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Michigan Chronicle
Vol. 85 – No. 46 | July 20-26, 2022
Powered by Real Times Media | michiganchronicle.com
Statewide Efforts for Equitable Living in Detroit By Sherri Kolade The housing landscape in Detroit has been known for some time for its blight-ridden, empty or sometimes occupied homes sometimes being torn down in place of green landscapes. Though housing redevelopment is occurring at breakneck speed in Detroit, Michigan is on tap, however, to do something notable across the state and for its largest city. Black residents can be at the forefront of this housing redevelopment movement, too, by knowing what housing options are available now and what could be actualized in the future. Currently, out of Detroit’s roughly 642,000 primarily Black residents, 54 percent live in rental housing. Anika Goss-Foster, CEO of Detroit Future City (DFC) – a think-and-do tank focused on land use and sustainability, community, and economic development and equity in Detroit – told the Michigan Chronicle that great things are on the way for the city and the state in terms of a structured housing plan. This would benefit renters and owners alike, which is one of the focal points for her organization. “We focus on systemic issues that are directly related to advancing homeownership and reducing the cost burden and strengthening the system for single-family rental housing,” Goss-Foster said. “In Detroit, 78 percent are African American, so the majority of the renters [are] especially low-income renters. You have to focus on rentals in order to create a homeownership strategy.” Goss-Foster added that “this was not the case” less than five years ago. The organization noticed in 2016 from an American Community Survey (which comes out in between the Census) that Detroit had more renters than homeowners. “There was a shift during the housing crisis of 2008 when the rest of the country went through a housing crisis and housing foreclosure,” she said. “That really damaged our homeownership population. Here in Detroit, we began to see more renters than homeowners ...unfortunately only continuing to grow year after year.” City Council President Pro Tempore Mary Sheffield said on the city’s website that addressing housing inequities will arise from Detroit’s revitalization and will ultimately determine if the growth the city is experiencing is sustainable. “Through the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance my office sponsored, I’ve worked to actively address the growing need for affordable housing and the inclusion of all Detroiters in the City’s future,” Sheffield said, adding during a housing event that access to quality affordable housing is critically needed. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan agrees. “The preservation and creation of affordable housing is the cornerstone of our growth strategy,” Duggan said. While the City of Detroit is commit-
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WHAT’S INSIDE
UAW President Ray Curry
UAW President Ray Curry Seeks Re-Election, Best Candidate for the Job By Sherri Kolade After just over a year of leading the United Autoworkers Union (UAW), Ray Curry, a North Carolina native and president of the UAW (since June 28, 2021), is seeking re-election. Since taking the helm from thenUAW President Rory L. Gamble last year after his retirement, Curry told the Michigan Chronicle that his tenure has been marked by great transformation and, simultaneously, much-needed continuity. “It’s been an exciting time and a challenging time. I was previously elected in 2018 as the secretary, treasurer, or chief financial officer, and responsible for the reforms,” Curry said, adding that under his helm, he’s continuing the work of transparency that was started during Gamble’s time as president, which he prioritizes, too, after scandals rocked the UAW previously with better checks and balances in place. “We’ve opened up a compliance department that’s soon to be filled. We’ve got a new training mechanism inside the organization. We’re now we’re not just training staff, we’re training staff and all clerical with having human resources and organizational development department. So, we’re excited about being able to keep a cutting edge of institutional knowledge that’s out there alone with new marketplace knowledge … that will be beneficial as we continue to grow.” As UAW president, Curry continues his commitment to transparency and reform within the UAW. “Restoring member confidence in our union is a high priority. We will continue to work with the monitor to develop and implement more checks and balances for our union.”
Gamble told the Michigan Chronicle that he is endorsing Curry because of his experience. “He cares about the organization and I have complete faith in his responsibilities and he will complete the job of reconstruction at the UAW to bring the union back to the … prominence it deserves,” Gamble said. “Ray believes that working families in this country deserve to have a strong voice in the workplace. … I believe he will do everything in his power to make sure that happens.” The UAW’s 38th Constitutional Convention will take place in Detroit from July 25-28. The Convention starts the election nomination process, and in the coming months, UAW members will vote on their next president via mail. Curry became a UAW member in July 1992, when he was hired as a truck assembler at Freightliner Trucks in Mount Holly, North Carolina (now Daimler Trucks, NA) after serving in the U.S. Army for three years on active duty and five years in the U.S. Army Reserve. Shortly after joining UAW Local 5285, he became involved in the local’s civil rights standing committee. “I have always believed that it is a duty to make change happen. “My years on that standing committee gave me both a deep understanding of our great union as well as the awareness of what can happen when we work together,” according to his biography. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a B.S. in Business Administration / Finance. He holds an MBA degree from the University of Alabama. Curry told the Michigan Chronicle that he sought to be engaged in community efforts in all of the leadership
positions he has held, which helped him to “rise through the ranks” to where he is today. “Whether in my home state of North Carolina or (when I) transferred to different roles and ultimately in Michigan, I … understand the sacrifices of membership,” he said, adding that he believes in the people he leads. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) president and CEO, told the Michigan Chronicle that he supports Curry, who he’s known for several decades. The NNPA is the national trade association that represents African American newspapers and media companies. “Ray Curry’s leadership at the United Auto Workers has been transformational and very uplifting for the cause of labor rights and civil rights,” the lifetime NAACP member said, adding that there is a strong tie between the NAACP and the labor union. “Historically, the UAW was one of the leading forces in labor that supported the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement.” Chavis worked for Dr. King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) -- a major player in the civil rights march on Washington – while also working for the Black press. He said that the UAW has been a firm proponent of the Black press, too, which continues today. “During President Ray Curry’s tenure as president at the UAW he was a strong advocate and supporter of the Black Press for America, and on behalf of the NNPA that represents African American newspapers and media companies I just want to say categorically
changes in the landscape of [unplanned pregnancies]?” Green said of her clients. “In birth work, you see all types of lives and different walks of life. I have seen the impact of unwanted pregnancies slow down or stop labor physiologically. … We are having to close in the ranks and make sure we have a strong referral list of mental health experts. … You’re going to see a spike in depression, especially postpartum depression from people in our community birthing babies they didn’t plan for and don’t have other options for – I don’t know what that will do.”
She remembers when her client’s body nearly betrayed her.
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Having Their Say: Abortion Rights and Roe v. Wade By Sherri Kolade
Out Brunch
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Khalifah Green, 34, of Detroit, a full spectrum doula through Womb Wise Co., told the Michigan Chronicle how her expecting client was set to deliver her baby earlier this year in a home birth but her body wouldn’t let her. Her client, she said, had a one-night stand and didn’t have an abortion after finding out. The anticipated home birth turned into an emergency trip to the hospital because she wasn’t as connected with her pregnancy (after her family rejected her baby) and subsequent issues arose, Green said. Eventually, the mother had her healthy baby, but it left Green wondering after the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v.
Khalifah Green, 34, of Detroit, is a full spectrum doula through Womb Wise Co. and shares tips on caring for the full woman. Wade how will more mothers fair who might be in similar predicaments?
Local reverend and nurse Yvette Lyles speaks on abortion rights in Michigan and the state. What’s Next? “I’m just wondering how that [the 6-3 Supreme Court ruling]
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court voted to overturn the decades-old Roe v. Wade ruling that created the constitutional right to abort in the U.S. in 1973. The court’s controversial de-
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RIGHTS page A2