Metro Times 06/14/2023

NEWS & VIEWS

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We got feedback in response to contributor Robert Stempkowski’s bi-weekly dining scene column, “Chowhound.”

Hi, just wanted you to know how much I enjoy reading your column. (Just the mere mention of a great place to get fried chicken is Pavlovian.) Also really like your chef/restaurant stories. Sometimes they make me laugh, sometimes they make me cringe. But they ALWAYS make me hungry. —“G,” via email

Shame on the Metro Times for printing this story about the cook and the egg and the customer’s cobb salad. It’s not only disgusting, but what the cook did is a

crime and should have been immediately reported. Not only is the Metro Times rewarding this action by publishing the story, but you’re letting your “writer” off the hook for not having immediately reported his co-worker’s disgusting behavior to both restaurant management and the local police. I imagine you think this “cautionary tale” (really, you’re going to call it that?) is funny. I assure you, it is not. It’s revolting and cruel and you should be embarrassed for having printed it. —Brian

Sietsema, via email

Well deserved recognition! Love Country Fair Chicken! Get so many compliments when I utilize the catering! —Carri

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NEWS & VIEWS

Whitmer signs executive order at Motor City Pride

GOVERNOR GRETCHEN

WHITMER’S appearance at this year’s Motor City Pride wasn’t just for show. She came to announce Michigan’s new LGBTQ+ Advisory Commission, which she established by signing an executive order at the festival on Sunday.

The commission will operate within the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity to advise Whitmer and the department director on policies that impact the LGBTQ+ community. It will look for ways to eradicate discrimination against the queer community and promote LGBTQ+ culture, history, and economic contributions.

The newly-created group is the first-ever statewide LGBTQ+ Commission, and its members will be made

up of representatives from the state’s executive branch alongside representatives from the community. This could include educators, parents of LGBTQ+ children, and social workers, mental health, or medical professionals who regularly provide care to queer patients.

Whitmer vowed to fight like hell for diversity and inclusion in the state.

“As we celebrate Pride, we must continue taking action to ensure that everyone has the freedom to be who they are in Michigan,” Whiter said in a statement. “That’s why I am establishing the LGBTQ+ Commission to focus on health, safety, economic opportunity, and talent retention for the LGBTQ+ community. This issue is personal for me, and I will fight like

hell to bring more diverse voices into the decision-making process so we can build a brighter future for every Michigander. While other states are engaged in the business of bigotry, Michigan is standing up for the LGBTQ+ community.”

According to the executive order, 74% of LGBTQ+ youth reported experiencing discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity in 2023, and almost half considered suicide in the past year.

Whitmer was joined by Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II and Attorney General Dana Nessel for the Pride announcement. Nessel is one of the first openly lesbian women to become elected to attorney general in a U.S. state, and rose to prominence representing the

plaintiffs in DeBoer v. Snyder, which challenged Michigan’s ban on samesex couples adopting children and was consolidated with other cases that led to the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision to recognize same-sex marriage.

“This first-ever statewide LGBTQ+ Commission will work to end discrimination and inequality against LGBTQ+ Michiganders and attract members of the LGBTQ+ community to Michigan by ensuring our state is a safe place for everyone to thrive,” Gilchrist said. “Our vision for Michigan is expansive enough for everyone, and Governor Whitmer and I will continue using every tool in our toolbox to build a Michigan where everyone can envision a bright future for themselves.”

—Randiah Camille Green

Gov. Whitmer, center, was joined by Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II, right, and Attorney General Dana Nessel, left, for the Pride announcement. COURTESY PHOTO

Cinema Detroit to close in huge blow to local arthouse scene

CINEMA DETROIT, AN indie movie theater in the Cass Corridor, is shutting down its location by the end of the month — but hopes to reemerge for a second act.

The two-screen arthouse theater opened in 2013 and gained a following among fans of critically acclaimed foreign, independent, and socialcommentary films.

But the nonprofit theater has struggled with funding, the post-pandemic downturn in moviegoing, and the increasing popularity of streaming services, says Cinema Detroit co-founder Paula Guthat.

“It’s kind of a devastating thing,” Guthat tells Metro Times. “It’s like a death. We poured our own money, energy, time, and soul into it. It’s sad we’re not continuing, but it’s not sustainable. We did the best we could for as long as we could.”

Cinema Detroit first opened at the old Burton International Schools on Cass Avenue before moving in 2015 to its current home on Third Avenue between Alexandrine and Willis.

Guthat plans to pursue pop-up events and hopes to eventually find a permanent home, which she admits won’t be easy.

Cinema Detroit needs a building with high ceilings and unobstructed views, and Guthat says the rising cost of rent makes the search even more difficult.

Guthat has searched for new locations in Detroit, but so far has had no luck.

“It’s tough, and we have looked at a lot of spaces,” Guthat says. “We did try. We really tried.”

Like many arthouse theaters, Cinema Detroit has struggled to attract moviegoers whose habits have dramatically changed since streaming services have paid record sums for smaller, independent films. Instead of going to the theater, cinephiles are watching new movies in their living rooms.

With dwindling admission revenue and aging film equipment, Cinema Detroit also needs new funding, and securing grants has been difficult, Guthat says.

“It seems like the grants go to the same organizations that already have funding,” Guthat says.

The theater’s last film at the current location is Sanctuary, a psychological thriller directed by Zachary Wigon and starring Margaret Qualley and Christopher Abbott.

On June 16, Cinema Detroit is kicking off a summer series at the University of MichiganDearborn with the films Cadejo Blanco, a psychological thriller filmed in Guatemala; Big Boys, a heartwarming coming-of-age flick; Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes, a documentary about the bebop pioneer and virtuoso composer; and Hollow Triumph, a 1948 film noir starring Paul Henreid.

Guthat says operating an arthouse theater in Detroit has been her passion for a long — and she’s not ready to give up.

“Our mission was always to offer access to films in the city proper,” Guthat says. “It’s heartbreaking to me because the people we’re trying to serve are people who can’t always afford it or who don’t have cars. We were also tired of going to the suburbs to see art films.”

Once teeming with movie theaters, Detroit has very few remaining today. The DIA’s Detroit Film Theatre shows arthouse and international films, while Southwest Detroit’s Senate Theater and Old Redford’s Redford Theatre specialize in classic cinema.

The only first-run movie theater left in the city is the Bel Air Luxury Cinema on Eight Mile Road, although rapper Big Sean says he plans to open a movie theater in the city in a partnership with the Emagine chain.

—Steve Neavling

Ninth man convicted in plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer

A MAN CHARGED with assisting in the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pleaded guilty to a terrorism-related charge last Wednesday, making him the ninth suspect to be convicted in the brazen scheme.

Shawn Fix, 40, faces up to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to providing material support for a terroristic act. In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss a weapon charge.

Prosecutors said Fix trained with a militia, the Wolverine Watchmen, and hosted a five-hour meeting at his Belleville home to discuss the kidnapping with other suspects.

Fix was among four men charged in Antrim County for their alleged roles in the plot to kidnap and assassinate Whitmer.

Fix is scheduled to be sentenced following the Aug. 21 trial of three other defendants — Eric Molitor, Michael Null, and William Null. They each face one count of providing material support for a terroristic act and a felony firearm charge.

As part of his plea agreement, Fix agreed to testify against the others.

The main kidnapping case was handled in federal court, where four men were convicted and two others were acquitted.

Prosecutors said the militiamen were anti-government extremists who were hoping to trigger a civil war.

The would-be kidnappers were infiltrated by undercover FBI agents and arrested in October 2020.

—Lee DeVito

WJR unveils ‘next generation’ of radio hosts: old white men

MALE, PALE, AND stale appears to be the motto of Detroit-based radio station WJR-AM (760).

The popular station unveiled its new primetime lineup last Monday, and all six hosts are older white men — Paul W. Smith, Tom Jordan, Kevin Dietz, Guy Gordon, Mitch Album, and Chris Renwick. And that’s not including the syndicated voices of white conservative propagandists Mark Levin, Matt Walsh, and Ben Shapiro, who fill the late-night airwaves with paranoid grievances.

Karen Dumas, a Detroit News columnist and former longtime radio host, says diversity in the media is important to promote inclusivity and representation, especially in a predominantly Black city where many residents don’t feel included.

“Everybody has been talking about inclusion since George Floyd,” Dumas, who is Black, tells Metro times “Everybody made their commitment statements. Conversations continue to happen in pockets about Black people not feeling included or welcomed in the city. But when we talk about inclusion, our actions speak volumes.”

From a business standpoint, Dumas says, WJR’s decision to broadcast solely white, male hosts doesn’t make a lot of sense.

“It’s either one of two things,” Dumas says of WJR’s business philosophy. “It’s either, ‘Who are we targeting and trying to attract and retain on this station? Or we are clueless.’”

When WJR announced the lineup on Twitter, which the station called “the

next generation of Michigan news talk,” others shared similar sentiments.

“Next generation?” Wicked_Salome tweeted. “No one wants to listen to boring ass old boomer fucks complain about everything that scares them. Save some money and broadcast a live stream from a nursing home rec room.”

Professing_Prof snarked, “So much diversity! All white males. No minorities. No women. You sicken me!”

AM radio has become a hub for right-wing radio shows. Rush Limbaugh reached millions of listeners on the AM dial before he died and inspired other peddlers of misinformation.

Another popular feature of AM stations is a rapidly rotating headline service of news, traffic, and weather reports as heard on Detroit’s WWJ-AM (950).

AM radio has struggled to compete with FM channels and streaming services like podcasts and audiobooks. Of the top 20 radio stations in Detroit, only WJR and WWJ are on the AM dial, according to recent Nielsen ratings. WJR ranked 14th, and WWJ ranked 12th.

WJR reaches most of lower Michigan.

Some electric auto manufacturers have stopped offering AM because of electrical interference and cost reductions.

Ford Motor Co. recently reversed a decision to remove AM radio in its upcoming cars following public outcry. Metro Times couldn’t reach WJR for comment.

—Steve Neavling

Traverse City, ‘Cocaine Capital?’

MICHIGAN’S TRAVERSE CITY is a tourist town primarily known as the “Cherry Capital” of the world. But a recent study makes the case that the little beachside burg can also claim the title of being the “Cocaine Capital” of the U.S.

That’s according to a recent study by OLBG, an online sports betting guide, which named Michigan’s Traverse City and Grand Rapids among the “the top 10 wildest cities in the U.S.” — ranking at No. 3 and No. 10, respectively.

To come up with its rankings, OLBG says it analyzed U.S. cities by factors including the prevalence of casinos, strip clubs, cannabis use, and cocaine use. The authors say they also cited county health rankings for self-reported binge drinking or heavy drinking, among others.

Traverse City was ranked No. 3 overall with a “wildness score” of 7.71 out of 10.

“This city is renowned for its vineyards and wineries and this makes it less surprising that 23% of the residents here drink heavily,” the authors wrote. “Some of the other factors that make up Traverse City’s 7.71 /10 overall score are the 12.76 strip clubs per 100,000 residents, and the fact that 65.8% of people here have taken marijuana.”

When it comes to cocaine use, Traverse City ranked No. 1, with 23.8%

of its population of 15,675 having taken the drug, according to the study. Grand Rapids came in at No. 9, with 21.4% of its population of 195,911 using the drug.

Traverse City also ranked as the No. 1 U.S. city for cannabis use, with 65.8% of residents reporting using the sweet leaf, according to the study. Grand Rapids came in next at No. 2, with 65.4% of residents admitting to inhaling.

Traverse City ranked No. 3 for strip clubs per 100,000 residents with its whopping two strip clubs (while Detroit clocked in at No. 8 with 5.63 clubs per 100,000 residents, or 35 clubs). Now, we’re taking these rankings with a grain of salt. We think factoring in cannabis use in a city’s “wildness” score is an old-fashioned way of thinking when cannabis was legalized in Michi-

Most Detroiters are unsatisfied, survey found

DETROITERS ARE FAR less satisfied with their quality of life than their suburban neighbors, according to a new survey from the Gallup Center.

Whether it’s access to good schools, affordable housing, jobs, or grocery stores, Detroiters feel less fortunate than those living in the suburbs.

In fact, 57% of Detroiters said they would like to move out of the city if they had the opportunity.

The survey of 6,234 Detroiters, which was commissioned by the Detroit Regional Chamber, offers a glimpse into the perceptions and life experiences of residents living in a city that continues to hemorrhage its population. Gallup also surveyed 5,227 suburbanites to compare their attitudes to Detroiters’.

The findings paint a gloomy picture of life in Michigan’s largest city.

“While Detroit has gained economic momentum in recent years, quality of life indicators for most residents within the

city remain well below those of residents in Detroit’s suburbs — and of Americans overall,” the 45-page report states. “Black and Hispanic Detroiters report facing even greater challenges.”

According to the survey, 39% of Detroiters are satisfied with the availability of good jobs, compared to 72% in the suburbs.

About 30% of Detroiters are satisfied with the quality of schools, compared to 58% in the suburbs.

The lack of quality schools and jobs has translated into financial instability. At some point over the past year, 43% of Detroiters said they didn’t have enough money to buy food for themselves or their families, compared to 23% of suburbanites.

