus, where they hope to find cryo chambers that would allow them to escape their star system and lives of servitude. Things obviously go very poorly because this is an Alien movie.
That’s pretty much it. You’ve got six good looking young adults on a derelict space station fighting for their lives against some old-fashioned Chestbursters, Facehuggers, and Xenomorphs. The heart of the movie rests with Rain and her robot brother Andy, whose dynamic together is sweet, complicated and human.
In fact, all of the characters are compelling in different ways, making their impending, horrifically violent deaths
een, Exorcist, and Ghostbusters have successfully proved that there needs to be an existential purpose for them to work.
In fact, there’s a direct plot point involving a character from Alien that looks like it was done with some very subpar deepfake technology that doesn’t even come close to bridging the uncanny valley. It’s befuddling, because it would have been easy to write around this choice and it only exists to remind people of the original — but not in a good way.
With not just this, but also some directly repeated iconic lines and a third act that repeats Alien’s ending almost beat-by-beat, Álvarez’s reverence for the original weakens Romulus on a story level, while simultaneously strengthening it on a design and aesthetic one. Álvarez is a talented filmmaker and doesn’t need to rely on nostalgia to make a good movie. His Evil Dead reboot was nothing like the other ones and was stronger for it.
While Alien: Romulus doesn’t really hold a candle to Alien or Aliens, it’s still easily the most intense movie I’ve seen so far this year and held me gripped to my chair for almost the entire running time. It doesn’t exist solely for nostalgia and genuinely wants to scare entire poops from the audience.
more affecting than one really expects. Álvarez and his co-writer Rodo Sayagues do a nice job creating characters we not just root for, but find pieces of ourselves within.
What’s really counterintuitive, though, is that the aspects of the film that work the best exist right next to the aspects that don’t, but Álvarez still manages to keep everything moving so quickly and anxiously that things never threaten to fall off the rails. From the opening frame of the movie, Alien: Romulus not only feels like an Alien movie from its DNA outward, it also looks and sounds like a direct sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1979 original.
The tech, the design, H.R. Giger’s iconic creature design, the score, the cinematography, and the character work all feel deeply reverent to the original film and you can tell Álvarez wants his movie to play directly alongside Scott’s masterpiece.
This also leads to the film’s biggest problem: not all of the callbacks and easter eggs work very well. Nostalgia is just not a good enough reason to make a direct sequel to a beloved movie. I feel like the legacy sequels to Hallow-
While there are a few terrible choices throughout, the escalation of terror and the anxiety-inducing, visceral horror really keep the movie’s claws pretty deep into your spine throughout. On top of that, the genuinely disturbing practical effects and the star-making performance from Jonsson are so awesome that it’s easy to look past the film’s faults.
I’m not sure I followed exactly all of the twisty-turny plot machinations that popped up throughout the story, but I still enjoyed trying to understand them. Perhaps there are some deleted scenes that might make the story congeal a little better or if every question I have will be answered in the inevitable sequel. Basically, I think I have the definition of mixed feelings.
Alien defined a genre and Aliens is one of the most entertaining movies ever made, so holding Romulus to that standard is somewhat unfair, but Álvarez and team do enough right for me to genuinely hope we get another film in the franchise that picks up directly after this one. No matter what happens, Romulus proves there’s still plenty of (alien) life left in the franchise and that the Xenomorph is just as iconic of a slasher as Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees. Except with acid instead of blood.
Grade: B-
Cailee Spaeny in Alien: Romulus
20TH CENTURY STUDIOS
WHAT’S GOING ON
Select events happening in metro Detroit this week. Be sure to check venue website before events for latest information. Add your event to our online calendar: metrotimes.com/ AddEvent.
MUSIC
Wednesday, Aug. 28
Live/Concert
Candlelight Open Air: From Bach to the Beatles 7-8:15 p.m.; The War Memorial, 32 Lake Shore Dr., Grosse Pointe Farms; $32.50.
Jazz Open Jam Session in the Lounge! 8-11 p.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover.
Keyon Harrold & Cory Henry with Cassowary 7:30 p.m.; The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, 2600 E. Atwater St., Detroit; $15-$60. Matt Lorusso Trio & Special Guests 8-11 p.m.; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; no cover.
Mitski, Lamp 6:30 p.m.; Detroit Masonic Temple Library, 500 Temple St, Detroit; $49-$180.
The Beths, Princess Chelsea 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $23.
Thursday, Aug. 29
Live/Concert
Built To Spill, Floating Witch’s Head, Rich Mattson and the Northstars 6:30 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $35.50. Conquer Divide, Enmy, Heartsick, Annex Void 6 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $15.
Desmond Jones, Patty Pershayla & The Mayhaps 7 p.m.; Tangent Gallery & Hastings Street Ballroom, 715 E. Milwaukee Ave., Detroit; $20. Howard Jones, ABC, Haircut One Hundred 7 p.m.; Caesars Palace Windsor - Augustus Ballroom, 377 E. Riverside Dr., Windsor; $33-$78.
Shalamar, Howard Hewett, Jeffrey Daniel, Carolyn Griffey 8 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; $43-$56.
