Metro Times 07/05/23

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On

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by Quinn Banks

NEWS & VIEWS

Robert Stempkowski’s newly weekly dining column Chowhound generated a lot of buzz (“What it’s like to try to find restaurant workers now”) .

Why has no one made the connection yet? WEED… Does no one realize what happened? Legalized in 2018… stores opening in 2019… grow facilities opening all over the state…COVID 2020… workers shut out of Restaurants... workers still need jobs… WEED is an essential [industry] and stores kept open so workers went to weed stores and processors and made more money than in Restaurants… Restaurants reopen… workers say screw that we are making more money and in more enjoyable jobs… 35,000 jobs to be clear… Jobs that did not

exist in 2018… —Douglas Bidigare, email People reassessed what was important to them during the pandemic. Workers want to be treated and compensated fairly. Paying servers less than $3 an hour with no benefits or sick time isn’t going to attract people anymore. Not to mention dealing with the general public which has devolved into treating service workers in an almost sub-human capacity. If the industry wants to rebound it needs to do a better job taking care of their #1 asset… their people.

—Christina DeMartin Barrett, Facebook

Read the room, dumbass. The “work ethic” is a scam to exploit people. You included. Your job will never thank or appreciate you for putting in extra hours. —Rob Myers, email

Sound off: letters@metrotimes.com

Livonia police criticized for response to racist attack on Black teen

DELISHA UPSHAW WAS worried when she heard that a Black child had been assaulted by an adult hurling racial slurs at a recreation center in Livonia.

The mother of two Black children, Upshaw began searching for more information about the attack and hoped she’d learn more on Livonia Police Department’s Facebook page, which routinely posts about crimes that have been committed.

But the police department’s page, which recently posted about two Black men who were arrested for allegedly committing an unarmed robbery, contained no information about the racist attack.

Then Upshaw received a copy of two surveillance videos that showed an adult repeatedly punching a 13-year-old Black boy in the face in the lobby of the Livonia Recreation Center on June 8. No one intervened as the older man pummeled the teenager and shouted racial epithets at him.

Upshaw talked to the victim’s mother, who said she arrived at the recreational center after the attack and spotted police casually talking to the man who had assaulted her son. Meanwhile, her son was being bandaged.

Detroit has had among the worst air quality in the world

SMOKE DRIFTING FROM

Canadian wildfires has made Detroit’s air quality among the worst in the world, prompting city officials last Wednesday to warn residents to stay indoors as much as possible.

That Wednesday morning, AQAir’s Air Quality ranked Detroit second with an air quality index in the high 170s, which is considered “unhealthy.”

Only Dubai in the United Arab Emirates ranked higher with an air quality of 241. Chicago ranked third.

City and state officials warned that the air was especially harmful for groups sensitive to pollution, such as

children, pregnant women, asthmatics, and people with chronic heart or lung disease.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy issued a statewide air quality alert, urging vulnerable people and pet owners to limit their time outdoors because of elevated levels of particulate matter from the smoke.

“We are continually monitoring the situation and are in close contact with our partners at EGLE, the City’s Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, as well as the City’s Environmental division,” acting Chief Public Health Officer

Christina Floyd said in a statement. “As conditions warrant, we will provide additional updates and guidance to help make sure our residents stay safe.”

Floyd advised residents to limit their time outdoors and refrain from strenuous outdoor activity. She also recommended reducing exposure by keeping windows and doors closed and wearing a mask.

Canadian forests have been burning for weeks, permeating the air in Michigan with a faint burning smell. An eerie gray haze also limits visibility.

—Steve Neavling

When she asked why the violent perpetrator wasn’t in handcuffs, she said the man hurled racial slurs at her. The man then tried to flee, and it took six officers to subdue him.

Upshaw posted about the attack on her Facebook page last month and questioned why police didn’t notify the public like they do when other crimes are committed.

“Many parents drop their teens off at ‘The Rec’ for sports with friends or whatever,” Upshaw wrote. “We assume it’s safe for our children. Parents have a right to know when there’s ‘stranger danger.’ The Rec has no security and none of the employees or the many adults using the facility at the time intervened to help the child.”

Last Monday, Livonia police finally broke their silence and posted information on the attack on their Facebook page.

Police said they arrested Moeez Irfan, 29, after he “physically bumped

Canadian forest fires sent a layer of gray haze over the city of Detroit last Wednesday morning.

STEVE NEAVLING

into a 13-year-old male on a stairway, hurled racial slurs at him, and struck him in the head multiple times.”

Irfan was admitted to a local hospital for a psychiatric evaluation and arrested after his release on June 16, according to police. He was charged with aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation, resisting and obstructing police, and habitual offender third offense.

Irfan was still in jail as of Monday.

“It was a brutal attack,” Upshaw tells Metro Times. “If this had been a white child, how would this have been different? Around here, sometimes people don’t see the Black kids the same way they see the white kids.”

Allegations of racism in Livonia are nothing new. The city’s population of about 94,420 residents is 87.3% white and 4.1% Black.

Yet Livonia police have disproportionately come in contact with Black people, prompting Upshaw and others to launch a billboard campaign in 2020 warning residents about racial profiling.

The electronic billboards read, “Driving While Black? Racial profiling just ahead. Welcome to Livonia.”

In 2019, the most recent year for which numbers were available at the time, Black people accounted for 60% of the arrests and 44% of the people arrested in Livonia.

More than 140 people commented on the police department’s Facebook post about the racial attack, with some questioning why the department took so long.

“I was wondering how long it would take them to post about this,” Carey Beckett wrote.

Colleen Badgero added, “Wow, how scary. How are we just now hearing about this?? I’m glad to know he’s in custody.”

Upshaw said it’s the police department’s job to ensure people feel safe, and that includes notifying residents when an attack occurs.

“People drop their kids off [at the recreation center], and they assume

Here are the 2023 Kresge Artist Fellows

THE KRESGE ARTIST

Fellowships are like the James Beard Awards for creatives in Detroit.

On Thursday, the Kresge Foundation announced the 15th cohort of deserving artists including 15 visual artists and five literary artists. Along with the prestige and bragging rights, winning a Kresge comes with a $25,000 no-strings-attached grant and professional development opportunities.

Among the winners is sculptor Austen Brantley who was tapped by the city of Detroit to build a Tuskegee Airman monument in Rouge Park. Other winners in visual art include hyperrealistic painter Mario Moore, interdisciplinary artist Halima Afi Cassells, watercolor artist Miranda Kyle, book artist Francis Vallejo, and performance artist Jessica Frelinghuysen. Literary arts fellows for this year

are James D. Fuson, Tuyishime Claire Gasamangera, Gail Parrish, Edward Salem, and Morgan Mann Willis.

Kresge also handed out seven Gilda Awards, named for the late Gilda Snowden, to early career artists who are making waves in Detroit. These artists will receive $5,000 and include creative nonfiction writer Liana Jahan Imam, poet Brittany Rogers, and fiber artist Quinn Alexandria Hunter.

“For 15 years, The Kresge Foundation has demonstrated a remarkable commitment to Detroit artists and an unwavering respect for their contributions and impact,” Christina deRoos, director of Kresge Arts in Detroit said in a statement. “Looking ahead to the next 15 years, Kresge Arts in Detroit will continue to champion abundant, unrestricted investment, consistent exhibition

and performance opportunities, and other conditions that are necessary for artists to truly thrive.”

See the full list of winners below.

Kresge Literary Arts Fellows

James D. Fuson, Poetry

Tuyishime Claire Gasamagera, Creative Nonfiction

Gail Parrish, Playwriting

Edward Salem, Interdisciplinary

Morgan Mann Willis, Creative Nonfiction

Kresge Visual Arts Fellows

Austen Brantley, Sculpture

Halima Afi Cassells, Interdisciplinary

Rita Dickerson, Ceramics

Jessica Frelinghuysen, Performance Art

Louise Jones, Painting

Lauren Kalman, Interdisciplinary

Miranda Kyle, Painting

they are going to be safe,” Upshaw says. “Give us a chance to prepare for something like that.”

Upshaw says the victim in the attack had a concussion, wasn’t able to finish the school year, and has memory loss.

If there’s a silver lining, she says, it’s the support the family has received from the community.

“The mother was so frustrated and alone in dealing with this, so it’s important that there is a community out there that has rallied around her to make sure the story gets told and make sure her son gets justice,” Upshaw says.

—Steve Neavling

Elton Monroy Duran, Painting

Mario Moore, Painting

Robert Schefman, Painting

Erin K. Schmidt, Book Art

Rory Scott, New Media

Francis Vallejo, Book Art

Venusloc, Video Art

Tony Whitfield, Interdisciplinary Gilda Awards, Literary Arts

Cieara Estelle, Fiction

Liana Jahan Imam, Creative Nonfiction

Brittany Rogers, Poetry

Gilda Awards, Visual Arts

Quinn Alexandria Hunter, Fiber

Kimberly LaVonne, Ceramics

Shanna Merola, Collage

Ackeem Salmon, Interdisciplinary

Manal Shoukair, Sculpture

Melissa Webb, Interdisciplinary

Lauren Williams, Interdisciplinary —Randiah Camille Green

The Kresge Artist Fellowships class of 2023.

COURTESY PHOTO

NEWS & VIEWS

Lapointe

At midseason, flailing Tigers need more than players

By Joe Lapointe

For several weeks, the carousel behind the grandstand at Comerica Park has been closed for repair.

Perhaps it will spin again when the Tigers begin their next home stand on Tuesday, July 4, against the Oakland A’s, one of few teams beneath them in Major League Baseball.

Maybe, by then, the Tigers will have seen fit to fix the drinking fountains. Half of them don’t work. And the bottlefilling spouts next to them feature inconsistent water pressure plus buttons hard to find.

Heck, it’s almost easier to buy a $6 bottle of water. And, certainly, as the second half of the season begins, Comerica will have synchronized the two “pitch-clock” timers in the outfield.

That was a problem on the last home stand when Miguel Cabrera accidentally got called out with an automatic “strike three” because he was not ready to hit with eight seconds left on the clock.

Why not?

Because he was looking at the wrong clock, the one frozen at “34.”

Maybe Cabrera thought it was another “Miggy Milestone” celebration, this one for “Conversations with Opposing Infielders While Moving from Base to Base in a Single Series.”

Those of us who still buy Comerica Park baseball tickets can see (and concede) that the product on the field remains mired in a rebuilding cycle that is now almost one decade long.

We know Detroit fans are patient — few even boo anymore, what with the recorded noise blasting — but they are not fools with their money.

Going into this homestand, the Tigers were averaging 19,120 customers per game, 25th in the 30-team MLB and down from last season’s 19,634 for 22nd place. Overall, major league attendance is up this year by more than 2,000 per game.

But some Detroit crowds have been tiny. When the Tigers announced an afternoon count of 11,363 against the Mets on May 3, New York announcer Howie Rose on Sirius XM mocked that total and said the actual size was but a fraction of that number.

And what do the customers experience after they pay their way in?

If you stand and wait patiently at a concession stand, you might follow the game on a TV monitor that works. Or maybe not.

Some of the screens are black and blank. Others have pictures frozen by static. Some are tuned to the scoreboard image but not to the telecast of play on the field.

If you use the restroom, you might hear a radio account of the game. Or maybe not.