In Detroit, which has the highest auto insurance rates in the country, 51% of residents reported they had trouble finding or retaining a job because they couldn’t access a car. That rate was 28%

in the suburbs.

Only 29% of Detroiters said they were satisfied with the availability of affordable housing, compared to 55% of suburbanites.

Less than half of Detroiters — 48% — said they own their home, compared to 76% of suburbanites.

While 78% of suburbanites said they were satisfied with their access to quality of health care, only 51% of Detroiters were satisfied.

Of those surveyed, Detroiters were far more likely to have health issues like high blood pressure, asthma, and diabetes.

Compared to suburbanites, Detroiters were also more likely to have a negative opinion of their neighborhood’s cleanliness, air quality, and noise, as well as their access to amenities like playgrounds, parks, grocery stores, restaurants, and extracurricular activities for children.

The most common reason Detroiters

gan for medicinal use in 2008 and for adult use in 2018. Anyone who’s smoked some strong indica knows that “wild” is perhaps overselling the drug’s effects. It is also not clear to what extent tourism factors into these figures.

Reno, Nevada was named the top wildest city in the U.S. with a “wildness score” of 8.61.

—Lee DeVito

cited for wanting to move was crime. Only 26% of Detroiters believe their community is safe, compared to 71% of suburbanites. Detroiters also cited jobs and a better place to raise children as a motive to move.

Nevertheless, 57% of Detroiters still said they would recommend Detroit as a place to live.

Between 2010 and 2020, Detroit’s population declined 10.5%.

Detroit’s Black population was hit the hardest. While the Hispanic, Asian, and white populations grew over the past decade, the number of Detroit’s Black residents declined from about 586,000 to 500,000 between 2010 and 2020.

According to the decennial count, Black people account for 77.2% of the city’s overall population, compared to 82.2% in 2010, when Detroit had the highest percentage of Black residents in the country.

—Steve Neavling

Opinion: Licensing bills lay a trap for Michigan hunters and fishers

MICHIGAN HUNTING

AND fishing guides must navigate more than wilderness terrain. They must maneuver through mountains of regulations. Proposed new rules would add to the burden, yet special interest groups don’t seem to mind.

If anything, they welcome the extra paperwork and recurring fees that would come with state Senate Bills 103, 104, and 105, which would create occupational licensing requirements for paid guides. “The fur, fin, and feather groups are all in alignment on this issue, which is rare,” Michigan United Conservation Clubs director Amy Trotter testified in Lansing.

She touts the consensus as a selling point. In reality it’s a warning sign that should stand out like an orange hunting vest.

Anytime insiders in any industry call for tighter controls on themselves, they have ulterior motives. Usually their goal is protectionism. They want less competition, so they push for higher barriers to market entry. Established players feel some of the pain, but they accept it in exchange for even heavier hardships on others.

It’s an easy tradeoff to make.

Special interest groups would benefit from the legislation at the expense of at least three categories of people. The first set would be out-of-state hunting and fishing guides, who would have to pay double to work in Michigan.

The second set would be ex-offenders, who would have to pay twice for past mistakes. In addition to criminal penalties, they would face civil penalties. Specifically, the proposed legislation would ban anyone with a felony or field sport-related misdemeanor conviction from working as a Michigan hunting or fishing guide for three years.

Penalties like this are called “collateral consequences,” which refer to any punishment not imposed by a judge or jury in the courtroom. Examples nationwide include restrictions on international travel, ineligibility for governmentsubsidized housing, and loss of voting rights.

Some collateral consequences might be necessary to protect the public, but Michigan recognizes the need for restraint. In most cases the state protects people’s right to earn an honest living unless their criminal violations are directly related to their chosen occupation.

Michigan also restricts vague requirements for “good moral character,” and generally requires licensing boards to consider extenuating circumstances on a case-by-case basis. Among other factors, regulators must examine evidence of rehabilitation and the age of an offender at the time of wrongdoing. A one-size-fits all approach is illegal when reviewing most license applications.

Overall, Michigan earns a “B-” on a national report card from our public interest law firm, the Institute for Justice, which scores collateral consequences related to occupational licensing. Only four states and Washington, D.C., perform better. Yet Michigan’s proposed legislation would take the state backward.

The bills would impose a blanket ban on all felons, including returning citizens guilty of nonviolent crimes unrelated to fishing or hunting. The bills also would elevate petty offenses, treating certain misdemeanors like severe violations. Fishing with the wrong kind of hook, operating a charter boat with an expired pilot license, or wandering onto private land would trigger an automatic three-year suspension without pay.

No exceptions. No hearings. No appeals. Considering that one-in-three U.S. citizens has some type of criminal record, the proposed legislation almost certainly would thin the ranks of Michigan hunting and fishing guides.

The third set of affected individuals would be consumers, who would get stuck with less choice and higher prices for hunting and fishing guide services. Occupational licensing almost always has this effect.

Research from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy shows that licensing laws in Michigan raise consumer costs by up to 30%. “The state requiring this permission to work costs jobs and income, and causes higher prices for consumers,” the report concludes.

Out-of-state guides would lose. Returning citizens trying to rehabilitate themselves would lose. And Michigan consumers would lose. The only winners would be special interests — the same ones who think occupational licensing is a good idea.

—Meagan Forbes and Daryl James Meagan Forbes is an attorney at the Institute for Justice. Daryl James is an Institute for Justice writer.

SHUTTERSTOCK

Lapointe

Admit it: Downtown’s flashy Grand Prix was a gas, gas, gas

How old am I? Old enough to have ridden the East Jefferson streetcar with my grandmother to shop at Hudson’s in downtown Detroit in the mid1950s. This was right before they tore out the trolley tracks and long before they tore down the department store.

So I have mixed feelings about downtown streets and mass transit. It was great to see the Motor City’s annual, late-spring Grand Prix car race back downtown this month and off Belle Isle for the first time since 1992.

The riverfront glittered for national television on a sparkling day that saw Spain’s Alex Palou beat Australia’s Will Power by just 1.1843 seconds. The camerawork (and sound effects) of the IndyCars brought across a visceral thrill that must have been greater for those who were there.

A viewer need not be a gearhead to sense the tension and danger of aggressive cutoffs and jostling wheels at high speed on narrow and bumpy roads that some of us drive and survive on a regular basis around the Renaissance Center.

Down the road, I look forward, once again, to the Woodward Dream Cruise

By Joe Lapointe

in the late summer, our annual automotive Mardi Gras that begins at the city limits — eight miles north of the temporary downtown race track — and proceeds further north for eight more miles.

This Cruise will be the inverse of the Prix. Instead of watching the latest in high-tech vehicles at close to 200 miles per hour, we will gaze in admiration at a slow procession of gas-guzzling dinosaur antiques, many of them evoking the youth of the Baby Boomers.

Their engines will purr, growl, and roar and their tires will burn rubber as we cheer from the curbs in the ‘burbs.

But along with these pleasant, warmweather events comes another reality of our car culture at this time of year. For this is the season of thrill-driving at high speeds, often by young drivers with several peers in the same vehicle, egging on deadly outbursts of toxic masculinity.

The worst of it occurred on Mother’s Day with four young men in their early 20s riding together in a speeding, sport utility vehicle on I-96 on the Westside. It must’ve been fun until the driver lost

control of the three-ton, white, GMC Denali.

According to State Police First Lt. Michael Shaw, the SUV “did strike the median wall, skidded along the wall, and then into a bridge pillar causing catastrophic damage to the vehicle and occupants.” Witnesses said all four bodies were thrown from the crushed vehicle.

Mercifully, they probably died instantly, without suffering. Fortunately, they didn’t hurt any other people in other cars. And that’s always the fear, isn’t it: That one of these thrill-seekers will kill you or your loved ones as you drive to work or school. Speaking of school: Graduation season often brings an increase in joy-riding.

So, how much does our car worship at events like the Prix and the Cruise contribute to our worst driving habits? And what does our car culture say about us?

“A civilization can’t hide its values from itself,” Adam Gopnik wrote recently in The New Yorker, adding, “It is not only that the car provides autonomy; it provides privacy. Cars

are confession booths, music studios, bedrooms … The grip of the car as a metaphor for liberty is as firm as that of guns, if perhaps with similarly destructive results.”

In part, Gopnik’s essay reviewed the new book Carmageddon: How Cars Make Life Worse and What to Do About It, by Daniel Knowles. The author makes a plea for mass transit with chapters like “Detroit Breakdown,” “Evil Carmakers,” and “Gas Guzzler Nation.”

“Cars that are safe to drive are boring,” Knowles writes, “and roads that force you to slow down are also boring. Boring, for the most part, does not sell cars, and it certainly does not sell the giant trucks, SUVs, or exceptionally powerful sports cars on which carmakers make their biggest profit margins.”

Knowles writes of the psychology of sitting high up behind the steering wheel of a pickup truck, of how it makes you feel like “a rugged sort of individual, ready to conquer mountains, even if in reality you are using it to pick up groceries at Walmart and drop the kids off at soccer practice.”

When we buy cars, he suggests, we buy mythology.

“Car manufacturers want us to believe that driving is freedom,” he writes. “But, in fact, we are trapping ourselves in an enormous prison made up of moving metal cells.”

By designing our suburban landscapes and lifestyles around cars, he asserts, we’ve made walking perilous while destroying the population density that made mass transit — streetcars, subways, or elevated rail — logical, practical, and efficient 100 years ago.

“When everybody’s homes are already so spread out, it is difficult to make public transport work,” Knowles writes. “Cities end up with, at best, buses, used mostly only by those people unable to afford their own cars.”

Sounds as if he is describing metro Detroit. As someone who has also lived in both Chicago and New York, I miss mass, train-rail transit and wish we had it here. Alas, my hometown — on this issue — long ago missed the boat, so to speak.

That said, I’ll drive to Royal Oak for the Dream Cruise on Saturday, Aug. 19, and I’ll find a free space to park. I tend to applaud most for the ’65 Mustangs, the ’57 Chevy Bel Airs, all ‘Vettes, of course, the rare Model T, and anything painted candy-apple red.

And, next spring, I might even buy a ticket for the next Grand Prix or maybe watch for free from the public platforms on East Jefferson, atop where the streetcar rails once carried commuters. Might be a good place to see a race. Some of this might sound contradictory but, then again, I’m a Detroiter.

Earlier this month, the Detroit Grand Prix was held downtown for the first time since 1992.

SHUTTERSTOCK

The FIRST RESPONDERS to HUNGER

BY ELEANORE CATOLICO

Inside a house of worship lies a house for dignity.

Cleanliness feels sacrosanct, and here people can shop for food without the shadow of shame. On this first Monday in May at Brightmoor Connection Food Pantry, Rev. Roslyn Bouier isn’t waiting for saviors. The pantry’s executive director sees an aggravating cycle of scarcity. “It is extremely, extremely hard for folks right now,” she says.

In her ongoing crusade against food insecurity, or uncertain or limited access to adequate foods, Bouier has recruited a mini-infantry of volunteers to serve the Brightmoor community. They hurriedly, purposefully, unload 44,000 pounds of food purchased from Gleaners Community Food Bank.

A blend of young adults, 30-somethings, retirees. Their ebullient attitudes are contagious and ageless. They drag dollies packed with precious, edible cargo: bags of long grain rice, packages of whole chickens, giant, pillshaped watermelons.

The dollies rolling over the smooth and spotless carpet again and again exude a giddy pageantry, like floats in a parade. Roughly a dozen volunteers neatly stock and organize the items onto khaki-hued metal shelves without complaint.

The soldiers of charity, powered by reverence and grace.

Because tomorrow, and the days following, the families will arrive. They are united in their scrambling to fill their fridges and cupboards, united in their lack of affordable options. So they come here.

They’ll pass by the basketball hoop in the parking lot, open the glass door, and sit on the blue-cushioned bench for their shopping appointments.

Some will unveil their sorrows. Others, propped up by radiant smiles. They will pick up proteins and ingredients fitting for wholesome, well-rounded meals. They’ll hope to stretch these meals for just a few more weeks before the harrowing mental calculus of where the next ones will come from restarts.

Here, miles away from downtown, people are fighting for their survival, one box of oatmeal at a time.

The disease of food insecurity is relentless, and by late afternoon, the reverend is tired.

Bouier spent the day darting around the pantry like a general, monitoring the inches of every detail. Making this pantry look pristine is necessary when volunteers welcome and embrace families. And the stories they carry like crosses.

The buzz of volunteer activity now subsided, the reverend sits at her wooden desk and rifles through paperwork. Bouier wonders whether the hulking masses of food that rumbled this pantry to life will be enough.

“It may last three weeks, if I’m lucky,” she says.

Tomorrow’s harvest, another showcase of endurance, is hours and hours away.

Constant states of emergency

Each day, Bouier is confronted by harsh facts. She’s witnessed the pain of others up close. Within the four square

In northwest Detroit, a people-powered food pantry restores dignity for stunned neighbors, one box of oatmeal at a time

Jesse Brown, the pantry’s on-site nutritionist, teaches clients how to cook healthy meals using pantry items. ELEANORE CATOLICO

miles of Brightmoor, a majority-Black northwest Detroit neighborhood where thousands of residents call home, poverty rates are high, incomes are low, water shutoffs remain a scourge, job opportunities aren’t a given, and the mass exodus of residents over decades has left its striking footprints in the form of vacant houses.

