POWERED BY REAL TIMES MEDIA
March 18-24, 2015
michiganchronicle.com
Volume 78 – Number 27
State scores F in civil rights class
Rep. Gay-Dagnogo pushes higher ed for Detroiters in March 21 town hall State Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, a prominent advocate for education, is hosting a town hall on increasing Detroit’s pipeline to higher education. The forum, on March 21, 9-11 am at Wayne County C o m munity College District Northw e s t campus, Sherry Gay-Dagnogo 8200 W. O u t e r Drive is, open to the public and will have a diverse panel of leaders as well as participants from Michigan State and Eastern Michigan universities and the College for Creative Studies.
By Bankole Thompson CHRONICLE SENIOR EDITOR
Think about Ferguson and the Justice Department’s recent report that condemned the Ferguson police department and court system for biased and discriminatory law enforcement against Blacks. Think about the 50th anniversary of the Selma march.
Hiram Jackson, publisher of the Michigan Chronicle and CEO of Real Times Media, speaks at Pancakes & Politics.
Michigan Chronicle’s
WHAT’S INSIDE New position for Shaun Wilson (Page A-2) Shaun Wilson, longtime public relations and marketing expert for PNC Financial Services Group, has joined Truscott Rossman. Wilson will head the firm’s expanding Detroit office.
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10 years and counting
Forum garners headlines, makes history By Carol Cain SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Java & Jazz celebrates 15 years (Page B-1) Comerica Bank and the Detroit Public Library recently kicked off the 15th year of Comerica Java & Jazz: A Coffee House Series, at Friends Auditorium at the Detroit Public Library Main Branch. The series concluded on July 21.
Native Detroiters come back home (Page C-1) As Detroit makes its much-noted comeback as it reinvents itself, a number of young professionals who found success elsewhere have made the decision to return. Five such individuals are profiled in this week’s edition.
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hat started as concern over the growing racial divide in the region led Hiram Jackson, CEO of Real Times Media, and the late Sam Logan, publisher of the Michigan Chronicle, to come up with an idea of a forum where people could really talk and exchange ideas. That forum was named the Michigan Chronicle’s “Pancakes & Politics” and the rest is history as the annual gathering of speakers held four times each spring enters its 10th season.
GEORGE JACKSON (left), president & CEO, GWJ Group LLC; Dan Gilbert, founder & chairman, Quicken Loans and Rock Ventures; and Sue Mosey, executive director, Midtown, Inc. The speakers forums have inspired many headlines and news stories along the way. There have been 36 forums featuring well known CEOs, political powerhouses, university presidents, community advocates, union leaders, healthcare leaders, the well known and not so well known.
The two larger-than-life politicos didn’t hold back.
“As long as people are talking and debating issues, there’s a chance you can find solutions,” Logan told that first ‘Pancakes’ audience. His words live on and
TOM CANEDO, vice president and general manager, CBS 62/CW 50, with Gov. Rick Snyder and Carol Cain. —Monica Morgan photo remain a mantra for the signature event that has grown into a must-attend gathering for those who care about our region.
See PANCAKES
Spotlight: Viola Davis (Page D-1) Viola Davis has had a long string of successes, but the Academy Award-nominated actress has reached new heights with the through-the-roof ratings of the complex television series “How to Get Away with Murder.”
“Rather than recognizing the profound national significance of the Civil Rights Movement, most states mistakenly see it as a regional matter, or a topic of interest mainly for Black students,” the report noted. “Nine of the 12 highest-scoring states are from the former Confederacy 4. They are joined by the states of Illinois, Mary- “For a state that land and New York. Gener- has been at the ally speaking, forefront of the Civil the farther Rights Movement, away from the South and the it is disappointing smaller the Af- and embarrassing rican American that Michigan population, the less attention continues to earn a is paid to the failing grade when it Civil Rights comes to teaching Movement.”