Some men’s rooms have working speakers; others don’t.

And if you really study baseball and don’t care for a carousel, you can seek information on the big, loud, Comerica scoreboard in left field.

Sorry, its video screen will avoid replays you might really want to see. (No opposing runs; no Tiger errors). But it will show you live images of fellow fans showing off for the camera.

Another thing you won’t see at Comerica is an out-of-town scoreboard. The Tigers took that away, perhaps embarrassed by the success of former Detroit players like Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Nick Castellanos, and J.D. Martinez.

But the Comerica Park scoreboard and outfield walls do have plenty of room for dozens of ads that push alcohol, gambling, pizza, and other necessities. The huge leftfield board — invisible from many seats — is divided about equally between actual baseball information and advertising.

And even the baseball numbers are not always clear.

When the board shows the batting orders and individual statistics, the final number on each player’s line is not a batting average but something else like “.623” or “.756.” But nothing at the top of this column explains what these numbers mean. Not even an abbreviation. (Best guess: “On-base, plus slugging.”)

But enough negativity. Might there be reason for optimism on the field in the second half of 2023?

It’s possible. Centerfielder Riley Greene is returning from his second,

serious, leg injury in his two majorleague seasons. Let’s hope that’s just a fluke. A healthy Greene is a dynamic and charismatic performer who smashes baseballs with his bat and crashes into walls in pursuit of them.

Perhaps his return will inspire Spencer Torkelson, the streaky first baseman, fellow sophomore, and close friend. He pays for his home-run power with strikeouts. His fielding is pretty good and improving.

One fellow fielder saved by Torkelson’s soft scoops is Javier Baez, the highly-compensated shortstop whose wild swings at bat are matched only by his wild throws on the field. Enough about him. Team fielding, overall, is sub-standard.

The strength of the team is pitching despite an injury pandemic that has spun the staff like wobbly horses on a damaged merry-go-round. Things should improve with the return of Eduardo Rodriguez, the best of a talented but cursed staff.

At the very least, a healthy Rodriguez might yield some return as a “rental player” in a trade with a contender late in the season as he approaches a freeagency option.

At best, he could lead a stabilized rotation and help his team sneak into a divisional title and its first playoff berth since 2014.

As of Friday morning, the Tigers (35-45) held third place in the American League Central, four games behind first-place Minnesota (40-42). That’s right: a sub-.500 team could qualify for the postseason. Why not Detroit?

But back to the bigger picture beyond this season: the future of the current ballpark. Comerica is in its 24th season. Poorly designed at its inception, it badly needs a major facelift — or more.

How much more? Consider the Atlanta Braves, who moved to a new place now called TruistPark in 2016 after only

20 years at Turner Field. Or the Texas Rangers, who moved after 26 years from the once-new Globe Life Field to the even newer Globe Life Park in 2020.

Perhaps, in Detroit, the generous and civic-minded Ilitch family that owns the Tigers (as well as the Red Wings) will spend some private money (perhaps casino money) for a new and better ballpark.

As a down payment, they could use the $32 million they won’t have to pay Cabrera next season on an expiring, 10-year deal that was among the worst ever in sports.

As of Friday, Cabrera had one home run, but he performed better in June than in the first two months to raise his average to .236 with 11 runs batted in.

He’s hit 508 home runs in his career, but just 46 since 2018. Predominantly a singles hitter now who walks from time to time, Cabrera makes the most of his chances to pat the backs of opponents and chat with them. And with coaches. And with umpires

So why does this talkative future Hall of Famer rarely speak to the local news media, not even to his TV worshippers at Bally Sports Detroit?

In lieu of interviews on his many rest days, perhaps the fun-loving “Miggy” might want to don the “Paws” mascot costume and entertain Comerica’s paying customers. No spoken lines required.

But let’s try for a happy ending here. On the positive side, when the Tigers hit a home run, their scripted dugout celebration is among the best in the game.

Bravo to that crowning of the heroic head with the Red Wings’ hockey helmet!

Hurray for that swaggering swing of the hockey stick!

It’s the perfect double-team for Ilitch Village. Perhaps — when Baez faces those sliders, low and away — he could swing that hockey stick.

Empty seats and frayed infrastructure at Comerica Park. JOE LAPOINTE

Plastic Spiders and Fake

Tonight’s queer prom, an affair for vampire costumes and zombie costumes and splattered, fake blood galore, is the stuff of dreams.

Ximena is beaming.

On a Saturday afternoon in late June, the 18-year-old swaps their System of a Down band T-shirt for a gothic, Lolita-style black dress with tiered ruffles.

A metal necklace, whose coiled curves evoke the slithering snakes of Medusa’s hair, found at a yard sale. A stack of spiky bracelets.

“This is the jewelry I wear, like, every day,” they say, along with what’s currently pale pink-orange hair. “I kinda like being, I think the term is, an eclectic person.”

Ximena is comfortable in this second skin.

Right now, the teenager’s cosmetic ritual isn’t a solo act.

Ximena primps next to their good friend Stef. The 17-year-old is super chill, flaunting a paper-thin black shawl resting over her shoulders, and a blue necklace borrowed from Ximena.

At queer prom, a trio of Southwest Detroit teenagers cultivate belonging for LGBTQ+ youth

In Stef’s words, her aesthetic is sparkly and dark.

She’s wearing, once again, her lacy, floor-length gown with a scalloped hemline — the same dress she wore to a previous high school prom.

In her experience, the mainstream version of the hyped-up, endlessly immortalized youth milestone celebrating friendship and school spirit wasn’t all that fun. There was an image of elegance and conformity to uphold.

She didn’t feel comfortable. She felt disconnected from her classmates.

Tonight, hopefully, will be different.

The moody jams of the Smiths, the Cure, and Joy Division wail from a smartphone as the friends apply makeup and finalize their looks inside a bathroom at Durfee Innovation Society, an old school building turned community hub on Detroit’s west side.

The youth are taking over.

The prom will commence here later this evening — another chance to connect with friends, forge memories, escape the day’s troubles just for a little while.

Ximena and Stef are two-thirds of a

Queer prom attendees pose with drag performer Jezebel’s Inferno.

Story by ELEANORE CATOLICO photos by QUINN BANKS

Fake Blood and Real Joy

core trio comprising the leadership of the Lavender Society, an LGBTQ+ club headquartered a few miles away in the predominantly Latino community of Southwest Detroit.

They asked that only their first or middle names be used for privacy reasons.

The club organized this year’s queer prom, its second. The planning, a youth-led, democratic process, included months of collecting suggestions, online shopping, and lots of emails.

All the headlines and airwaves and newsfeeds broadcasting the tsunami of anti-LGBTQ+ bills, local governments banning Pride flags on city property, vandalized Pride flags, protests of drag brunches, the push to erase queer stories from school curriculums across the country, can feel demoralizing.

The news can provoke sadness, fear, frustration.

The kids need a break.

The queer prom, a convening of kindred spirits, is a rare and healthy distraction. Community spaces dedicated to LGBTQ+ youth help them feel safe and less alone in the world, but they’re uncommon in the city. All Ximena sees are bars for grown-ups.

Tonight, the stage is set to let loose and let go.

“I’m excited,” Ximena says. “I mean, I’m excited for everybody’s outfits.”

“I feel like they’re obviously going to top our outfits,” Stef quips. “I like when

people go on theme and try something cool.”

Tonight, hopefully, will be special.

The little joys count. Hopefully, the prom will make everyone happy.

Safe havens

A few days earlier, the final plans for the queer prom began to brew inside a little beige house on Hedwig Street.

Bianca Meza is keeping busy.

The third core member of the Lavender Society, the 18-year-old devotes the next few hours coordinating the club’s signature event.

The RSVPs have poured in.

Dozens plan to come.

The club collected information on food allergies, emergency contacts. Bianca shoots an email to Avalon International Breads, who promises to donate some cookies.

They peruse the Amazon website, hunting for last-minute decorations. This year, “Dance ‘Till You’re Dead,” is the top vote getter of an online poll on Instagram, edging out Western and intergalactic-themed options.

The results aren’t a surprise to Bianca — a lot of Zoomers like scary stuff.

“I think teenagers are very drawn to the old Addams Family, where it was very black and white and gothic,” they

say.

What about the viewers for the cultural phenomenon Wednesday on Netflix?

“The new one, I think it’s more, like, little kids and millennials,” they say. A space for dream-making, hopebuilding, and self-exploration, the Lavender Society, a youth program of the Southwest Detroit nonprofit group Congress of Communities, has been privy to the trends and desires of youth since the club’s formation in late 2021.

The trio, who attended Detroit high schools, had surveyed the current scene of student-led, queer youth clubs known as gender-sexuality alliances. They felt a little left out. Those spaces didn’t feel inclusive. “They’re very white-dominated,” Bianca says.

While allies are welcome, The Lavender Society is specifically centered for LGBTQ+ youth of color. Bianca, Stef, and Ximena are queer and Latinx. Together, they can talk through how to navigate multiple identities, private and public spaces, and cultures. Write

new chapters. Joyful, less lonely ones. Interacting with digital avatars online isn’t enough. Sometimes, the club picks specific dates, Bianca says, to vent about sad stuff. The rest of the schedule is preserved for the good times.

The club’s membership ebbs and flows, but the core trio keeps the activities going. They regularly meet on the upstairs floor of the beige house, a youth-driven, community space operated by Congress of Communities.

The cozy room is filled with Candy Land and Apples to Apples and Guess Who? board games. A mini-library of social justice books.

A little painting of Hello Kitty.

A navy bean bag chair.

A private cubby, strewn with a string of tiny white lights, that a person can crawl into, calm down, and rest.

This place feels like home. Alive with love.

Bianca, Stef, and Ximena are big on organizing happy events, like last February’s brunch and the queer prom — a much needed reprieve from a seemingly

A queer prom attendee plays pool.

Jezebel's Inferno makes her entrance.

nightmarish, crisis-riddled reality.

“All the stuff that’s going on right now kind of puts everybody down,” Stef says. “And there’s nothing you feel excited about at all. It’s just feeling sad about your own identity all the time.”

These days, Ximena tries to avoid political news. Especially what’s happening in Florida. “It makes you sad. It makes you scared,” Ximena says. “Michigan is a relatively safe state, but still, what could happen?”

Months of planning and donation hustling bore visions of creativity: a drag performer booked to dazzle the auditorium dance floor; local businesses serving spooky-themed coffee drinks; tables decorated with spookythemed flower bouquets; shiny black streamers; a bunch of cobwebs; plastic bats and plastic spiders; a scary backdrop of black gates and barren trees for peacocking and posing and duck faces and photo glam shots for the ‘gram.

Ximena hopes the prom DJs will play songs by their beloved noughties emo bands. My Chemical Romance. Panic! at the Disco.

Here’s the big-hearted mission for the prom: transforming an old school building into a ghoulish, welcoming safe haven for queer youth and allies ages 14 to 20 traveling near and far — so they’ll have somewhere to hang out without a veil of judgment. So they can express themselves, be creative and not feel weird and out of place.

The prom, by design, throws the traditional rules and pressures away. “We want people to feel comfortable in their own skin,” Bianca says.