In response, Brightmoor Connection has provided a people-powered safety net since 2008. Their current headquarters is nestled on this humble corner of Lahser Road and Ulster Street.

The pantry serves thousands of families who live in the neighborhood and surrounding areas each year and receives funding from the Fisher Foundation, Total Healthcare Foundation, and Global Disaster, United Church of Christ. The pantry employs what’s called a “client-choice” model, where pantry users, whom Bouier calls “clients,” can book an appointment and shop for food they desire, a departure from some old-school food pantries where people receive a standardized box of pre-selected goods.

This model has been adopted by food pantries across the country, and researchers say client-choice can reduce food waste and foster an atmosphere of autonomy and self-determination. The approach matches some pantry users’ needs and preferences. In Minnesota, pantry users ranked the ability to choose their own food as a top priority and most often requested healthy food options, a client survey revealed.

In Brightmoor, the pantry is open three days a week, and each client can pick up food once a month. Each visit provides anywhere between five to 10 meals. The curation of foods include meat, non-perishable products, fresh fruits and vegetables sourced from local urban farms, and morsels of sweetness. In some cases, fudge brownie mixes are considered a luxury.

The volunteers are the pantry’s soulful engine. Many of them also use the pantry’s services and hold decisionmaking power. They help choose which foods the pantry stocks. They’re also civically engaged, often present at city council meetings. “They fight for communities. They’re fighting for equity,” Bouier says. “And they’re fighting for self-determination to be seen as human beings, not just pantry participants.”

The pantry’s mission moves beyond meals. There’s an open closet of donated clothes and shoes near a bulletin board littered with fliers and announcements. The pantry also raises money for clients’ food, water bills, utility bills, even a used tire. People’s survival hinges on these lifelines. “You can’t pull your way out of poverty,” Bouier says. “You can’t pull yourself

up by the bootstraps.” They also serve as a bridge to wellness and education, offering yoga, aroma therapy, cooking and adult computer classes, and act as a hub for community organizing and justice work.

These services aid clients braving the bruising shortfalls of chronic poverty and constant states of emergency. Some visiting the pantry already work two or three low-wage jobs, and others can’t pay for childcare. One is dealing with a broken furnace and another family is living in a motel. Another lives in a car.

Now the rents are rising, and Bouier knows many families are getting evicted. The fear of losing shelter means the loss of cash moves with greater velocity, leaving little left over for meat, bread, and milk.

Food pantries are feeding people trying to survive punishing economic realities. While grocery store prices in the U.S. have started to slowly decrease, they remain 7% more expensive than one year ago.

In Detroit, a handful of longtime grocers have shuttered. Small grocers are often converted into dollar stores.

In 2020, dollar stores outnumbered full-line grocery stores in the city.

The infusion of emergency food assistance benefits, which lifted many Black and Latino households out of poverty, is gone when food emergencies pervade many corners of America.

In Michigan, emergency allotments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which serves roughly 1.3 million people across the state, ended in March, dealing a financial blow to families already struggling. Households lost at least an extra $95 a month.

Slashes to benefits are driving more bodies to pantries who are struggling to provide as demand rises and the amount of food donated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture is drying up.

The damage wrought by food insecurity strikes communities of color with more pronounced force. Across the nation, one in five Black and Latino and one in four Native American people lived in households who struggled to access healthy and adequate food in 2019, symptomatic of the ways systemic racism drives the crisis. Black mothers,

researchers note, are more susceptible to scrutiny and surveillance of their food practices if they struggle to feed their children.

Statistics lay bare the scope of the problem in Detroit, a city historically plagued by racist policies and practices, including redlining and the destruction of Black neighborhoods to make room for highways. About 69% of city households were food insecure, according to a 2020-21 Detroit Food Policy Council analysis.

Ask volunteers, the lifeblood of the pantry, about the challenges of buying food these days, they’ll shake their heads, release an audible sigh, noticeably deflate.

Linda Mack, a pantry volunteer, General Motors retiree, and National Guard veteran, knows some people in Brightmoor don’t have savings, don’t have a bank account, marching to the drumbeat of getting by.

Some friends, close in age, now receive just $18 a month in food benefits, having previously relied on the injection of extra assistance the government provided. Mack questions the wisdom behind these cuts.

“What can you do with $18? Buy a dozen eggs?” she says. “That’s half your money almost right there.”

A volunteer at the pantry for more than a year, Mack treats clients with dignity. Being here opened up her heart. Before volunteering, Mack drove by sprawling pantry lines. Judgmental thoughts skipped through her head. The days spent living altruistically gave her a jolt of humility. These everyday struggles don’t seem so strange anymore.

“Just because you don’t have money to buy food or clothes, doesn’t mean you’re less than,” she says. “Because that could be me tomorrow.”

Delores Green-Wyatt, another volunteer, fires a warning against the unholy stench of rotten meat that she’s noticed permeating a nearby market.

“It just reeks,” she says. Shopping there is often a last resort for the perpetually cash-strapped. So are gas stations and liquor stores. And some smaller markets, volunteers say, carry expired pops and noodles.

“But the community has no choice,” she says.

The presence of a big chain grocery store doesn’t guarantee relief from subsisting on a diet of old, salty, massproduced snacks. Half a mile away from the pantry, a Meijer stands on a major road peppered with hair braiding salons and fast-casual haunts. Yet inside, the prices of meat, eggs, and cheese, Green-Wyatt says, are too high for the clients the pantry normally serves. Paying for these products isn’t worth the

Brightmoor Connection Food Pantry is located on Lahser Road. They serve thousands of families each year. ELEANORE CATOLICO

“Just because you don’t have money to buy food or clothes, doesn’t mean you’re less than. Because THAT COULD BE ME tomorrow.”

trouble.

Lately, Green-Wyatt has watched some grocery store shelves empty more quickly, meaning more return trips are necessary — if a commute is even possible. A third of Detroiters don’t own a car, and the bus system is widely considered unreliable, hamstringing the hunt for kitchen staples.

Born and raised in Brightmoor, Green-Wyatt feels a debt of responsibility. She wants clients to shop comfortably, to find a much-needed reprieve from their hardscrabble lives. They may not be blood relatives, but she cares for them as if they were kin.

She’ll prepare to-go bags of pineapple chunks, canned pink salmon, rice, applesauce, or peanut butter and jelly for clients who don’t have time to shop. She also plays the role of communications officer, making copies of fliers promoting the pantry’s services, as well as janitor, helping keep the building clean.

Her sense of purpose, unbending.

“We’re in this together,” she says.

A mother of six children, Green-Wyatt knows the hardest days of staying afloat weren’t so long ago. She remembers having trouble buying food and maintaining her household when she was younger. But the question of when the next meal comes may not always last. She reminds clients the struggle to buy food can be temporary.

They’ll need more lifelines, GreenWyatt says, to escape this limbo. She has a message for new people plant-

ing roots in the neighborhood. If you come, commit to the cause of supporting people already here.

“Help build and grow the community,” she says.

Another daughter of Brightmoor, Ivory Thomas, devotes the hours of her day to picking up and organizing donated clothes. The friendly ambience makes her feel safe and comfortable.

“I don’t really have much time for myself,” she says. “But I take the time for myself to be up here.”

Inside these walls, giving care is a love language.

The matriarch of her household,

Thomas looks after her three children. Earlier in her life, Thomas was touched by the reverend’s grace. “I really didn’t know who to go to until I met her,” she says. She helped Thomas pay bills when money was tight. She gave Thomas counsel as the memories of surviving sexual abuse as a teenager scraped her soul. Even as she raised her children. Even as the decades flew by.

Thomas tidies the clothing closet because of her.

Sometimes weary clients walk into the pantry. Their lives adrift.

“It’d be sad moments where they come crying, saying that they ain’t

happy, that they needed help,” she says.

Thomas holds space for their grief. She’ll try to cheer them up, encourage them to keep going and find a way. Because the daughter of Brightmoor knows some clients believe hope doesn’t exist for them.

Braided misfortunes

It’s Tuesday afternoon. The sky is blank. The air is chilly after a rainstorm. Tree branches flutter in the wind. In the heart of the pantry, Bouier corrals the volunteers into a circle and boosts their spirits as they prepare for another day of service.

Her voice grows louder, rising and falling like an undulating ocean wave over a floor of silence.

Jesse Brown sits behind a slow cooker warming up a stew of white beans and spinach. Brown, the pantry’s on-site nutritionist, moves with ease and confidence.

Long braids drape over his shoulders. He sports a black, white, and blue tracksuit and a Detroit baseball cap slightly cocked to the side. He hopes the stew, which he cooked himself, will tickle the curiosity of clients passing by.

“The mission is training healers in every home,” he says.

He even brought some healththemed literature. A book detailing how people can incorporate seeds and nuts into their diets. Information on heart disease, cancer, strategies to reverse the tides of corrosive eating habits.

A catastrophic brush with illness in childhood shifted his outlook. When he was 17, Brown got very sick. His immune system crashed, and he almost died.

“That was a wake-up call for me,” he says.

His loved ones were also plagued with ill health. His father, who had high blood pressure and heart problems, died at 76. Three grandparents died before he was born. Those losses fueled him to evangelize about the values of nutritious meals full tilt. He then became his family’s go-to expert on wellness.

As a naturopathic doctor, he sees himself as a steward of lost knowledge, a conduit for the ancestors. When people used to cultivate the land and grow their own fruits and vegetables before the era of fast food franchises. Having ownership over small and intimate harvests, returning to these simple ways of life, could curb the threats of chronic illnesses.

Diabetes. High blood pressure. High cholesterol. Inflammation of the joints. Some clients have asked Brown how to battle these conditions, damaging

Delivery day at Brightmoor Connection Food Pantry. Forty-four thousand pounds of food were purchased from Gleaners Community Food Bank. ELEANORE CATOLICO

Rev. Roslyn Bouier sits at her desk inside the food pantry. The executive director says demand is growing for the pantry’s services. ELEANORE CATOLICO

side effects of food insecurity prevalent among underserved communities of color like Brightmoor.

As part of his healthy eating ministry, Brown creates recipes and meal plans for breakfast, lunch, and dinner based on the pantry’s inventory. These meals, Brown says, can still be flavorful, nutritious, and satisfying. Once clients learn his cooking tricks, they’ll no longer need the daily dose of Doritos from the gas station.

Brown enjoys cooking and serving plant-based meals for clients. Next to the slow cooker filled with white beans and spinach, Brown also brought separate dishes of baked beans and couscous.

The exposure to simple, healthy dishes can help promote regular, lasting lifestyle changes.

“I see people being more ready, willing to learn and make different choices now than ever before,” he says.

Moments later, clients trickle into the pantry. Near the entryway, a representative from Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency, a nonprofit organization helping low- and moderate-income residents with housing, family, and economic needs, sits behind a table. She’s come to provide some resources and guidance. A few clients pump small dollops of hand sanitizer onto their palms, rubbing them together. They sit quietly on the blue-cushioned bench, eyes ahead.

The mood is tranquil. An older woman walks over to the clothing closet. A pair of Santa Claus-red joggers intrigues her, and she places them inside her blue grocery cart. A mother and a lanky young girl also arrive.

The girl ping-pongs across the pantry’s lobby. She jokingly calls an older woman “pickle girl,” and then the slow cooker catches her eye. She scurries over and hesitantly tries the couscous. Her verdict? “It tastes like grits,” she says.

The blissful melody of “I Say a Little Prayer” by Aretha Franklin soars from a desktop computer, then abruptly cuts off.

“Hey, I like that song!” shouts one older client, his bright eyes peeking over his American flag face mask. A long white beard hangs from his chin, embodying the Easy Rider energy of yesteryear.

Another soulful song emanating from the YouTube playlist, “O Happy Day,” provides a soundtrack to the shopping activity, now in full force.

A volunteer shouts out each client’s last name when the time comes for their shopping appointment. They’ll sit in a chair and check in with Bouier, who’s sitting at her desk. Pre-registered clients get a ticket and a return slip for

next month’s appointment. She also registers walk-ins, verifies if they live in the service area and have children in the home, listens to a flurry of troubles, needs, and fears. Above all, she honors clients’ desires to be seen and heard. Even if a person doesn’t meet these requirements, Bouier provides some immediate assistance and doesn’t turn away anyone searching for sanctuary.

Then they’ll grab a “buggy” — the word many volunteers use for grocery carts — and head toward the shelves of food. Some examine the products. Volunteers help package canned goods into boxes stuffed with fliers for upcoming computer training sessions. They keep a methodical pace.

The clients fill up their buggies with food. Oatmeal. Rice. Canned sweet peas. They push the carts peacefully. Hardly any client says a word as they shop. Hardly anyone’s in a rush. The song’s harmonies crescendo, ascend.

He taught me how/to walk/fight and pray.

Fight and pray.

The atmosphere mimics the hustle and bustle of a Sunday market.

A 50-something mother carries sleepy eyes and braided misfortunes. A journeywoman of the local pantry circuit, drowsiness colors the tenor of her speech.

In the morning, Dwana Parker trekked to the thrift store near Nine Mile and Coolidge, hoping to score a haul of clothes during a special $1 sale. As cold rains poured, she then made her way to a pantry line spilling out from a church on Fenkell Street, where she’d been the 243rd person waiting to

pick up food.