The Rumours, the Strains, the Hourlies 7 p.m.; Small’s, 10339 Conant St., Hamtramck; $11. DJ/Dance
Drag Night in the Lounge 8 p.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge
Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover. Karaoke
DARE-U-OKE 9 p.m.-midnight; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; no cover.
Drag Queen Karaoke 8 p.m.-2 a.m.; Woodward Avenue Brewers, 22646 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; no cover.
Friday, Aug. 30
Live/Concert
Crumb, L’Rain, Discovery Zone
7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $32.50.
Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick, Rakim, Kid ‘N Play, Brand Nubian, X Clan, Yo-Yo, Kwame 8 p.m.; The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, 2600 E. Atwater St., Detroit; $50-$125.
Fifty Amp Fuse Band 9 p.m.; Diamondback Music Hall, 49345 S. Interstate 94 Service Dr., Belleville; $15. LoudFoxCult, Antighost, In A Daydream, Drive Safe! 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $15.
Lucki 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $33-$63.
Meek, Mahadeva Kota, Pregnant Teenage Hospital, Skin 5-9 p.m.; The Congregation Detroit, 9321 Rosa Parks Blvd,, Detroit; $15. DJ/Dance
After Midnight: Chappell Roan Dance Party 9 p.m.; The Crofoot Ballroom, 1 S. Saginaw, Pontiac; $15.
SURF~FEST: The Hurricane Cyclone, Tsunami Typhoons, Roland Remmington, DJ Stashu 9 p.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover.
Saturday, Aug. 31
Live/Concert
Bikini Kill, Shadow Show 7 p.m.; Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; $65-$125. Boyce Avenue, Jaclyn Davies and Megan Davies 7 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $35.
jessica Care moore presents: Black Women Rock - 20th Anniversary 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $23-$63.
Magic Bag Presents: GAY C/DC 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $18.
Mouthful of Locusts, Deeper Graves, Theta, Gutpile, Archimime 6 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932
34 August 28-September 3, 2024 | metrotimes.com
Caniff St., Hamtramck; $15. Renesans, Our Vices, Vexatious, Annex Void 6:30 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $16.
SURF~FEST: The Volcanos, Slot Rods, Rabbit Ears, DJ Bforeman 9 p.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover.
T.I., 2 Chainz, P$C, Big Herk, Lola Damone, Drunken Master, K Deezy 8 p.m.; The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, 2600 E. Atwater St., Detroit; $55-$150.
Wallows, Benee 7:30 p.m.; Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill, 14900 Metropolitan Pkwy., Sterling Heights; $39.50-$89.50.
Sunday, Sept. 1
Live/Concert
Kansas, Autumn Kings 8 p.m.; Caesars Palace Windsor - Augustus Ballroom, 377 E. Riverside Dr., Windsor; $33-$88.
The Gaslight Anthem, Joyce Manor, Pinkshift 6 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $33-$73.
DJ/Dance
Euforea, Chaotic Character Sep. 1, 4 p.m.; Alley Deck, 4120 Woodward, Detroit; no cover before 6 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 2
DJ/Dance
Adult Skate Night 8:30-11 p.m.; Lexus Velodrome, 601 Mack Ave., Detroit; $5.
Tuesday, Sept. 3
Live/Concert
Global Sunsets, Blackman & Arnold Trio 7-10 p.m.; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; no cover.
Peter Cat Recording Co. - Good Luck Beta ‘24 7 p.m,; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $23. Signs of the Swarm, Cane Hill, Ov Sulfur, 156/Silence, A Wake In Providence 6 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $23. Snow Tha Product 6 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $33-$57.50.
DJ/Dance
B.Y.O.R Bring Your Own Records Night 9 p.m.-midnight; The
Old Miami, 3930 Cass Ave., Detroit; no cover.
COMEDY
Improv
Go Comedy! Improv Theater Go Comedy! All-Star Showdown; Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.; $25.
Stand-up
Detroit Shipping Company 313 Comedy Show Your host to Live Comedy in The D. This show features rotating lineups of some of the best comedians in the country and globally. Shows are every Sunday at 7 p.m; no cover.
Little Caesars Arena Martin Lawrence, Deon Cole; $99.50-$129.50; Friday 8 p.m.
Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle 101 Comedy Class Showcase; $10 advance, $15 at the door. Special Showcase for the graduating 101 Comedy Class: Eileen Nolton (MC), Logan Lundquist, Audrey Mistor, Eileen Nolton, Austen Anderson, Autumn Davis, Paige Perry, Mick Gimby, Freddy Scott, Chris Barkume, Stephanie Oparka, Darrick Earvin, Ashley Banks. $10; Wednesday, 7:30-9 p.m.
Continuing This Week
Blind Pig Blind Pig Comedy FREE Mondays, 8 p.m.
The Independent Comedy Club at Planet Ant Tonight vs Everybody: Open Mic Comedy; $5 suggested donation; Thursdays, 9-10:30 p.m.