Alive with joy

Midway through the evening, the star entertainer drops her maroon robe, revealing a light brown two-piece skirt set. She stomps around the floor sprin-

kled with black and red and purple balloons. Making a wave. Making a statement with her pointy, black boots. The brown wig flows down her back like a waterfall. Cue the sultry Beyoncé track. Check her technique.

Jezebel’s Inferno has entered the queer prom. An encore performance.

Bodies form a semicircle around the drag artist. They tip her with dollars.

They whip out smartphones to record her. They scream, holler as she lip syncs the lyrics. Whenever she points her gloved finger. Step. Step. Step. For the finale, Jezebel’s Inferno performs RuPaul’s “Cover Girl.”

Afterwards, prom attendees rush to the spooky backdrop to snap pics with the performer. They squeeze her tight. They blow kisses toward the camera. More jumping. More screaming. Ximena and Stef are among the spritely fans posing for photos.

The auditorium has undergone a ghoulish transformation. Yellow caution tape is wrapped around white folding chairs. The black walls are dressed in cobwebs.

The DJs P1x1edu2t, part of Seraphine Collective, a femme/nonbinary DJ network, have played songs all night. Local businesses Cafecito Alvarez and Las Tres Cunadas have been serving haunted-inspired and fruity beverages, respectively. A “blood bucket” espresso drink with strawberry drizzle and whipped cream. Pineapple sunrise aguas frescas.

Around 9 o’clock, empty cups are peppered across the tables. The dumplings in the aluminum tray are almost gone.

A few prom goers play Pac-Man in the arcade room. A black and white striped hallway reminiscent of a Beetlejuice suit leads to a room that used to hold a swimming pool, but now three

friends are playing the Exploding Kittens card game.

Kip Gilbert, a 17-year-old sporting a vampiric look with a bat chain and “ass-kicking” boots, already scooped up a bunch of the prom’s free merch, including the rainbow flag pins. They have a good support system of friends. Still, hearing all the negative news can be damaging. “It’s hard to deal with,” Kip says.

They drove two hours from their hometown of Midland, with a short pitstop at Cracker Barrel, to come here. They also came with friends. These kinds of events are rare back home.

“It’s a really cool opportunity,” they say. “I like being exposed to queer culture and stuff, because I feel like it’s such a big part of my identity. Like, being able to be surrounded by other people who share that feeling. It’s very empowering.”

Chinelo Onuigbo, the youth program director of Congress of Communities, has been dancing along with the youth all night. She got lit up seeing the youth cheer for Jezebel’s Inferno.

For some attendees, the live drag performance was a first. Others got a little education, asking about pronouns. She’s proud of Bianca, Stef, and Ximena for putting the prom together.

“We need space. We need joy,” she says. Queer “people are whole people with highs and lows and beautiful things and ugly things. All the inbetweens. So I think it’s crucial that we don’t neglect that part.”

For the Lavender Society’s core trio, the promises of adulthood are on the horizon. In the fall, Bianca, Stef, and Ximena are off to college. Bianca plans to major in data science. Stef is studying neuroscience. Ximena is pursuing a degree in illustration.

They’ll still be involved in the Lav-

ender Society in some way. They hope to grow the membership. Stef wants to help more queer teenagers living on the streets. They could use a club like this. Ximena isn’t sure where their career path is headed. Maybe an artist. Maybe one day.

In middle school, the teenagers used to be teased, barraged with invasive questions about being queer. Stef was taught to keep her identity “hush hush.” The defensive pattern, she observes, reverberates across Black and brown family cultures. She once felt ashamed about herself.

The club got Stef excited about all of life. Stef’s not hiding anymore.

“It’s like, the corny thing that’s always said, like, ‘It Gets Better,’” she says. Stef’s starting to believe it could be true. “You can still have happy moments without feeling guilty about it.”

And these days, Ximena finds evidence for hope in TikTok videos. They’ll watch older trans people and lesbian couples leading happy and successful lives. “A fulfilling life is possible,” Ximena says. “That dream is possible.”

Bianca wasn’t able to make it tonight, due to an unfortunately timed summer bridge event, but Ximena and Stef had fun. Stef’s thinking of visiting schools to promote future proms.

As the evening winds down, the DJs finally play one of Ximena’s favorite songs. “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” by Panic! at the Disco. Ximena is headbanging near a person with green, poofy hair like cotton candy. The frills of their gothic, Lolita-style dress are bouncing. Ximena scream-sings the lyrics.

With a sense of poise and rationality Again

They aren’t alone in the world. They aren’t the only ones.

Left: Local vendor Sepia Coffee serves drinks. Right: Chinelo Onuigbo, the youth program director of Congress of Communities, speaks.

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, July 5

Live/Concert

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

Craig Owens , Kurt Travis, Moxy The Band, Voila 6 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $20.

SAVING ABEL 7 p.m.; District 142, 142 Maple St., Wyandotte; $22-$35.

Sex Mex, Notmerlin, Stations, Dead Wrong 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $13.

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

Thursday, July 6

Casket Robbery, Cephlic, Darkeater, BlackCloud 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $13.

Detroit Has Talent: Hosted by J Cutz 9 p.m.; The Compound, 14595 Stansbury St., Detroit; $15.

Hodera, Low Phase, Moonwreckers, Stay at Home Dads 8 p.m.; PJ’s Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; $13.

We Are The Union, Catbite, and Kill Lincoln 7 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $20.

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

Friday, July 7

An Orchestral Rendition of Dr Dre’s 2001 9 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $25-$45.

JERRY’S TONE (Jerry Garcia Band Tribute) + Open Bowling & Pinball w/DJ Troy Scott 8 p.m.12:30 a.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover.

John E. Lawrence Summer Jazz Concert Series: Lin Rountree 7-9 p.m.; Ford Lake Park, 7200 Huron River Dr., Ypsilanti; no cover.

Jon Pardi 8 p.m.; Caesars Palace Windsor - Augustus Ballroom, 377 E. Riverside Dr., Windsor; $53-$123.

PUG FEST 2023: Night 1 4:30 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $12.

Shop, Rock N’ Stroll Downtown Port Huron 6-10 p.m.; Downtown Port Huron, Huron Avenue, Port Huron; no cover.

YUNGBLUD: The World Tour 8 p.m.; Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill, 14900 Metropolitan Pkwy., Sterling Heights; $29.50-$59.50.

Saturday, July 8

Art Wraps Fest 2 p.m.-2 a.m.; Ghost Light, 2314 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $35. Blood Brothers , Mike Zito, Albert Castiglia 8 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $20$240.

Clark Park Culture & Arts! 1-4 p.m.; Clark Park, 1130 Clark St., Detroit; no cover.

Drake: It’s All A Blur Tour 7 p.m.; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $69.50-$299.50.

Hollywood Casino Greektown Present An Evening with Collective Soul 8 p.m.; The Music Hall, 350 Madison Ave., Detroit; $25-$65.

Imminent Sonic Destruction , Ten Thousand Teeth, Katharsis, Paradigm Shifter 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $10.

Jim McCarty & Mystery Train

Live in Concert 8-11 p.m.; Gray’s Opera House, 231 N. Main St., Romeo; $12.

KID KENTUCKY AND THE AMERICAN BADASS BAND 8 p.m.; District 142, 142 Maple St., Wyandotte; $18-$28.

Melanie Martinez: PORTALS

Tour 7:30 p.m.; Michigan Lottery

Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill, 14900 Metropolitan Pkwy., Sterling Heights; $29.50-$79.50.

PUG FEST Noon; Pike Room, 1 S. Saginaw, Pontiac; $50.

Rare Earth with Doop & the Inside Outlaws 7 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $25 advance, $30 doors.

Rise Up Detroit: Sean Blackman

In Transit 8 p.m.; Cornerstone Village Bar & Grille, 17315 Mack Avenue, Detroit.

Scoot Teasley: Nashville Hits the Roof! 8 pm; Tin Roof, 47 E. Adams Ave., Detroit.

20 July 5-11, 2023 | metrotimes.com

DJ/Dance

Cryovac Docile Presents: Acid Pimp, Andy Garcia and Dutch Mike July 8, 8:30 p.m.-2 a.m.; New Dodge Lounge, 8850 Joseph Campau Ave., Hamtramck; no cover.

I Love the 90’s July 8, 9 p.m.-2 a.m.; Commune Lounge & Bar, 419 S. Main St., Royal Oak.

Terrence Parker with Jessi Kay July 8, 9 p.m.; Garden Bowl, 4120 Woodward, Detroit; $10-$15.

Sunday, July 9

Drake: It’s All A Blur Tour 7 p.m.; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $69.50-$299.50.

ALIEN ANT FARM 7 p.m.; District 142, 142 Maple St., Wyandotte; $20-$30. Backstabber, Scissorhash, Retained Surgical Instrument, Self Absorbed, Piss Leech 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $10.

Less Than Jake - Welcome To Rockview Tour 2023 6:30 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $26.50.

PUG Fest 2023 5:30 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $15.

RØZE featuring Vi6E and Pluto Paulie 9 p.m.; Flagstar Strand Theatre for the Performing Arts, 12 N. Saginaw St., Pontiac; $15.

Sky Covington’s Sunday Night Jam Sessions every Sunday with band Club Crescendo 8 pm-midnight; Woodbridge Pub, 5169 Trumbull St., Detroit; donation.

THE IRON MAIDENS-The World’s Only All Female Tribute to Iron Maiden 6:30 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $25.

Tori Amos: Ocean to Ocean Tour 7:30 p.m.; Meadow Brook Amphitheatre, 3554 Walton Blvd., Rochester Hills; $29.50-$99.50.

DJ/Dance

PROBASS ∆ HARDI July 9, 8 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $65-$75.

Monday, July10

MKULTRA, FL. VCO, AyoDylan 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $15.

The Nancy Wilson Tribute starring Veronique Musique Hosted by Sky Covington 8-11 p.m.; Aretha

Franklin Jazz Cafe At Music Hall, 350 Madison Street, Detroit; 35.00.

Tuesday, July 11

Dreamsonic 2023 - Dream Theater, Devin Townsend, Animals As Leaders 5:30 p.m.; Detroit Masonic Temple Library, 500 Temple St, Detroit; $35+.

Prison, Weeping Wound, Waste 6 pm; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $15.

DJ/Dance

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

LustSickPuppy 7 p.m.; Tangent Gallery, 715 E Milwaukee Avenue, Detroit; $16.

THEATER

Symphony

Meadow Brook Amphitheatre

The Music of Def Leppard with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra $29.50-$125 Thursday July 6, 8 p.m.

Musical

The Great American Trailer Park Musical Sundays, 3-5 p.m. and Thursdays-Saturdays, 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Riverbank Theatre, 358 S. Water St., Marine City; $35.

John and Jen by Andrew Lippa and Tom Greenwald Friday, July 7, 8 p.m. and Sunday July 9, 2 p.m.; The Inspired Acting Company, 1124 E. West Maple Rd., Walled Lake; $45.

COMEDY

Improv Go Comedy! Improv Theater Sunday Buffet. $20; Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m. $10; Sundays, 7 p.m.

Stand-up

Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle

Kevin James Thornton. Voted Metro Times Best Comedian in Detroit in 2020. $30.Tuesday, 7-8:30 p.m.

The Detroit House of Comedy T.Barb and Friends Comedy Night. $25. Wednesday, July 5, 7:30-10 p.m.

