Metro Times 10/04/2023

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NEWS & VIEWS

Feedback

We received comments in response to Steve Neavling’s cover story about some Michigan Muslims joining forces with far-right Republicans in the culture war over LGBTQ+ rights.

Aww look two extremist factions found mutual hate to bond over!

—@slowmotion4alll, Instagram

Of course. The far right is no different than the taliban. Religious rule with an iron fist. Keep church and state separate —@el_duderino3003, Instagram

Never put it past religious people of any stripe to be assholes in the name of “god” —@caffeinecarl, Instagram

Conservatism, in all of its forms, is rooted in power by way of control and suppression of personhood.

—@j.samzelius Instagram

Seems backwards to align with the same people who designed and perpetuated post 9/11 Muslim scare .

—@father_bradypus Instagram

Bunch of snowflakes crying that gay people exist —@freddiegwop2, Instagram

this is going to shock you but different religions have different views that dont agree with everyone about sexuality lmfao —Mitch Tryfort, Facebook

Comments may be edited for length and clarity: letters@metrotimes.com

Text messages reveal internal outrage over Michigan State Police’s ‘Barbie’ post

Within minutes of Michigan State Police posting an image of a blonde Barbie doll in a blue law enforcement uniform on social media in July, women in leadership positions at the agency expressed outrage and demanded the post be taken down, according to emails and text messages obtained by Metro Times through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The agency’s communications division joined this summer’s Barbie movie craze by posting an image of the longhaired doll standing in front of a state police car at about 5:20 p.m.

“This Barbie is ready to serve the state of Michigan!” the post on Facebook and Twitter read. “When you join the MSP #YouCanBeAnything. From a trooper to a forensic scientist, a motor carrier officer to a pilot, the possibilities are endless. Explore your future career path with the MSP today.”

Less than four hours later, the post was gone, and MSP issued a statement saying the image was deleted “out of respect” for their “female members.”

In dozens of texts and emails among MSP’s leadership, women law enforcement officials complained that the post was offensive and made a mockery out of the agency.

“This is ridiculous. Demeaning. Humiliating,” Beth Clark, assistant deputy director of the MSP’s Field Support Bureau, said in a group text to state police leaders.

In a separate text to Commander Lt. Col. Dale Hinz, Clark demanded,

“This needs to come down off the site immediately.”

Capt. Jennifer Johnson called the post “embarrassing” and “insulting.”

“I’m livid,” she wrote in a group text. “Our troopers go out there everyday and risk their lives and we are telling potential recruits it’s all sun shine and rainbows and make believe????”

When Johnson texted MSP Inspector Lisa Rish about the post, Rish responded with an eye roll and barfing emoji and called it “a total yuck ad.”

“But maybe it will appeal to the younger families who will be swayed to go into MSP,” Rish admitted.

After MSP retracted the post, Johnson changed her tone.

“I understand they were trying to be current and clever,” Johnson wrote. “It just missed the mark.”

Det. Lt. Lisa Gee-Cram wrote, “This is the most insulting thing I have ever seen.”

On the same week of the MSP post, other state leaders embraced the Barbie craze, sharing the common feeling that Barbie dolls can be empowering to girls and women. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer posted a series of images featuring a brunette Barbie doll in a pantsuit.

“This Barbie is the 49th Governor of the great state of Michigan, and just like @Barbie, fuchsia is my power color,” Whitmer’s account read. “I’m committed to fighting for a state where every Michigander, no matter their background, can thrive.”

The Michigan State Parks, Trails and

Waterways Twitter page also boasted about Barbie, showing off dolls depicting shoreline birders, a ranger, and a boater.

Michigan House Democrats tweeted a photo of the state Capitol building in Lansing tinged in a rosy shade that resembled the iconic Barbie dreamhouse.

In a group text, an unidentified MSP official alluded to the empowerment that Barbie represents but still didn’t like the message the image sent.

“It’s supposed to mean ‘girls can do anything,’ the official texted. “Oh, so that must mean I should be a bimbo with long blonde hair, an eating disorder, and have NO gun in my holster?!?!”

Men in leadership positions also bashed the post. F/LT. Carl Rothernberger said the Barbie image was “truly embarrassing to the hard working members of our department.”

“I always wonder if they can top their last debacle, and Bam! They do …” Rothernberger wrote.

It’s not clear what the “last debacle” was.

In a group text, an unidentified MSP official suggested something nefarious may be afoot.

“Kinda makes you wonder who got paid,” the text read.

The post was created by MSP’s Communications and Outreach Division. As outrage grew, leaders urged the division’s director, Shanon Banner, to remove the post.

After the post was deleted, Commander Lt. Col. Dale Hinz texted Banner and assured her that she did nothing wrong.

“Rest assured, you and your team are doing a great jobs for the agency Shanon,” Hinz wrote. “I really don’t understand the concerns with the Barbie post.”

Shannon responded, “The last thing me or my team want to do is be disrespectful to our own members, especially fellow females.”

A day after the post was removed, an unidentified MSP employee told top police officials that she was “extremely disheartened” that the agency had deleted the Barbie post.

“I personally loved this post and thought it was relatable and exciting,” she wrote. “It also encouraged people to apply to the numerous career paths that MSP has, both sworn and civilian.”

She added, “As a woman leading change, I deserve to have a voice in things that affect me. Taking down a fun and relatable social media post that begins to open a larger discussion about women in law enforcement is nothing but harmful.”

Co-written and directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie, the Barbie movie was critically acclaimed and a commercial success, beloved for its searing critique of the patriarchy and gender roles. It went on to earn $1.43 billion, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2023.

—Steve Neavling

Michigan State Police were not fans of Barbie COURTESY WARNER BROS.

99% of Detroit casino workers vote to authorize strike

As the powerful United Auto Workers union continues its historic strike against the auto industry, workers at Detroit’s three casinos on Friday overwhelmingly voted to approve a strike of their own.

According to the Detroit Casino Council, workers from the city’s three casinos — MGM Grand Detroit, Hollywood at Greektown, and MotorCity — voted 99% to authorize a strike if deemed necessary by the worker negotiating committee.

Workers cast their ballots at Teamsters Hall from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday. The Detroit Casino Council announced the results at 9:40 p.m.

First historical marker in Michigan honoring Mexican community placed in Southwest Detroit

Detroiters gathered on Friday to celebrate the unveiling of two historical markers at the Mexicantown Community Development Corporation Plaza: one honoring the legacy of Texas-Mexican migration to Michigan and the Tejano music community that those migrants forged, as well as a smaller marker that memorializes Martin Huron Solis Jr. and other Detroit Tejano music pioneers.

The event took place during Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

Since 1955, the Michigan History Center has put up more than 1,800 historical markers in Michigan, and this is the first Hispanic community to have a marker that is solely about the community.

“I know. It’s about time,” Sandra Clark of the Michigan History Center said at the event. “I’m hoping there’s going to be a lot more following soon.”

The marker is a joint project between the Martin H. Solis Jr. Tejano Association and the Michigan Music Hall of Fame, with support from Third Man Records, the Mexicantown Community Development Corporation, the Hispanic/Latino Commission of Michigan, SCP Radio, and the Julian Samora Research Institute at Michigan State University.

Martin H. Solis, Jr. is a MexicanAmerican credited with bringing the Tejano sound to Michigan and the Midwestern region of the country in the 1950s.

Along with Solis’s family, other community members and people involved in making the marker happen spoke at the event, including Detroit Deputy Mayor Todd Bettison and Eddie Gillis of Third Man Pressing. Gillis is the brother of Third Man owner Jack White and helped the record label release Solis’s music on vinyl for the first time ever in 2020 after long-lost tapes were discovered in Solis’s attic.

Raymond Lozano of the Mexicantown Community Development Corporation also spoke, thanking everyone who worked to get the marker placed and said that the plaque’s placement aids the organization in its mission to preserve and promote Latino heritage for the community for generations to come.

“They have brought to life the much-overlooked history and musical legacy of our migrants that helped build and sustain Michigan, and in particular, southwest Detroit,” he said.

“Mexicans and Latinos have been in Detroit since the beginning of the 20th century, and while expressways, bridges, and gentrification continue

to challenge and impact the southwest Detroit community, it’s heartwarming, although 50 years later, the recognition and acknowledgment of our migrant contributions to Detroit, to Michigan and beyond, are being celebrated.”

Consul Roberto Nicolás Vasquez, Consulate General of Mexico for metro Detroit and northern Ohio, spoke about Mexico’s strong relationship with Michigan. He said that the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which is currently being built, will cost $5.7 billion in seven years of building, and that the amount of money that Mexico and Michigan make together could build 12 of those bridges in one year.

“That is just to put into perspective how important the Mexico and Mexican community became to Michigan and how important the community is nowadays,” Vasquez said. “It is thanks to these pioneers that came in the 1920s and began to share food and to share music and to bring to the table what Mexican Americans have to give to a community that receives them with open arms.”

The celebration ended with Frank Solis, son of Martin H. Solis Jr., and other Solis family members, uncovering both markers to the public.

—Layla McMurtrie

The workers have been negotiating since early September, demanding living wages, better retirement benefits, and protections for workers impacted by new technology. This is after Detroit casino workers sacrificed raises and took on more work amid the COVID-19 pandemic to help the industry recover, they say.

By all accounts, the industry did. According to UNITE HERE, the Detroit casino industry generated $2.27 billion in gaming revenue in 2022, a record high. And the union says the industry is already on track for another record-breaking year.

“Workers are fed up in an economy that is broken: costs keep going up, but when profits came back to the gaming industry, they didn’t go into workers’ pockets,” Nia Winston, president of UNITE HERE Local 24 said in a statement. “Just like auto workers, Blue Cross Blue Shield staff, UPS workers, writers, and hotel workers, Detroit casino workers are considering all options available to make sure one job in a Detroit casino is enough to raise a family on. We expect the casinos to heed our concerns to avoid a strike.”

The Detroit Casino Council worker negotiating committee is made up of members from UNITE HERE Local 24, UAW, Teamsters Local 1038, Operating Engineers Local 324, and the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters.

The call for strikes could come as soon as mid-October, when contracts expire.

—Lee DeVito

A historical marker honoring Tejano music has been placed in southwest Detroit.

LAYLA MCMURTRIE

Preservationists win fight to save partially collapsed historic building in Eastern Market

The historic building that partially collapsed in the Eastern Market district earlier this month will soon be repaired after the city of Detroit backed off from its demands to demolish the 126-year-old structure.

The Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department (BSEED) agreed last Wednesday to allow the owner of the four-story Del Bene Building at 2501 Russell St. to begin restoring the structure.

On Sept. 16, the building’s brick wall

on the third and fourth floors crumbled to the ground, injuring one person and damaging several vehicles.

“We have reviewed and accepted the engineer’s letter and are allowing the owner, engineers, and contractors, to proceed accordingly,” BSEED director David Bell said in a statement. “DTE has been given the go-ahead to reenergize the building. We expect applications for permits and related documents to be submitted within 30 days and look forward to getting this building back online as soon

as possible.”

For several days after the collapse, the city was demanding the owner, Scott Turnbull, to demolish the structure, saying it was a safety risk. But preservationists and engineers urged the city to rethink its emergency demolition order, saying the reinforced concrete building likely could be salvaged.

Turnbull appealed the city’s demolition order, and BSEED relented, allowing the owner to make a case for saving the building. After Turnbull’s engineer examined

the building and determined it could be safely restored, BSEED gave the owner the green light to make repairs.

It was a rare win for preservationists, who have long complained about Detroit’s history of allowing salvageable historic buildings to be demolished. They include the Hotel Park Avenue, Tiger Stadium, Hudson’s building, Saturday Night building, Statler Hotel, Madison-Lenox Hotel, Deck Bar, and most recently, a key AsianAmerican landmark in the Cass Corridor.