ARTS
Artist talk
Meet the Artists Free Meet the Artists reception: Linda Bedard, Molly Bell, Janet Blackwell, Lindsay Bower, Denise Cassidy Wood, Cheryl Chidester, Tina Creguer, Lori Ellsworth, Amy Fell, Victoria Fritz, James Guy, Terri Haranczak, Virginia Holland, Michaele Kadell, Mary Lane, Jill McClain, Jennifer Muse, Brian Peck, Tabitha Rasul, Thomas Rosenbaum, Bill Schahfer, Debora-Grace Stanczak, Christine Walters, Sharlene Welton, and Joan Witte. Wednesday, 5-7 p.m.; Plymouth Arts and Recreation Complex (PARC), 650 Church St,, Plymouth; no cover.
Art Exhibition Opening
Design Core Offices Design Core’s 14th Annual Detroit Month Of Design: Every September, partners across
Detroit — from emerging studios to established companies and educational institutions — come together to show off their latest works and ideas. These cross-disciplinary events take place in all corners of the city, highlighting the talent and innovation that makes Detroit a UNESCO City of Design. The 14th annual Detroit Month of Design, taking place Sept. 1–30, features over 90 events and immersive design experiences including exhibitions, installations, studio visits, product launches, artist talks, tours, workshops and parties.
epiphany studios Epiphany studios Seconds Sale: Epiphany Glass Studios is hosting a special “seconds” sale on the last Saturday in August in its Pontiac showroom. The sale will feature oneof-a-kind glass art that didn’t quite pass Epiphany’s perfection standards and may have minor issues or defects but are still beautiful in their own way. No cover; Saturday; 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
KickstART Gallery & Artisan Shop Opening Reception for The Industrialist and the Seer: artwork by Marat Paransky and Peter Dunn Through Sept. 28.
Continuing This Week
Cranbrook Art Museum Constellations & Affinities: Selections from the Cranbrook Collection.
Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) Thursdays at the Museum: Highlights of the Permanent Collection.
Habatat Galleries 52nd Annual International Glass Show (GLASS52). Habatat Galleries Complex, in Royal Oak, the oldest and largest art gallery dedicated to contemporary glass, presents Glass52, The International Glass Exhibition that is the largest exhibition of contemporary art glass in the world. This breathtaking exhibition, featuring 400 examples of stunning studio glass art, is the highlight of the year for Habatat.Through Aug. 30 .
Irwin House Gallery Ode to Alice: A visual and sonic tribute to Alice Coltrane. In observance of Alice Coltrane’s birthday, Irwin House hosts a seven-day visual and sonic celebration, presented in partnership with Urban Organic. The event opens with a listening reception on Friday, Aug. 23, extending throughout the weekend, and includes a mediation performance on Coltrane’s birthday, Tuesday Aug. 27. Through August 30th guests are invited to look, listen and learn about Coltrane and the John and Alice legacy. Featured artists: Ackeem Salmon, Cyrah Dardas, Geno Harris, Ingrid LaFleur, Jasmine Graham, Jonathan Kimble, Lance Johnson, Michael Cummings, Nathan Spratt, Onzie Norman, Reggie Singleton, Sam Kthar with Munson Steed and the Mirrored
Glass Trio. No cover.
Plymouth Arts and Recreation Complex (PARC) Windows into PARC The Windows into PARC exhibit is about the experiences at the Plymouth Arts & Recreation Complex. This unique inside-out art exhibition runs through August to Oct. 8. Select works from this two-month indoor exhibit will be chosen for outdoor display. The public is invited to our Meet the Artists reception on August 28 from 5pm to 7 pm. Enjoy FREE live music, sips, nosh and nibbles and talk to the artists. The artworks selected for the outdoor murals will be announced. The exhibit features the work of 25 artists and over 45 pieces. Through Oct. 7.
University of Michigan Museum of Art Unsettling Histories: Legacies of Slavery and Colonialism.
WELLNESS
Health Screening
Eastern Market Shed 3 Long Live Health presented by Central City Health & Long Live the Deejay. Central City Health, in partnership with Long Live the Deejay, will host the inaugural Long Live Health event, set to take place from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 30, at Eastern Market Shed 3, located at 2698 Russell, Detroit. This groundbreaking health awareness fair and entertainment event will offer attendees a full day of health screenings, educational workshops, fitness activities, and top-tier entertainment featuring an incredible line-up of local DJs. No cover; Friday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m.
Benefit
Gabrielle Wilson City Sweat Club: Running A Wellness Revolution In The City: Join our Detroit Community Run, a 5K challenge through the city starting in the Nike Community Store! Meet us every Wednesday this summer at 6 p.m.. We’ll start with a warm-up in-store and explore a new route each week. Whether you run, jog, or walk, all fitness levels are welcome. This event is FREE and aims to foster community connection through movement. After the run, we’ll celebrate and socialize at Gilly’s Clubhouse & Rooftop. Still thinking about signing up? Just do it! Register to run on Eventbrite. No cover; Wednesdays, 6-8:30 p.m.
Continuing This Week
Beacon Park Summer Eco Sessions Pop-Up Series Join us at Beacon Park, along with renowned DJ Tom T and Lumen Detroit, for our curated Summer Eco Sessions Pop-Up Series on select Fridays. Start your weekend with uplifting music sets and delicious food from Lumen’s patio menu.