Continuing This Week Stand-up

Blind Pig Blind Pig Comedy FREE Mondays, 8 p.m.

The Independent Comedy Club at Planet Ant Tonight vs. Everybody: Thursday Open Mic at The Independent Comedy Club at Planet Ant FREE Fridays, 11 p.m. and Saturdays, 11 p.m.; FREE Thursdays, 10 p.m.

Dance lessons

ArtLab J Garden Event Series. Located at newly renovated Community Garden & Playground in Detroit’s Historic Avenue of Fashion. At this family friendly event series, you’ll be able to experience different cultural activities with local organizations. 3:30-4:30 p.m.

Beacon Park Hustle and Flow. Saturday July 8, 3:30-5 p.m.

The Village of Rochester Hills

Movin’ & groovin’. Experience the love of dance and learn proper techniques and moves that will have you coming back for more week after week.

FILM

Screening

Michigan Theater From Up on Poppy Hill at Michigan Theater. Thursday July 6, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday July 8, 3:30 p.m.

New Center Park West Side Story. Free Friday July 7, 8-11 p.m.

ART

Art ExhibitionOpening

Downtown Plymouth Plymouth Art

In The Park is celebrating its 43-year history. Over 400 artists from 36 states will line the streets of Downtown Plymouth showcasing their fine arts. From practical to surreal, witty to extravagant, there is bound to be something for everyone.

Friday, July 7, 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday, July 8, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. and Sunday, July 9, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Library Street Collective Gary

Tyler: We Are The Willing. Saturday July 8, 6:30-9 p.m.; Through Sept. 6.

Louis Buhl & Co. Davariz Broaden: One to Remember. and opening July 8th, 2023. July 8-Sept. 6.

Playground Detroit Meredith Morrison: Dreamwork. July 7-Aug. 12, 6-9 p.m.

Continuing This Week

333 Midland People Dreams. Through July 23, 5-9 p.m.

detroit contemporary Jeanne Bieri: Hide and Seek. Reception July 8 6-10 p.m.

Through July 30.

Detroit Shipping Company Disco Walls Presents: The Art of Gary Horton.

Through Aug. 1.

I.M. Weiss Gallery Play-Ability

Through July 8.

Irwin House Gallery LIVING HUES: Quadre Curry Solo Exhibiiton. Through Sunday July 9, 2023 . Wednesdays-Sundays.

Local buzz

By Broccoli and Joe Zimmer

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

Spot Lite hands Shigeto the controls: First gaining acclaim over 10 years ago for his downtempo, hiphop-inspired music, Shigeto’s early tracks are indebted to Flying Lotus’s downtown L.A. beat scene and the transformative drum patterns of J Dilla. However, Zach Saginaw’s first musical foray was drumming, specifically jazz drumming, which he started from an early age. You can hear this pedigree in his more recent albums and collaborations, leaning into that distinctive Detroit sound which combines jazz with soulful, steady house. This Saturday, July 8, Spot Lite is giving Shigeto the reins for the full evening, granting him the opportunity to showcase the full breadth of what he is capable of. When given the proper platform, a Shigeto set turns into a family affair; while we don’t know what kind of surprises he has planned yet, I’m anticipating some combination of live jazz improvisation, amazing guest vocalists, and perhaps even a live beat set. Again, just speculation, and even if Saginaw serves up a five-hour DJ set, you can expect it to keep you entertained until it’s time for your late-night coney. Advance tickets are available via Resident Advisor, with tiered pricing to reward those who act fast. —Joe

An experimental music video

night: On the fringes of Hamtramck sits Outer Limits Lounge, decorated with a smattering of vintage memorabilia that would make any professional eBay seller seethe with jealousy. The bar has an affinity for the bizarre, the kooky, and the freaky, making it the perfect atmosphere for a night of “decrepit media/ video art/ all things weird & smutty” from Philadelphia-based curator Chrissy Marie Jones (better known as 1-800-HOTDUCK). This Friday, July 7, Jones will be traveling to Detroit (and then Hamtramck) to host an evening of her compilations, with a special focus on music videos. To round out the evening, Outer Limits will also host performances from experimental heavyweights Aaron Dilloway (Wolf Eyes), Pod Blotz, and Jimbo Easter, as well as DJ duties from Quilt Boy and Benny Liquid. The show starts at 7 p.m., with a sliding scale cover of $10-20, and I honestly don’t know exactly what to expect, but you can prime yourself with @1800hotduck on Instagram. —Joe

Apropos brings the right energy latest track: Most of modern media is very of the moment, but Apropos released a song a few weeks ago that you need to hear if you haven’t already. “Please” dropped on Juneteenth as a song and video, and the artistic detail of the visuals (courtesy of Cy Abdelnour) adds a sense of gravity to Apropos’s already stellar performance. The song explores themes of loss, discovery, and ultimately stubborn resoluteness, and features vocal effects on

Apropos’s voice that seem to be a new exploratory direction for an artist whose raw vocal talent could carry itself any day of the week. The song represents a complicated mix of emotions that is hard to represent in just over 2 minutes’ time, but the video somehow functions as both a full story and a cliff-hanger, leaving the viewer wanting more without feeling like they were shorted. We can only hope that this means more music is coming from Apropos soon, so for now we will just enjoy this snippet and wait eagerly for whatever comes next. —Broccoli

The party that you didn’t know you needed: Local DJ-designeretc. Garrison XR has built quite the presence in Detroit music lately. Pride weekend they were all over the place, playing multiple shows including Motor City Pride itself, and their loyal following is evident whenever the XOXR squad pulls up to any party that they play. XOXR seems to be more of a movement than a brand in many respects (we’re still not exactly sure tbh), but regardless of how it is defined, The XOXR Monthly at the High Dive has hosted some of the most low-key impressive lineups in the city as of late. The bill this month features BODYWORXX’s own Dretraxx as well as rising local artist Lo Dazz, and if you’ve never been to a party at the High Dive, they can definitely get a little wild. So if you’re willing to venture out a bit to experience a rare Hamtramck dance moment, High Dive is the place to be on July 8. —Broccoli

Zach Saginaw aka Shigeto. COURTESY PHOTO

MUSIC

The kitchen in Leon Benson’s sister’s house smells of lemon and essential oils. It’s tidy, open, and calm, a stark contrast with the prison cell where Benson spent the past 25 years confined.

“Aromatherapy,” he says gesturing to a diffuser on the counter with a gentle smile. “The smell of lemon is good for the brain. [It’s] one of the things I read about when I was locked up.”

Benson is wearing all white like some sort of spiritual leader. On his T-shirt is a picture of Harriet Tubman and the quote, “I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.” While historians doubt Tubman ever truly said this, it’s a fitting quote for a man who found the power to free himself of both physical and mental slavery behind bars.

In 1999, Benson was wrongfully convicted of the murder of a young man named Kasey Schoen in Indianapolis, where he was living at the time. He was exonerated in March of 2023 after serving 25 years of a 61-year sentence at the Correctional Industrial Facility in Pendleton. He spent ten of those years in solitary confinement.

Three months after his release, the Detroit-based rapper is back home with his family (he’s originally from Flint) and has dropped his debut EP, aptly titled Innocent Born Guilty, on Die Jim Crow records. The non-profit label works with currently and formerly incarcerated artists.

For his music, Benson goes by the moniker El Bently 448. In his younger days, he used the stage name Evil Lee, but it no longer matches his positive life outlook.

“Today is day 97, after 25 years,” Benson says as he sits down on a tufted sofa with diamond stitching that intersects at the point of innocence and perceived guilt.

Benson was 22 at the time of his arrest and is now in his late forties. He’s maintained his innocence the entire time, noting that while he was dealing drugs back then, he never killed anyone. His case was dismissed following

By Randiah Camille Green

an investigation by the University of San Francisco School of Law’s Racial Justice Clinic and the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office Conviction Integrity Unit. His case was the first successful exoneration for the Conviction Integrity Unit, which was created in 2021.

There was never any DNA or other evidence linking Benson to the crime. The investigation found that police suppressed evidence pointing to another man, Joseph Webster, as the killer.

Benson’s case is the subject of the third season of true-crime podcast Suspect, titled “Five Shots in the Dark.” The murder victim, Schoen, had been shot five times.

“I admit, I done shot at people. I done kicked people [sic] ass with bats, with bottles, jumped people. Come on, I’m from the streets,” Benson says. “I never killed nobody though. I’m so happy I never killed nobody. I’m not a murderer. It’s not right.” He shakes his

head.

Over the next couple of hours, Benson tells us how he got wrapped up in selling drugs, a vehicle that took him farther away from his dreams of being a rapper than he ever imagined. Yet, in prison, he found solace in Shakespeare, Carl Jung, and Hebrew Israelite teachings. He talks almost like a preacher giving a sermon, with his energy rising from peaceful to impassioned but never angry, as he frequently breaks out into philosophical and mythological stories.

In the early morning of August 8, 1998, when Schoen was shot and killed, Benson was gazing out of his window envisioning his future. He was in an apartment building about a block away from where the crime took place and had just made $20,000 in one night in drug deals.

He was thinking about expanding his drug operation so he could make enough money to release his first album.

“I was like, ‘Yeah, I know what I’m finna do,’” he recalls with stars in his eyes. “‘I’m finna put $50,000 into making this album. And I can get some singers off the streets. I can just pay them in dope.’ ... It was so toxic and I was just tripping. I didn’t even have a gun. I was on that time. I was a spiritual warrior even then and I was like, ‘I don’t need no gun, ain’t nothing coming to me.’ ... And when I counted that money and looked out my window, I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s what I’m gonna do. Imma sell bricks. I got Flint, I got Detroit, I got Indianapolis, I got plugs in Atlanta. Yeah.’”

But something was coming to him. When the police arrested Benson several days later, he thought he was getting busted for being a dealer, since he was already on probation for drug possession. When they mentioned murder, he knew they had nothing on him and figured it’d be over soon.

‘We live in an absurd universe’

Leon Benson did 25 years for a murder he didn’t commit. Now he’s rapping as El Bently 448.

Now home in Detroit, Benson reflects on his exoneration as he releases his debut EP. COURTESY OF DIE JIM CROW RECORDS

commit.

like, ‘Yeah, I know what I’m do,’” he recalls with stars in his “‘I’m finna put $50,000 into makalbum. And I can get some off the streets. I can just pay dope.’ ... It was so toxic and I tripping. I didn’t even have a was on that time. I was a spiritual even then and I was like, ‘I need no gun, ain’t nothing comme.’ ... And when I counted that and looked out my window, I ‘Yeah, that’s what I’m gonna Imma sell bricks. I got Flint, I got I got Indianapolis, I got plugs Atlanta. Yeah.’” something was coming to him. the police arrested Benson days later, he thought he was busted for being a dealer, since already on probation for drug possession. When they mentioned he knew they had nothing on figured it’d be over soon.

“You said a murder?” he exclaims with a laugh. “Yeah, right! I told them, ‘Look, I was in the [apartment] building sitting in the back stairs. This person and that person saw me.’ But I omitted that I was selling drugs and maybe because I did that [the detectives] thought there was something going on.”

Benson was tried twice, the first time ending in a mistrial and the second handing him a guilty verdict. But the lead detective in his case, Alan Jones, had withheld several pages of notes, tips, and multiple accounts from witnesses saying they saw Webster commit the murder. Since Jones didn’t give this information to prosecutors, Benson’s defense attorneys weren’t privy to it either.