—Steve Neavling

Ex-Detroit cop resigns from another department after losing law enforcement license

A former Detroit cop who resigned in August 2021 after an internal investigation found he had punched an unarmed man in the face and then lied about it has left another local police department in disgrace.

The Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) suspended Officer Kairy Roberts’s license on Sept. 15, preventing him from serving as a cop in the state.

The suspension was in connection with the two-year-old allegations that Roberts assaulted a man in Greektown, knocked him unconscious, and then failed to provide medical aid, an incident that was caught on cellphone video.

About a year after Roberts resigned from Detroit’s police force, he was hired by the Eastpointe Police Department, despite the serious allegations against him.

Eastpointe Police Chief Corey Haines tells Metro Times that Roberts was immediately placed on leave after his license was suspended and then resigned on Friday.

Haines, who wasn’t the Eastpointe chief when Roberts joined the force, couldn’t provide much insight into why the city hired him.

“Unfortunately, I do now know what the previous administrator used for criteria for hiring,” Haines says. “It is my understanding that he was aware of the incident.”

George Rouhib, the Eastpointe chief who hired Roberts, accepted a job as chief of the Rochester Police Department in May. Metro Times couldn’t reach him for comment.

An internal investigation by the Detroit Police Department in July 2022

concluded that Roberts punched Marcus Alston in the face, even though he didn’t appear to pose a threat, and walked away from him despite his serious injuries. Roberts then falsely claimed Alston had taken a fighting stance and assaulted another police officer, even though he did neither, the internal police investigation found. In fact, Alston was punched while he was asking for the badge numbers of police officers who allegedly assaulted several people while dispersing a crowd in Greektown.

Roberts resigned from DPD before he could be fired.

Alston’s attorney, Johnny Hawkins, who is suing Roberts and the Detroit Police Department over the incident, says it was inexcusable for Eastpointe to hire Roberts and for MCOLES to take two years to suspend his license.

Hawkins is representing four people who were allegedly assaulted by Detroit police on the night that Hawkins was punched. Two of them, he says, were assaulted by Roberts, whom Hawkins calls a “rogue cop.”

Alston’s injuries were life-altering, Hawkins says. He suffered a concussion and herniated disk. A truck driver and youth sports coach, Alston couldn’t return to work because he’s unable to pass the physical exam.

“He was in pretty bad shape,” Hawkins says. “The hardest part for him is explaining to the children he coaches why this happened and how it happened. All he was doing was asking for a badge number, and he got banged up pretty bad.”

Hawkins says Michigan needs to do a better job protecting residents from abusive cops.

“As a country, we don’t take police

brutality as seriously as we need to,” Hawkins says. “There is a great need for reform. The boys in blue are part of the biggest national gang in this country. They’re protected, and whatever they say, goes.”

Roberts’s ability to move from one police department to another after serious misconduct allegations is nothing new in Michigan. The problem is so common that officers like Roberts are called “wandering cops.” They’re forced out of one police department, only to find work at another law enforcement agency, Metro Times reported in August.

In Michigan, like many states, there are no laws requiring police departments to disclose information about much of an officer’s misconduct to another law enforcement agency.

Without reporting requirements, agencies are at risk of unknowingly hiring officers who left their previous job under questionable circumstances.

In an attempt to learn more about wandering cops in Michigan, Metro Times and the Invisible Institute sought records identifying all certified and uncertified officers in the state. But Michigan State Police declined our Freedom of Information Act request, claiming “the public disclosure of the information would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of an individual’s privacy.”

By withholding the identities of officers, MSP is impeding the public’s ability to track wandering cops.

Now that Democrats have control of the state Senate and House in Michigan for the first time in nearly 40 years, lawmakers may soon make it more difficult for wandering cops to continue landing new jobs.

In 2017, the Michigan Legislature

passed a law that required police departments to keep a record of officer separations, and officers to sign a waiver allowing departments to view their previous records. But it didn’t prevent cops with significant histories of misconduct or use of force from being hired again, and didn’t prevent agencies from allowing officers to resign, rather than be terminated. If an officer is allowed to resign, the documentation required to be kept about their separation is likely to be much less substantial.

In 2021, Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss introduced a bill targeting officers with checkered pasts. But with Republicans holding a majority in the Senate, the legislation languished.

Senate Bill 474 would have required police departments to report all useof-force violations, in addition to the separation records that they’re required to provide to new prospective employers for their former officers. That way law enforcement agencies would have broader access to a job applicants’ history of misconduct.

After talking with law enforcement agencies about the bill, Moss says he’s received a lot of support to resurrect the legislation.

Hawkins says lawmakers should act with urgency.

“We need the legislators to protect the citizens in the state of Michigan,” Hawkins says. “If other states are doing it, then why shouldn’t Michiganders get the same benefits of cops getting properly vetted so our citizens aren’t the target of some rogue cop who has been allowed to go from police department to police department, doing what they have been known to do?”

—Steve Neavling

tion. Strange how he can measure his words when he wants to. One prison allusion was brief.

“I’m fighting for my freedom,” he said, late in the speech, “against the forces of evil.” Later, he joked off-thecuff: “Now, I get indicted, like, every three days.”

In a vague way, he alluded to how prosecution of a political candidate like himself “sets off a chain of events that could be dangerous in future years.”

This seemed to imply he would “weaponize” his Justice Department against Democrats the way he insists that Democrats have done so to him.

He also went light with his usual whining allegations that the 2020 election was stolen from him, when he lost Michigan and the Electoral College to Biden.

But Trump did his best to divide and scare people with word-bombs like “horrible, ridiculous... radical left Marxists, fascists, crazy people... environmental lunatics... left wing crazies...”

Lapointe

In Macomb County, Trump gets the blood boiling

Donald Trump — the former and possibly future president of the United States — is notoriously sloppy with words and reckless in his mobboss allusions. So what are we to make of his blood-curdling, throwaway lines last Wednesday night in a speech in Clinton Township?

After telling his audience what a successful businessman he was before his political career, Trump said: “I’ve risked it all to defend the working class from the corrupt political class that has spent decades sucking the life, wealth, and blood out of this country.”

Amid a United Auto Workers strike growing in intensity, Trump said he was in town at a non-union parts manufacturing warehouse in Macomb County to bring “a revival of economic nationalism and our automobile factories, a lifeblood which they are sucking out of the country.”

Referring to former President Barack Obama and to current President Joe Biden and to their foreign economic treaties, Trump said “‘Crooked Joe’ backed every single, bloodsucking glo -

By Joe Lapointe

balist attack on U.S. auto workers.”

And, after the speech, Trump shifted his underlying motif for the night to a question about immigration in an interview with the right-wing television network Newsmax.

“It’s killing our country,” Trump said. “They’re destroying the blood of our country.”

Needless to say, the word “blood” — and especially the phrase “bloodsucking” — creates powerful images in the mind. Phrases that come to mind include “blood and soil” and “blood libel.”

Would a respectable presidential candidate accidentally throw around a phrase like “blood-sucking globalist?” Look it up, kids, in the Google box, and type alongside it the word “trope.”

Trump’s visit came one day after a short stop by Biden to a picket line in Belleville in western Wayne County. His trip also occurred on the same night of the Republican presidential debate in California, the second one Trump has avoided because he is leading by far in the polls.

Trump also avoided picket lines Wednesday. After telling UAW leaders to endorse him, he expressed surprise in his post-speech interview to learn that UAW President Shawn Fain — who met at length with Biden on Tuesday — did not care to talk to Trump on Wednesday.

“I didn’t know that,” Trump said. “If he didn’t want to meet with me, then I don’t like him very much. That’s foolish not to meet. What is he going to do, meet with Biden? The man doesn’t know he’s alive.”

Trump’s ridicule of Biden’s age and health was a major theme of his speech, which lasted about one hour. He called Biden a “wretched old vulture.” But, also important to the speech was what Trump left out.

Now that he has been indicted for multiple felonies in four venues and warned in several legal hearings, Trump appeared to be biting his forked tongue when it came to his legal cases.

In a change of his usual style, he didn’t attack by name any prosecutors or judges or witnesses, even by implica-

He said the people who own auto companies are “either stupid or they’re gutless” because they allow the federal government to push the transition from gasoline to electric power in cars. He repeatedly said that electric vehicles would eliminate jobs for American auto workers.

He kept going back to violent imagery.

“The auto industry is being assassinated,” Trump said. “It’s a hit job on Michigan and on Detroit.”

He threw scraps of red meat on nonauto issues by speaking against public schools and transgender people.

That made him for “school choice,” Trump said, and against “sexual mutilation of children.”

All this from the same large, loud, orange-faced, yellow-haired demagogue who fancied buying a gun this week but thought better of it because he is under felony indictment and that would be a crime.

On Wednesday, outside Drake Enterprises on Gratiot Avenue, Trump fans waved “Take America Back” flags and yellow Gadsden flags and flags that showed Trump’s face over an assault rifle.

Just before he took the stage, Trump sent out an email blast that was almost poetic in its dark rhythm.

It said:

“Our country is dying Our people are suffering Our border is collapsing Our world is in chaos.”

Inside the auto parts place, they chanted their own menacing tempo.

“Trump! Trump! Trump!” they said. “Trump! Trump! Trump!”

Supporters react as they listen to Donald Trump’s speech Drake Enterprises in Clinton Township. MARK BIALEK/ZUMA PRESS WIRE

President Joe Biden has claimed he is “the most pro-union president leading the most pro-union administration in American history.” In at least one symbolic way last week, he delivered, doing something no other sitting U.S. president had ever done before: join a picket line.

Under their new leader Shawn Fain, some 25,000 of the United Auto Workers’ 150,000 members who work for the Detroit Big Three carmakers are on strike, demanding higher wages and better working conditions. Launched at midnight on Sept. 15, it’s the first time the union has ever been on strike against all three companies simultaneously. But U.S. presidents typically don’t meddle in such labor disputes, seeing themselves more as mediators between workers and their bosses.

Biden apparently considered that to be a bunch of malarkey. During his 15-minute stop at the picket line last Tuesday, Biden, wearing a UAW baseball hat, grabbed a bullhorn emblazoned with American flag decals and spoke to workers at the General Motors Willow Run Redistribution Center in Belleville.

It may seem like a small, bare-minimum

gesture — or, at worst, a cynical ploy for votes in a battleground election state. (Last year, Biden signed legislation to block a national U.S. railroad strike that could have devastated the American economy, in a dispute over paid sick days for railroad workers.) Steven Rattner, former President Barack Obama’s “car czar,” said he was shocked by Biden’s decision. “For him to be going on a picket line is outrageous,” Rattner said in an interview with NBC News.

“There’s no precedent for it. The tradition of the president is to stay neutral in these things.”

And yet, the substance of President Biden’s brief message to the workers is unimpeachable, and hardly controversial.

“The fact of the matter is that you guys, the UAW — you saved the automobile industry

Last week, President Joe Biden became the first sitting U.S. President to join a picket line. ALAMY

back in 2008 and before,” Biden said, referring to the concessions the autoworkers made when the U.S. government bailed out the Big Three more than a decade ago. “You made a lot of sacrifices. You gave up a lot. And the companies were in trouble. But now they’re doing incredibly well. And guess what? You should be doing incredibly well too. It’s a simple proposition.”

He added, “Folks, stick with it, because you deserve the significant raise you need and other benefits. Let’s get back what we lost, OK? We saved them; it’s about time for them to step up for us.”

Fain took the bullhorn next, noting the historical significance of the site — Willow Run was part of the “Arsenal of Democracy” that helped win World War II, at its peak churning out one B-24 Liberator bomber plane per hour.