Detroit’s LOVE Building hosts grand opening with four days of community events
The LOVE Building, a hub for social justice and creative community in Detroit’s Core City neighborhood, is finally opening its doors to the public from September 3-6 with four days of community events.
The week will kick off with an open house on Tuesday, Sept. 3 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., allowing people to meet the team at the building, as well as the organizations who reside there. The five-floor nonprofit space serves as a home for six organizations, including Allied Media Projects, Detroit Community Technology Project, Detroit Disability Power, Detroit Justice Center, and Detroit Narrative Agency.
At the opening, people can learn how the organization plans to support local residents, promote social justice, and foster creative communities.
On Wednesday, Sept. 4, a town hall will take place from 6-8 p.m., allowing community members to hear more about the LOVE Building’s vision, programming, and initiatives, understanding its commitment to community development and inclusion.
From 5-9 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 5, a mural titled “Ancestral Love, Moving Us Forward,” honoring influential community
members, will be unveiled, along with local artist Taylor Childs’s solo exhibition and interactive art installation.
Finally, to end the festivities with a bang, a house party will happen at the LOVE Building on Friday, Sept. 6 from 7 p.m.-midnight. A DJ will activate the main event and restaurant spaces, with designated seating areas for disabled participants and the elderly, making the event accessible for everyone.
“We’re excited to formally welcome the community at large into The LOVE Building and give them a glimpse of beautiful things to come,” Kwaku Osei, Executive Director of The LOVE Building, said in a statement. “In many ways this is our opportunity to show folks why we’re so optimistic for our collective future between sharing what our partners in the building are up to, what we’ve planned and what we’re considering, as well as how we’ll leverage this space to be a community asset and vehicle for empowerment of residents, social justice activists, and creatives across the city!”
—Layla McMurtrie
Anyone interested can learn more and RSVP to the events at thelovebuilding.org/opening.
The LOVE Building. STEVE HALL, COURTESY OF HALL+MERRICK+MCCAUGHERTY
MUSIC
Generations of jazz Alice Coltrane’s son Ravi plays homage to his mother at the Detroit Jazz Festival
By Biba Adams
For over 40 years, the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation has celebrated Detroit’s rich history of jazz music by providing year-round concerts and educational programming, and of course, organizing the world’s largest free jazz festival, featuring world-class talent, over Labor Day weekend. “Sonically, jazz is genetically related to the city of Detroit,” says Chris Collins, president and artistic director of the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation.
The spirit of musical lineage and legacy is one that infuses this year’s festival.
Opening night on Friday will mark the premiere of “Translinear Light: The Music of Alice Coltrane.” The performance on the Carhartt Amphitheater Stage at Hart Plaza will feature Alice Coltrane’s son, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, with special guest Brandee Younger and the Detroit Jazz Festival Chamber Orchestra.
Alice Coltrane was born Alice Lucille McLeod on Aug. 27, 1937 here in Detroit. Her family was inherently musical. Her mother Anna was a singer in the church choir. Her sister Marilyn would go on to be a songwriter for Motown.
She honed her musical skills in church — first on the organ, then the piano. Her family supported her dreams and she moved to Paris in the 1950s. She married and had a daughter Michelle before returning to Detroit. In the early 1960s, while playing with the Terry Gibbs Quartet, she met saxophonist John Coltrane and the two married in Juárez, Mexico in 1965, and they had three more children together.
“Alice was ahead of her time, one of the first people to move outside the mainstream, and certainly one of the first female, Black, American jazz musicians to record her own music in her own studio, and to release music on her own terms,” her son Ravi said in a press release. “There is something to be said about timing. It can take a moment for people to recognize where the energies are, where the weight is... But now people across all generations
are finding their way to Alice’s music in a myriad of different ways. It’s hard to pinpoint what makes her music so powerful, but there’s something in her spirit, in her intention that is very clear — and people can feel that immediately.”
The Coltrane family’s foundation, The John & Alice Coltrane Home, have declared 2024 and 2025 to be “The Year of Alice.”
The celebration will feature previously unreleased music and reissues, community programming, a multimedia museum exhibit, newly choreographed ballet works, and more — all inspired by the life and legacy of Alice Coltrane. The Detroit performance of Translinear Light will mark one of the inaugural events — one that the family hopes will expose audiences to Coltrane’s music more than 17 years after her passing.
“She was just a very kind and loving and generous person,” Ravi Coltrane tells Metro Times. “She was in search of a universal love, a higher love — and spreading that message through her music and her spiritual and religious practice. She had a message of peace and love that I think just radiates from everything that she was and all the music that she created. I think younger audiences feel that when they discover her.”
“To truly honor and celebrate the artists who have left an indelible mark on history, especially someone as deep as our Detroit sister Alice Coltrane, we must develop an accurate understanding of the gifts they left behind and build on those gifts with new perspectives, generations and artistry,” says Collins. “For 45 years the Detroit Jazz Festival has sought to propagate the living breathing jazz legacy and the artists as agents of inspiration. We are very proud to work with the Coltrane house and the Coltrane family to rediscover Alice’s music from the source and present a world premiere that brings her voice to new generations and embodies her legacy of challenging boundaries, evolving the art and inspiring all of us to new heights.”