Today, her leg was hurting. She’d just gotten an injection from the doctor. Parker has a plate in her right tibia. She receives disability benefits and doesn’t work because of her chronic pain. Recounting her past trips across the city, pantry lines can morph into chaos. She’ll strain herself to suffer “the bullshit conversations” and encounter bland selections: “chicken, chicken, and more chicken,” but remains grateful for the harvest. Parker doesn’t want to appear greedy, knowing the needs of others far outstrip hers. “Some people,” she says, “are in worse situations than I am.”

Today, she couldn’t suffer the rain. “To hell with it,” she told herself. “I’m not about to get sick.”

Now she’s making a pit stop at Brightmoor Connection Food Pantry. She rests on the blue-cushioned bench and waits for her turn to shop. All things considered, she’s in a fair mood but would rather be home. Her three adult sons live with her.

An arabesque of gospel song piano trills pirouettes in the air. Parker plans to pick up ground turkey, her sons’ favorite. She’ll use the meat for tacos and spaghetti. She sees two pairs of Levi blue jeans, baggy fit. She snags them off the metal shelf. The jeans are for her sons.

Waves of cuts gave rise to days of scarcity. Over the last year, her food assistance benefits dropped from $600 to $300 per month. Starting in May, Parker says she’ll now receive $157 per month. “That $95 allotment [SNAP] was giving. That helped out. Now

that’s over with,” she says.” As a result, Parker’s become a regular fixture at food pantries and a participant in an unsavory dilemma: the exhausting forage for charity, clothing deals, and free meals.

“Running out, not being able to get the necessary needs,” she says. “Food insecurity’s really horrible these days.”

It’s late afternoon. A short, middleaged woman finishes her shopping appointment. She drags white plastic bags filled with chicken.

Nichole Jackson, who once worked in the medical field, believes she walks the world alone. She doesn’t know how many meals she’ll make from the few packages of chicken she retrieves.

“Imma make it last,” she promises. She waddles by a skinny tower fan and a shelf carrying piles of old novels and CDs. As the hours pass, some clients pick up perforated beige loafers, saffron orange church shoes, and white, high-top sneakers. All of them vanish as the day of service rolls forward.

Jackson speaks in broken whispers. She doesn’t want to “milk” the pantry’s charity. She tries her best to do the right thing. Right now, her mind is elsewhere. Her search for food seems a faraway problem.

Soon, she’ll step outside these doors, away from the praise music, the sputtering chatter and toward the threats awaiting inside an apartment complex on Lahser Road, where she lives by herself.

Her fight for survival is bigger than any pantry could solve. Jackson says the water streaming from the pipes is undrinkable, and the apartment’s manage-

The shelves are full of food at Brightmoor Connection Food Pantry. ELEANORE CATOLICAO

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ment company ignores her complaints. She doesn’t want her mail getting stolen. She doesn’t want her $745 monthly rent to rise. She wants some of her neighbors to stop harassing her.

Her deluge of fears makes her cry. A semblance of safety, stripped away. Because of a degenerative bone disease and post-traumatic stress, she can’t work a job. She doesn’t reveal the origins of her emotional pain.

She mourns the person she used to be. She’s lived this way for a long time.

Jackson will be here, shopping for food, next month. “Of course I come. I come every month,” she says. “I don’t have a choice.”

Her moment of life, adrift.

Unbroken covenant

Recently, Bouier got an invitation to a celebratory dinner taking place downtown. The dinner was billed as an inspiring occasion for freedom and justice, featuring one of the city’s billionaire developers. The invite failed to entice her.

“They don’t do anything for the people in the city,” she says.

Making nice with the upper echelon of Detroit’s power brokers isn’t her concern. She scoffs at the audacity of such a gathering. Meanwhile, the rest, many people in Brightmoor, experience financial hardship.

Bouier condemns the wisdom of giving billionaire developers tax breaks while working families claw for ways to survive. “It’s a choice,” she says. A choice to keep the status quo of inequity.

“At the end of the day, people are really pressed up against the wall,” she says.

Bouier has witnessed the pain of people’s struggles up close, making her a fighter practically all her life. She grew up in Highland Park, another city roiled by job losses and disinvestment.

Then she moved to Detroit, where she raised her children. She became a vocal critic of city officials, a public speaker, an activist for social justice, a pastor. A spitfire always putting out fires for people.

Hard times also gripped her life. She once was addicted to drugs. Her drug use made her run away from embracing her faithful vocation. People saw her as a pariah. She doesn’t want clients, who have been made to feel shame and fault over their struggles, tainted by the same harsh gazes.

“People shouldn’t be ostracized or penalized because of their socioeconomic class,” she says.

The return of blazing sunshine and heat and children out of school means more mouths to feed and bodies to clothe. Bouier knows a food pantry

is just a Band-Aid. But the demand is growing. The need is so high.

She rattles off a litany of remedies she believes could lift the pressure off families navigating a constellation of hardships: better paying jobs, low-cost housing, a sustainable economic infrastructure for Black and brown people.

And the pantry can’t afford to cease the work of providing lifelines, despite the economic climate that’s hurting the operation. Inflation has driven up costs for purchasing food for the pantry, forcing Bouier to make a hard choice.

She’ll have to drop the poundage of food clients can take home from 110 pounds to 85 pounds, so she can stretch the food as far as she can. She’s applying for grants to help stimulate the pantry’s finances.

In the fight to preserve Brightmoor, the pantry is not alone. Deeply Rooted Produce, Brightmoor Artisans Collective, Neighbors Building Brightmoor, and other community organizations are rallying resources and knowledge.

They are divining solutions, visions for prosperity, taking action steps: farmers markets, urban gardens, a community tool bank and fridge filled with brown-bag lunches, cleanups of portions of Eliza Howell Park, 250 acres of green space considered a natural treasure and home to the bird-nest like Stickwork Sculpture.

In the 1920s, Brightmoor was a working-class neighborhood for white factory workers. Another kind of resurgence, led by Black residents, is taking root today.

What will Brightmoor be like, half a century from now?

It’s the second week of May. Beams of sunlight pierce through the clouds. Cars whizz by. Bouier’s prediction is starting to come to fruition. Some of the pantry shelves are a little barren. All the bottles of strawberry jelly are gone. The pantry is low on pink salmon and dry spaghetti.

Another delivery day, when thousands of pounds of food arrive again, is weeks away.

The disease of food insecurity is relentless, but so is the reverend, the volunteers, the radical spirit, the unbroken covenant to nourish and restore breathing life into this pantry.

“I’m always hopeful that we’re able to meet the need,” she says. “Righteous dignity and parity will always prevail.”

In the meantime, Bouier hops on her bike. She’ll leave the pantry doors, ride by the basketball hoop in the parking lot, away from this oasis for the stunned, downtrodden, forgotten and toward the post office.

How far can she go? How far can she lead them?

14-20, 2023 | metrotimes.com

WHAT’S GOING ON

Select events happening in metro Detroit this week. Be sure to check all venue website before events for latest information. Add your event to our online calendar: metrotimes.com/ AddEvent.

MUSIC

Wednesday, June 14

.gif from god, Wounded Touch, Ogemaw County, Godseyes 6 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $13.

Ann Arbor Civic Band free Concert 7:30-8:30 p.m.; Burns Park, 1414 Wells St., Ann Arbor; no cover.

Bruce Cockburn 7 p.m.; Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; $44.50+.

Bryan Adams: So Happy It Hurts 2023 with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts 7:30 p.m.; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $59.50-$149.50.

Joseph: The Sun Tour 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $27-$127.

May Erlewine & Anthony da Costa w/ Brawny Lad 8 p.m.; PJ’s Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; $25.

Patrice Rushen 7:30 p.m.; The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, 2600 E. Atwater St., Detroit; $15-$65.

Songwriter Scramble: Matt

Thick, Ryan Trager, Tom Alter

7:30-9:30 pm; Berkley Coffee & Oak Park

Dry, 14661 W. 11 Mile Rd., Oak Park; $10 suggested door.

Songwriter Scramble: Tom

Alter, Kat Steih, Ryan Trager

7:30-9:30 pm; Berkley Coffee & Oak Park

Dry, 14661 W. 11 Mile Rd., Oak Park; $10 suggested door.

Zolita 7 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $20.

Vinyl Nite noon-midnight; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover.

Thursday, June 15

Big Wreck 7 pm; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $20.

Detroit Has Talent - hosted by J Cutz 9 p.m.-2 a.m.; The Compound, 14595 Stansbury St., Detroit; $15.

Liturgy, Big Brave, Sweat 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff, Hamtramck; $16.

The Whitney Garden Party: The

Firewalkers 5 p.m.; The Whitney, 4421 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $5 individual or $15 VIP reserved tables for parties of 2, 4, or 6.

DJ/Dance

PRIDE PAINT & POETRY ‘23 5-9 p.m.; Irwin House Gallery, 2351 Grand Blvd., Detroit; $5 donation.

Friday, June 16

Brett Kissel 8 p.m.; Caesars Palace Windsor - Augustus Ballroom, 377 E. Riverside Dr., Windsor; $33-$78.

CINECYDE w/ Blasty’s Backroad + DJ Sanford 9 p.m.-12:30 a.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover.

Gino Fanelli: Detroit Meets

NOLA 7-10 p.m.; Berkley Coffee & Oak Park Dry, 14661 W. 11 Mile Rd., Oak Park; $10 suggested door.

Graham Bonnet, Killer Dwarfs 7:30 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $25-$140.

IAMX: Fault Lines Tour with I Speak Machine 8 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $25.

Lester., Riot Course, Ugly Flannel, Soccer 8:30 p.m.; PJ’s Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; $12.

Mac Kish, Fallow Land, Kind of Animal 8 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $13.

Michael Franti & Spearhead 8 p.m.; The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, 2600 E. Atwater St., Detroit; $35-$65.

Patrick Murphy: Nashville Hits the Roof! 8 p.m.; Tin Roof, 47 E. Adams Ave., Detroit; no cover.

Remember The Name.... the Struts Tour 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $29.50-$79.50. Shop, Rock N’ Stroll Downtown Port Huron 6-10 p.m.; Downtown Port Huron, Huron Avenue, Port Huron; Free. Spitalfield 7 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $22.

THE PRINCE EXPERIENCE 7 p.m.; District 142, 142 Maple St., Wyandotte; $18-$28.

What Done In The Shadows... 9 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff, Hamtramck; $15.

Young the Giant with Milky Chance 7 p.m.; Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill, 14900 Metropolitan Pkwy., Sterling Heights; $30.50-$63.50.

Dino Munaco on the Alley Deck 9

p.m.; Garden Bowl, 4120 Woodward, Detroit; free before 10:30 p.m., $10 after.

Saturday, June 17

A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS + STRANGELOVE – THE DEPECHE MODE EXPERIENCE 7 p.m.; District 142, 142 Maple St., Wyandotte; $35-$55. The debut performance of STORMFELDT with Angel of Mars and Bloody Butterflies

8-11:59 p.m.; The Lexington, 5063 Trumbull Ave, Detroit; $10 at the door. Gettoblaster 9 p.m.; Tangent Gallery, 715 E Milwaukee Avenue, Detroit; $20. John Mellencamp 7 p.m.; Detroit Masonic Temple Library, 500 Temple St, Detroit; $48+.

Laura Rain and the Caesars 8-11 p.m.; Cornerstone Village Bar & Grille, 17315 Mack Avenue, Detroit; $15.

Our Own Wall Street Presents JUNETEENTH GALA - a NIGHT OF JAZZ | Sky Covington in Concert with keynote speaker Tanyar Hill 7 p.m.-midnight; Marygrove Conservancy, 8425 McNichols Rd, Detroit; $50-$5,000.

Palace 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $27.50.

Quinn XCII - The People’s Tour

7:30 pm; Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill, 14900 Metropolitan Pkwy., Sterling Heights; $29.50-$64.50. Rodeo Boys, Hayley and the Crushers, Elspeth Tremblay & The Treatment 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff, St. Hamtramck; $15.

Rodrigo y Gabriela 8 p.m.; The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, 2600 E. Atwater St., Detroit; $20-$75.

Strange Waves with DJ BUELLER of SiriusXM’s 1st Wave 9 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $10.

The Beggars “Stinks Like Rock ‘N’ Roll” Album Release Show 7 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $12.

The Oak Ridge Boys 8 p.m.; Andiamo Celebrity Showroom, 7096 E. 14 Mile Rd., Warren; $35-$79.

Tiny Porch Concert: Brittney B. Hayden 4-6 p.m.; The Motown Museum, 2648 W. Grand River Ave., Detroit; no cover.

Invite Only on the Alley Deck 10 pm; Garden Bowl, 4120 Woodward, Detroit; free before 11 p.m., $10 after.

Robert Glasper 9 p.m.; Russell Indus-

trial Complex-Exhibition Center, 1600 Clay St., Detroit; $25.

SORTED! DJs Alr!ght + Mike Trombley 9 p.m.-2 a.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover.

Sunday, June 18

Attack Attack!-The Dark Waves Tour w/ Belmont, Traitors, & Colorblind 6 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $23. Band Jammers 6 p.m.; Pike Room, 1 S. Saginaw, Pontiac; $20-$49.