“So, today, 80 years later, we find ourselves here again, with the arsenal of democracy. It’s a different kind of arsenal of democracy, and it’s a different kind of war we’re fighting,” Fain said. “Today, the enemy isn’t some foreign country miles away. It’s right here … it’s corporate greed.”

He added, “And the weapon we produce to fight that enemy is the liberators — the true liberators — it’s the working-class people. All of you working — working your butts off on those lines to deliver a great product for our companies.”

He concluded, “That’s how we’re going to defeat these people. That’s how we’re going to defeat corporate greed, is by standing together.”

Biden chimed in. “You’ve heard me say it many times. Wall Street didn’t build the country,” he said. “The middle class built the country, and unions built the middle class. And that’s a fact. So, let’s keep going.”

He added, “You deserve what you’ve earned, and you’ve earned a hell of a lot

more than you’re getting paid now.”

‘There is a new sheriff in town’

Fain has hit the ground running, calling the historic strike just months after winning the UAW presidency in a hotly contested upset in which hundreds of ballots were challenged. In the end, Fain won by less than 500 votes.

A 54-year-old electrician from Kokomo, Indiana, Fain has been a UAW member for more than 20 years, first joining at a Chrysler plant. Fain has said his family’s union ties run deep, with three of his four grandparents being early UAW members; he keeps a pay stub from one of his union grandfathers in his wallet as a memento.

As president, Fain had promised to clear house at the UAW, which had become mired in corruption scandals that resulted in more than a dozen union officials including two former presidents charged with crimes including embezzlement, kickbacks, and collusion. In response, the U.S. Department of Justice brokered a consent decree with the union that gave UAW members the ability to choose leadership by direct vote, as opposed to a system of delegates, which critics said encouraged cronyism.

“For too long, this union has been divided,” Fain said in his video victory speech. “We’ve been divided by corruption and self-serving leadership at the top. The UAW once set the standard for what a clean, progressive, member-led union looks like. But the last few decades have seen us veer far off course. UAW officers, the people elected to lead and serve this great union, have taken bribes, stolen dues, and betrayed the trust of the membership. That ends here.”

In a draft transition document obtained by the Detroit Free Press,

Fain detailed his plans to dramatically “shake up” the union. “There is a new sheriff in town, something different is happening,” Fain wrote, adding, “If we do this well, then heads are going to be spinning with how fast things are going to change.”

Fain’s brash style and social justice bent has drawn comparisons to previous UAW president Walter Ruether, who similarly came to power in a close election. In his speeches and livestreams on social media, Fain has a tendency to quote the Bible and figures like Malcolm X. Fain is also fond of publicity stunts, theatrically throwing a UAW contract offer from Stellantis into a waste basket during one livestream, saying, “That’s where it belongs — in the trash — because that’s what it is.”

In announcing the strike, Fain revealed an innovative new strategy that he has dubbed a “stand up strike.” Instead of calling on all workers to stop work at once, Fain is staggering the strike, targeting specific plants at a time. The tactic is something of a callback to the UAW’s famous “sit-down strike” of 1936 and ’37, in which workers took over a General Motors plant in Flint and refused to work — a daring move that helped transform the thennascent union into a major powerhouse for organized labor.

One of Fain’s more seemingly audacious demands includes a call for a four-day workweek for five days’ of pay (though we’ll get to that later), and the UAW could be gearing up for a long fight. The “stand up strike” strategy allows Fain to conserve the UAW’s strike fund and also allows gives the union added power in its negotiations with the Big Three; Fain can target the separate companies depending on how negotiations are going, while at the same time preventing the auto industry from grinding to a complete halt, which

would have ramifications in the wider economy — especially in a place like the Motor City. Last Friday, Fain said his planned livestream announcing additional strike targets was delayed by about a half hour due to last-minute negotiations with Stellantis; that automaker’s plants were spared in the new round of strikes because negotiations were going favorably, he said.

The metro Detroit-based World Socialist Web Site has been critical of Fain’s stand-up strike approach, however, pointing out that if he was serious about causing pain for the corporations, he would call strikes at the companies’ main profit-making centers, which produce pick-up trucks. It also noted that Fain has largely declined to target Detroit-area plants, alleging that such a move in the U.S. automotive capitol “could quickly trigger uncontrollable demands by workers throughout the region to join industrial action.”

The union “is seeking to placate workers with false promises of ‘expanding’ the strike,” the WSWS claims. “This is intended to wear workers down and prepare the ground to announce contracts that will be completely in line with the company’s demands for massive attacks on jobs and workers’ living standards.” The WSWS has called for UAW workers to demand an all-out strike.

If Fain is in cahoots with the Big Three, it seems that the companies’ own CEOs must not have gotten the memo. Ford Motor Co.’s Jim Farley accused Fain of “holding the deal hostage” over the company’s planned electric vehicle battery plants, claiming the UAW’s demands would hinder the company’s progress. (Fain has also called on the Big Three to make sure there is a “just transition” to E.V. production that maintains jobs for UAW

“If we do this well, then heads are going to be spinning with how fast things are going to change,” UAW president Shawn Fain wrote.

VIOLA KLOCKO

members.) Meanwhile, GM’s Mary Barra claimed the UAW has “no real intent to get to an agreement.”

“It is clear Shawn Fain wants to make history for himself, but it can’t be to the detriment of our represented team members and the industry,” Barra said. “Serious bargaining happens at the table, not in public, with two parties who are willing to roll up their sleeves to get a deal done.”

In response, the UAW said on social media that neither Farley nor Barra attended bargaining discussions that week — and added that both executives made a combined $50 million in compensation last year.

Metro Times reached out to the UAW to interview Fain, but we did not get a response.

Been down so long, it looks like up

Like many union workers across industries, Fain has called for an end to the practice of multi-tier workers, in which newer hires are paid less than legacy hires and receive fewer benefits; while this process may be good for companies’ bottoms lines, it absolutely saps worker morale.

Speaking from a picket line in Warren, Trina Johnson, vice president of the UAW Local 1248, tells Metro Times that she has worked for what is now Stellantis for 28 years, but has gone 12 years without a raise. “We’ve lost [cost-of-living adjustment], we’ve lost some holidays, and now it’s time to gain all of that back,” she says. “We want record contracts, because they have record profits. And that’s what we’re out here for, fighting for our pay and our livelihood.”

For the past few decades, it’s been an absolutely fabulous time to be the richest 1% in the U.S.; for the rest of us, not so much. Some 720 or so billionaires now own nearly twice the wealth as the entire bottom half of Americans combined, or about 165 million people — $4.56 trillion versus $2.62 trillion. It’s a mind-boggling level of inequality that has only been exacerbated in recent years, as millions of Americans struggle to pay for rent and groceries and CEOs amass more wealth than they will ever be able to spend. There is no scarcity problem in the U.S., only a gross misallocation of resources. Worker anger at the Big Three is a symptom of a wider, systemic problem.

This decline in fortunes for the working class has coincided with a decline in union power. In fact, union membership in this country is at an all-time low, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics earlier this year, which found that the rate of union representation fell from 10.3% in 2021 to 10.1% in 2022. (That’s despite

an increase in union representation; according to the Economic Policy Institute, in 2022, more than 16 million workers in the U.S. were represented by a union, an increase of 200,000 from

union members to pay dues.

That followed a series of high-profile union efforts in recent years at some of the biggest corporations across the country. Workers at a Starbucks store

five months in a dispute over compensation for digital streaming services and better working conditions. While the WGA reached a deal last week, ending its half of the strike, negotiations with SAG-AFTRA remain ongoing.

The Hollywood double strike was another historic moment, as it was only the second time in history that both unions went on strike simultaneously. Ironically, the first time this happened, in 1960, the president of the Screen Actors Guild was Ronald Reagan.

2021. While more jobs were unionized, nonunion jobs have been added to the economy at a faster rate.)

That doesn’t mean that more workers don’t want to be in unions. Between October 2021 and September 2022, the National Labor Relations Board saw a 53% increase in union election petitions, the highest single-year increase since fiscal year 2016. The study also found that more than 60 million workers wanted to join a union in 2022, but couldn’t, due to strong corporate power and union-busting tactics.

There have been signs that a new era for organized labor could be upon us. Earlier this year in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer repealed the state’s so-called “right-to-work” laws, which had weakened unions by not requiring

in Buffalo, New York formed a union in December 2021 — the same year residents there nearly elected a democratic socialist mayor — kickstarting a new era in labor organizing at the coffee chain that has seen more than 8,000 workers at more than 330 stores move to unionize, though none have yet enacted a collective bargaining agreement. Last year, workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island formed the first union at the online retail titan, though the company also has yet to reach a bargain agreement.

In Hollywood, a double strike by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) shut the film and television industries down for nearly

Once a registered FDR-loving Democrat, Reagan drifted rightward after the strike. A group of businessmen convinced him to run as the Republican candidate for Governor of California, launching a political career that would eventually take Reagan to the White House. Just months after he was elected U.S. President in 1980, Regan fired 11,500 striking air traffic controllers, and his administration decertified their union, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization. The result was a chilling effect on unions and an ushering in of organized labor’s flop era: an age that saw a massive consolidation of corporate power, diminishing conditions for workers, and that widening chasm of inequality.

In that time, the manufacturing industry in places like Michigan became hollowed out, and the once pro-worker Democratic Party arguably lost its way, cozying up instead to corporate interests — creating an environment ripe for a demagogue like Donald Trump to seize with his promise to “Make

In recent years, European countries have experimented with testing four-day workweeks, and the results have reportedly been overwhelmingly positive, with improvements in productivity and worker morale.

UAW workers and their allies show their support for the historic strike at a Detroit rally.

VIOLA KLOCKO

America Great.”

Unsurprisingly, when Trump recently visited Michigan, a day after Biden’s visit, he spoke at an invitation-only event at a non-union auto supplier in Macomb County, where he rambled for an hour, largely about his own criminal indictments, and blamed the industry’s woes on the Democrats’ push to curb climate change with electric vehicles and renewable energy. “You can be loyal to American labor, or you can be loyal to the environmental lunatics,” Trump said. “But you can’t really be loyal to both. It’s one or the other.”

Fain, who has said the union supports the transition to renewable energy, has remained unimpressed by Trump.

“I don’t think the man has any bit of care about what our workers stand for, what the working class stands for,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “He serves the billionaire class and that’s what’s wrong with this country.”

In fact, Trump has a pretty abysmal track record when it comes to labor. On the 2016 campaign trail, Trump suggested that then-President Obama, who famously won back Macomb County’s “Reagan Democrats” in 2008 and 2012 thanks to his support for bailing out the U.S. auto industry, should have just let the Big Three go bankrupt.

As president, Trump pushed through tax breaks for corporations and made appointments to the National Labor Relations Board that unions say tipped rulings in favor of employers. His first pick to run the Labor Department was fast-food CEO Andy Puzder, who fought efforts to expand overtime and increase the minimum wage; his eventual pick, Eugene Scalia, spent decades as an attorney helping corporations gut or evade government regulations, including worker protections. President Trump also threatened to veto the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, languishing legislation intended to protect unionizing workers. And despite his campaign promises to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., data from the Labor Department suggests that more jobs left the U.S. in the first three-anda-half years of the Trump presidency than the equivalent period of Obama’s term. There’s also the fact that hundreds of workers and contractors have alleged over the years that Trump never fully paid them for their work.

You get the picture.

At Trump’s rally, despite the nonunion setting, attendees curiously held signs emblazoned with the words “union members for Trump.” At least one person holding such a sign admitted to The Detroit News that they were not, in fact, a member of a union.

While the UAW typically endorses Democrats, under Fain, the union has

declined to endorse either Biden or Trump in 2024 — at least so far.