The legacy of another pioneering
woman will also be highlighted this year.
Known as the “Angel of Jazz,” Gretchen C. Valade had unwavering commitment to the propagation of Detroit’s jazz legacy and the preservation of the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation and the Detroit Jazz Festival, the world’s largest admission-free jazz festival.
She passed away at the age of 97 in 2022.
Valade was a Detroit philanthropist whose grandfather founded the work clothing line Carhartt. She donated millions of dollars to jazz studies and performance at Wayne State University, and this year will be the first year that many of the performances will take place at the newly built Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center. “This space was crafted acoustically, visually to honor jazz music,” Collins says of the center. “Everything — even the backline — was curated for the genre.”
The jazz center features an extensive
renovation of the Hilberry Theatre, 350 seats (with increased leg room), outstanding acoustics, renovated and expanded restrooms, star dressing rooms, choral and orchestra dressing rooms, elevator access to restrooms and lower level, and an underground Jazz Café on the lower level — where some of this years performances will take place.
Of this year’s festival, Ravi Coltrane says, “I love that festival. I’ve played it many times. Detroit is a beautiful city. And the fact that it’s a free festival means the energy in the crowd is always very, very positive and very festive. So the energy of playing there is always just something very unique. Only in Detroit.”
“Translinear Light: The Music of Alice Coltrane” starts at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 30 at the Detroit Jazz Festival; Hart Plaza; see detroitjazzfest.org for the full schedule. No cover.
Ravi Coltrane will honor his mother Alice Coltrane at the Detroit Jazz Fest. COURTESY PHOTO
FOOD
A superior chicken shawarma
By Tom Perkins
Shawarma’s House
8565 Wayne Rd., Westland
734-338-6788
shawarmashousewestland.com
$4-$20
Shawarma’s House first came on my radar while driving back to Detroit after a long hike west of Ann Arbor. Famished after 10-miles in the woods, I craved protein, wanted it in chicken shawarma form, and it had to be from a shop close to Interstate 96. The option with the best Google reviews in the neighborhood was Shawarma’s House, in Westland, with a 4.9 rating on over 1,000 votes. “They must’ve hired bots, but whatever, it’s close, I’ll try it,” I thought to myself. Turns out it probably wasn’t bots. There’s no shortage of shawarmas in metro Detroit — even good or excellent shawarma abounds, because the
universe has smiled upon us. But finding a spot that does a common dish like shawarma better than everyone else is a rarity and a joy in life, and that’s what Shawarma’s House has on offer. As with any simple dish of this caliber, it’s the details that make all the difference. Shawarma’s House cuts its bird from a massive inverted cone of chicken on a spit to produce small shavings. They’re intensely aromatic, moist, bright, and lemony pieces of bird that are wrapped in pita with better-than-most pickles and solid garlic sauce. Guessing on the spice combo here, but I suspect it’s driven by coriander, paprika, clove, nutmeg, cumin, and more. The aroma-generating combo and the perfect texture are what put the package in its own class. Shawarma’s House should not be confused with Shawarma House in Oxford, which I haven’t tried and can’t opine on. I was unable to reach the
owner so I can’t give any details on its backstory, but the menu is what you’ll find at most Lebanese restaurants in the region. Though I wouldn’t pass up the chicken shawarma, the meat shawarma — or, lamb — is also super fragrant from what I’m again guessing is some combo with a heavy dose of any combo of cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon. And the sensation from that cinnamon is practically psychedelic. Awesome.
Shawarma’s House hummus is also excellent — creamy, a bit rich, lemony — while the kofta is a solid version, with similar spice profiles in sausage form as the meat shawarma, but in a package that’s lightly charred on the outside and tender on the interior.
The cucumber yogurt salad came with a very thin sauce, but it was a bright dish and had depth. The batatas harra, or spicy potatoes, were a bit undercooked and not particu -
larly spicy, but still lemony and tasty, though probably would pass on the next run. On the side, each dinner comes with lentil soup, almond rice, fries, or salad, and there were no misses among them.
Shawarma’s House is in Westland, which is a little out of orbit from where I live in Hamtramck, but this is the type of shawarma that motivates one to travel. It’s also more evidence that the LebaneseAmerican population that started in east Dearborn and Detroit continues pushing west, deeper into the suburbs. (When I mentioned to friends that some of the region’s finest shawarma can be found in Westland, they told me about another place in the neighborhood that allegedly has some of the best Lebanese fare.) The restaurant is mostly carryout, there are a few small tables, and the staff is friendly.
In a region blessed with shawarma, Westland has a contender for one of the best.