BLACK SABBITCH - The All Female Black Sabbath 7:30 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $15.

Charlie Puth Presents The “Charlie” Live Experience 7:30 p.m.; Meadow Brook Amphitheatre, 3554 Walton Blvd., Rochester Hills; $29.50$99.50.

Erogenous Presents: QueenC’s 35th Birthday and Album Release Party 2-6 p.m.; WJZZ Radio Station, 5470 Chene Street, Detroit; no cover.

Fathers Day Brunch fundraiser for MI Jazz Festival 7-9 p.m.; VisTaTech Center at Schoolcraft College, 18600 Haggerty Rd., Livonia; $45.

Girthquake, Ursa Day, Black Lake, Tyler Knepp and The Aesthetic 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $10.

Larry’s Market Run 2023 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $35-$55.

Tuesday, June 20

The Preservation of Jazz Summer Music Workshop / Concert wsg Sky Covington 7-10 p.m.; Kemet Lounge, 18090 Wyoming, Detroit, MI; $50.

TARJA: Living the Dream Tour 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $35.

B.Y.O.R Bring Your Own Records Night 9 p.m.-midnight; The Old Miami, 3930 Cass Ave., Detroit; no cover.

THEATER

Fisher Theatre Blippi: The Wonderful World Tour. $29.95-$59.95. Wednesday, 6 p.m.

Meadow Brook Theatre Noises Off $46. Wednesday, 2 & 8 p.m., Thursday, 8 p.m., Friday, 8 p.m., Saturday, 6 p.m. and Sunday, 2 & 6:30 p.m.

The Music Hall Father’s Day Comedy Explosion. $35-$80. Sunday, 7:30 p.m.

June 14-20, 2023 | metrotimes.com

Planet Ant Theatre Dead Father’s Day: A Dark Comedy Sketch Show About Dead Fathers. $20. Sunday. 8-9:30 p.m.

Royal Oak Music Theatre Ramy

Youssef. Friday, 6 p.m.; Sunday, 6 p.m.

The Snug Theatre Give ‘Em Hell, Harry! Biographical one-man show about former U.S. President Harry S. Truman. $35. Saturdays, 7:30-9 p.m. and Saturdays, Sundays, 3-4:30 p.m.

COMEDY

Improv

Go Comedy! Improv Theater Sunday Buffet. $20, Saturdays, 10-11:30 p.m.; $10, Sundays, 7 p.m.

Planet Ant Theatre Ants In The Hall present “MYLES’ BIRTHDAY ROAST.” $10. 7 p.m.; Thursday.

Stand-up Opening

Flagstar Strand Theatre for the Performing Arts Father’s Day Comedy Show Starring Michael Colyar $50-$325. Sunday, 7 p.m.

Formerly DRMM Good Laughs Only! Comedy Show. $30. Saturday, 7-9 & 10:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m.

Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle Brent Terhune with Melissa Hager and Kevin Rodriguez. $20. Thursday, 7:30-9 p.m.

Sound Board Whitney CummingsDefeat the Label. $51-$64. Friday. 8 p.m.

The Independent Comedy Club at Planet Ant The Sh*t Show Open Mic. Thursdays, 10 p.m.; Fridays, 11 p.m. and Saturdays, 11 p.m. No cover.

Dance lessons

The Motown Museum Dancing in the Street: Hip Hop. Class led by Michael Manson, teaching artist and choreographer, Kresge fellow and former dancer for the Detroit Pistons dance crew, D-Town. Saturday, 12-4 p.m.

Beacon Park Hustle and Flow. Saturday, 3:30-5 p.m.

FILM

Screening

Michigan Theater Spirited Away, Saturday, 3:30 p.m.

New Center Park The Breakfast Club and ’80s dance party. Friday, 7-11 p.m. No cover.

Art Exhibition Opening

Cranbrook Art Museum Sonya Clark: We Are Each Other. $20.

Irwin House Gallery LIVING HUES: Quadre Curry Solo Exhibiiton. Opening reception Thursday, June 15, 6-9 p.m. am-3 pm.

Local buzz

By Broccoli

Got a Detroit music tip? Send it it music@metrotimes.com.

Gather for free house music every week: With the summer season finally heating up, there’s a plethora of free outdoor events in Detroit’s neighborhoods heating up as well. One extra hot offering is the weekly House Music Thursday, hosted at The Congregation cafe and bar near Boston-Edison and Virginia Park. DJ Eternal Student and Mr. Tony Dennis spin soulful house music into the evening, as the tunes pulsate throughout The Congregation’s adjacent garden and out into the neighborhood. The two veterans usually invite a rotating guest DJ to step up, with local legends such as Eddie Fowlkes, the AMX, and Mike “Agent X” Clark taking a turn on the patio in the past. This is the fourth year for the summer series, and while there are usually plenty of seats at the picnic tables during a typical weekday, the garden is packed out with lawn chairs and picnic blankets during House Music Thursday. Food trucks pull up and The Congregation opens an additional bar outside to keep the vibes and drinks flowing. Music typically goes from 5-9 p.m., every Thursday through August. —Joe

The DSO activates its Sosnick Courtyard: Here’s more outdoor mid-week fun, this time hosted by

the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in the compound’s courtyard. SuperNATURAL is a “shared and safe spiritual experience” curated by Vespre, the musical project of Kaylan Waterman. Happening on this year’s summer solstice, the event will span the universes of R&B, jazz, and deep soul for an evening of human connection and emotional authenticity. Local talent includes Vespre herself, innovative producer/ musician Na Bonsai, jazz maestro Ian Finkelstein and the reliably good DJ and producer Meftah. The event will also feature a set from dreamcastmoe, a lifelong resident of Washington, D.C. who has been releasing some very expansive and affecting modern R&B via Ghostly International. Influences from the old guard can be heard in each of these artists, while they also add something wholly fresh and distinctive to their individual sounds. It’s an apt concert to be hosted on the DSO grounds, during the solstice when the barriers between planes are the thinnest. SuperNATURAL starts at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 21, in the DSO’s Sosnick Courtyard. Register for free admission via dso. org. —Joe

Detroit-Berlin Connection

Fundrager: This description is just too good not to include, so I’ll share it here: “Since the genesis of the art form, techno’s sibling cities (Detroit and Berlin) have shared a deep connection. A trans-Atlantic fellowship in futuristic dance music that soundtracks the renegade spirit

of these two places. This is a musical bond in our shared hope for places that rise from the ashes.” Of course we all know where techno really started, but it’s undeniable that Berlin and Europe helped make the sound global. In the spirit of earnest and constructive collaboration, the Detroit-Berlin Connection organizes an artist residency exchange with their counterpart in Germany, Musicboard Berlin who have together been responsible for over a dozen residencies between the two cities — and counting! The groups have organized a joint fundraiser on Thursday, June 22, at Marble Bar, headlined by current artist resident from Berlin, Souci, with direct support via live sets from Kesswa, Gusto, and DBS. DJs for the evening will include DJ Etta (Blueprint, Submerge), John “Jammin” Collins (UR, Submerge), and a special set from the legendary Detroit Techno Militia. Tickets are available via Resident Advisor! —Broccoli

Liber8 touches down in Detroit for Juneteenth party: There are all kinds of great events taking place this weekend in Detroit to celebrate the Black liberation holiday of Juneteenth (if you’re not familiar with the holiday, there is a great Smithsonian article about it that you can easily find on Google).This year, the organization Black Techno Matters is presenting Liber8, a multi-city Juneteenth celebration that will take place simultaneously in multiple cities, each organized by and featuring black artists. Liber8 313 is taking place on Sunday, June 18 at Spot Lite Detroit, and will feature both some of the city’s established and up-and-coming DJs in an all-femme lineup, beginning with an hourlong panel discussion with the DJs where they will discuss the meaning of liberation for black artists in Detroit, followed by a two-stage event that celebrates the home of techno, the originators of Ttechno, and the next generations to come. Featured artists include Something Blue b2b Kindle, Sabetye b2b DJ Etta, AK b2b Blackmoonchild, and AMX (fka The AM). Also, can we just say that we love a 6 p.m. start time that ends at midnight on a Sunday? You can have some fun while still getting your beauty sleep, all while supporting the important work of Black Techno Matters and some of the incredible artists that call Detroit home. Tickets available via Resident Advisor —Broccoli

You can catch music at the DSO’s Sosnick Courtyard this summer. COURTESY PHOTO

and Joe Zimmer

MUSIC

‘I’m

almost back, baby’

Rapper Boldy James performs first post-car crash show in Detroit

By Eli Day

It’s Saturday night and Boldy James is two songs into his set at the Shelter, his first show since a brutal car wreck in January left him with a broken vertebrae in his neck and serious orthopedic damage.

“Feels good to be back man, I swear to God,” he says to a roar of cheers from a crowd. Tonight, there are no unenthusiastic fans in the house. Everyone is happy to see Boldy on the other side of his recent suffering and absorbed by the craft he so clearly lives for.

And it turns out that the concert format is a great venue for Boldy’s gifts to come to life. Because his production choices are just as minimalist as they are menacing, Boldy’s unusual talents as a rich, fluorescent storyteller are able to shine without having to worry about being swallowed by a thick wall of sound.

When he performs “Brick Van Exel,” off his 2020 project The Versace Tape, rows of fans rap along while screwing their faces up in disbelief, as if they may actually be hearing it, truly hearing it, for the first time:

“Servin’ all these pain pills, they look at me as a medic

Risk-takin’ for this relish…Cook a key then I swell it

Used to walk the dog, take it off the leash, then I pet it.”

Those familiar with the world he’s

describing, or curious enough to find out, will know what he means here.

One of Boldy’s greatest strengths as a storyteller is how he holds out an experience in the palm of his hands for you, turning it around slowly so that you can see it from every angle without him ever insulting your intelligence by over-explaining what’s there.

He makes his way to “Designer Drugs” from 2022’s Fair Exchange No Robbery, a track that opens with grief and paranoia walking hand in hand.

“Big city, small China, started as small-timers “Scared to dwell on my past, I got Alzheimers Totin’ my .30, me and girlie pullin’ allnighters.”

Throughout the show, Boldy takes time to thank those who never left his side and kept the hope of his full recovery alive when doing so himself perhaps felt like flying too close to the sun. MC Serch is here, and Math Hoffa. Jalen Rose briefly takes center stage with him. And then there’s his son, who never leaves it. A budding talent in his own right who seems to be having a ball imitating his old man, he plays the part of both a ride-or-die hype man and potential heir all at once.

In recent years, Boldy has solidified himself as one of hip-hop’s elite worldbuilders, beloved not only for his ability

to tell vivid stories while rapping his ass off, but for how those stories immerse listeners in a world that feels real and three-dimensional. Boldy is a true neighborhood griot, walking every inch of the concrete with you, turning down side streets and alleys, narrating what life on the edge of several simultaneous cliffs can do to a person.

All of this helps explain why Boldy’s return show is a massive success. If he had sat in a chair in the middle of the stage, holding court like an old bluesman, I’m not sure anyone would have noticed. Or, at least, it would have felt fitting. So many of Boldy’s songs feel like stepping through a portal, or being dropped into a world as lush and richly complex as any ecosystem on the planet. Every block of concrete contains an entire universe if you look and listen closely enough.

The show is just the first of a six-city stretch called the “Back Outside” tour, with the Detroit heavyweight teaming up with New Jersey spitter Chase Fetti. Soon after is the “Six Million Dollar Man” European run with acclaimed producer and frequent collaborator, the Alchemist.

After the tour was rescheduled following Boldy’s accident, it was reengineered around the story of his grueling path to recovery. Like the main character from the 1970s science fiction series,

Alchemist described the process of reconstructing Boldy in a recent post: “we went into a laboratory” and “rebuilt him into a bionic man, complete with robotic enhancements that made him quicker and stronger than ever.”

Which reminds me of a moment around the middle of his set. Boldy is picking up steam and the audience is fully locked in, ready for the long haul. He turns to address them with his legendary nonchalance: “Let me see if I got it, gang.” It doesn’t matter that we’re now way past the point where anyone here doubts that he does.

He spends the second half of his set tearing through favorites like “How You Playin It” featuring Mafia Double Dee and “Scrape the Bowl,” and then winding through the expansive worlds of “Diamond Dallas,” “Steel Wool,” and “First 48.”

Through it all, he’s as good as anyone could hope for, and yet Boldy’s compass is still fixed to a point far off in the distance. There’s something special about watching an artist in the middle of a great performance wondering aloud if they have another gear left, hitting it, and then exercising enough self-control to rein it in.

Boldy refuses to claim too much too soon, and taunts that something greater is still to come. “I’m almost back, baby,” he says.

Detroit rapper Boldy James performed at the Shelter on Saturday. ELI DAY

Pink FlaminGo is finally a go

Life hasn’t been particularly fair to Pink FlaminGo To Go, the brick and mortar space that grew out of the popular Corktown food truck of a similar name. Chef-owner Meiko Krishok in late 2019 opened the restaurant in a former Bread Basket Deli across from Detroit’s Palmer Park, but an attempted break-in a few months later damaged the building so badly that she was forced to temporarily close.