“Our endorsements are going to be earned. We’ve been very clear about that, no matter what politician,” Fain told CBS. “We expect actions, not words.”

Workers of the world, unite

Perhaps most interestingly, Fain’s UAW is also calling for a four-day, 32-hour workweek for 40 hours of pay.

Metro Times asked Jeremy Milloy, an associate professor in the history department at Wayne State University in Detroit, how he thought things could play out.

“I mean, they don’t hire historians to predict the future,” he says wryly.

Still, he sees reason to believe that for Fain, the wind is at his back.

“It’s a very interesting and innovative tactic,” Millow says of the stand up strike. “There’s been, I think, an image of the UAW in recent years, especially with the corruption scandals, as a more bureaucratic, hidebound, large and slow institution. That certainly was not the case in the ’30s when you had the Big Three at times chasing their tails, trying to keep up with these radical auto workers and their supporters in the community.”

Milloy also sees another advantage: strong public support for unions.

“I think Americans at this point realize that we have an economy that does not work for most people,” he says.

“Speaking as a labor historian, class consciousness ebbs and flows among working people, it ebbs and flows in American history,” he says. “There’s times when it’s very high, and there’s times when it’s low, and average working people tend to identify more with a boss. I think we just came out of a period where there was a lot of ‘hustle culture’ and ‘grind culture,’ or this idea of, ‘Do what you love, eventually, some -

one will pick you,’ and you will have the life that you hope to have by individual struggle — this abandonment of more collective approaches to improving your position in society.”

But what really changed public sentiment for workers was the COVID-19 pandemic, he says.

“I think so many people had it pretty brutally revealed to them that in many cases, employers were just kind of more concerned about the bottom line than the health and safety of their employees,” Milloy says.

Milloy also believes that while democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders may have lost his U.S. presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020, he was successful in mobilizing a massive group of people, many of them young, and many of whom have continued organizing now as part of the labor movement.

“Even if he was unsuccessful as an electoral candidate, definitely his campaigns helped kind of circulate ideas about inequality, and class, and unions, that are flowing right now,” Milloy says.

Sanders was one of the first officials to throw his support behind the UAW workers, speaking at a rally in downtown Detroit the day the strike was called, along with Gov. Whitmer, U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and others.

“The fight you are waging here is not just about decent wages and working conditions and pensions in the automobile industry,” Sanders said, not far from GM’s world headquarters and the monuments to the labor movement in Detroit’s Hart Plaza. “It is a fight to take on corporate greed and tell the people on top this country belongs to all of us, not just a few.”

Citing a recent Gallup poll that found 75% of Americans supporting the UAW, Sanders added,“They are sick and tired of an economy in which the rich get richer, while working families struggle and the

most desperate sleep out on the streets.”

There is good reason to believe that if the UAW is successful in Detroit, it could translate into gains for workers broadly. When unions win wage increases and other benefits, they are often adopted by other employers, who must now compete against the better union jobs for workers.

Today, a five-day, 40-hour workweek may be the norm, but that was something unions fought for — along with weekends, lunch breaks, paid vacation and sick leave, Social Security, overtime, child labor laws, pensions, whistleblower protection, sexual harassment laws, holidays, and the right to strike, among others — or basically everything we take for granted now.

“These things seemed unpopular and inefficient back then,” Milloy says. “We can go back and look at employers, who are always tending to predict that the next gain that workers make, especially in working hours, is what’s going to bring capitalism to its knees. We’ve had enormous gains in productivity over the past 40 years, and we’ve had technological innovation that makes shorter hours a real possibility. And yet, that hasn’t happened.”

Milloy points out that the call for a 32-hour workweek is nothing new. Ruether even considered it back in the 1940s, which he envisioned would be made possible thanks to technological breakthroughs in productivity. “Work in itself is not an end. It’s the means to an end,” he said in The New York Times “The end is a more abundant life, to be able to conquer the job of feeding and clothing ourselves in as little time as possible, so that as civilized men we can enjoy the finer things — culture and education. That is the struggle.” In the end, Ruether wound up backing off of the 32-hour workweek, but its time could be now. In recent years, European countries have experimented with testing four-day workweeks, and the results have reportedly been overwhelmingly positive, with improvements in productivity and worker morale.

“I think it’s very interesting to see [the UAW] kind of going on offense and suggesting ideas for how society can be,” Milloy says. “Often, all the ideas we get about the future of society come from billionaires, or corporate think tanks, or The New York Times. So it’s interesting to actually have working class voices say, ‘Well, this is what we think the world could be like.’”

He adds, “I think one of the things that’s most inspiring about this strike is that it is important for working people to dream of what is possible, instead of just being told there is no alternative.”

Viola Klocko contributed to this report.

Sen. Bernie Sanders may have lost his U.S. presidential campaigns, but he was successful in mobilizing the left. VIOLA KLOCKO

EMPLOYMENT

Program System Integration Engineer (PSIE), Milford, MI, General Motors. Gather SW reqmts, integrate, validate, & test global Battery Electric Vehicle Vehicle SW Configuration

Mgmt package incl. all embedded electronic control units (ECUs) in Central Gateway & Body Control Modules, Virtual Cockpit Unit, Electronic Brake Control, Vehicle Integration Control, External Object Control, Memory Seat, Sensing & Diagnostic, & Front Camera Modules, Long & Short Range Radars, using Soft Part Release, Dvlpmt Prgrmg Sys, Vehicle Spy, SharePoint, & Artifactory tools, & neoVI FIRE2 HW. Integrate & test in vehicle released vehicle active safety SW features incl. conventional cruise control, Super Cruise, Ultra Cruise, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Lane Keep Assist, Traction Control (TC), Automatic Occupant Sensing, Electronic Power Steering, Electronic Transmission Range Selector, Heads

Up Display, Electric Park Brake, Video Processing Module, & Park Assist using Vehicle Spy tool. Verify GMLAN execution in Controller Area

Ntwk bus, Local Interconnect Ntwk bus, & Automot Ethernet commn

protocols. Master, Mechanical Engrg, Automot Syss Engrg, Electrical Engrg, or related. 12 mos exp as Engineer or related, validating, & testing psgr vehicle ECU, & integrating & testing in vehicle released vehicle active safety SW features incl. conventional cruise control, ACC, & TC, or related. E-mail resume to recruitingreply1@gm.com (Ref#31020-234).

EMPLOYMENT

Controls Design Engineer - Vehicle Motion Embedded Controls (VMEC), Milford, MI, General Motors. Engr, dvlp, validate math- & physics-based algorithms for Battery Electric Vehicle charge estimation, energy transfer & charging controls in embedded Vehicle Integration Control Module optimization techniques in embedded On Board Control Module (OBCM) for global electric vehicles, using MATLAB & Simulink models, autogenerated code in C, & in Embedded C prgrmg language, using Git, Model Development Kit, Gerrit, Jenkins, PacMan, ETAS INCA, & Artifactory tools, following Scaled Agile Frame (SAFe) methodology. Design, validate, & debug control strategies related to V2H (Vehicle 2 Home), V1G/V2G (Vehicle to Grid), & time of day charging. Dvlp SW for OBCM, following MISRA CERT C standards, to select efficient & optimal vehicle operation to meet battery charging & discharging using advanced control algorithms incl. linear & nonlinear System, Feedback & FeedForward, Adaptive, Optimal & Robust Controls, steady state optimization, & state estimation techniques, in Embedded C prgrmg language, using Eclipse IDE, MATLAB, Simulink, Stateflow, & ETAS INCA tools. Master, Automotive Engrg, Electrical Engrg, Electronics & Telecom Engrg, or Mechanical Engrg. 12 mos exp as Engineer or related, dvlpg & maintaining control algorithms in MATLAB & Simulink for autogenerated code in C prgrmg language to meet specified controls & function reqmts, or related. E-mail resume to recruitingreply1@gm.com (Ref#24351).

EMPLOYMENT

Application Engineer - Virtual Electronic Control Unit (vECU) Development, Milford, MI, General Motors. Dvlp, test, validate, integrate, & release Virtual Mechatronics Control Unit (vMCU) for Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) architecture for future GM psgr vehicles, at cmpt & sys level, using Virtualizer, Vector CANalyzer, CANoe, & Vehicle Spy tools, & Lauterbach Trace 32 HW, & store vMCUs using BitBucket, Git & Jira tools, following SAFe. Act as main contact for technical aspects such as model cmpts & parameters, SW images, & testing & validation of vMCUs for SDV architecture for future GM psgr vehicles. Plan, test, validate, & release virtual Electronic Control Unit (vECU) Level 4 model task functionalities & periodicities (corresponding to incremental phases 4.1 to 4.4 level of vECU), incl. Real Time Operating Sys, Controller Area Ntwk, Local Interconnect Ntwk, Automot Ethernet (User Datagram Protocol & Transmission Control Protocol), Serial Peripheral Interface, Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter protocols. Master, Electrical, Mechatronics Engrg, or related. 12 mos exp as Engineer, validating & releasing psgr vehicle Electronic Control Units or virtual ECUs, at cmpt & sys level, using Vector CANalyzer & CANoe tools, & Lauterbach Trace 32 hardware, or related. E-mail resume to recruitingreply1@gm.com (Ref#5151).

WHAT’S GOING ON

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

MUSIC

Wednesday, Oct. 4

Dance Gavin Dance, Set It Off, Rain City Drive, Within Destruction 6 p.m.; Detroit Masonic Temple Library, 500 Temple St, Detroit; $35-$83. Knifeplay, Zastava, Zilched 8 p.m.; Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; $13.

Magic Beans Live 8 p.m.; Tangent Gallery, 715 E Milwaukee Avenue, Detroit; $15.

Magnitude, Mourning, Ante Up, Peace Offering 6 p.m.; Edgemen, 19757 15 Mile Rd, Clinton Twp; $18.

Ratboys, Free Range 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $18.

Vnv Nation, Traitors 7 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $30-$60.

EST Gee, SkiMike, DonWon 7 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $30-$200.

DJ/Dance

Vinyl Nite 7 p.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover.

Thursday, Oct. 5

Arkells 7 p.m.; The Fillmore, 2115 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $26-$50.50.

Great Lake Swimmers 7 pm; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $20.

International Music Festival

Concert with Youth Symphony

Orchestra of Ahrensburg (Germany), Flint Youth Symphony

Orchestra 7-9 p.m.; The Whiting, 1241 E. Kearsley St., Flint; $8-$15.

Lanco, Meghan Patrick, Willie Tate 7 p.m.; District 142, 142 Maple St., Wyandotte; $15-$25.

Scowl, Militarie Gun, Big Laugh, Normal 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $20.

JOHNNYSWIM, Daniel Nunnelee 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $32.

The Temptations & the Four Tops 7:30 p.m.; Fox Theatre, 2211 Wood-

ward Ave., Detroit; $30-$75.

MOCHAKK 9 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $25-$35.

Friday, Oct. 6

A2 Jazz Fest: Goldings, Bernstein & Stewart 6 & 8:30 p.m.; The Blue LLama Jazz Club, 314 S. Main St., Ann Arbor; $35-$85.

A2 Jazz Fest: The OGD Ensemble ft. Perry Hughes 10:30 pm; The Blue LLama Jazz Club, 314 S. Main St., Ann Arbor; no cover.

Ben Sharkey 7-9:30 p.m.; Willis Show Bar, 4156 Third St., Detroit; $20.

LET’S SING TAYLOR - A Live Band Experience Celebrating Taylor Swift 7 p.m.; District 142, 142 Maple St., Wyandotte; $25-$35.

Noah Gundersen, Casey Dubie 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $20.

Of Virtue (album release show) 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $20.

Radiohead Night 7 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $10.