A confidential informant reportedly told an Indianapolis drug detective that Webster had bragged about the killing. Another witness said they saw the murder happen and recognized the shooter from the neighborhood. The same witness picked Webster out of a photo array and reportedly told police that Webster had shown him a .380 handgun, the same type of weapon used in the shooting. Webster’s girlfriend had reported her .380 caliber handgun stolen around the time of the murder. Two anonymous Crime Stopper reports also identified Webster as the killer.

Talk around the neighborhood was that police were looking for “Looney,” which is how Webster was known on the streets.

Yet Benson — whose nickname in Indianapolis was “Detroit” — was convicted based largely on a statement from a white woman who witnessed a Black man shoot into the passenger window of Schoen’s truck as she was loading newspapers into a newsstand across the street. She told police she saw a darkskinned Black man wearing a black shirt and black pants with three white stripes down the sides, a vague description that could have fit nearly anyone. She later picked Benson out of a photo lineup even though he’s light-skinned.

Another witness, Donald Brooks, also claimed to have seen Benson shoot Schoen, though he attempted to recant his statement in the first trial and feigned memory loss in the second.

Rather than being bitter, which few people could fault him for, Benson looks at his time in prison as a catalyst for growth. Nodding to Jung, Benson believes he’s the hero archetype, like Odysseus in The Odyssey, and prison was part of his hero’s journey.

“It goes all the way back to me moving to Detroit and wanting to be like Esham to becoming [El Bently 448],” he says quietly, almost like he’s singing a baby to sleep. “In life, you gotta go through your particular trials of fire. Much like precious metal that gotta go

in the fire to get burned, we have to go through struggle to be more pure, and I became way stronger than I ever could believe.”

While he was locked up, Benson began studying and later teaching Shakespeare to other prisoners alongside a professor of literature from Indiana State University.

“My interest in it initially was, I know my man [Tupac] was rocking out with Shakespeare, so I thought, ‘What’s up with this Shakespeare thing?’” he says. “But I loved the adaptation of it. I would deconstruct the words and make them relevant to my world because I wanted to talk to my people in Flint and Detroit, people from urban [areas] and hip-hop. I seen the art therapy in that. So, Macbeth, I said nah, he wasn’t an English king that went rogue, he was a kingpin that knocked off one of his guys.”

Benson taught Shakespeare in the “SHU,” a prison term for specialized housing units that often involve disciplinary segregation, for seven years. His favorite play was Othello

“Othello represented what we represent now: being a foreigner and tacit racism,” he says. “With a lot of artists or people of color in powerful leadership positions, you’ll see this Kanye thing come out where you’ve got to be a tortured artist, you’re going to crash and burn… And just like Othello ended up murdering Desdemona for what Iago set in place, this is what society does to us.”

In one of his tracks on the EP called “Innocence,” El Bently 448 raps, “The west side of Flint, where I’m from and where I scrimmaged in/ so it should be no surprise for what I started dealing in/ I’m making no excuses I’m just pointing out your ignorance.”

The song criticizes the detectives and jury in his trial who deemed him guilty based on his race and background, things that had nothing to do with the murder.

And yet, even before his time in prison, Benson knew that dealing wasn’t the life he was meant to lead. He originally moved to Indiana to help an uncle move and ended up working as a painter and refurbishing houses.

“In my heart of hearts, I just wanted an honest living doing what I do. I always wanted to be a rap artist,” he says. “Unfortunately, the people who I encountered that was my age [were] full-

fledged drug dealers. But we was cool. We hit it off. These were the people that I knew and they showed me love.”

He continues, “When I was on the streets, they’d say, ‘Man why are you here? You always got a smile on your face man, and you just make us happy.’ I’d sit with the youth and I had them doing poetry in the corner. I was so much in the streets with it. It was kind of parasitical, though at the same time symbiotic.”

At his sister’s house, where he’s now staying, Benson thinks back on that night of the murder again. In hindsight, it seems as though the events that unfolded were divine intervention.

If he had continued on the path he was on, Benson says, he likely would have ended up dead.

“I got taken out of that situation. It was like, ‘Come on man,’” he says in that soothing voice, again gesturing like someone — god, spirit, or otherwise — pulled him off the streets, away from selling drugs. “And I went through all that stuff like solitary and everything. And you’re forced to ask the question, ‘Why?’ But now I got my purpose.”

He believes his purpose, besides making music, is to realize and teach others that we all have a choice.

“We live in an absurd universe,” he says, reciting existentialist philosophy. “And it’s only humans that give the universe its essential meaning. The authentic life is the life that recognizes and embraces that they have unlimited freedom of choice. And the life that lives in dread realizes or feels that they don’t have choice or allows other people to paint the choices of circumstances. So that really weighed on me.”

When we catch up with him via email a week and a half after our interview, Benson has just returned from a healing retreat. As a free man with all the choice in the world, he chooses to prioritize his mental and spiritual health.

“The healing retreat was really groundbreaking for me and my sister Valerie,” he writes. “I’m looking forward to going to another one in September. Wellness is my number one priority.”

He signs the email, “For A Better World, EL BE.”

Innocent Born Guilty is out now on Die Jim Crow Records and is available on most streaming platforms.

COURTESY OF DIE JIM CROW RECORDS

“Much like precious metal that gotta go in the fire to get burned, we have to go through struggle to be more pure, and I became way stronger than I ever could believe.”

EMPLOYMENT

Software Engineer, Milford, MI, General Motors. Dvlp AUTOSAR Runtime

Environment (RTE), Memory Stack (Memory Svces &HW Abstraction) &Communications

Stack (Commn Svces &Abstraction HW).

Plan, configure, integrate, test, release to Central Integrator, &validate Software

Defined Vehicle Universal Basic Software (BSW) in conventional ICE psgr vehicle &Battery Electric Vehicle Electronic Control Units (ECUs) incl. Engine &Pwt Control

Modules, in Embedded C, C#, &Python prgrmg languages, using ETAS ISOLAR A/B, Visual Studio &Eclipse IDE tools, following MISRA CERT C standards, GM SW dvlpmt process, &SAFe). Generate BSW &Runtime Environment of AUTOSARbased ECUs, using ETAS ISOLAR A/B

Configurator. Perform ECU BSW SW testing on test bench &in vehicle, using dSPACE Hardware in the Loop (HIL), ETAS INCA, Vehicle Spy, Vector CANoe tools, &neoVI FIRE &Lauterbach HW, to verify functionality at Function, Controller &Sys levels prior to production release. Bachelor, Electrical, Mechatronics, Computer Engrg, or related. 24 mos exp as Engineer or related, performing ECU SW testing on test bench &in vehicle, using dSPACE HIL, Vehicle Spy, &Vector CANoe tools, to verify functionality at Function, Controller &Sys levels prior to production release, or related. Email resume to recruitingreply1@gm.com (Ref#36822-102).

EMPLOYMENT

Software Engineer - Vehicle Motion Embedded Controls (VMEC), Milford, MI, General Motors. Design, simulate, debug, &release MATLAB, Simulink &Stateflow models &autogenerated C code softwr for embedded Engine Control Module (ECM) features incl. engine misfire, engine knock, dynamic fuel mgmt, deployment of electronic cam phaser, &diagnostics, following Scaled Agile Frwk. Design, dvlp, validate, debug &integrate conventional ICE psgr vehicle &Battery Electric Vehicle embedded ECM softwr, in Embedded C, using Git, Gerrit, Jenkins, Eclipse IDE, IBM Rational Team Concert, IBM Rational DOORS, &IBM Rational Rhapsody tools, following Motor Industry Software Reliability Assoc CERT C standards &GM softwr dvlpmt process. Design, review, integrate &verify softwr to meet vehicle specific architecture, sys, security, &safety reqmts of current &future model yr global GM psgr vehicles. Perform embedded Electronic Control Unit testing on test bench &in vehicle, using ETAS INCA, ETS Measure Data Analyzer, Vector CANalyzer, &Vector CANoe tools, &Lauterbach Trace32 debugger, to verify functionality at Function, Controller &Sys levels prior to production release. Bachelor, Electrical, Computer, Electronics Engrg, or related. 24 mos exp as Engineer, Technical Lead, or related, analyzing softwr feature reqmts for gasoline, diesel or natural gas engine control features, &designing Simulink models &generating code for different features, or related. Email resume to recruitingreply1@gm.com (Ref#44920).

FOOD

Cutter’s Bar & Grill

2638 Orleans St., Detroit 313-393-0960

cuttersdetroit.com

Burgers $14-16

Wheelchair accessible

but, honestly, that’s a lot to expect. I was perfectly satisfied with a bit less crunch for the better taste of fromscratch French-fried potatoes.

A cut above

Like many of you must, I keep a short list of favorite restaurants. They’ve earned their way onto it for a few reasons: the time and place remembrances they return me to, my affections for the people I broke bread and made merry with there, and, of course, that occasionally magic spell of vibe and vittles that makes one A-list worthy, all things considered.

Would it surprise you to know that my all-time top five are about as far from fancy as can be? There’s The Shack (La Jolla, California): Best handbattered chicken tenders anywhere, hands-down. And Horseman’s Haven (I-25 Cerrillos Road exit, south of Santa Fe): Have the green chile burger in a booth held together by duct tape. And consider Phnom Penh (Chinatown, Vancouver, Canada). Take a walk on the wild side and pick your own black toad from the tank. Not to be outdone, China Chili in Phoenix: No-frills, dim sum-style dining hall. Experience the high art of lo mein.

Lastly, and as of just recently, I added Cutter’s in the Eastern Market district right here at home in Detroit. Sorry, Los Olas (Encinitas, California), you’re giving up your top five spot. Still, your jalapeño-pineapple margaritas will always be world-class to me.

By Robert Stempkowski

I came to Cutter’s on a recommendation during a tour of nearby Whiskey Factory, Detroit City Distillery’s production facility. Just beyond a Saturday Eastern Market crowd’s bustle, parking was free and easy to find right outside. Inside, Cutter’s long bar-centric, squeaky-clean confines outshine its grittier street corner location. Glowingly-lit, caramel-colored, ceramic brickwork behind the bar beautifully backed up warm welcomes I received from smiling staff on both visits. Watching them whistle while they worked — swaying and singing, actually, to the plug-in playlist on Cutter’s digital jukebox — moved me to pay for a few songs myself. While I never got to hear a single selection of mine, somebody with a serious love for Anita Baker kept us all serenaded just fine.

The food started making music with me from jump street. Crisp, cornmealcrusted chicken wings (six whole, $11), were steamy-licious inside and seasoned with spices I’d buy if they sold them. I gnawed away at every bit of them, right down to the crunchy wing tips. I suggest you do the same. Take it from a guy who eats fried shrimp, tails and all. My first bite attempt at piping hot fried dill pickles ($8) failed when the puckery wedge slipped from

its coating. I slid the precious, frittered spear back in like a sword into its sheath and took another stab. Shazam! Spectacular. Fresh-fried food, when well-executed, is worthy of Beard Award consideration, in this writer’s opinion. When served with one’s own, personal squeeze bottle of ranch or bleu cheese and hot sauce, it’s a winner. Just to confirm Cutter’s deserving nominee status, I ordered Catfish Bites ($11) for good measure, which netted me a nice basket of fried filet twizzles that I boxed up to-go but finished in the car on the way home.