TOM PERKINS
CULTURE
Savage Love Quickies
By Dan Savage
: Q Straight, monogamous, cisgender couple here. Six years together, two years married. My husband loves board games, problem solving, and anything that gets his brain going. But like many straight white cis dudes, he’s not particularly aware of what motivates him. He’s also not straightforward with exactly what turns him on. But one thing he likes is initiating sex at the most inconvenient moment. He’ll try to get things going when I’m cooking or when we have to get dressed and get somewhere. The more I rebuff his advances, the more motivated my husband is to have sex. I think my rebuffs feel like a game for him — a fun problem to solve — but I find the whole thing pretty fucking annoying. I’ve tried asking him what turns him on, and I’ve been straightforward about his advances not feeling sexy when I’m concentrating on not burning dinner or getting dressed and out the door because we’re meeting friends somewhere or have a reservation. But it just keeps happening. Even worse, we’ve been busy lately and talked about making time for sex, so I’ve been trying to initiate more. But when I initiate at a good time, he turns me down. Meanwhile, he continues to initiate at the worst times. So, now I’m angry that he can’t seem to have a productive conversation about what he wants and that I always have to start the hard conversations. I have two questions for you:
1. How can I get him to have a real conversation with me about what turns him on? If I’m right about the rebuffs feeling like a game to him, I want to figure out ways to turn this into an actual game that feels sexy for me too. If that doesn’t work…
2. How do I get him to stop?
—Jokey Unaware Man’s Actions Not Juicy Ideal
P.S. When I’m not being annoyed by the above, I find him incredibly sexy, the sex we have is great and sometimes amazing, and we have a lovely and fun life together.
A: 1. Does it have to be a conversation?
You have a pretty read on what your husband is doing, JUMANJI, so instead of initiating an open-ended conversation in the hope your husband has an epiphany and knocks this shit off, you could just tell him what’s he doing and order him to knock it off. If he disagrees — if he doesn’t think he’s initiating sex at the worst
possible times because overcoming your resistance turns him on and/or affirms his irresistibility and/or seems like a fun game to him — then you can challenge him to come up with a better explanation. If he can’t, he’ll have to accept yours.
That said, JUMANJI, I think there’s a bigger issue here than your husband’s legitimately annoying inability to articulate what he’s doing and why and when.
Your husband sounds like one of those people who wants sex to feel spontaneous — a wild and uncontrollable force that overtakes you both — while you sound like someone who wants sex to feel controlled and contained. (I imagine sex wouldn’t be inconvenient at those times when you initiate, which may be why he passes.) Finding a workable compromise that allows for sex to be (or feel) spontaneous for him without sex always being a hugely inconvenient pain the ass for you will require you both to give a little. So, it’s not an epiphany on his part that will resolve this conflict, JUMANJI, but a pay-the-price-admission compromise on both your parts. He’s gonna need to demonstrate — he’s gonna need to telegraph — more consideration for your feelings about the where and when of sex and you’re gonna need to demonstrate to him that you’re willing to be (or willing to fake being) reasonably spontaneous.
2. Do you want him to stop?
You say the sex you have with your husband — when you have it — runs from great to amazing. Seeing as your husband shoots you down when you initiate (something he needs to work on), JUMANJI, all this great-to-amazing sex must be happening when you’re trying to get dinner on the table or out the door. If he can learn to read you better and take no for an answer when the answer is a firm no — if he can learn not to push when there’s something on the stove that really can’t wait — maybe the answer can be yes when the meal you’re preparing or the friends you’re meeting can wait.
P.S. Your husband isn’t the only one who can play games. You can lie to your husband about having dinner reservations for 7 p.m. when they’re actually for 8 p.m. and let him think he’s getting away with something when he initiates sex at 6:45 p.m.
P.P.S. If you really wanna make it a puzzle and keep him out of the kitchen, JUMANJI, get your husband a cock cage and hide clues for the combination lock in other parts of the house. If he can solve the puzzle and free his cock before dinner, you will turn down the heat and have a quickie on the kitchen counter. But he’s not allowed in the kitchen — he not even allowed to talk to you — until his cock is free or his dinner is served, whichever comes first.
: Q Yo, Danny! My girlfriend is very sweet and super affectionate in private, but it totally disappears in public. She doesn’t just avoid PDA in the sense of “no tongue kissing” and “no groping,” she adopts this ice-cold persona when we go anywhere. She barely smiles at me and rejects any public display of affection greater than holding hands. It kind of makes me anxious when we go from very cuddly and touchy at home to her literally jumping away if I try to give her a peck on the cheek in public. Is she being unreasonable or am I just an anxious little bitch?
—Publicly Displayed Aversion
A: Your girlfriend could be unreasonable, PDA, and you could be an anxious little bitch — it doesn’t have to be one or the other. But unreasonable or not, PDA, your girlfriend doesn’t like public displays of affection. If it hurts your feelings when she pulls away when you try to kiss her in public, stop trying to kiss her in public. That fact that she’s willing to hold your hand is proof she isn’t embarrassed to be seen with you, PDA, and proof she doesn’t loathe you the way Melania loathes Donald. But if you try to stick your tongue in her mouth every time she so much as smiles at you in public if you keep doing shit to your girlfriend that she hates (kissing her, grabbing more than her hand) — she’s not only gonna keep glaring, she’s gonna come to hate you every bit as much as Melania hates Donald, PDA, and then you’re gonna get dumped.