Secret Shame w/ Love Interest (album release) The Picassos 8 p.m.; Small’s, 10339 Conant St., Hamtramck; $15.

Soul Glo + Zulu 6 p.m.; Tangent Gallery, 715 E Milwaukee Avenue, Detroit; $20.

Ty Segall, Axis: Sova 8 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $29.50.

YYNOT - Tribute to RUSH 8 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $20-$200.

DVBBS, Qurl Oct. 6, 9 p.m.; Leland City Club, 400 Bagley Street, Detroit; $30.

EMU Alumni Homecoming Icebreaker w/ DJs Cris Keyz & Ro Spit 10 p.m.; Willis Show Bar, 4156 Third St., Detroit; $13.

Saturday, Oct. 7

A2 Jazz Fest: Community High Jazz Ensemble I & II 3 & 4 pm; LIVE Nightclub, 102 S. First St., Ann Arbor.

A2 Jazz Fest: Jordan Rattner

Quartet 5 pm; LIVE Nightclub, 102 S. First St., Ann Arbor.

A2 Jazz Fest: Sean Dobbins Organ Quartet 6:30 pm; LIVE Nightclub, 102 S. First St., Ann Arbor.

A2 Jazz Fest: Allen Dennard

Quintet 8 pm; LIVE Nightclub, 102 S. First St., Ann Arbor.

Aluna, Problematic Black

Hottie,AK 9 p.m.; Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $15-$20.

Antytila 7:30 p.m.; Flagstar Strand Theatre for the Performing Arts, 12 N. Saginaw St., Pontiac; $90-$150.

Beneath This Facade, Sincerely, Saving Throw, Wolves & Machines 7:30 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $13.

BROTHA EARTH - CD Release

Party 7:30 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $20.

Cold As Life, Terror, Integrity, Death Threat, H8 INC, Shattered Realm, Death Before Dishonor, New World Man, MH Chaos, D Bloc, Poison Tongues, Blue Collar Stompers 1 p.m.; Russell Industrial Complex-Exhibition Center, 1600 Clay St., Detroit; $49.99.

Deja Vu Tour 2022: The Mission UK with Chameleons & Theatre Of Hate 8 pm; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $35.

Epic Eagles & Classic Seger 7:309:30 p.m.; The Capitol Theatre, 140 E. Second St., Flint; $25-$53.

Hollywood Casino Greektown Present Air Supply 8 p.m.; The Music Hall, 350 Madison Ave., Detroit; $45-$75.

MIKOFEST 2023 2-11 p.m.; Batch Brewing Company, 1400 Porter St., Detroit, Detroit; $20.

Nelly 8 p.m.; Caesars Palace WindsorAugustus Ballroom, 377 E. Riverside Dr., Windsor; $48-$108.

Night Fever - The Bee Gees Tribute 8 p.m.; Emerald Theatre, 31 N. Walnut St., Mount Clemens; $20-$200.

RAPRAVE: DJ Godfather, Amadeezy, Tammy Lakkis, Blackmoonchild, Dastardly Kids 9 p.m.-3 a.m.; Conant Gardens Body Shop, 18451 Conant St., Detroit; $15.

Rhythm Corps 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $30.

Ringo Starr 6:15 p.m.; Detroit Masonic Temple Library, 500 Temple St, Detroit; $59-$330.

Yam Haus 7 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $18.

DJ/Dance

Mija 9 p.m.-2 a.m.; Leland City Club, 400 Bagley Street, Detroit; $23.69.

Sunday, Oct. 8

A2 Jazz Fest: Jazz Symposium

Performance 4:45 pm; Kerrytown Concert House, 415 N. Fourth Ave., Ann Arbor.

A2 Jazz Fest: Jazz Symposium Workshop With Sean Dobbins 3 pm; Kerrytown Concert House, 415 N. Fourth Ave., Ann Arbor.

A2 Jazz Fest: Jesse Kramer Trio: A2JF Jam Session 7 pm; The Ravens Club, 207 S. Main St., Ann Arbor.

A2 Jazz Fest: Lisa Sung Quartet 5:45 pm; Kerrytown Concert House, 415 N. Fourth Ave., Ann Arbor.

A2 Jazz Fest: Redwood 7 pm; Kerrytown Concert House, 415 N. Fourth Ave., Ann Arbor.

Little Dragon 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $29.50. Monuments, For The Fallen Dreams, Vrsty, Ogemaw County 6 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $20.

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

The Boneshakers 8 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $15.

The Handsome Family, Matthew SMith 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $17.

Monday, Oct. 9

Body Thief, Coletta, Adventurer 8 p.m.; Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; $18.

Liam St. John, Joshua Quimby 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $20.

Raye, Absolutely 7 p.m.; Majestic Theatre, 4140 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $29.50.

The Lemon Twigs, Joanna Sternberg 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $25.

Vacations & Last Dinosaurs Present TOURZILLA 6:30 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $30.

DJ/Dance

Adult Skate Night 8:30-11 p.m.; Lexus Velodrome, 601 Mack Ave., Detroit; $5.

Tuesday, Oct. 10

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Volebeats, The Jack Moves 7 p.m.; Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; $59.50-$79.50.

Billy Raffoul, Peter Raffoul, The Indiana Drones 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $18.

Chappell Roan 7 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $30. Invent Animate 6 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $18.

Queen + Adam Lambert - The Rhapsody Tour 7:30 p.m.; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $59.50-$249.50.

DJ/Dance

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

THEATER

Performance

Detroit Opera House Madame Butterfly 7:30 p.m., Oct. 7; 7:30 p.m., Oct. 13; and 2:30 p.m., Oct. 15.

Hilberry Gateway - STUDIO Silent Sky

.The true story of 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt and a team of female “computers” who made groundbreaking discoveries about the fluctuating brightness of stars, enabling fellow scientists to map the Milky Way and beyond. $15-$25 Wednesday Oct. 4, 2-4 p.m., Thursday Oct. 5, 7-9 p.m., Friday Oct. 6, 8-10 p.m., and Saturday Oct. 7, 2-4 & 8-10 p.m.

Meadow Brook Theatre Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty. $37. Wednesday Oct. 4, 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 7, 6 p.m., and Sunday Oct. 8, 2 & 6:30 p.m.

Planet Ant Theatre Strange Attachments: A Planet Ant Farm Team Original Comedy. $20. Friday Oct. 6, 9-10 p.m. and Saturday Oct. 7, 9-10 p.m.

Royal Oak Music Theatre Ghost Files Live! Saturday Oct. 7, 7 p.m.

The Whiting World Ballet Series: Cinderella. $20-$72. Saturday Oct. 7, 7-9 p.m.

Musical

Funny Girl Wednesday, Oct. 4, 8 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 5, 8 p.m., Friday, Oct. 6, 8 p.m., Saturday Oct. 7, 2 & 8 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 8, 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Fisher Theatre, 3011 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit; $35-$135; 313-872-1000.

COMEDY

Improv

Go Comedy! Improv Theater Pandemonia The All-Star Showdown. Fridays and Saturdays 7:30 p.m. & 9:30 p.m. $25.

Planet Ant Theatre Ants In The Hall present “Horror Movie Franchise Spectacular!” Oct. 5, 8-9 p.m. Suggested donation.

Stand-up

Emerald Theatre Mike Cannon featuring Aaron Putnam. $15-$200. Friday, Oct. 6, 8:30 p.m.

Critics’ picks

Banned Books Social

BOOKS: Banned Books Week, an annual celebration of the right to read, runs through Saturday, uniting book lovers to address the issue of book censorship. To conclude the week, Ann Arbor bookstore Booksweet is hosting a Banned Books Social. The openhouse-style gathering offers something for everyone, featuring a diverse lineup of speakers, story sessions, and family-friendly activities scheduled throughout the evening. The event’s schedule begins with a story session at 5 p.m. by Aya Khalil, the author of the 2023 picture book The Great Banned Books Bake Sale, which draws inspiration from her personal experiences of having her 2020 picture book, The Arabic Quilt, banned in U.S. public schools and libraries. At 6 p.m., Cathy Fleischer from Everyday Advocacy will share strategies for educators on how to reshape public discourse to ensure that challenged books remain accessible in schools. Then, at 7 p.m., nonprofit organization Red, Wine, & Blue will lead an important workshop on effectively voicing concerns and opinions at school board meetings, library board meetings, and other public forums. Throughout the event, attendees will have the opportunity to write letters encouraging representatives to safeguard students’ freedom to read in U.S. public schools and libraries.

—Layla McMurtrie

From 5-8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7 at Booksweet, 1729 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor; 734-929-4112; shopbooksweet. com. No cover, RSVP encouraged.

Festival of Darkness

FILM: The second annual Festival of Darkness film festival returns to De -

troit on Saturday, and will feature 12 horror shorts. The films, six of which were made by filmmakers from Michigan, will be screened at The Narthex, a reanimated historic 1900s church in Detroit’s East Canfield neighborhood. The films, selected for being dark, independent, and introspective, range from experimental student projects to sophisticated mini-features. The festival will clock in at 94 minutes. “We’re thrilled to return for our second year, continuing to bring darkness and horror to the forefront in Detroit,” festival director Anthony Divis said. “The Narthex provides the perfect haunting atmosphere for our festival, and we can’t wait for attendees to experience the films we’ve selected this year.” Half of the admission sales will benefit New Path Villages, a nonprofit that focuses on creating self-managed, cost-effective tiny homes for people in need of housing. —Steve

the Lip Bar. The programming also includes pitch competitions where entrepreneurs can win some of more than $260,000 in total funding, plus free legal services and a $5,0000 MiSpringboard grant from Varnum Law. Rise and grind: Breakfast will also be served each day of the convention from 8 to 9 a.m. —Lee DeVito

From Oct. 9-12 at Michigan Stadium, 1201 S. Main St., Ann Arbor; see michigantechweek.com for full schedule. Tickets are $99 for students and $199 for general admission.

Nmon Ford

Neavling

Doors at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. Oct. 7 at The Narthex, 4103 Cadillac Blvd., Detroit; festivalofdarkness. com. Tickets are $10, with cash-only concession.

Michigan Tech Week

IDEAS: Now in its second year, this celebration of Michigan’s tech industry will be held in Ann Arbor from Monday, Oct. 9 through Thursday, Oct. 12. The gathering is geared toward those interested in starting their own tech startups, and includes speaking panels and networking opportunities with a “founderfirst” lens. Featured topics include mobility, AI, software as a service, and more, with speakers tapped including Greg Schwartz, president, COO, and co-founder of StockX, and Melissa Butler, founder and CEO of

MUSIC: Panamanian American baritone singer Nmon Ford is in town rehearsing for Detroit Opera’s production of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. But between shows of the updated classic, he’ll be heading to Spot Lite to perform excerpts of his own work, House of Orfeus, a modernized tale about Greek mythology bard and musician Orpheus, who descended into the underworld to recover his lost wife, Eurydice. In this version, Orfeus (with a different spelling) is a former military assassin-turned-musician who goes on a quest to save the poet Euridice from the fascist ruler of a dystopian empire, who also happens to be his adoptive father. Nmon will be joined by soprano Haley

Sicking and fellow baritone Zachary Hugo for this performance. House of Orfeus blends opera and theater with house music, which makes sense considering Spot Lite’s affection for house. The free show and one-nightonly performance is slated for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 11.

—Randiah Camille Green

Starts at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at Spot Lite, 2905 Beaufait St., Detroit; spotlitedetroit.com. No cover.

A scene from Michigan Tech Week 2022. CARBON STORIES

MUSIC

LIONS GAMES SHOWING ON OUR BIG SCREENS ALL SEASON!

PATIO BAR OPEN FRI-SUN THROUGH OCTOBER!