Just as Krishok got the insurance dealt with and contractors set up, the pandemic hit, and that, of course, gave way to the ongoing industry labor shortage. But Krishok adjusted, delivering meals and food goods during the pandemic, leaning on the business’s catering component, and generally persisting pretty well through the succession of horrors. If you’re like me and you’ve driven by the restaurant from time to time and seen the lights on but no carryout menu — that’s the story.

But three and a half years after opening, it seems Pink FlaminGo To Go is finally in full bloom, with carryout hours Wednesday through Sunday, and the farm-to-table “food as medicine” fare that Krishok is known for. The menu changes with local ingredients’ availability, and the simplicity

By Tom Perkins

and excellent sourcing is what makes her dishes.

That perhaps was best on display in the quesadillas, a high-floor, lowceiling plate that Pink Flamingo manages to take above the usual ceiling. We got ours with locally grown oyster mushrooms that were roasted with salt then cooked with onions and bell peppers. Despite the minimal prep, the mushrooms imparted a big flavor and substantial texture, and those were folded with the peppers and onions into crispy El Milagro corn tortillas with a generous-but-mellow-blend of melted havarti, sharp white cheddar, and muenster cheeses.

The spicy beef I added to a quinoa bowl wasn’t spicy as in hot, but instead a bit fragrant and earthy, which could be from the chipotle peppers Krishok slow cooked them with. The super tender beef is usually made from Marrow’s chuck, but on our visit it was a brisket and chuck mix that Pink FlaminGo seared then cooked low for 12 hours with chicken stock, peppers, tomato, onion, and garlic. It banged.

We loaded up on sides since there were only two entrees and didn’t find a dud in the mix, but among the best were the empanadas. Empanada

shells are usually fried and a bit of an afterthought to the filling, but imagine if your favorite local baker was making the shells with a flaky butter and buttermilk dough. The vegetarian and chicken fillings were piquant and fought for attention with the shells, and the packages are served with an awesome Haitian pickled slaw.

The braised greens were made with bok choy, peppers, onions, and garlic, and were bright and slightly crunchy. The pinto beans cooked with dried chile, garlic, onions, and peppers were crispy on the exterior, super garlicky, and doused in a gochujang chili oil. A mayocoba bean salad, meanwhile, was lively and bright with a sauce of pureed garlic scapes, garlic chives, roasted hatch chiles, and lemon juice.

I ordered the rice balls with little enthusiasm (arancini is an overrated dish, IMO), but this mix is driven by garam and chaat masalas, and it uses sweet potato to bind the jasmine rice, caramelized onions, scallions, cilantro, and chives, and is perfectly crisp around the exterior. My position on rice balls has shifted.

The dishes can reasonably work as a vessel for any of Pink FlaminGo’s sauces. A banana ketchup with ginger,

Pink FlaminGo To Go

17740 Woodward Ave., Detroit

313-826-1454

guerrillafooddetroit.com/ pink-flamingo-to-go

$10-$15 for entrees

Wheelchair accessible

allspice, tamari, and apple cider vinegar is solid. Every batch of the house green sauce is different, though the basic formula includes herbs, shallot, onion, garlic, and some kind of citrus. The miso chipotle is made with cashews, chiles, lemon juice, and maple syrup, while the hot honey is honey mixed with fermented chiles.

Of the three desserts we tried, the sweet potato cheesecake is incredible, while the others — a passion fruit lemon bar and a vegan rhubarb bar — were gluten-free and didn’t quite pop like their gluten-y counterparts. Pink FlaminGo makes several beverages in house, like the lemonade with a hibiscus tea composed of dried hibiscus flowers, cinnamon bark, and ginger that’s mixed with raw cane sugar and lemon.

Pink FlaminGo also offers something of a store with basic foodstuffs and some frozen soups and meals that can be grabbed from a freezer.

Pink FlaminGo To Go’s quesadillas include roasted locally grown oyster mushrooms.

TOM PERKINS

Dutch Girl Donuts plots a comeback

DOUGHNUT FANS, REJOICE: Detroit fave Dutch Girl Donuts says it plans to reopen.

The business shared the update in a Facebook post on Thursday, writing.

“We have wonderful news to share! Dutch Girl has accepted an offer and very soon will be open again!” the company said. “The icing on the donut… Jon Timmer will be making the family recipes for all of us to enjoy. Just as we remember! ��”

The post continued, “The tradition of Dutch Girl that we all love and miss will be alive and well again. Thank you l for all the love and support. ♥”

It concluded, “Stay tuned! As there is much more to come!”

Dutch Girl Donuts is a family affair.

Jon Timmer is the grandson of the doughnut shop’s founders, John and Cecelia (the eponymous “Dutch girl”) Timmer, who first opened the spot in 1947.

The business was later passed on to their son Gene Timmer, who died in 2021 at age 75.

The future of the business was then in limbo, and the building at 19000 Woodward Avenue was put up for sale earlier this year.

Jon Timmer has worked at Dutch Girl Donuts for many years, coming in at 5 a.m. nearly every day to make hundreds of doughnuts.

—Lee DeVito

Big Rock Italian Chophouse to replace Big Rock Chophouse

AFTER NEARLY 40 years, Birmingham’s Big Rock Chophouse closed its doors in 2021. But developers have now announced a new restaurant called Big Rock Italian Chophouse will open in its space at 245 S. Eton St., the former Grand Trunk Western Railroad Depot. According to a press release, the new restaurant is expected to open in summer 2024. The $10 million project is a joint venture with Columbus, Ohiobased Cameron Mitchell Restaurants and local investor partners Tom Celani and Dario Bergamo.

The developers say the 11,000 square-foot fine-dining Italian chophouse will feature a menu focused on prime steaks, along with pastas, wine, bourbon, and handcrafted cocktails.

“We’re thrilled to introduce Big Rock Italian Chophouse to Birmingham. Over the next year, our team will work to update and reintroduce this spectacular property,” the restaurant group’s founder and CEO Cameron Mitchell said in a statement. “We consider Southeast Michigan a second home market and are eagerly looking

forward to the opening and success of another new concept in Birmingham.”

Big Rock Italian Chophouse’s design is helmed by Chicago-based firm Knauer, Inc.

Cameron Mitchell Restaurants’ other Michigan restaurants include Cameron’s Steakhouse in Birmingham, Troy’s Ocean Prime, and Mitchell’s Fish Market, which had locations in Livonia, Lansing, Rochester Hills, and Birmingham before being sold in 2008. Sister company the Rusty Bucket Restaurant & Tavern operates

Detroit’s Saucy Brew Works abruptly closes

ANOTHER DETROIT BREWERY has abruptly shuttered.

Earlier this month, Brush Park’s Saucy Brew Works announced in a Facebook post that it was closing for good after two years in business:

“After careful consideration and assessment of various factors, the management of Saucy Brew Works Detroit has made the difficult decision to cease all activities at this location beginning June 1st,” the company wrote.

“Since opening our doors in 2021, Saucy Brew Works Detroit has been proud to serve our patrons with quality craft beer and delicious food in a warm and inviting atmosphere,” it continued.

“We are immensely grateful to the Detroit community and our loyal custom-

ers who have supported us throughout our journey.”

It continued, “We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our incredible team members who have been the backbone of Saucy Brew Works Detroit. Their hard work, passion, and commitment have been instrumental in creating memorable experiences for our guests over the years. We are working diligently to support our employees during this transition, providing assistance and resources to ensure a smooth transition to their next endeavors.”

It added, “Thank you all for being a part of our journey and for making Saucy Brew Works Detroit a special place. Your patronage and loyalty will forever be cherished.”

The Cleveland-based beer and pizza chain announced its Detroit expansion in 2019. It opened its doors in 2021 at 2671 John R St., Detroit, after initial eyeing a 2020 launch.

“Not only it was a great location, we thought it was our best-looking place of all of them,” the chain’s Brent Zimmerman told cleveland.com. “It just never caught any steam. We started construction during COVID. We had to stop and start four different times. We had to rehire a whole staff a couple of times because of COVID. It never really got that launch into the market.”

Zimmerman said that the brewery faced additional challenges, as “the Detroit office market has been slow to recover,” he said.

locations in Bloomfield Hills, Northville, Park Place, and Bingham Farms. Big Rock Italian Chophouse will seat approximately 375 guests including more than 100 outdoor seats. It is also planned to include a private cigar club and terrace, as well as a private membership club experience with a personal concierge, guaranteed reservations at Big Rock Italian Chophouse, and preferred reservations at any Cameron Mitchell Restaurant nationwide.

—Lee DeVito

“We’ve been ruminating this for months and months now — what can we do differently, what can we change?” he told cleveland.com. “We’ve uncovered every stone possible. We couldn’t get sales to where they needed to be.”

In 2021, Saucy Brew Works announced it planned to launch a line of cannabis products in Michigan, partnering with a local company to make pre-rolls, vape carts, and edibles.

Last month, Michigan-based Founders Brewing Co. announced the abrupt closure of its Detroit taproom. Its owners also blamed sluggish sales, although the taproom has also faced numerous legal complaints for racial discrimination over the years.

—Lee DeVito

Detroit fave Dutch Girl Donuts has been closed since 2021. STEVE NEAVLING

Motor City Roots Festival announces details

ORGANIZERS HAVE RELEASED more details about the upcoming Motor City Roots Festival, a cannabis and music event planned for Saturday, July 29 at Detroit’s Russell Industrial Center.

The event includes performances by Detroit rappers Babytron and Babyface Ray, a cannabis industry awards show, and “The Weedbar,” a live podcast that will

engage attendees with a sprawling conversation about the cannabis and music industries.

Other performers include Lit LB, Antonio Brown, Matashia, and Primitiv Cannabis founders (and former Detroit Lions) Rob Sims and Calvin Johnson. Shiest Bubz and Willy J Peso will serve as hosts.

“We are thrilled to bring together the

best of Detroit’s music talent and the cannabis industry in one spectacular festival,” Motor City Roots founder Chris Roberson, a Detroiter and also a former NFL player, said in a statement. “Motor City Roots Festival aims to showcase the rich cultural heritage of our city while embracing the growing cannabis movement. This event is a platform to celebrate local artists,

inspire connections, and foster a sense of community.”

A limited number of discounted early bird ticket sales will be offered on Tuesday at eventbrite.com starting at $50.

The event is scheduled from noon to 10 p.m. More information is available at motorcityrootsfest.com.

—Lee DeVito

Anti-marijuana activists target ordinance in Riverview

WHEN RIVERVIEW CITY Council approved an ordinance in December allowing recreational cannabis businesses to open, Curt Molina couldn’t wait to submit his plans for a dispensary.

Molina and his associates camped outside of city hall for several days so he would be the first in line to submit an application. After getting approval to open his dispensary, Molina and his brothers spent $1.1 million to buy a building on Fort Street and another $400,000 to renovate it.

Their dreams of opening Kinship Cannabis Co. came true. But when the dispensary opens in August, Molina and his brothers have something new to worry about.

A group of anti-marijuana activists is heading up a ballot proposal seeking to overturn the adult-use cannabis ordinance and put Molina and others out of business. Riverview may be the first community in Michigan to face a ballot proposal to

rescind cannabis sales after they were approved by elected leaders.

The group, Let Riverview Vote, submitted 580 signatures to put the issue on the Aug. 8 ballot, when voter turnout is traditionally low.

The initiative is led by former Riverview Councilman Elmer Trombley, who didn’t return phone calls or emails for comment.

Molina believes the group intentionally put the issue on the August ballot to take advantage of low voter turnout.

“They rushed to get it on the August ballot because less people vote,” Molina tells Metro Times. “The general public comes out in November. Not as many people come out in the midterms.”

To defend the ordinance, Molina and other cannabis supporters launched the website voteno.net and also plan to pass out flyers in July. They will explain the many benefits of the legal cannabis industry: The dispensaries provide good-paying

jobs, occupy abandoned buildings, and generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in new taxes, which the cash-strapped community of about 12,000 residents could use.

So far, Riverview has approved applications for four cannabis businesses to open, and another is in the process of getting approved.

Molina estimates that each business will hire 20 to 30 employees “at a minimum of $18 an hour, plus tips.”

“We’re hiring people and bringing people into the community to shop and dine,” he says. “The city is losing tax money. Here’s a city where half the buildings are empty and rundown. There’s not a lot of future growth. We’re going to open these buildings and make them beautiful and bring tax revenue to the city.”

With all the perks, Molina says opposition to recreational cannabis businesses is irrational.

“You just got old guys who think marijuana is the devil’s lettuce,” Molina says. “They can’t get past the fact that it’s legal.” Molina says he’s worried voters may be confused by the proposal since other initiatives are usually to legalize recreational cannabis, not ban it.

“It’s really frustrating,” Molina. “We’re stressed out. We put all this money into it. It’s a clean local business that we’re being harassed about.”

If voters approve the proposal, Molina and the other business owners would be prohibited from getting their licenses renewed next year.

“If they vote yes, the city won’t let us renew our license,” he says. “Then we’ll have to go to court, but we don’t want that. We want to stay open.”

Other downriver communities that have approved adult-use cannabis sales are River Rouge and Ecorse.

—Steve Neavling

Babyface Ray.

KAHN SANTORI DAVISON

CULTURE

Artist of the week Bre’Ann White highlights the tenderness of Black men

By Randiah Camille Green

Photographer Bre’Ann White is combating the aggressive image of Black men.