The event is just as known for the incredibly diverse audience it attracts. “We are proud that people from all walks across the region and even state continue to make ‘Pancakes’ a destination,” said Jackson, who is now publisher of the Michigan Chronicle as well as CEO of its parent c ompany.
& POLITICS page A-4
SPLC also indicated in the students about it in a report that it comprehensive and was concerned compelling way.” “that the move rthur Horwitz, ment, when it – A is given classchairman, room time, Michigan is reduced to Civil Rights lessons about Commission a handful of heroic figures and the four words, “I have a dream.” Students need to know that the movement existed independently of its most notable leaders, and that thousands of people mustered the courage to join the struggle, very often risking their lives. They need to know that the dream to which Dr. King gave voice was not realized simply by the election of a Black president in 2008. They need to know that as long as race is a barrier to access and opportunity, and as long as poverty is commonplace for people of color, the dream has not been achieved.” In the case of states like Michigan with the F grade, SPLC said it includes less than 20 percent or, in many cases, none of what the center recommended. “Sixteen of these states do not require students to learn about the Civil Rights Movement at all. Those that do require movement-related instruction
See CIVIL
RIGHTS page A-4
Violence and the city of Detroit By Zack Burgess EDITOR-AT-LARGE THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE
Detroit is a city where officials say there are more guns than people, and crime influences almost every decision. It determines when people leave home, what routes they drive, where they walk. Crime is a conversational icebreaker, like the weather or sports. The conversation of crime, guns and shootings are so routine throughout the city that last weekend two women sat at the bar in Harmony Park and discussed handguns and how they can carry them unnoticed.
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The report said civil rights education is mostly seen as a subject important to only Black students.
our grade-school
During that first event -then-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson took to the “Pancakes” stage before a curious crowd of 400 at the Detroit Athletic Club.
Their frank talk about the Eight Mile divide and Cobo Center, which was huge news as the city and region battled over control of it, took center stage.
Then think about the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) damning report that cites Michigan as one of the states failing on civil rights education in schools, and then wonder why that is the case. The report, “Teaching the Movement,” also lists in the F grade states like Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, North Bankole Carolina, Rhode Island, Thompson West Virginia, Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Oregon and others. Surprisingly the only states that made the A grade are New York, Florida and Alabama. Georgia, Illinois and South Carolina got a B.
“Girl, I can carry mine…right here in my bra,” said the middleaged woman, who refused to be identified at the Cigar Bar La Casa Habana. “It just makes it easier just in case I need it. The only thing I have to worry about
with the Glock is the lack of a safety.”
al Judge, Terrence Berg, hits too close to home.
When did the discussion of owning a handgun become normal for everyday working women?
Year after year, Detroit tops the list of the Most Dangerous Cities, and this year is no different. However, what is encouraging is the violent crime rate actually declined last year, despite coming through a very public bankruptcy, the largest in U.S. history. Yet, Detroit still remains a very dangerous place.
On the average, someone is shot every day in the city of Detroit. However, residents have become numb to such violence — until a woman is shot and killed for refusing to give a stranger her phone number, a carjacking of a grandmother and her kids goes viral or the shooting of a Feder-
Given the circumstances, Detroit recorded its lowest number of homicides in 47 years. There
were 300 slayings in 2014, down from 333 in 2013, continuing a slow but stable decline. The total number of murders and the corresponding rate fell by about 9 percent from last year. This is due to a major effort by Detroit Police Chief James Craig, who has made it his mission to target crime in known hot spots throughout the city. He has also identified neighborhood watch groups and made it his duty to be more involved by providing outreach in Detroit Public Schools. All of these efforts helped the Detroit Police Department record its lowest number of killings since 1967, when 281 people were killed. Still, thanks in part to an ever-shrinking population, Detroit tops the nation when it comes to murder rate. At 43.4 murders per 100,000 residents, Detroit’s murder rate is 10 times that of New York City.
See DETROIT page A-4