Wed 10/4 Happy Birthday, Hugh Leonard!

Fri 10/6

Conor Lynch/A Go Go/Checker/ The Long Stairs

Doors@9p/$5cover

Sat 10/7

@ 11AM TODAY MIZZ RUTHS GRILL@11AM BIZARRE(D12) & FOULMOUTH He Got A Gun Live! feat. Young Z/Almighty Dreadnaughts/BIT T/Sam Be Yourself/ Ty Farris/Jaylen Frazier/DHD/ Mike Mass/LOKYE/Metasyons/ J CLASSIC/Ronnie Alpha & Jon Connor Doors@8p/$10cover

Mon 10/8

Local Buzz

By Broccoli and Joe Zimmer

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

Benefit for Bonny Doon’s Jake Kmiciek: For local music fans, especially us here at the Local Buzz desk, Jake Kmiciek has been a key figure in the scene for the past decade or so. I first became a fan of him in the band Growwing Pains and also the project Fake Surfers. More recently, Kmiciek has explored the ambient side of things with some releases under his own name, including the wonderful album Horizons from 2021. Probably most well known for his latest band, drumming in the beloved Bonny Doon, it’s hard to imagine that an artist with such consistent output has also dealt with chronic illness for 15-plus years. Jake was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at 14, and after having his worst flare up ever, recently had to have his colon surgically removed. All in all, this will hopefully mean a much higher quality of life for Jake moving forward, but he needs his community’s help to get there. There is already a GoFundMe set up to support Jake on his long road to recovery (and an additional surgery), as well as a benefit show this Friday, Oct.

7, at the PLAV Post 10 in his hometown of Hamtramck. Performers include other local scene stalwarts Alex Glendening (Deadbeat Beat), Shells, Fred Thomas, and Werewolf Jones. Admis -

sion price is a $10 minimum donation to Jake’s fund, and the GoFundMe is still accepting donations if you’d like to support virtually. —Joe

Young Heavy Souls announces launch of two new imprints: Record label Young Heavy Souls has been expanding their sound in recent years, offering a series of releases that have gone beyond their home turf of experimental-experimental hip-hop and electronic music. This effort has continued with their latest expansion that was announced last week, which will see two new imprints coming under the YHS umbrella. The first is Naturally Digital, a brand new imprint created by and housed within YHS, which dropped their first release on the day of the announcement in the form of a compilation titled Maiden Voltage. The project features contributions from a number of YHS regulars, including Nuntheless, Hiro Beats, Self Says, Jawsthatbite, and Pig Pen, among others. The second imprint is actually a relaunch of Old Tacoma Records, brainchild of YHS mainstay Eliot Lipp, which will focus on and expand the YHS offerings in hip-hop, beats, experimental electronic, and downtempo. It’s exciting to see a local label continuing to push the envelope in Detroit, as proof that it can in fact be done! —Broccoli

Industrial Detroit celebrates Halloween weekend: It is officially October, meaning if you haven’t already got your costume plans in order, you’ve only got a few

weeks left before you’ll be scrambling in vain for whatever’s left at your local thrift store. For our first round of spooky time features, we’re highlighting the Industrial Detroit event at UFO Factory on Friday, Oct. 27. The show will feature special guest performances by SDH and MVTANT, as well as an appearance by local EBM darling Comfore Cure, plus eclectic industrial selections by JEM and EXT EST. If you’re looking for some dark, heavy electronic music to lose yourself to, whether that’s usually your thing or not, this seems like the right time to do it. Just don’t show up to the goth party in a banana suit, or you might get some odd looks at the bar (I do not know this from experience). Tickets available on Resident Advisor. —Broccoli

Spooky Saloon happens on the spookiest day of spooky season: There are simply too many spooky things to keep track of this month. If you’re looking for where the veil between our mortal world and “the beyond” is the thinnest, and on Friday the 13th no less, look no further than Spooky Saloon at the Russell Industrial Center, a music and art show that blurs the lines between the living, the dead, and the unknown. Step through the portal, and enjoy the experimental musical and noise stylings of Pablo R. Ruiz, Sam Hooker, Craig Brown, Cherriel , and more. Don’t cackle too wildly, or the spirits will get in! Door price is $13 (no pre-sale), and more details are available via organizer Sarah Cohen ’s flier on Instagram. Step carefully. —Joe

Jake Kmiciek of Detroit indie rock band Bonny Doon, right, needs our help.

TREVOR NAUD

A fusion coney island in Banglatown

Since a leaky roof took out Motor City Sports Bar, the “best burger” conversation in Hamtramck has been wide open. Newcomers at Kelly’s and Smash Box have helped fill the void, but some say there’s a sleeper pick: the Naga burger at Coney Star Halal Kitchen.

It’s not really in Hamtramck; it’s just north of the city in Detroit, at the far end of Banglatown near Davison and Conant. But the neighborhood has far more in common with Hamtramck than Detroit, and we’re claiming it for Hamtramck for the purpose of this debate. Coney islands, of course, are not are not where one typically goes for a burg, and it was chicken tikka egg rolls that a friend told me about around 4 a.m. one night that got me to stop in. After some pulls off of another customer’s tequila bottle as we waited, we got the chicken tikka egg rolls, and, yes — maybe more Indian food should be wrapped in egg roll wrappers and fried.

By Tom Perkins

Coney Star might be the world’s first fusion coney island. The menu is dotted with dishes like the chicken tikka egg roll that combine the flavors of the Indian subcontinent with the tastes of Detroit, Jamaica, and China. There’s also breakfast, coney dogs, chili fries, and everything else you’d find at a coney island — and, folks, it’s an original.

There’s also lots of Naga on the menu — you can get it on the burg, a hot dog, a T-bone steak, wings. But beware, no matter what the vessel, the Naga pepper is among the world’s hottest. It will singe your mouth, but there’s also a piquant quality to it, so it’s part flavor and part heat.

The Naga burger comes with tomato, onion, plenty of pickles, shredded iceberg lettuce, and “Naga seasoned ground beef” with “star sauce,” drenching the patty with what seems to be some kind of Naga mayo. It’s hot. One friend characterized it as “not a burger that you would eat casually,” and

another disregarded it as “stunt food.” If the heat is too much, there are five other burgers on the menu. My only complaint was that it was well done and this wasn’t a smashburger patty, it was a fairly thick boy, and though the char around the outside was nice, some bloody meat really would have added to it. Best in Hamtramck? It’s worthy of discussion, especially if I could order it medium rare, but maybe that runs counter to coney island decorum.

The Naga coney dog is arguably tastier — a beef dog that snaps with onions and cilantro and comes drenched in a Naga sauce and set in a steamed bun, but I could only eat half before the heat was too much, and I paid the price the next day. The chicken tikka sandwich was a much chiller fusion option with flavorful breast on a soft bun with tomato, onion, pickles, and iceberg lettuce, though the grilled chicken was a bit rubbery. The Naga chicken sandwich

Coney Star Halal Kitchen

13347 Conant St., Detroit 313-733-4000 instagram.com/ coneystarhalal

$2.89-$17.49

Wheelchair accessible

with Naga aioli was probably the least spicy of all the Naga options, but still kicks.

Maybe the best item we tried was the Jamaican beef patty with a flaky, buttery crust holding heavily seasoned ground beef. The coated fries are solid, but the corned beef egg rolls and the chicken tikka egg rolls were a bit on the dry side the second time they were ordered. The coney dog: had better, had worse, but do like the beef. The chicken wings were a mixed bag. Heavy crag, and the buffalo flavor was too salty for my tastes, though several friends enjoyed them. The honey sriracha wings tasted like “Chinese carryout,” a friend noted, and that’s a good way to put it.

The restaurant opened about a year ago and has some tables inside but seems to do more carryout business. Like any good coney, it’s 24-7.

Coney Star Halal Kitchen’s spicy Naga burger is one of the best in the Hamtramck area.

TOM PERKINS

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

As someone who’s shopped for foodstuffs almost daily over the last 30-plus years, I’ve seen a lot of life play out in grocery stores, and I’ve learned from it. People are as human picking up a few things from the market as they are in general: smart-assed, sneaky, and, sometimes, really struggling. Here are three true tales in context that taught me something:

Avoid appearing desperate: Toilet paper teaches us all lessons at some point. Typically, this happens after we leave home and our parents stop stockpiling it for us. I can’t tell you how many times I came up empty in college after a good sit, or how, just as often, I left empty rolls hanging for roommates. What I will share is the parable of the last time I waited until the last minute to take care of such business.

Feeling a need and out of wipe, I made a late-night run to the corner gro -

Chowhound

Express lane lessons

By Robert Stempkowski

cery store. Time felt precious. I speedwalked in, grabbed a family pack, and got myself quickly to check-out. Nothing was automated in those days, and — Murphy’s Law — I found myself facing the tail end of the last checkout line left open that evening. A thought of using the store’s men’s room crossed my mind. “Hold on. You can make it,” I told myself, my mind sending me an altogether different message than the emergency Morse code of my twitching sphincter. I was seriously starting to sweat. Then, I heard the words I’ll never forget, which came just over my shoulder from the lips of a lady who turned out to be my gastrointestinal guarding angel:

“I’m opening up here, folks,” she announced from the next register, before pointing and calling me out from among the others, standing there with my single, toiletry item. “Sir, I’ll take you first, given what you’ve got.” I like to think she meant just that one thing, not that specific one thing. Whatever the case, the guy ahead of me in line looked back and laughed. “He’s obvi-

ously in a hurry,” his girl giggled, which got everyone going at my expense. To this day, I can’t say with any certainty that my checkout angel was trying to be funny, though things certainly worked out that way. Perception’s reality. In the decades since that experience, I’ve made it my practice to never be seen again just buying toilet paper. Who needs that crap?

And it’s all about where you stand when the shit hits the fan: Farts in public are funny unless the fingerpointing gets directed at you. That truth slapped me in the face in the frozen food aisle of an Albertson’s out West once, ten seconds into laughing my ass off over someone else’s gassy misfortunes. I had just turned into that aisle to find myself a few paces behind an elderly woman. Aside from crinkle cut fries and Mrs. T’s pierogi, frozen foods have little appeal to me. Intent on breezing by, I found myself fast on her heels, looking to pass. Unaware of me there, she let a first fart rip that startled and stopped me short of pulling

alongside. More farts followed in rapid succession; machine gun-style. Suddenly under fire, I, too, froze; losing it with all the giddy glee that comes over us when someone else busts ass uncontrollably in our presence. But then the stink bomb hit. It was bad: sweet & sour sulfur scrambled eggs and then some. Hanging heavy in the air there, I hung with it, standing still and waiting until Ms. Mustard Gas made her way to the end of the aisle then disappeared. Two seconds later, after I’d braved a few steps forward, a long, hard “Ewwwww!” erupted behind me, followed by a loud “So gross!”

In hindsight, I should have kept moving and not turned around, but that’s not what happened. Instead, I stopped dead again, looked back, and made eye contact with two young women making faces at me like I was the one to blame for the horrible, olfactory assault they’d just been subjected to. With the real culprit escaped around a corner, all they saw standing there in that criminal stench was me. I instantly knew there was no use trying to plead my case. With nobody else in sight, there was no other person to point at plausibly and pass their sniff test. In an instant, I went from cracking up over flatulence in others to feeling the withering shame one’s subjected to being accused of the same by fellow farters. And it let me see human nature as it relates to gas-passing from a slightly singed yet somehow priceless, third-party perspective: it’s one hilarious hypocrisy we all practice without apology.