Cutter’s “Famous” Stuffed Burgers should be ($14-16, a la carte). I thought I might regret the potential saltiness of the blue cheese and olive model I chose, but the kitchen quelled that concern by deftly incorporating the right amount of those two saltier foodstuffs into my thick and juicy, handformed fatty of a burger patty. Not one from the pile of napkins my bartender delivered with it went unused. My side of hand-cut fries ($3.50) tasted homemade as could be. The trick with these is getting them crispy. Typically, it takes cooking them twice; a first blanch in the fryer oil, followed by some time to chill before a second and final fry. I’m not sure Cutter’s goes to all that trouble

What really sealed the deal where my respect for Cutter’s kitchen is concerned was the unquestionable quality of the seared beef tenderloin component of my Steak Bites Salad ($14). I was skeptical when Chimika — my second-visit bartender and Cutter’s general manager — took a cook temperature from me when I ordered it. Sure enough, every perfectly tender, beefy bite had been rendered medium-rare as requested. And there must have been twenty, kebab-sized cuts of tasty filet in my bowl. However you managed that for fourteen bucks, Chimika and crew; my most sincere thanks and compliments. I’ve never had better beef, let alone a better steak salad, and that seemed to substantiate what the guy who told me to go there (thanks, Garrett) offered about the lore behind Cutter’s along with his recommendation. Apparently, the place has a history (just celebrated its 19th anniversary) of loyal patronage from butchers and vendors working in and around Eastern Market. That could explain the name, though my now obligatory perusal of the business’ “our story” web page didn’t corroborate as much. I didn’t delve any deeper. I’d tasted enough to know why this is the place to go.

From simple but serious-effort food to cocktails as strong as those poured at uninhibited house parties, Cutter’s delivers the goods. On that note, the house music you can’t help but vibe along with seems to keep everyone equally afloat. The staff are happy. There’s munching and singing, drinking and dancing. I can’t wait to come back for more bites of this or that, some more tequila, tequila, and soda, maybe a third helping of Anita Baker, and my fill of Janet Jackson, Natalie Cole, and whoever else I hear when I’m there.

Without exaggeration, I’ve probably eaten at a hundred restaurants since returning to Michigan. But it’s only the best ones that make the most lasting impressions, leaving us feeling good, having eaten well, and having thoroughly enjoyed our experience there.

And for me, you’ve become one of those places, Cutter’s. I feel you.

From the food and service to the feel, Cutter’s is a prime slice of hospitable Detroit.

ROBERT STEMPKOWSKI

FOOD

• Dining room candidates (server, bar, host, management) — good service starts with the social graces: manners, smiles, eye-contact, good communication skills (includes attentive listening), etc. If you can’t show me yours when we sit down together for a conversation, I’ll assume you won’t with my customers. Having said that, I won’t fault youth or inexperience. If you just don’t know yet but do want to learn, I can help with that. Bring some “want to” to the table when it’s time to talk. My leadership team and I can teach the “how to” half of the equation.

• General Rule 1-A: Don’t be late for your interview. If you can’t make it on time to make that first impression, I’m sorry, but you’ve made it. See ya. (Possible exception: you call and let someone know you’re running late and why.)

Chowhound

What I’ve learned to look for in hiring food service workers

By Robert Stempkowski

Chowhound is a weekly column about what’s trending in Detroit food culture. Tips: eat@metrotimes.com.

Screening applicants: For hiring managers these days, good people are harder to find than ever. The process is grueling. Sifting through resume responses to Indeed postings is generally job one. Over time, you learn to read between the lines. For example:

• When you see “willing to commute,” double check the listed address. This indicates someone identified as living way across town (or further), who may be clicking on whatever they must to demonstrate job-searching due diligence to someone (parents, parole officers, unemployment agencies). I’m sorry, but when someone living in Lansing insists they’re willing to commute to South Lyon for a server position, I become skeptical.

• Consider email addresses. Beware of taking on new hires with e-handles like “humpdaddy69@hotmail” or showmethemoneysheila@gmail. In such cases, maturity and/or professionalism issues might arise.

• Be wary of those who assert qualities like “people person” or “works independently” in their self-revelations.

The former can often be flighty, social butterflies who flit their way through shifts showing little in the way of professional savvy, while the latter don’t last in workplaces where managers, co-workers, and customers have the audacity to order them around. As if.

• Ditto where first-name-only references are offered. Applicants who refer us to supervisors they know only as “Krissy” of “Kip” are either too attention-deficited to seriously consider or think we’re too stupid to figure out they’re listing casual friends and/or co-workers as authority figures and former bosses.

• Give serious pause to convoluted “reasons for leaving” explanations in applicant work histories. I once hired a good cook who walked in off the street looking for work, explaining that he’d just gotten out of prison after a years-long armed robbery conviction. At least he leveled with me. On the other hand, I run in the opposite direction when I hear stories like this: My boss was hitting on me, creating a hostile work environment… I had some car trouble/babysitter/baby momma/baby daddy/ ex-wife/ex-husband/etc. issues that I tried to explain to my manager con-

stantly… I was in a work relationship that turned into a stalker situation… there were personality conflicts… I loved my bosses, co-workers, and the customers, but things just didn’t work out. Sure, I understand all that.

• If I’m intrigued enough by your resume to reach out and try to contact you for an interview, be responsive. I’ll make two attempts; one call and one text to your cell number. Don’t expect me to do more, and reply that same day if you expect to be taken seriously. We’re all tethered to our cell phones. Don’t call me back whenever it’s convenient for you with that line that you didn’t have yours with you when I had time to talk.

• Culinary applicants: Don’t try to sell me on your “creativity and passion.” Tell me about how you work clean, stay organized, and spend your time (which I’d be paying for) efficiently. Chances are, I’m not looking for you to reinvent my menu. I need people who can either prep it, cook it, and present it with competent professionalism, or make me believe they’re likely candidates to be willing to learn how to do all that. The last “chef” I hired (about a month ago), badgered me about brining chicken wings to make them better. He spent hours on the extra prep once I gave him the go ahead (at $18 per), and added considerably more cost to the menu item by soaking pans of them in sugar and salt water. Granted, the wings were good, but days later, after showing up to work wasted on more than one occasion, I had to can him. Pity. He looked good on paper. And there’s the rub with resumes.

• General Rule 1-B: Don’t contact me by phone hours after hitting send on your application asking if I’ve looked over your resume. That makes you appear impatient, self-important, and unrealistically expectant, none of which are traits I’m hoping for a prospective hire to demonstrate. Instead, follow-up a day or two after applying. That shows some sticktoitiveness and professional courtesy that strikes employers as promising qualities in potential new employees.

• Avoid packing “Styrofoam peanut” words and statements into your application package. In addition to the aforementioned, nebulous buzzwords like “dynamic” and “meaningful” should also be banned from resume-writing vocabulary. They add no weight to the case a candidate tries to make for their hiring. Again, give specifics. What have you done? What are you looking to do now? And what can you contribute if afforded this opportunity?

• Don’t let me catch you fixating on your cell phone, in front of you at the table. Same story. If you can’t resist that urge while we’re first talking, I’d be telling you till I’m blue in the face to put it away while you’re working. Listen, I’m addicted as anyone to my feed, but I don’t indulge it at work.

If I sound a little cynical, sorry. Having hired food service staff for over 30 years now, all I can tell you is what many of you may already know yourselves: things have taken a turn for the worst. Again, I’ll quote Mark Twain: “A pragmatist is an optimist with experience.” He interviewed during his day, too.

Having hired food service staff for over 30 years now, all I can tell you is what many of you may already know yourselves: things have taken a turn for the worst. SHUTTERSTOCK

Bites

Meet Mothfire Brewing Co., Ann Arbor’s new craft brewery

By Hillary Bruce

“I DREAM ABOUT beer,” Alexis Jorgensen says as she pours a glass of Osborn Mist, one of the 16 drafts on tap at Mothfire Brewing Co., Ann Arbor’s new craft brewery located at 713 Ellsworth Rd. Jorgensen is the head brewer, and brings with her more than 10 years of experience crafting unique brews. Her passion for beer is evident as she excitedly explains her process of experimenting with different flavor profiles.

Mothfire is slated to open its doors on July 12, but the grand opening has been years in the making for founders David Becker and Noah Kaplan. Their craft brewery vision started when they took over Pileated Brewing Company in 2019, a small one-barrel brewery on South Industrial Highway in Ann Arbor. They were issued their license for Mothfire in February of 2020 with plans for a spring launch — then the pandemic hit.

“We had to do a 180, like what are we going to do now?” says Becker. The answer was to bottle as much as they could and create their own distribution system. They now sell their bright and vibrant cans, designed by Kaplan and his brother Dan, to stores like Plum Market, Arbor Farms, Zingerman’s, and about 20 other select locations in metro Detroit.

A few weeks before their official opening, Mothfire set up a special event for a dozen or so people to tour the new 6,000-square-foot brewery. After coming from a space described as a “closet” with a one-barrel system, the larger place with its expanded 15-barrel system gives Jorgensen the freedom to experiment with more new and exciting creations.

At the beginning of the tour, Jorgensen explains the process of milling their own grains. “We previously had grains pre-milled,” she says. “Being able to do it ourselves gives an extra oomph in refinement and the ability to tailor it to what we want.”

One of the things that was evident on the tour was how important it was for the team to use local products. Their base malts are all from Michigan farms. “We try to support local wherever we can with grains, as well as hops, just to

give regionality and different expression to the beer,” Becker explains.

Environmental sustainability was also a clear driving force in the creation of Mothfire. Jorgensen points out that everything in the brewhouse is steampowered and showed off the “mack daddy” of boilers that powers the entire operation.

All of this lends itself to the creation of some great brews. The pilsner was smooth with no bitter aftertaste, and the hazy IPA tasted light and refreshing. None of the beers we tried were heavy, and when we mentioned that to Kaplan, he said their goal was to make lighter, brighter beers that weren’t too sweet.

“Our vision is an ultra-craft brewery,” he says. “We are creating a cultural bonfire around art, music, and craft beer.” Mothfire also offers cocktails, and they did not disappoint. Each of the three mixed drinks they sell start with their seltzer spirit base that Becker describes as something similar to a dry prosecco. On the menu are Cucumber Basil, Ginger Mule, and Paloma Fizz. Every cocktail was a fun experience, with the paloma being our favorite. Mothfire even makes their own clear ice, which is a process that a lot of higher-end cocktail bars are starting to implement — an example of the brewery paying attention to even the smallest of details to enhance their customers’ overall experience.

A food truck was also on hand — or a pizza bus, to be precise. The unique food truck is the vision of Bobby Rosenberger and Kyle Young, who own Carrozza Pizza. The former sous chef and line cook have years of kitchen and pizza experience, and it was evident in the slices we tried. On the sampling menu was an array of ambitious pizzas including a margherita with buffalo mozzarella, kimchi with steak, smoked mozzarella and scallions, and a vegan pizza with shaved garlic. The mushroom pizza served with shaved truffles, and the flavor was spot-on and wasn’t overwhelmingly mushroomy like some of the fungi pies we’ve tried in the past.