P.S. If your girlfriend doesn’t enjoy being kissed in public and you know it, PDA, you’re not kissing her in public to please her, you’re kissing her in public to show something to other people —namely, that she’s yours. That’s not kissing, PDA, that’s asserting a claim, and it’s a shit reason to kiss someone in public. Unless the person you’re kissing enjoys feeling “claimed,” which your girlfriend clearly doesn’t. Knock it off.
P.P.S. Only my mom called me Danny, PDA. I already gave you grief in my response, and I’m not here in this post-postscript to give you more. I actually wanna thank you, as your letter made me think of my mom just now. So, thanks.
: Q An odd situation: I’m a 41-year-old cisgender man who can only perform sexually if a certain song is playing. As bizarre as it sounds, no matter how attracted I may be to a new partner, I literally cannot maintain an erection unless I’m listening to this one specific song (ideally on repeat) for the duration of the act. Obviously, this has made for some awkward moments and conversations with casual partners when I try to explain. It is ruining my love life. It’s such an unusual issue to have that even my therapist hasn’t encountered it. It’s not a song I particularly like, but it was a song my late wife loved and listened to all the time and even chose for our first dance at our
wedding. My wife died six years ago and I’m obviously unable to let go. I’ve tried ED pills, but they don’t help because the root cause is psychological, not physical. Have you ever heard of anything like this? I made the mistake of posting this on Reddit a few weeks ago, and while some people responded with kindness and constructive suggestions like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), others mocked me or thought I was joking. I’m not joking. Any insight would be appreciated. —Totally Unfathomable Need Endangering Situationships
P.S. I’m not including the name of the song because it’s irrelevant in a way. Just know it’s a mellow pop song from a while back.
A: I haven’t heard of this, TUNES, but back in my twenties — gonna take a long stroll down memory lane here — I used to hook up with a guy who wanted to be spanked while he listened to Doris Day’s Greatest Hits. He never offered an in-depth explanation, TUNES, and I didn’t want one. I had always been an unapologetic/unironic fan of Doris Day… and I was a new fan of this boy’s ass… so, I was more than happy to spank him while we listened to Doris Day. But if he’d told me Doris Day was his dead husband’s favorite artist… or that he was forced to listen to Doris Day while he was abused by nuns… I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed spanking him during “Que Sera, Sera” as much as I did.
Anyway, TUNES, if you can’t do anything about this — if your therapist can’t help and CBT doesn’t make a difference — I think you should present your need for this particular pop song the same way that boy presented his need for Doris Day’s Greatest Hits: as a quirk, TUNES, an inexplicable one. On the theory that it’s better to harmlessly confuse a sex partner (gotta hear this song) than it is to disappoint one (can’t get hard) — and on the theory that casual sex partners don’t need or want to know everything — I think we can justify omitting this song’s association with your late wife. (Sorry for your loss.) Because no one you’re casually fucking wants to lay there thinking about your dead wife, TUNES, any more than they wanna lay there thinking about you thinking about your dead wife.
If you wind up getting serious about someone, TUNES, you might have to come clean eventually or not. My husband and I have a song that’s “ours,” but I couldn’t tell you what song was important to him and his ex. But even as you’re keeping things casual for now, you should do what you can to wean yourself from this song. Listening to it at progressively lower volumes...
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CULTURE Free Will Astrology
By Rob Brezsny
ARIES: March 21 – April 19
Although there are over 7,000 varieties of apples, your grocery store probably offers no more than 15. But you shouldn’t feel deprived. Having 15 alternatives is magnificent. In fact, most of us do better in dealing with a modicum of choices rather than an extravagant abundance. This is true not just about apples but also about most things. I mention this, Aries, because now is an excellent time to pare down your options in regard to all your resources and influences. You will function best if you›re not overwhelmed with possibilities. You will thrive as you experiment with the principle that less is more.
TAURUS: April 20 – May 20
Taurus comedian Jerry Seinfeld, now 70 years old, has testified, “As a child, the only clear thought I had was ‘get candy.’” I encourage you to be equally single-minded in the near
future, Taurus. Not necessarily about candy — but about goodies that appeal to your inner child as well as your inner teenager and inner adult. You are authorized by cosmic forces to go in quest of experiences that tickle your bliss.
GEMINI: May 21 – June 20
I’m not saying I would refuse to hire a Gemini person to house sit while I’m on vacation. You folks probably wouldn’t let my houseplants die, allow raccoons to sneak in and steal food, or leave piles of unwashed dishes in the sink. On the other hand, I’m not entirely confident you would take impeccable care of my home in every little way. But wait! Everything I just said does not apply to you now. My analysis of the omens suggests you will have a high aptitude for the domestic arts in the coming weeks. You will be more likely than usual to take good care of my home — and your own home, too. It’s a good time to redecorate and freshen up the vibe.