Sometimes, we just don’t know what else to do: Walking into a grocery store once, I had to walk around an old beater of a car idling loudly outside the front door. Inside it, a female driver had two babies in back, neither in child safety seats. As I passed in front of the car, a man with his arms full of packs of diapers and powdered baby formula ran out, threw the goods in the car, and jumped in. It sputtered away with its muffler rattling. Steve, the store manager I knew as a great, hard-working guy, ran out a second or two afterward.

“Did you see that?” I asked him, already starting to tear up.

“Did you get a plate number?” he answered me with his own question. I told him I didn’t. I’ll never forget that desperate couple. I remember them whenever I’m in a grocery store that keeps its baby formula under lock and key these days, along with indulgences like tobacco products and high-priced bottles of booze. It keeps me mindful that, as people, we do the wrong things for all kinds of reasons, and it reminds me that I’m not fit to be anyone’s judge. Amen.

At the grocery store, judge not, lest ye be judged. SHUTTERSTOCK

CULTURE

Artist of the week

Megan Heeres uses invasive plants and repurposed ‘junk’ to tend time

By Randiah Camille Green

A pile of concrete slabs and glass window blocks sits outside of Matéria Gallery, slumped against the wall like a haggard traveler taking respite. Tufts of blue paper pulp seem to crawl over the brick stack like moss spreading on downed trees. Vibrant green grass and tomato plants sprout from the rubble.

It’s part of Megan Heeres’s newest exhibit Tending Time, which starts before you even enter the gallery space. It’s one of Matéria’s first exhibits since the gallery changed its name from Simone DeSousa Gallery and opened a second space in Detroit’s Core City neighborhood.

The outdoor component, “Stacks on stacks on stacks,” is comprised of chunks of sidewalk, asphalt, and concrete from the surrounding Core City neighborhood. Many of them come from the construction of Core City Park 2, which is being built across the street from the gallery by Prince Concepts. Broken blue tiles from the building that is now Argentine restaurant Barda down the road add more color to the stack of gray bricks.

“Nothing was bought for this. Nothing’s new,” the artist explains about the exhibit. It’s her way of preserving “junk” and observing how development in the area affects the way we

interact (or don’t) with nature. “A long time ago, this was a forest,” she says about the park across the street where trees are being replanted.

Inside, the gallery smells pleasant like fresh grass and decaying wood. Tree branches brush the ceiling inside repurposed ductwork columns. Some of these industrial planters twist and turn like snakes, as plants like Queen Anne’s lace jut out the ends. Here, in the “Forever Forest,” Heeres transplanted trees and plants that “most people don’t want in their yards” like Siberian Elm, White Mulberry, and Japanese Knotwood. These invasive species spread rapidly, often displacing native plants.

Several of the columns are on wheels, encouraging visitors to rearrange the space in whatever way feels most welcoming to them.

The stacks of concrete appear again twice inside the gallery with grains like buckwheat, rye, and millet growing from the blue blobs. Heeres, who makes natural paper, reused the pulp

from her papermaking process as a substrate and comes to the gallery to mist the plants every so often.

Are these invasive, non-native plants the ones wreaking havoc on our environment, or are human beings the most destructive living organisms of all?

As she walks me through her thought process at the gallery, Heeres compares herself to these invasive species — she is a white artist “taking up space” in a predominantly Black and brown city. Does she belong? Who gets to decide?

Her work feels mysterious, like a formless spirit watching the entire history of the Core City neighborhood, plucking out nanoseconds of the past and rearranging them to converge at the same present moment. Yet even “invasive” plants find their space to grow, belong, and thrive.

Where to see her work: Tending Time is on display at Matéria Gallery’s Core City location until Oct. 7; 4725 16th St., Unit C, Detroit; materia-art.com.

Megan Heeres has created a “forever forest” from unwanted trees and repurposed ductwork.

COURTESY OF MATÉRIA GALLERY

He initially seems to deliver by quickly uncovering the spiritualist’s hidden assistants, a Roma brother and sister (Ali Khan and Emma Laird). But odd, inexplicable occurrences continue even after the pair’s discovery, and then the film’s first body quite literally drops. As a fierce storm descends on Venice, roiling the waters of the city’s canals and trapping the séance-goers in the palazzo, Poirot must both ferret out the killer and grapple with increasing selfdoubt about his rationalist worldview: Perhaps this house truly is haunted.

Play Christie for me

By Cliff Froehlich

A Haunting in Venice

Rated: PG-13

Run-time: 103 minutes

Although now dead for nearly 50 years — she expired in 1976 at age 85 — Agatha Christie remains as mysteriously ubiquitous as ever. Rivaled in sales only by William Shakespeare — and let’s acknowledge that he received a 330-year head start — Christie has conservatively moved more than 2 billion books since The Mysterious Affair at Styles, her 1920 debut. And the tally continues its dizzying rise: With her work available in more than 100 languages — she’s also considered the world’s most translated author — Christie still manages to sell as many as 5 million books annually.

Exactly why Christie exerts such an inexorable magnetic pull on readers isn’t easily explained, but the combination of her dialogue-heavy, easily grasped prose, elaborately baroque plots, and comfortably familiar recurrent characters (Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple most prominently) ensnare fans with the same captureand-keep efficiency as a mousetrap.

(The Mousetrap, of course, is her most

famous play, whose epic West End run — history’s longest — began in 1958 and could only be halted by the onset of a worldwide pandemic. Further attesting to Christie’s persistent cultural relevance, a production of The Mousetrap makes its long-delayed Broadway debut later this year.)

Although largely immune to the allure of mysteries, I confess my own grade-school infatuation with Christie, a sort of literary puppy love: She was among the first writers whose other work I consciously sought out after reading one of her novels. But after imbibing Christie’s pleasant English tea for a few books, I soon desired stronger stuff. Since those youthful days, I’ve largely ignored Dame Agatha, with the exception of Sidney Lumet’s entertaining Murder on the Orient Express in 1974.

Which at last brings us, with appropriately Christie-like scene-setting deliberateness and indirection, to Kenneth Branagh’s A Haunting in Venice The third of Branagh’s Christie adaptations — following his 2017 Murder on the Orient Express and last year’s Death on the Nile — Haunting follows the template established by its predecessors: sprawling boldface-name cast, exotic locale, plush production values, flamboyant visuals. As before, Branagh

himself stars as the famed, elaborately mustachioed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, here retired to post-World War II Venice and striving to avoid any further entanglements in murderous doings.

But, inevitably, someone coaxes Poirot from seclusion and back into the game: Mystery writer Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey) manages to lure her old friend into accompanying her to a children’s Halloween party and — the true bait — a post-soiree séance at the decaying and allegedly ghost-ridden palazzo of bereaved opera singer Rowena Drake (Yellowstone’s Kelly Reilly). Rowena has secured occultist Mrs. Reynolds (the post-Oscar Michelle Yeoh) to conjure the spirit of her recently drowned daughter, Alicia (Rowan Robinson), an apparent suicide. Among the other participants gathered to summon Alicia: her caddish former fiancé (Kyle Allen), her physician (Jamie Dornan) and his intellectually precocious young son (Jude Hill), Rowena’s ex-nun housekeeper (Call My Agent’s Camille Cottin), and Poirot’s bodyguard (Richard Scamarcio).

Angling for a bestseller after a string of commercial disappointments, Ariadne hopes Poirot will help supply some raw material by debunking Mrs. Reynolds’ supernatural powers.

Christie completists puzzled by their failure to recognize the film’s plot needn’t fret. Although A Haunting in Venice purportedly adapts her late-career Hallowe’en Night(1969), the filmmakers use so little of the novel that it’s essentially a wholly original work. Branagh and screenwriter Michael Green — his collaborator on all three Christie films — not only move the action from the English countryside to Venice, they add the supernatural theme, invent an entirely new set of characters, and retain only the faintest hint of the story (both film and book feature an attack when bobbing for apples, but the movie swaps in Poirot as the victim). For the most part, those wholesale changes are all to the good: Hallowe’en Night is a dull, convoluted slog, though Christie legitimately startles with her decision to dispatch not one but two children, and without even modest sympathy.

Unfortunately for Branagh, his Christie films suffer a bit by comparison with Rian Johnson’s more sprightly, satiric Knives Out whodunits, in which Daniel Craig’s comically droll Benoit Blanc proves a far more winning detective than the dour Poirot, whose depressive aspect is overemphasized in these recent adaptations (even his creator eventually found Poirot something of an egotistic bore). It’s also mildly disappointing to see Branagh again retreat to safe commercial ground after his deserved success with the semi-autobiographical Belfast, in which Dornan and Hill also play father and son but in a much more realistic and affecting manner.

Still, Branagh’s old-fashioned approach to Christie undeniably matches the sensibility of the author, and Haunting provides a large measure of pleasure, including Fey’s wry take on Christie’s Dr. Watson-style self-portrait, Hill’s budding Poirot in miniature, and the expressionistic brio of cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos’ fisheye lenses and Dutch angles.

Like Christie’s novels, A Haunting in Venice qualifies more as comfort food than haute cuisine, but sometimes a shepherd’s pie nicely satisfies.

Kenneth Branagh’s Poirot is joined by Liz Lemon — sorry, Tina Fey — as mystery writer Ariadne Oliver. ROB YOUNGSON © 2023 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS

CULTURE

Savage Love The Finish Delegation

By Dan Savage

decade of writing this column — I’m suspicious of kinks I haven’t been asked about before. So, I emailed you directly, FAST, as you know, and peppered you with questions… questions you were quick to answer… and you shared details about the kind of formative experiences that sometimes leave a kink in their wake, and I came to believe you’re on the up-and-up.

So, is your kink ethical?

:

Q Cis bisexual guy here in his twenties. In the entire time I’ve been sexually active, I’ve pretty much been able to finish whenever I’d like. I’ve literally never once finished too quickly. That said, the idea of being unable to hold back my orgasm and coming too quickly has always been a big turn on for me. So much so, that in more than a few past relationships/hookups, I’ve found myself inducing a premature ejaculation. Some partners are kind and supportive about it, some seem a little annoyed or bothered. Both reactions are equally hot to me! It doesn’t happen every time I have sex, and I’m always down to take care of my partner’s orgasm in other ways either before or after the penetrative sex has come to its brief conclusion.

I’m not so much worried about if my kink is normal, but is it ethical? I haven’t told any of my hookups or longterm partners this about myself and am worried that doing so might lessen the turn on. But I do feel a little guilty that I could prolong the thrusting before I get to the busting and am pretending that I can’t for my own selfish ends. Do I owe it to them to let them know?

—Finished And Secretly Thrilled

A: First, a pet peeve: don’t use the passive voice when talking about things you choose to do during sex. Unless you’re having out-of-body experiences unintentionally — and coming to right before you ejaculate, FAST, you’ve never “found” yourself coming too soon. Inducing a premature ejaculation is an active, conscious choice you’re making for your own “selfish ends” (your words); it’s something you’re choosing to do, FAST, not something that’s happening to you. So, don’t say, “It doesn’t happen every time,” instead say, “I don’t do this every time.” (A lot of us use the passive voice when we talk about sex — I’m guilty of it too — and it’s a subtle way of avoiding responsibility for our sexual choices, which is not ideal.)

Moving on…

Your question struck me as bogus, FAST, because — well into my fourth

Well, on the one hand, you’re leading people to believe something about you that isn’t true that you’re a premature ejaculator — because pity or contempt turns you on. (You must not have much of a refractory period if you’re this aroused after you come, but some men have refractory periods so brief they barely exist.) By choosing to bust quickly, FAST, you’re denying your new sexual partner the experience they were most likely hoping for, i.e., a nice, long, leisurely fuck, the kind of fuck you could’ve provided them. When you induce a quick orgasm, your disappointed sex partners drop everything to reassure you that it’s OK or they express their annoyance — both reactions turn you on, so you win either way. Essentially, you’re tricking your sex partners into performing one of two kinds of emotional labor for you: providing you with positive attention (being kind and supportive) or providing you with negative attention (being annoyed or bothered). People who are kind will walk away feeling disappointed by the sex but feeling pretty good about themselves, as they reacted well; people who were annoyed will walk away feeling disappointed by the sex, FAST, but they might also walk away feeling disappointed in themselves, as they reacted poorly.