Pizza will not be the only thing on Carrozza’s menu. They also sampled an

interesting take on caprese salad with huge bites of crouton and tomato, and a very tender meat kabob. Sometimes breweries have one thing going for them and that is enough to be sustainable. With Mothfire they have three: beer, cocktails, and food. Each piece combines to create a brewery

experience that is greater than the sum of its parts, making Mothfire a welcome addition to Ann Arbor’s drinking and dining scene.

Mothfire Brewing Co. is located at 713 W. Ellsworth Rd., Ann Arbor; mothfire. com.

Detroit’s Breadless eyes fall opening for suburban expansion

BREADLESS, THE FAST-CASUAL Detroit restaurant that made headlines for its bread-free sandwiches, says it plans to open a second location in the suburbs this fall.

The new store will be located at 181 S. Livernois Rd., near Rochester Hills High School, with a target opening date in late fall.

The company opened its first location last year at 2761 E. Jefferson Ave., Detroit, in the Rivertown area. Breadless also sells its sandwiches at Little Caesars Arena and Comerica Park.

“We believe our diners will truly appreciate our gluten-free product offerings, and Rochester Hills aligns perfectly with our market penetration goals during this thrilling phase of growth,” co-founder and CEO Marc Howland said in a statement.

As its name implies, Breadless wraps its sandwiches in leafy greens like collards, dino kale, and Swiss chard.

The Rochester Hills store is located in a brand-new 2,117-square-foot

building. The company says it plans to hire between 15 and 20 workers.

Like its Detroit shop, the company plans to host community events like yoga classes.

“At Breadless Detroit, we have collaborated with community organizations to host wellness services and organized our own team-planned events to educate individuals about the health benefits of leafy super greens and low-carb eating,” cofounder and CCO LaTresha Howland said in a statement. “Just like at our Breadless Detroit restaurant, we aim to foster a sense of community and provide a holistic wellness experience to the vibrant Rochester Hills community.”

Marc Howland also said a third location is in the works, but did not say where.

“Stay tuned for more updates on our expansion plans,” he said.

More information is available at eatbreadless.com.

—Lee DeVito

Mothfire Brewing Co. will soon open in Ann Arbor. HILLARY BRUCE

WEED

Herbology launches Ypsilanti cannabis dispensary

HERBOLOGY CANNABIS

CO. opened its newest adult-use dispensary in Ypsilanti.

The dispensary at 915 W. Michigan Ave. celebrated by giving away a free ounce of flower for the first 100 customers on each day of its opening weekend.

The grand opening festivities also featured DJs, food trucks, giveaways, and games.

“We are incredibly excited to introduce Herbology Cannabis Co. to the vibrant community of Ypsilanti,”

Detroit gets green light for 50 additional adult-use cannabis businesses

THE CITY OF Detroit is on the verge of allowing dozens of more recreational marijuana businesses to open.

The city council last week approved a resolution to begin accepting applications for the second phase of adult-use licenses.

During a 30-day period, the city will accept applications for up to 30 recreational dispensaries, 10 microbusinesses, and 10 consumption establishments.

Half of the licenses will go to social equity applicants as part of an effort to ensure that Black residents are represented in the legal cannabis industry.

Social equity applicants must live in a community disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs or have been convicted of a marijuana-related offense in the past.

So far, the city has issued 36 adultuse cannabis retail licenses. Of those, at least 20 are social equity applicants. A total of 19 of the 34 businesses are owned by Detroiters. They include 10 Black men and seven Black women.

At the end of the 30-day application period, the city will issue licenses.

The licenses are a long time coming. While the sale of adult-use cannabis in

Michigan began in December 2019, the Detroit City Council postponed issuing licenses until it could create an ordinance to make it easier for Detroiters to join the industry. What followed were several lawsuits and two separate ordinances, one of which was struck down in court in June 2021 because it gave licensing preferences to Detroiters.

The city’s second ordinance, which offers two tracks for licenses so that “equity” and “non-equity” applicants aren’t competing with each other, led to two lawsuitsnbecause the city prohibited

TJ Jawad, CEO of Herbology Cannabis Co., said in a news release. “Our grand opening weekend promises to be an unforgettable experience, filled with entertainment, giveaways, and, of course, a wide selection of topnotch cannabis products. We look forward to sharing our passion for cannabis with the local community and delivering exceptional customer service.”

The dispensary offers a wide selection of flower, pre-rolls, edibles, topicals, vape cartridges, drinks, concentrates, and accessories.

Herbology Cannabis Co. also operates two dispensaries in River Rouge and a store in Detroit at 417 Schaefer Hwy.

—Steve Neavling

medical cannabis dispensaries from getting a recreational license until 2027.

In August 2022, a judge dismissed the two lawsuits.

In all, the city plans to eventually award licenses to up to 100 dispensaries, 30 micro businesses, and 30 consumption lounges. Half of the licenses are expected to go to social equity applicants.

—Steve Neavling

Lume Cannabis Co. reopens Southfield dispensary as prices rebound

LUME CANNABIS CO. has reopened its Southfield dispensary less than a year after it abruptly closed as part of what it called a “realignment for growth.”

The Southfield store is located at 26760 Lahser Rd. and is open for adult-use sales. Previously, the store was open for medical marijuana patients only.

It closed in July 2022 along with the company’s stores in Bay City, Christmas, and Cheboygan, at a time when cannabis prices in Michigan hit all-

time lows due to an oversupply.

But for the first time in more than two years, the average price of an ounce of flower has increased, rising from $80.16 in January to $90.64 last month. The Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency says the price is climbing back up because there’s more enforcement to make sure it comes from licensed manufacturers.

On Thursday, Lume Cannabis Co. is also opening a new location at 1949 W. Twelve Mile Rd., Ste 200 in Berkley. Unlike the Southfield store,

the Berkley store will offer delivery, including to the Southfield area.

“Our many loyal customers in Berkley and Southfield have been encouraging us to launch these latest Lume retail locations,” Lume president and COO Doug Hellyar said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to be able to offer our high-quality cannabis products in these communities and we’re excited about opportunities for continued growth and expansion across Michigan.”

Both stores will have grand opening

celebrations on Saturday and Sunday, including 25% off select products and food trucks. Other deals include a free cultivated one-eighth with a minimum $25 purchase for the first 50 customers at each location, and a free 1-gram single pre-roll with a $25 minimum purchase for the second 50 customers at each location.

Lume Cannabis Co. claims to be Michigan’s largest cannabis retailer. The family that owns Belle Tire has a significant stake in the company.

—Lee DeVito

VIOLA KLOCKO

CULTURE

Artist of the Week 25 years of her career dismantling white supremacy

By Randiah Camille Green

I scoured the dark room with constellation tapestries hanging from the ceiling searching for the Big Dipper to no avail. I began to feel a bit hopeless with only the stars to guide me and a flashlight to light the way.

Perhaps, I think, that’s the point of Sonya Clark’s “Finding Freedom” installation — to know the feeling of desperation enslaved Black people felt when they traversed the Underground Railroad in the dark.

“That was not my intention but that is something that can happen. That’s the capaciousness of art,” Clark tells Metro Times. “What the Big Dipper does is point you to the North Star, but all the Big Dippers in there are pointing in different directions. So all the stars that you saw, potentially, are points of freedom that have been denied to people in this nation for whatever reason.”

“Finding Freedom” is one of several installations on display at Cranbrook Art Museum for Clark’s We Are Each Other exhibition, which spans the museum’s entire first floor. It examines Clark’s commentary on race, social justice, healing, and the symbolic dismantling of white supremacy she’s been weaving for the past 25 years of her career.

In “Finding Freedom” Clark has made a map of the sky with cyanotype reactive fabric, and visitors use a blue light flashlight in a dark room to view the constellations. Interestingly enough, the idea to use a blue light flashlight to illuminate the piece was a suggestion from an inmate when Clark presented the piece to a group of incarcerated men. It’s one of the many ways in which her work invites collaboration from all who interact with it.

“You’re holding the light that is there because of someone who has been made unfree in this nation… He helps you see the piece that he can’t see because he’s locked up,” Clark says. “That bit of poetry, of finding our freedom through the light that we’re holding in our hands because of

someone who has been made unfree, that just makes a whole Harriet Tubman metaphor and the Underground Railroad metaphor that inspired the piece that much more poignant.”

Clark isn’t from Detroit, but her ties to the city run deep. She graduated with her MFA in fiber from Cranbrook in 1995. Since then, she’s been trying to get the city to adopt her, she says over the phone from Massachusetts where she lives.

“When I was a graduate student at Cranbrook people like Sabrina Nelson, Shirley Woodson, and the late Gilda Snowden took me under their wing,” she says. “I have a special place in my heart for the city of Detroit, especially for the cultural producers of Detroit. I find that it is a city that is so incredibly important to American culture.”

Clark first brought her “Healing Memorial” project to the city in 2021 where Detroiters made pouches to honor their loved ones lost in the COVID-19 pandemic. Around 4,000 pouches were displayed on a massive wall during the memorial’s first display at Huntington Place and the Cranbrook Art Museum. Now it’s returned to Cranbrook and visitors are invited to add more handcrafted mementos to the wall.

“The self-assuredness that Detroiters have is a special brand,” she says. “It’s not that other places don’t have that. I don’t want to get in trouble with my hometown of [Washington, D.C.] but I didn’t grow up as being an artist in DC. I was in Detroit at a very, very important part of my life and Detroit was hit hard by COVID. Black and brown communities in particular were hit hard by COVID in this place that I feel connected to as an artist.”

In addition to making a memorial pouch, the exhibition offers several chances for visitors to be part of the work including weaving on a loom alongside teaching artists and making their own cyanotype constellation at workshops in community gardens to come later this summer.

The “Healing Memorial” itself is

part of Clark’s “Beaded Prayers” project, which she started in 1998 as a way of ancestor veneration.

“Most of the beads used in this project are made of glass and other materials that will outlive us,” she says. “There’s a certain size of bead that is called a seed bead and several seed beads are used in the ‘Healing Memorial.’ When you think about what a seed is, a seed is holding all of the substance of a plant, all of its genetic material.”

She makes a similar connection to hair as, “the fiber that we grow.” In her “Hair Craft Project” Clark asked hairstylists to use her head as a canvas, creating intricate braided patterns. On display are also textile wigs of Black hairstyles that Clark made in the 1990s after graduating from Cranbrook.

“I was making headdresses to honor our ‘ori’ which is the Yoruba word for destiny or head because the seat of your soul in Yoruba culture is your head,” she says about the wigs. “They look like headdresses or hats but really I was thinking about them as altars of our collective and individual destiny... Think about a strand of hair. Every single person that came before you is encoded in the DNA that’s in that strand of hair. It’s like an umbilical cord to your entire family tree. So a strand of hair is not just a strand of hair. It’s not just how you style it. It is your ancestors.”

Taking it a step further, Clark had a font created based on her curl pattern called “Twist.” It’s her way of creating her own decolonized alphabet. Her “1-877-OUR-CURL” project took poems from Black femme writers and printed them in the “Twist” font. It’s also an actual hotline you can call to hear the poets read their work, but if you dial extension “708” you can hear

all the poems read layered on top of each other as a chorus.

