Cass Tech alum now a rising star on ‘Scandal’
Smokey Robinson wants Detroiters to
‘Get Ready’ See page C-1
See page B-1 POWERED BY REAL TIMES MEDIA
‛The Greatest’ A champion's champion michiganchronicle.com
Volume 79 – Number 39
Mayor Duggan's pro-Detroit speech speaks volumes By Keith A. Owens Senior Editor
Mayor Mike Duggan caught fire in a crowded room at the annual Mackinac Policy Conference, and no one attempted to put him out for good reason.
June 8-14 2016
Duggan is known to be a solid cheerleader and political stage performer when he wants to be, frequently exuding a kind of folksy, everyman blue collar charm designed to disarm opponents and win over crowds. Duggan is a politician, and he does what politicians do quite well. But his performance at Mackinac (if “performance” is even the right word) when he delivered the keynote speech to a packed room at the Mackinac Policy
Conference was something altogether different. This wasn’t just passion, because Duggan has presented himself as passionate many times before. This was something deeper. This was a Detroiter fighting Detroit-style for his city in front of an audience not necessarily accustomed to such a ferocious pitch. And in the end, Duggan pointed twin barrels at the dysfunctional Michigan House as being a major stumbling block to Detroit’s revitalization, because if they continue to play these lunatic games with the funding of DPS, the future of the entire city could be threatened. For the first half of Duggan’s presentation, he talked about the good side of things and the vision he has for the city. “We’ve got to develop advantages that are uniquely Detroit.” “We’ve got to attract businesses and jobs at all skill levels.”
See DUGGAN page A-3
WHAT’S INSIDE
Gettyimages/Herb Scharfman/Sports Imagery
By Kai EL´Zabar Real Times Media
M
uhammad Ali, the poet, expressed through boxing like Miles Davis was the boxer expressed through music. He was a champion on so many levels beginning with his amateur boxing career. Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., he made his amateur boxing debut in 1954. He won six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union national title, and the Light Heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Clay’s amateur record was 100 wins with five losses. Ali claimed in his 1975 autobiography that shortly after his return
No one can explain it and no one expected it When the first rap stars decided to become actors it was a surprise to most.
Ron Hall Sr., brilliant businessman and committed community leader, impacted the city of Detroit in a manner which will be difficult to replicate. The remarkably handsome figure of a man had that special quality, “that thing,” which garnered him high respect from his peers and made him one of the most beloved sommunity leaders in recent times. The founder, chairman and former CEO of Detroit-based automotive firm Bridgewater Interiors LLC, died on Tuesday, May 31, and his passing leaves a chasmic void in Detroit's business and civic circles. Fortunately, Hall's legacy of creating opportunity and possibility for Minority Business Enterprises will remain intact as the former leader of the Michigan Minority Business Development Council leaves and extraordinary blueprint for aspiring business leaders and emerging entrepreneurs. Longtime friend and business partner Bill Pickard says Hall was a man of remarkable talent and humanity. "Here is a guy who was a math major with 4.0 GPA when we were students at Western Michigan University. He was tall, dark and hansome and got along with every body, from the guys from Flint to Paw Paw, Michigan, he treated everyone the same," says Pickard, “he treated everyone with kindness and compassion.” Hall is nationally recognized for his keen astute acumen and incomparable integrity and
$1.00
was on his mind because it imbued his spirit. He was like the next black man in that sense — persecuted by the oppression that denied him self-expression and the right to be a man. So on every level when opportunity permitted, he seized the moment and conquered it, ensuing pride, hope and confidence.
Thomas Hauser’s biography of Ali stated that Ali was refused service at the diner but that he lost his medal a year after he won it. Ali received a replacement medal at a basketball intermission during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he lit the torch to start the games.
Ali’s professional career put him on track to rock star stardom but the fight that broke the camel's back was the Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston fight. By late 1963, Muhammad Ali, still known as Cassius Clay, had become the top contender for Sonny Liston’s title. The fight
The point is that Muhammad Ali inspired strength the power to speak what
See CHAMPION page A-4
THE DEFINING MOMENT
Ron Hall: 'Let's not make easy hard' By Roz Edward and Jané Riley
Rappers turned actors (Page D-1)
from the Rome Olympics, he threw his gold medal into the Ohio River after he and a friend were refused service at a “whites only” restaurant and fought with a white gang. Although the story has since been disputed and denied by several of Ali’s friends, including Bundini Brown and photographer Howard Bingham. Brown told Sports Illustrated writer Mark Kram, “Honkies sure bought into that one!”
in the sometimes dog-eat-dog world of business, Hall was revered for relentlessly championing the underdog. "Ron and I became good friends when I transferred to Western Michigan University in 1963, recalls former Detroit mayor Dennis Archer Sr. “About the time, he became CEO of the MMBDC, I was becoming mayor of Detroit. ... when I signed Executive Order 4 to require the City of Detroit to do up to 30 percent of its purchases with businesses in Detroit. ... to make sure that order was properly impelemented and followed I reached out to Ron Hall." Ron Hall was authentically kind, gracioys and caring. Few business leaders in Detroit’s business community have had the impact and left the footprint that Hall did. After saving the struggling MMBDC, Hall went on to personally and professionally dedicate himself to saving MBE's across the region. As his close personal friend Dr. Bill Pickard put it, when he found himself facing daunting business challenges, Hall stepped and assured him he would not allow him to fail. “Let’s not make easy hard,” Pickard recalls Hall saying.
See RON
HALL page A-4
See CHAMPION page A-4