On the other hand, when we go to bed with someone new, we do so without guarantees about the quality or duration of the fucking we’re about to receive. And since you always make sure to get your partners off in other ways taking your word on that — your sex partners still have a good time. (No orgasm gap on your watch.) And if the people you’re disappointing have mostly slept with men who think sex begins with penetration and ends when the man comes, you may have opened some of their eyes to other kinds of sexual connection and pleasure, resetting their expectations and improving subsequent sexual encounters.

What I think is more interesting ethically and practically — is how you’re going to handle your kink in the context of a long-term relationship. If

you present at the start as an insecure premature ejaculator who needs a lot of emotional support and reassurance, FAST, you’ll either have to walk that back when things start to get serious or spend the rest of your life busting a lie. If you pretend to have resolved the issue on your own (therapy, meds, practice), you’ll be denying yourself this pleasure of coming too soon going forward. If you keep the ruse up forever, you’ll be hiding an important part of who you are — sexually — from the person you most wanna share your sexual fantasies with. Of course, when you tell someone you spent the first six months disappointing them on purpose… and they spent the first six months comforting you for no reason… there’s a good chance they’ll dump you.

But if you can get through that crisis, FAST, you may be able to have your kink and an honest, open long-term relationship — with “open” being the operative word in that sentence. With your partner you can be the boyfriend or husband who lasts as long as they want (or who comes on command, which is pretty hot) and you can pretend to be the sexually inept premature ejaculator when you have threesomes. If your partner is willing to play along, FAST, they could react with kindness or contempt, depending on your preference that night, and then tell your very special guest star — right in front of you — that they’re there to give your partner the kind of long, slow fucking you obviously can’t. You’ll be an object of pity and/or contempt in the eyes of your third, which will turn you on, and since your partner is there to take care of your third’s needs and vice-versa, no one will be deprived of anything. Everybody comes, everybody wins.

: Q I’m a man in my mid-thirties and I feel like I’m not old enough to have the problem I do. When I first got together with my female partner a few years ago, I could last a while and it was pleasurable for both of us. Now she regularly asks me “if there’s something wrong” with what she’s doing. “Is it my body?” she asks. I try to reassure her that it’s my body. I want to last but can’t seem to these days. I tried to bring this up with my doctor to no avail. I feel foolish because in the moment I start to think, “Am I going to come yet?” Or I think I lasted a while, but it wasn’t long enough for her. What can I do to last longer? I recently tried some off-brand meds, but still no luck. I haven’t tried much edging to help but don’t know what I’m doing there. I just want to get out of my headspace, enjoy my time with my partner, and really last. Could go marathons in the beginning. Just not the endurance one another was hoping

for these days...

—Suddenly Lasting Orgasms Wanting

A: Reading FAST’s question must’ve really pissed you off — I mean, there he is pretending to have the problem you actually have and secretly getting off on it. A real “my condition is not your costume” moment.

Anyway, there are potential treatments that could help, SLOW, from a little cognitive behavioral therapy (to figure out whether it’s a headspace issue), to some doctor-prescribed, on-brand, low-dose SSRIs (proven effective for headspace and physiological issues where premature ejaculation is concerned), to experimenting with edging — which isn’t hard to figure out, SLOW. You watch some hot porn and/or think some dirty thoughts while stroking yourself. Slowly bring yourself to the very edge of orgasm get as close as you can to the point of orgasmic inevitability without going past it (may take some practice) then stop before you come. Bring yourself to the edge again and again, ideally while using a well-lubricated masturbation sleeve or Fleshlight-style toy (practice with something that feels like the orifice you wanna last longer inside), and then use whatever breathing and/or concentration techniques help delay orgasm during your solo edging sessions to partnered sex.

P.S. I spent a summer getting fucked by a guy who “solved” his premature ejaculation problem — but he didn’t solve it with medications or therapy or edging sessions. He would suck my dick, eat my ass, use toys on me, edge me, get me close or desperate or both… and then replace the dildo with his dick and we would come at the same time. He never lasted more than thirty seconds once his dick was inside me, SLOW, but he was without a doubt some of the best (vanilla) sex I’ve ever had. So, learning to work with your dick — and bringing it in other ways — is one way to solve what can be most problematic about premature ejaculation: leaving your partner feeling unfulfilled.

P.P.S. Just wanna be very clear here: There are guys out there who can’t last long during penetrative sex who are great in bed and guys who can last for-fucking-ever who are terrible in bed Confidence and a commitment to give your partner the best possible experience you can — whatever you’ve got and whatever it takes — is the real key, not endless PIV or PIB.

CULTURE Free Will Astrology

By Rob Brezsny

ARIES: March 21 – April 19

I’ve been doing interviews in support of my new book Astrology Is Real: Revelations from My Life as an Oracle Now and then, I’m asked this question: “Do you actually believe all that mystical woo-woo you write about?” I respond diplomatically, though inwardly I’m screaming, “How profoundly hypocritical I would be if I did not believe in the ‘mystical woo-woo’ I have spent my adult studying and teaching!” But here’s my polite answer: I love and revere the venerable spiritual philosophies that some demean as “mystical woo-woo.” I see it as my job to translate those subtle ideas into well-grounded, practical suggestions that my readers can use to enhance their lives. Everything I just said is the prelude for your assignment, Aries: Work with extra focus to actuate your high ideals and deep values in the ordinary events of your daily life. As the American idioms advise: Walk your talk and practice what you preach

TAURUS: April 20 – May 20

I’m happy to see the expanding use of service animals. Initially, there were guide dogs to assist humans with imperfect vision. Later, there came mobility animals for those who need aid in moving around and hearing animals for those who can’t detect ringing doorbells. In recent years, emotional support animals have provided comfort for people who benefit from mental health assistance. I foresee a future in which all of us feel free and eager to call on the nurturing of companion animals. You may already have such friends, Taurus. If so, I urge you to express extra appreciation for them in the coming weeks. Ripen your relationship. And if not, now is an excellent time to explore the boost you can get from loving animals.

GEMINI: May 21 – June 20

Gemini author Chuck Klosterman jokes, “I eat sugared cereal almost exclusively. This is because I’m the opposite of a ‘no-nonsense’ guy. I’m an ‘all-nonsense’ guy.” The coming weeks will be a constructive and liberating time for you to experiment with being an all-nonsense person, dear Gemini. How? Start by temporarily suspending any deep attachment you have to being a serious, hyper-rational adult doing staid, weighty adult things. Be mischievously committed to playing a lot and having maximum fun. Dancing sex! Ice cream uproars! Renegade fantasies! Laughter orgies! Joke romps! Giddy brainstorms and euphoric heartstorms!

CANCER: June 21 – July 22

October, the best month for walking about and taking in the fleeting beauty of autumn….Also a drink never hurt.

‘Stay gold pony boy!’

SATURDAY BEER STROLL 12-4PM

Cancerian comedian Gilda Radner said, “I base most of my fashion taste on what doesn’t itch.” Let’s use that as a prime metaphor for you in the coming weeks. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you will be wise to opt for what feels good over what merely looks good. You will make the right choices if you are committed to loving yourself more than trying to figure out how to get others to love you. Celebrate highly functional beauty, dear Cancerian. Exult in the clear intuitions that arise as you circumvent self-consciousness and revel in festive self-love.

LEO: July 23 – August 22

The amazingly creative Leo singer-songwriter Tori Amos gives this

testimony: “All creators go through a period where they’re dry and don’t know how to get back to the creative source. Where is that waterfall? At a certain point, you say, ‘I’ll take a rivulet.’” Her testimony is true for all of us in our quest to find what we want and need. Of course, we would prefer to have permanent, unwavering access to the waterfall. But that’s not realistic. Besides, sometimes the rivulet is sufficient. And if we follow the rivulet, it may eventually lead to the waterfall.

VIRGO: August 23 – Sept. 22

Do you perform experiments on yourself? I do on myself. I formulate hypotheses about what might be healthy for me, then carry out tests to gather evidence about whether they are. A recent one was: Do I feel my best if I eat five small meals per day or three bigger ones? Another: Is my sleep most rejuvenating if I go to bed at 10 p.m. and wake up at 7 a.m. or if I sleep from midnight to 9 a.m.? I recommend you engage in such experiments in the coming weeks. Your body has many clues and revelations it wants to offer you.

LIBRA: Sept. 23 – Oct. 22

Take a few deep, slow breaths. Let your mind be a blue sky where a few high clouds float. Hum your favorite melody. Relax as if you have all the time in the world to be whoever you want to be. Fantasize that you have slipped into a phase of your cycle when you are free to act as calm and unhurried as you like. Imagine you have access to resources in your secret core that will make you stable and solid and secure. Now read this Mary Oliver poem aloud: “You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.”

SCORPIO: Oct. 23 – Nov. 21: An Oklahoma woman named Mary Clamswer used a wheelchair from age 19 to 42 because multiple sclerosis made it hard to use her legs. Then a miracle happened. During a thunderstorm, she was hit by lightning. The blast not only didn’t kill her; it cured the multiple sclerosis. Over the subsequent months, she recovered her ability to walk. Now I’m not saying I hope you will be hit by a literal bolt of healing lightning, Scorpio, nor do I predict any such thing. But I suspect a comparable event or situation that may initially seem unsettling could ultimately bring you blessings.

SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 22 – Dec. 21

What are your favorite mind-

altering substances? Coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar, or tobacco? Alcohol, pot, cocaine, or opioids? Psilocybin, ayahuasca, LSD, or MDMA? Others? All the above? Whatever they are, the coming weeks will be a favorable time to re-evaluate your relationship with them. Consider whether they are sometimes more hurtful than helpful, or vice versa; and whether the original reasons that led you to them are still true; and how your connection with them affects your close relationships. Ask other questions, too! P.S.: I don’t know what the answers are. My goal is simply to inspire you to take an inventory.

CAPRICORN: Dec. 22 – Jan. 19

In his book Meditations for Miserable People Who Want to Stay That Way, Dan Goodman says, “It’s not that I have nothing to give, but rather that no one wants what I have.” If you have ever been tempted to entertain dour fantasies like that, I predict you will be purged of them in the coming weeks and months. Maybe more than ever before, your influence will be sought by others. Your viewpoints will be asked for. Your gifts will be desired, and your input will be invited. I trust you won’t feel overwhelmed!

AQUARIUS: Jan. 20 – Feb. 18

William James (1842–1910) was a paragon of reason and logic. So influential were his books about philosophy and psychology that he is regarded as a leading thinker of the 19th and 20th centuries. On the other hand, he was eager to explore the possibilities of supernatural phenomena like telepathy. He even consulted a trance medium named Leonora Piper. James said, “If you wish to upset the law that all crows are black, it is enough if you prove that one crow is white. My white crow is Mrs. Piper.” I bring this to your attention, Aquarius, because I suspect you will soon discover a white crow of your own. As a result, long-standing beliefs may come into question; a certainty could become ambiguous; an incontrovertible truth may be shaken. This is a good thing!

PISCES: Feb.19 – March 20

If we hope to cure our wounds, we must cultivate a focused desire to be healed. A second essential is to be ingenious in gathering the resources we need to get healed. Here’s the third requirement: We must be bold and brave enough to scramble up out of our sense of defeat as we claim our right to be vigorous and whole again. I wish all these powers for you in the coming weeks.

Homework: What if you could heal a past trauma? How would you start?

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