All of Clark’s work is rooted in honoring Black ancestral lineages, but in the back room of the museum lies one of her most controversial works, “Unraveling.” There are several mangled Confederate flags on display and a video about the work, but Clark has performed this piece around the world where she invites visitors to help her unravel a Confederate flag thread by thread.

She says that in past performances, participants who join her one at a time have made emotional confessions as she’s standing shoulder to shoulder with them.

“The Confederate flag is part of the fabric of this nation, so what does it mean to undo it?” she says. “I had a white woman who told me that her uncle and her father were both in the KKK. She told me the reason she came was that she was embarrassed and felt horrible that men in her family were involved in this white terrorist organization. And to her, I had to say, this is symbolic. This is not the work. You have to contend with your uncle and father and deal with that. You can’t just come to an art project, take a couple of threads out, and then say, ‘Oh look what I did today.’”

She continues, “Then I had a young Black woman who was so triggered by the flag because of things that have happened to her. Her hands were shaking and she couldn’t even touch it. And to her, I had to say, ‘It’s just a piece of cloth. We can do this.’”

Where to see her work: We Are Each Other is up until Sept.24 at the Cranbrook Art Museum; 39221 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills; cranbrookartmuseum.org.

In her “Hair Craft Project,” Clark asked hairstylists to use her head as a canvas. COURTESY OF CRANBROOK MUSEUM OF ART

Harrison Ford is somehow still fighting Nazis

By Craig D. Lindsey

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Rated: PG-13

Run-time: 154 minutes

I wish Hollywood would stop making Harrison Ford go back in his past so he can basically do young-man shit.

Yes, he’s the man who easily slipped into the roles of such iconic mavericks as Han Solo, Rick Deckard, and Indiana Jones. But the sumabitch is 80 years old. He can’t run from boulders and chase after replicants and shoot aliens in cantinas like he used to. He’s not studly and chiseled anymore. The weather probably fucks with his bones. He’s an old-ass man. Let him spend his later years day-drinking with Ally McBeal in peace!

In Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Ford once again pulls out the fedora and whip to play the beloved professor-archaeologist-danger magnet. But after a rousing opening set piece where he gets de-aged to go up against marauding Nazis on a speeding train, the story eventually zips to 1969,

where Jones is an old, bitter bugger, literally yelling at hippies to turn down the music.

Separated from Karen Allen’s longtime love Marion Ravenwood and finally retiring from teaching disinterested kids (the days of students pledging their love to him via messages on their eyelids are long gone), he gets thrust back in the adventure game when people come looking for an artifact that was handed off to him by an old archaeologist buddy (Toby Jones).

It appears the MacGuffin for this flick is half of a dial built by Archimedes that could send people back in time, and two people want it the most. There’s Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), the archaeologist buddy’s grifter of a daughter, who wants to sell it. And then, there’s Jurgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), a former Nazi turned NASA scientist (yes, he helped our boys land on the moon) who obviously wants the dial to make sure World War II ends in his side’s favor.

Destiny continues in the same chaotic, CGIed-to-hell pace Steven Spielberg and George Lucas started with the last legacyquel, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. This time, Spielberg and Lucas hand over the reins — and a

nearly $300 million budget— to director James Mangold (Logan), who comes up with manic action sequences and something resembling a story.

Have you ever been to an amusement park with people you can’t stand? Well, that’s basically what you get with this one. Jones is the crusty grandpa of the crew, literally complaining in one scene about how his withering, decaying body shouldn’t have to climb another damn wall. But he’s practically the audience surrogate in comparison to the other characters.

Waller-Bridge’s Helena is supposed to be a sporty, scheming alternative to the standard-issue damsel-in-distress Indy often gets saddled with. (She even has her own kid sidekick — think of a brown-skinned Short Round.) However, her character is written as an obnoxious cynic who constantly teeters between doing it for the money or doing it for the thrill of discovery.

Anyone who’s seen Fleabag knows that Waller-Bridge can play (and write) acerbic, vulnerable women quite well. It’s a shame she wasn’t one of the many writers (which includes summer-movie vet David Koepp and brothers Jez and John-Henry Butterworth) involved in scripting this. Then again, this whole

franchise is unfortunately littered with lackluster female characters. Letting someone with lady parts come in and create a better one would just ruin the good thing they got going.

Of course, since Mikkelsen (aka the TV Hannibal Lecter) is playing the heavy, his resident Nazi oozes with creepy self-centeredness. There’s a cringey scene where he grills a Black hotel employee/WWII vet about where he’s originally from before coldly reminding the guy where he ended up after the war. So, not only is this dude sinister, but he’s a straight-up dick, surrounded by trigger-happy henchmen who are also dicks. These bad guys are so flagrant with their awful, assholish behavior, it’s almost hilarious to watch. For a movie that’s basically about how the past should be left the hell alone, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny stubbornly works its ass off to take you back to those glory days of Ford whipping muhfuckas left and right. But even with all the Easter eggs, returning characters, and other bits of nostalgia, it’s still a grating, globetrotting journey. Besides, if the guy who’s leading this expedition isn’t all that excited to be there, then why should we?

Phoebe Waller-Bridge plays the grifting sidekick to Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones.

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CULTURE Free Will Astrology

ARIES: March 21 – April 19

Genius physicist Albert Einstein said, “The formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill. To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old questions from new angles, requires creative imagination and makes real advances.” What he said here applies to our personal dilemmas, too. When we figure out the right questions to ask, we are more than halfway toward a clear resolution. This is always true, of course, but it will be an especially crucial principle for you in the coming weeks.

TAURUS: April 20 – May 20

“Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.” So said Taurus biologist and anthropologist Thomas Huxley (1825-1895). I don’t think you will have to be quite so forceful as that in the coming weeks. But I hope you’re willing to further your education by rebelling against what you already know. And I hope you will be boisterously skeptical about conventional wisdom and trendy ideas. Have fun

cultivating a feisty approach to learning! The more time you spend exploring beyond the borders of your familiar world, the better.

GEMINI: May 21 – June 20

Hooray and hallelujah! You’ve been experimenting with the perks of being pragmatic and well-grounded. You have been extra intent on translating your ideals into effective actions.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you so dedicated to enjoying the simple pleasures. I love that you’re investigating the wonders of being as down-toearth as you dare. Congratulations! Keep doing this honorable work.

CANCER: June 21 – July 22

I wrote my horoscope column for over ten years before it began to get widely syndicated. What changed? I became a better writer and oracle, for one thing. My tenacity was inexhaustible. I was always striving to improve my craft, even when the rewards were meager. Another important factor in my eventual success was my persistence in marketing. I did a lot of hard work to ensure the right publications knew about me. I suspect, fellow Cancerian, that 2024 is likely to bring you a comparable breakthrough in a labor of love you have been cultivating for a long time. And the coming months of 2023 will be key in setting the stage for that breakthrough.

LEO: July 23 – August 22

Maybe you wished you cared more deeply about a certain situation. Your lack of empathy and passion may feel like a hole in your soul. If so, I have good news. The coming weeks will be a favorable time to find the missing power; to tap into the warm, wet feelings that could motivate your quest for greater connection. Here’s a good way to begin the process: Forget everything you think you know about the situation with which you want more engagement. Arrive at an empty, still point that enables you to observe the situation as if you were seeing it for the first time.

VIRGO: August 23 – Sept. 22

You are in an astrological phase when you’ll be wise to wrangle with puzzles and enigmas. Whether or not you come up with crisp solutions isn’t as crucial as your earnest efforts to limber up your mind. For best results, don’t worry and sweat about it; have fun! Now I’ll provide a sample riddle to get you in the mood. It’s adapted from a text by David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace. You are standing before two identical closed doors, one leading to grime and confusion, the other to rev-

JAMES NOELLERT

elation and joy. Before the doors stand two figures: an angel who always tells the truth and a demon who always lies. But they look alike, and you may ask only one question to help you choose what door to take. What do you do? (Possible answer: Ask either character what the other would say if you asked which door to take, then open the opposite door.)

LIBRA: Sept. 23 – Oct. 22

I found a study that concluded just 6.1% of online horoscopes provide legitimate predictions about the future. Furthermore, the research indicated, 62.3% of them consist of bland, generic pabulum of no value to the recipient. I disagree with these assessments. Chani Nicholas, Michael Lutin, Susan Miller, and Jessica Shepherd are a few of many regular horoscope writers whose work I find interesting. My own astrological oracles are useful, too. And by the way, how can anyone have the hubris to decide which horoscopes are helpful and which are not? This thing we do is a highly subjective art, not an objective science. In the spirit of my comments here, Libra, and in accordance with astrological omens, I urge you to declare your independence from so-called experts and authorities who tell you they know what’s valid and worthwhile for you. Here’s your motto: “I’m the authoritative boss of my own truth.”

SCORPIO: Oct. 23 – Nov. 21: Is it a fact that our bodies are made of stardust? Absolutely true, says planetary scientist Dr. Ashley King. Nearly all the elements comprising our flesh, nerves, bones, and blood were originally forged in at least one star, maybe more. Some of the stuff we are made of lived a very long time in a star that eventually exploded: a supernova. Here’s another amazing revelation about you: You are composed of atoms that have existed for almost 14 billion years. I bring these startling realities to your attention, Scorpio, in honor of the most expansive phase of your astrological cycle. You have a mandate to deepen and broaden and enlarge your understanding of who you are and where you came from.

By Rob Brezsny

SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 22 – Dec. 21

I foresee that August will be a time of experiments and explorations. Life will be in a generous mood toward you, tempting and teasing you with opportunities from beyond your circle of expectations. But let’s not get carried away until it makes cosmic sense to get carried away. I don’t want to urge you to embrace wild hope prematurely. Between now and the end of July, I advise you to enjoy sensible gambles and measured adventures. It’s OK to go deep and be rigorous, but save the full intensity for later.

CAPRICORN: Dec. 22 – Jan. 19

Is there a crucial half-conscious question lurking in the underside of your mind? A smoldering doubt or muffled perplexity that’s important for you to address? I suspect there is. Now it’s time to coax it up to the surface of your awareness so you may deal with it forthrightly. You must not let it smolder there in its hiding place. Here’s the good news, Capricorn: If you bring the dilemma or confusion or worry into the full light of your consciousness, it will ultimately lead you to unexpected treasure. Be brave!

AQUARIUS: Jan. 20 – Feb. 18

In Larry McMurtry’s novel Duane’s Depressed, the life of the main character has come to a standstill. He no longer enjoys his job. The fates of his kids are too complicated for him to know how to respond. He has a lot of feelings but has little skill in expressing them. At a loss about how to change his circumstances, he takes a small and basic step: He stops driving his pickup truck and instead walks everywhere he needs to go. Your current stasis is nowhere near as dire as Duane’s, Aquarius. But I do recommend you consider his approach to initiating transformation: Start small and basic.

PISCES: Feb.19 – March 20

Author K. V. Patel writes, “As children, we laugh fully with the whole body. We laugh with everything we have.” In the coming weeks, Pisces, I would love for you to regularly indulge in just that: total delight and release. Furthermore, I predict you will be more able than usual to summon uproarious life-affirming amusement from the depths of your enchanted soul. Further furthermore, I believe you will have more reasons than ever before to throw your head back and unleash your entire self in rippling bursts of healing hysterical hilarity. To get started, practice chuckling, giggling, and chortling for one minute right now.

Homework: What’s the smartest, safest gamble you could take?

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