While Black men are rarely portrayed as vulnerable or soft, White’s Dance of a Black Man series shows them as angelic. She released two prints from the series this week at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History with a pop-up featuring Detroit poets like jessica Care moore, Joel Fluent Greene, and MARS Marshall.

In one of the photos, a dark-skinned Black man bathed in sunlight embraces himself as angel wings flutter behind him. In the second of the two prints, the same angel is at his knees looking defeated on top of a sand dune, the sun shining on his hung head.

“Combating stereotypes that Black men are inherently deviant, criminal, dangerous, and aggressive, this series instead reveals a vulnerable and beautiful humanity that isn’t always shown,” White said in a statement. “Drawing inspiration from movement, angelic themes, Afro-aesthetics, Detroit, and soft but vast natural landscapes, this project honors the black men — fathers, brothers, uncles, cousins — who have pushed me towards life-changing experiences, shifted culture, defied stereotypes, and ultimately transformed themselves to transform the world.”

White said her inspiration for portraying the Black man as an angel came from Black American folklore of enslaved Africans “flying” home to Africa.

“I wanted to recreate that yearning for escape and the liberatory power of imagination,” she said. “I also wanted to challenge cultural depictions of angels, because, in my life, Black men have been angels, offering guidance, protection, and love, even as the world continues perpetuating toxic mascu-

linity. This tension — between societal expectations of aggressive masculinity, and the need to express their interior emotional lives — is a dance that all Black men must navigate, and the consequences of misstepping can be deadly.”

The feathery, white angel wings contrast her subject’s dark skin the same way the dominant portrayal of Black men contrasts the softness they embody in White’s eyes. She explained how she asked the model, Jordan Blake, to pose from a place of vulnerability and the “fearlessness of his own truth.”

“Black men are not a monolith,” the photographer said. “It’s important to celebrate their playfulness, divinity, and softness too. I see them as a kaleidoscope of butterflies, as my guardian angels, as my teachers and muses, exploding with light, color, and

possibility. Together, we fly towards freedom.”

The release also coincided with an announcement for White’s All For You Detroit + Park Project initiative, which will build a Black-owned and operated creative headquarters in Detroit to reinvest in local neighborhoods.

Plans for the project include an art gallery, studio space, library, and cafe with co-working, vending, and production spaces for multimedia artists.

White is based in Detroit and has shot and shown work around the world. Her work has been featured in Teen Vogue, Essence, Harper’s Bazaar, and Netflix.

Where to buy her work: Dance of a Black Man prints are available at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History store inside the museum.

Bre’Ann White.

COURTESY PHOTO

EMPLOYMENT

Robert Bosch LLC seeks Prod Mgr (Farmington Hills, MI) (Mult Pos). REQS: BS or frgn equiv, in Mech Eng, Electrical Eng, Electronic Eng, Auto Eng, Mechatron Eng or rel + 5yrs prof exp in prod mgmt, prod dev & proj mgmt of auto rel prod. Remote Work May Be Permitted. Apply online via https:// www.bosch.us/careers/, search [Product Manager /Ref # - 197749W

EMPLOYMENT

Robert Bosch LLC seeks Calibration Eng (Mult Pos) (Farmington Hills, MI).

REQS: BSor frgn equiv in Mech Eng, Elec Eng, Comp Eng or rel + 3yrs prof exp in eng ctrls or diag powertrain. 10% dom and int’l trv req. Apply: https://www.bosch.us/careers/, search Calibration Engineer / REF198126E

EMPLOYMENT

Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) Controls System Engineer - Software Architecture, Milford, MI, General Motors. Gather technical reqmts & set technical objectives to meet production intent in new SW Defined Vehicle architecture for Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) Compute Platform as Member of Active Safety Technical Review Board (TRB). Design, dvlp, debug, integrate, & support embedded ADAS Compute Platform (ACP2, 3, 4) Controller to support Adaptive Cruise Control, Super Cruise & Ultra Cruise infrastructure functionality incl. ACP2/3/4 platform cmpts such as Communication

Ring & GLUE Layer of ACP2 Microcontroller Unit, in Embedded C prgrmg language, using Git, Gerrit, Jenkins, Eclipse IDE, IBM RTC, IBM Rhapsody, MDK, & Artifactory tools, following Motor Industry Software Reliability Association (MISRA) CERT C standards, GM SW dvlpmt process, & SAFe. Initiate & collaborate w/ Feature Moding, Vehicle Path, Occupant Vehicle Interaction, & Lateral Execution TRBs, to implement architecturerelated changes to GM Adaptive Cruise Control, Super Cruise & Ultra Cruise features. Bachelor, Computer Engrg, Electrical Engrg, Electronics & Communication Engrg, Computer Sci, or related. 24 mos exp as Engineer or related, dvlpg & integrating embedded device or controller, in Embedded C prgrmg language, using Git, Jenkins, Eclipse IDE, following MISRA CERT C or C standards, or related. Mail resume to Ref#58515, GM Global Mobility, 300 Renaissance Center, MC:482-C32-C66, Detroit, MI 48265.

EMPLOYMENT

Controller Test Engineer (CTE), Milford, MI, General Motors. Dvlp, update, & optimize controls test plans & procedures, using automated test procedures run on dSPACE SCALEXIO & PHS bus multi-processor HIL & SIL & in vehicles, following Agile methodology & SAFe. Perform embedded Electronic Control Unit (ECU) testing on conventional ICE psgr, Hybrid Electric, & Plug-in Electric Vehicles Powertrain Control Module (PCM), Engine Control Module (ECM), Transmission Control Module (TCM), & ~5 related vehicle modules using dSPACE HIL, ETAS INCA, Vehicle Spy, & Vector CANoe tools, & neoVI FIRE2 & Lauterbach Trace 32 HW, to verify functionality at Function, Controller & Sys levels prior to production intent release. Prepare & conduct Key Behavioral Test, HW Input & Output, LIN conformance, OTA reliability, stress, & milestone tests for PCM, ECM, TCM. Master, Electrical Engrg or related. 12 mos exp as Engineer, performing embedded ECU or telematics control unit testing, using Vehicle Spy, & Vector tools, to verify functionality at Function, Controller & Sys levels prior to production intent release, or related.

Mail resume to Ref#4575, GM Global Mobility, 300 Renaissance Center, MC:482-C32-C66, Detroit, MI 48265.

EMPLOYMENT

Vehicle Energy Transfer (VET) Software Engineer, Milford, MI, General Motors. Gather technical reqmts from Architecture & Calibrations team, analyze, devise & dvlp SW reqmts in Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) embedded Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in VET module for improved Vehicle to Infrastructure, Vehicle & Home User Interface & Exp. Design, dvlp, debug, & integrate BEV embedded ECU in VET module & features incl. to Charging & Discharging interfaces, State of Charge/ Battery Health, Human Machine Interface, Instrument Panel Cluster, radios & mobile app customer interfaces, Notifications, Vehicle Range, Energy Usage Estimations, & Plug-in Charging exp (incl. Charge Scheduling/Locations/statuses, Predictive & Energy Assist Displays), in Embedded C & model based dvlpmt using MATLAB, Simulink & Stateflow tools, using ETAS INCA, MDA, Git, Gerrit, Jenkins, Eclipse IDE, Vector CANalyzer, CANoe, & CANape tools, using Lauterbach Trace 32, & neoVI FIRE2 HW. Bachelor, Electrical, Computer, Electronics & Communication Engrg, or related. 24 mos exp as Engineer, dvlpg or releasing psgr vehicle, or Heavy Duty vehicle or eqpt embedded ECU & features, in Embedded C, & using MATLAB & Simulink tools, using ETAS INCA & Git tools, or related. Mail resume to Ref#23090-117, GM Global Mobility, 300 Renaissance Center, MC:482-C32-C66, Detroit, MI 48265.

CULTURE

Can The Flash outrun itself?

By Craig D. Lindsey

The Flash

Rated: PG-13

Run-time: 114 minutes

Here’s a fun little exercise the next time you’re at a public place: Mention The Flash and witness people immediately get into a discussion/debate about Ezra Miller.

That’s what happened when I brought up the movie at a neighborhood bar. “I don’t think I’ll see it,” the female bartender said, citing the movie’s star as the integral reason for her lack of interest. A female patron next to me echoed her sentiments. They both began listing the troubling, problematic things the actor has done over the years: numerous arrests, allegations of harassing and assaulting women, calling people Nazis, straight-up saying they’re Jesus, Satan, and the next Messiah all wrapped up into one. (In fitting damage-control fashion, Miller issued an apology last August, citing “complex mental health issues” that they were seeking treatment for.)

Miller being a bad-news fixture is just the cherry on top of the humongous shit-sundae that has been the DC Extended Universe. From gloomy, depressing movies to boneheaded studio decisions (yeah, let’s have Joss Whedon finish up Justice League — what can go wrong?) to whatever the fuck Dwayne Johnson was trying to do with Black

Adam, Warner Bros.’ attempt to go toe-to-toe with Disney and Marvel has become an ongoing failure, pissing off audiences and some of the stars and filmmakers who’ve worked on these films. Certain diehards don’t like the fact that James Gunn has been called in to preside over DC Studios and do a top-to-bottom overhaul. But you know damn well it needed to happen.

Before it does, Warner Bros. is finally bringing The Flash to theaters — and making sure Miller won’t be doing any publicity for it. (Since comic-book movies have always been more about spectacle than star power, Miller sitting out press junkets doesn’t seem that odd.) It’s basically this week’s multiverse movie, as our fast-as-lightning hero Barry Allen (Miller) discovers he can literally speed back into his own lifetime. Allen figures he can use his new time-traveling abilities not only to stop his mother (Maribel Verdu) from getting murdered, but to prevent his father (Ron Livingston) from going on trial for allegedly killing her.

Instead of him listening to his capedcrusader buddy Bruce Wayne (a very brief Ben Affleck), who tells him that could be, you know, catastrophic on so many levels, the little bastard does it anyway. Allen gets knocked into a whole other universe where his mom is still alive, but Superman is nowhere to be found. Plus, the Bruce Wayne of this world (welcome back, Michael Ke -

aton!) is a retired recluse with a dusty Batcave. If that’s not enough, he comes into contact with another Barry Allen, who is something of a friggin’ idiot.

When Allen meets his lunkheaded variant, who actually ends up getting the original Allen’s superpowers, Flash becomes a convoluted buddy comedy. They eventually team up, trying to find ways to get the first Allen back to his time. But they also get a makeshift Justice League together, by roping in Batman (man, I didn’t know how much I missed seeing Keaton whoop ass!) and a mysterious, imprisoned woman (Sasha Calle) with Kryptonian powers, in an effort to stop a familiar foe, who coincidentally shows up to destroy the world.

As we wind down on the goings-on of this universe (Blue Beetle in August and the Aquaman sequel in December will be the final DC Extended Universe installments), it’s a relief that it’s at least going out on an entertaining note. And although Flash doesn’t really bring anything new to the cluttered table that is comic-book cinema, it works hard to make you forget about its star’s problems.

Miller does give a sympathetic performance as Allen (both of ‘em). Just as in Justice League, Miller plays Allen as nerdy, lippy, and incessantly awkward — a mascot in a skin-tight scarlet suit. The waifish Miller may have bulked up a bit to look all chiseled and shit, but still gives off a jittery, rubbery-limbed energy, especially during the more slapstick moments

— and remains quick to shed a tear whenever Allen gets close to his mom. Much like the lead character, Flash is a busy, smart-ass blur. Andy Muschietti of the It movies certainly gives us a lot of overcaffeinated CGI imagery, like the coliseum-like space — full of risers of revolving memories — Allen arrives at every time he speeds in time. Christina Hodson, screenwriter of Birds of Prey (aka the highest-grossing comic-book movie of 2020 — just accept it, nerds!), mined the drafts previously written by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, and Joby Harold and came up with an endearing story that also has moments of maniacal action and meta fan service. (The physical/CGI cameos from past and present incarnations of DC superheroes make this the first DC movie that’s less for the comic book crowd and more for fans of the film and TV adaptations.)

If The Flash becomes a success, there’s a strong possibility people will overlook Miller’s past behavior and chalk it up as a young star trying (and failing) to dodge the pitfalls of fame. It’s not like it hasn’t happened before. Back in the day, Robert Downey Jr. used to get high, break into people’s homes, and take a nap — and that happened between stints in jail. Then he became Iron Man and everyone forgot about that shit. Will Miller get back on everyone’s good graces the same way Downey did? Well, let’s see what happens after this weekend.

The Flash works hard to make us forget the DC Extended Universe’s woes — and star Ezra Miller’s bad behavior. WARNER BROS.

CULTURE

Savage Love

Quickies

By Dan Savage

: Q Is it good to see your ex naked?

: A Well, it depends.

If you’re on good terms with your ex and seeing your ex naked (looking at old pictures, swapping new ones, having breakup/FWB sex) doesn’t keep emotional wounds incurred during the relationship open and bleeding (making it harder for you and/or your ex to heal and move on) and seeing your ex naked doesn’t bother your current — if you have a current — then seeing your ex naked can be great.

: Q I have genital herpes, but I’m asymptotic. Panic or NBD?