CANCER: June 21 – July 22
These days, you are even smarter and more perceptive than usual. The deep intelligence of your higher self is pouring into your conscious awareness with extra intensity. That’s a good thing, right? Yes, mostly. But there may be a downside: You could be hyperaware of people whose thinking is mediocre and whose discernment is substandard. That could be frustrating, though it also puts you in a good position to correct mistakes those people make. As you wield the healing power of your wisdom, heed these words from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “Misunderstandings and lethargy produce more wrong in the world than deceit and malice do.”
assignment in the coming months, Leo, is to rebel against any influence that tempts you to tamp down your gifts and specialties. Assert your sovereignty. Identify what you do best, and do it more and better than you ever have before.
VIRGO: August 23 – Sept. 22
When an infant giraffe leaves its mother’s womb, it falls six feet to the ground. I suspect that when you are reborn sometime soon, Virgo, a milder and more genial jolt will occur. It may even be quite rousing and inspirational — not rudely bumpy at all. By the way, the plunge of the baby giraffe snaps its umbilical cord and stimulates the creature to take its initial breaths — getting it ready to begin its life journey. I suspect your genial jolt will bring comparable benefits.
LIBRA: Sept. 23 – Oct. 22
Many people living in the Napo province of Ecuador enjoy eating a dish called ukuy, which is a Kichwa word for large ants. This is not an exotic meal for them. They may cook the ukuy or simply eat the creatures alive. If you travel to Napo anytime soon, Libra, I urge you to sample the ukuy. According to my reading of the astrological omens, such an experiment is in alignment with the kinds of experiences you Libras should be seeking: outside your usual habits, beyond your typical expectations, and in amused rebellion against your customary way of doing things.
SCORPIO: Oct. 23 – Nov. 21:
wild; new jewelry or clothes that make you feel daring; new tools that raise your confidence; and new information that stirs your creativity.
CAPRICORN: Dec. 22 – Jan. 19
On a Tuesday in August in 2012 — one full Jupiter cycle ago — a Capricorn friend of mine called in sick to his job as a marketing specialist. He never returned. Instead, after enjoying a week off to relax, he began working to become a dance instructor. After six months, he was teaching novice students. Three years later, he was proficient enough to teach advanced students, and five years later, he was an expert. I am not advising you, Capricorn, to quit your job and launch your own quixotic quest for supremely gratifying work. But if you were ever going to start taking small steps towards that goal, now would be a good time. It’s also a favorable phase to improve the way your current job works for you.
AQUARIUS: Jan. 20 – Feb. 18
Well kids it’s that time again, the circus has come to town. A good chance there will be lines, although a slight inconvenience, a good time to think about what you want to drink. So, when the very busy bartender asks you ‘what would you like’, you will know and there will be a brief moment of harmony. Happy Labor Day!!
‘EIGHT
LEO: July 23 – August 22
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had an older sister, born under the sign of Leo. Her nickname was Nannerl. During their childhoods, she was as much a musical prodigy as he. Supervised by their father, they toured Europe performing together, playing harpsichord and piano. Nannerl periodically got top billing, and some critics regarded her as the superior talent. But misfortune struck when her parents decided it was unseemly for her, as a female, to continue her development as a genius. She was forcibly retired so she could learn the arts of housekeeping and prepare for marriage and children. Your
The theory of karma suggests that all our actions, good and bad and in-between, send ripples out into the world. These ripples eventually circle back to us, ensuring we experience events that mirror our original actions. If we lie and cheat, we will be lied to and cheated on. If we give generously and speak kindly about other people, we will be the recipient of generosity and kind words. I bring this up, Scorpio, because I believe you will soon harvest a slew of good karma that you have set in motion through your generosity and kindness. It may sometimes seem as if you’re getting more benevolence than you deserve, but in my estimation, it›s all well-earned.
SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 22 – Dec. 21
I encourage you to buy yourself fun presents that give you a feisty boost. Why? Because I want you to bring an innovative, starting-fresh spirit into the ripening projects you are working on. Your attitude and approach could become too serious unless you infuse them with the spunky energy of an excitable kid. Gift suggestions: new music that makes you feel
Three years ago, an Indonesian man celebrated his marriage to a rice cooker, which is a kitchen accessory. Khoirul Anam wore his finest clothes while his new spouse donned a white veil. In photos posted on social media, the happy couple are shown hugging and kissing. Now might also be a favorable time for you to wed your fortunes more closely with a valuable resource — though there’s no need to perform literal nuptials. What material thing helps bring out the best in you? If there is no such thing, now would be a good time to get it.
PISCES: Feb.19 – March 20
For many years, I didn’t earn enough money to pay taxes. I was indigent. Fortunately, social programs provided me with food and some medical care. In recent years, though, I have had a better cash flow. I regularly send the U.S. government a share of my income. I wish they would spend all my tax contributions to help people in need. Alas, just 42% of my taxes pay for acts of kindness to my fellow humans, while 24% goes to funding the biggest military machine on Earth. Maybe someday, there will be an option to allocate my tax donations exactly as I want. In this spirit, Pisces, I invite you to take inventory of the gifts and blessings you dole out. Now is a good time to correct any dubious priorities. Take steps to ensure that your generosity is going where it’s most needed and appreciated. What kind of giving makes you feel best?
Homework: What supposedly forbidden thing do you want that maybe isn’t so forbidden?