: A Herpes is not a big deal for most people with herpes — most people with HSV1 or HSV2 are likewise asymptotic — so, don’t panic. I’ve done a few of episodes of the Lovecast on herpes with Dr. Ina Park, a professor at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine and Medical Consultant at the Centers for Disease Control Division of STD Prevention. Dr. Park discussed the stigma vs. the reality, disclosure vs. non-disclosure, treatment options, and more.

: Q Does performing kegels with a cock or dildo in a male’s anus strengthen the sphincter?

: A In all honesty, I don’t know — but that’s never stopped me from telling a guy I’m fucking that doing kegels is a good idea.

: Q Do you prefer boxers, briefs, or boxer briefs on men?

: A I’m an ABT guy myself — anything but thongs.

: Q How does one deal with emotional discomfort during sex?

: A Well, it depends.

Before I go any further, a lot of “sexperts” will tell you to stop at the first sign of emotional discomfort… but unlike a lot of “sexperts,” I’ve actually had sex. And this may come as a surprise

to some of my readers… I actually have some sexual hang-ups. (Places I don’t like to be touched, things I don’t like to do, words I don’t like to be called, etc.). And if I called off sex whenever I experienced mild-to-middling emotional discomfort, I would’ve missed out on a lot of sex (and a few relationships) that turned out to be pretty good or even great. So, instead of ending things at the first sign of mild emotional discomfort, try saying things instead — try communicating in the moment —and if the person you’re with quickly corrects course and your discomfort passes, you’ll most likely be glad you didn’t call it off. If your emotional distress is severe, obviously call off the sex.

: Q I’m a cis gay man that really enjoys his sex toys, however when I try to bottom for other men, I find that experience super itchy and uncomfortable. This doesn’t happen when I use toys and I have no idea why. Is this some kind of anal vaginismus?

: A “Itching can be due to an allergic reaction, an STI, or lack of lubrication,” said Dr. Carlton Thomas, a gastroenterologist and gay health expert. “Sometimes the hair on genitals can create an itchy sensation depending on its length. In this case, I wonder if our person is using condoms and might be allergic to the latex.”

Follow Dr. Thomas on Instagram and TikTok @doctorcarlton.

: Q I’m a straight woman who’s in love with a gay man who is also my cousin, but he was adopted so we aren’t genetically related. He’s the most amazing human being I’ve ever met. I don’t think it’s reciprocated but he is very sweet to me. I constantly fantasize about him passionately kissing me. Is this something people live with?

: A The fact that this guy is your cousin isn’t the biggest hurdle you face his homosexuality is a much bigger obstacle — and other than waiting for it to pass, there’s really nothing you can do about this unrequited crush. There are no magic words that will turn your cousin straight or turn him into… not your cousin. An unrequited and/or unrequitable crush is a kind of madness, but one most people recover from in time.

: Q All of the Andrew Tate, alpha male, and incel content online has turned my attraction to men into a revulsion. I am literally attracted to no one, and I hate

it. What should I do here?

: A You should stop looking at Andrew Tate, alpha male, and incel content.

: Q I’m a straight man but wannabe fag. I want to be forcibly feminized and fucked by dominant gay alpha males. But I need to be forced because I am too weak to really do it. How can this happen to me if I can’t ask for it? Asking for it would ruin it.

: A Gay men do a lot of crazy things… but gay men don’t go around kicking down doors and then forcibly feminizing and fucking any straight men they find cowering behind them. To find a gay guy who wants to do that shit to you and there are gay men who would be into it — you’re gonna have to ask for it. Then, once you find a guy who wants to top you, you’ll have to do what everyone else with elaborate sexual fantasies involving force and submission has to do: suspend your disbelief and pretend that the panties and ass fucking wasn’t your idea all along.

: Q Lesbian/all-women sex parties. Are they a thing?

: A They are — but they’re a less common thing than gay/all-men sex parties. People like to debate why gay sex parties are ubiquitous and lesbian sex parties are few and far between (socialization, slut shaming, sex differences, testosterone, etc.), but debates don’t make lesbian sex parties happen. People with the ovaries to throw them do.

: Q How do men identify who are only into men/cock sexually? No attraction on the street.

: A Some identify as bi, some as pan, and a small handful identify as phallophiles — that is, people who are attracted to penises but not the men they (almost always) come attached to.

: Q Lots of “bi” guys I’ve met will suck cock but don’t want to kiss men. What’s up with that?

: A Congrats, you’ve encountered the not-at-all elusive bi-identified phallophile in the wild. No need to put “bi” in scare quotes; a phallophilic bisexual is perfectly valid bisexual, and you got your dick sucked, didn’t you?

: Q After hooking up with a rando, isn’t it polite to say thank you and you were great after?

: A Just as it’s polite to say, “Everything was great, thanks,” when the waiter

comes to take your plate after you’ve finished, it’s polite to say, “That was great, thanks,” after finishing up with a rando. Some people worry that being polite might give a rando the wrong idea — that they’re interested in seeing the rando again — and others are so overwhelmed by shame after casual/ anonymous/rando sex that they can’t be polite. People who can’t be polite to randos (and grateful for randos), or have to take their self-loathing out on randos, should stay home and masturbate instead.

: Q One snorer and one light sleeper, long-term relationship. How do we share a bed?

: A You don’t — separate bedrooms, if you can afford it, a pull-down bed or pull-out couch in the living room, if you can’t.

: Q How do I get my male partner to be comfortable pulling out? I’d love to get rid of condoms.

: A You send him to Planned Parenthood’s information page on the pullout method (effective for preventing pregnancy when done correctly), you show him the box of Plan B emergency contraception you already have in your medicine cabinet in case he doesn’t pull out in time, you assure him that you will get an abortion if you wind up getting pregnant, and you move to a blue state if you aren’t already living in one so you can get an abortion if you wind up getting pregnant.

: Q Is there any empirical evidence that there are more “tops” or “bottoms” among gay men?

: A Tons of evidence, but it’s all anecdotal — and seeing as the U.S. Census only started asking about cohabitating same-sex couples in 2020 (with no other questions touching on sexual orientation or gender identity), it’s going to be a long time before they add “top, bottom, or vers?” to the U.S. Census.

: Q My semen has gotten very thick. I’m 39. Can I thin it out somehow? I think I’m hydrated.

: A You can dilute it by mixing it with another man’s semen… but that’s probably not the answer you wanted.

: Q An everyday object that can be repurposed for some sexy fun time...

Read the full column at Savage.Love. Send your burning questions to mailbox@savage.love. Podcasts, columns, merch, and more at Savage.Love!

CULTURE Free Will Astrology

ARIES: March 21 – April 19

Aries-born Vincent van Gogh’s painting “The Potato Eaters” shows five people in a dark room barely illuminated by lamplight. Seated around a small table, they use their hands to eat food they have grown themselves. Vincent wanted to convey the idea that they “dug the earth with the very hands they put into their bowls.” I don’t expect you to do anything quite so spectacularly earthy in the coming weeks, Aries, but I would love to see you get very up close and personal with nature. I’d also love to see you learn more about where the fundamental things in your life originate. Bonus points if you seek adventures to bolster your foundations and commune with your roots.

TAURUS: April 20 – May 20

Renowned Mexican artist Diego Rivera emerged from his mother’s womb in 1886. But some observers suggest that Rivera’s soul was born in 1920: a pivotal time when he found his true calling as an artist. During a visit to Italy, as he gazed at the murals of 15th-century mural painters, “he found the inspiration for a new and revolutionary public art capable of furthering

the ideals of the ongoing revolution in his native land.” (In the words of art historian Linda Downs.) I will be extra dramatic and speculate that you may have a comparable experience in the coming months, dear Taurus: a rebirth of your soul that awakens vigorous visions of what your future life can be.

GEMINI: May 21 – June 20

Among her many jobs, my triple Gemini friend Alicia has worked as a deep-sea rescue diver, an environmental activist, a singer in a band, a dog food taster, an art teacher for kids, and a volunteer at a sleep lab researching the nature of dreams. Do I wonder if she would be wise to commit herself to one occupation? Not really. I respect her decision to honor her ever-shifting passions. But if there will ever come a time when she will experiment with a bit more stability and constancy, it may come during the next 11 months. You Geminis are scheduled to engage in deep ruminations about the undiscovered potentials of regularity, perseverance, and commitment.

CANCER: June 21 – July 22

As religious sects go, the Shakers are the most benign. Since their origin in the 18th century, they have had as many women as men in leadership roles. They practice pacifism, disavow consumerism, and don’t try to impose their principles on others. Their worship services feature dancing as well as singing. I’m not suggesting you become a Shaker, Cancerian, but I do hope that in the coming months, you will place a premium on associating with noble groups whose high ideals are closely aligned with your own. It’s time to build and nurture your best possible network.

LEO: July 23 – August 22

For years, Mario A. Zacchini worked at a circus as a “human cannonball.” On thousands of occasions, he was shot out of a cannon at 90 miles per hour. “Flying isn’t the hard part,” he testified. “Landing in the net is.” His work might sound dangerous, but he lived to age 87. Let’s make Mario your role model for a while, Leo. I hope he will inspire you to be both adventurous and safe, daring but prudent. I trust you will seek exhilarating fun even as you insist on getting soft landings.

VIRGO: August 23 – Sept. 22

One of my favorite astrology teachers, Stephen Arroyo, notes, “Most people have a strong opinion about astrology, usually quite extreme, even though 95% have never studied it whatsoever.” Of course, astrology is not the only subject about which

JAMES NOELLERT

people spout superficial ideas based on scant research. Viral epidemiology is another example. Anyway, Virgo, I am asking you to work hard to avoid this behavior during the rest of 2023. Of all the zodiac signs, you have the greatest potential to express thoughtful ideas based on actual evidence. Be a role model for the rest of us! Show us what it means to have articulate, wellinformed opinions.

LIBRA: Sept. 23 – Oct. 22

Meditation teacher Cheri Huber wrote a book called Be the Person You Want to Find. This would be an excellent title for your life story during the next ten months. I hope you will soon ruminate on how to carry out such a quest. Here are two suggestions. 1. Make a list of qualities you yearn to experience in a dear ally and brainstorm about how to cultivate those qualities in yourself. 2. Name three high-integrity people you admire. Meditate on how you could be more like them in ways that are aligned with your life goals.

SCORPIO: Oct. 23 – Nov. 21: Now is a good time to take stock of how you have fared in the Dating and Mating Games through the years. Why? Because you are entering a new chapter of your personal Love Story. The next two years will bring rich opportunities to outgrow stale relationship patterns and derive rich benefits from novel lessons in intimacy. An excellent way to prepare is to meditate on the history of your togetherness.

P.S.: The term “fate bait” refers to an influence that draws you toward the next turning point of your necessary destiny. Be alert for fate bait.

SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 22 – Dec. 21

Sagittarian actor Samuel Jackson loves the color purple. He insists on it being featured in his films, and he often wears purple outfits. In Black Snake Moan, he plays a purple Gibson guitar. In the animated movie, Turbo, he voices the role of a purple racing snail. In his Star Wars appearances, he wields a purple lightsaber. Now I am endorsing his obsession for your use. Why? First, it’s an excellent time to home in on exactly what you want and ask for

By Rob Brezsny

exactly what you want. Second, now is a favorable phase to emphasize purple in your own adventures. Astrologers say purple is your ruling color. It stimulates your natural affinity for abundance, expansiveness, and openness.

CAPRICORN: Dec. 22 – Jan. 19

People who understand the creative process say it’s often wise to stay mum about your in-progress work. You may diminish the potency of your projects if you blab about them while they’re still underway. I don’t think that’s true for all creative efforts. For example, if we collaborate with partners on an artistic project or business venture, we must communicate well with them. However, I do suspect the transformative efforts you are currently involved in will benefit from at least some secrecy for now. Cultivate the privacy necessary to usher your masterpiece to further ripeness.

AQUARIUS: Jan. 20 – Feb. 18

Musician Frank Zappa (1940–1993) was a freaky rebel, iconoclastic weirdo, and virtuoso experimenter. Everything normal and ordinary was boring to him. He aspired to transcend all categories. And yet he refrained from taking psychedelic drugs and urged his fans to do the same. He said, “We repudiate any substances, vehicles, or procedures which might reduce the body, mind, or spirit of an individual to a state of sub-awareness or insensitivity.” Zappa might have added that some substances temporarily have a pleasing effect but ultimately diminish the life force. In my estimation, Aquarius, the coming weeks will be an excellent time to re-evaluate your relationship with influences that weaken the vitality of your body, mind, or spirit. It will also be a favorable period to seek new modes of lasting liberation.

PISCES: Feb.19 – March 20

If you are at a festival or fair where you could win a lot of money by smashing watermelons with your head, I hope you won’t do it. Same if you imagine you could impress a potential lover by eating 25 eggs in three minutes: Please don’t. Likewise, I beg you not to let yourself be manipulated or abused by anyone for any reason. These days, it’s crucial not to believe you can succeed by doing things that would hurt or demean or diminish you. For the foreseeable future, you will be wise to show what you do best and express your highest values. That’s the most effective way to get what you want.

Homework: What do you wish you could get help to change about yourself?

My birthday girl Sarah and I are off to Chicago to see the sights, take in a show, learn how to make pasta and devour all the deliciousness we can. You kids behave yourself.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY

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