DETROIT — Instead of working to pass a moratorium on foreclosures as families across Michigan celebrated the holidays in homes they hope to keep, the state legislature and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm nearly passed a law in the dead of the night Dec. 19 that would have forced thousands more into the streets at a faster pace. [more]
Jazz pianist, composer and cultural warrior Kenneth Louis Cox joined the ancestors Dec. 19. He died in his home of lung cancer. Cox was 68.
Services were held Dec. 27 at St. Matthew’s & St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church on Woodward. [Editor’s Note: We have reprinted most of Mr. Cox’s funeral program because it, as much of his life’s work, reflects an accuracy that Mr. Cox himself used in his preservation work. Mr. Cox was known as a cultural warrior partially because he amassed an important collection of Detroit’s music, culture and art including rare recordings, out of print books, radio interviews and copies of now defunct publications. He did this in addition to his own work as a teacher, pianist and composer. ] [more]
WASHINGTON (NNPA) — They clearly won’t have it by Christmas, but the nation’s Black state legislators are now looking for what they perceive as their fair share of an economic bailout for ‘the neighborhood’ while Congress is doling them out to corporations. [more]
DETROIT — The homecoming of activist Rev. Edward Pinkney turned bittersweet over the holidays after a Berrien County judge added several restrictive conditions during the pastor’s bond hearing. The court has effectively terminated Pinkney’s ability to continue his protest of racial inequality in the Berrien court system — whether from the court steps or the church pew. [more]
WASHINGTON (NNPA) — At this time last year, then U. S. Senator Barack Obama was not the Black community’s favored candidate to win the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States. Indeed, because of America’s past history of racism, most Blacks did not initially favor Obama as the Democratic nominee because they simply did not believe he could win the general election. [more]
The coming of the New Year is a time of reflection. Many of us pause to look back over the previous year and to look forward to the changes we resolve to make to enhance our lives in the coming year.
This has been a year of unprecedented changes. For many of us the campaign and election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States have brought new hope to our fragile democracy. After years of empty politics, marked by apathy, bitterness and a smallness of both personalities and policies, we at last found our way to a process where real issues were discussed and debated. In spite of the often over-managed and scripted campaign events, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the use of torture and indefinite imprisonment of people, the erosion of basic liberties, the crisis of our economy, the failure of responsibilities for health care, education and government services were all part of a year-long public conversation demanding change. [more]
DETROIT — The Southeast Michigan Consortium for Water Quality and a “Business Leadership Group” appointed by U.S. District Court Judge John Feikens are recommending the sale of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department’s (DWSD) Macomb County Interceptor, and payment of $27 million by the City of Detroit to settle a dispute over use of DWSD funds. [more]
Michael Fisher, age 6, and Deon Brown, age 5, celebrate Kwanzaa. TRACEY M. HENRY PHOTO
By Tracey M. Henry Special to Michigan Citizen
Ask anybody in America today about Kwanzaa and they can give you a basic idea about what it is. Dr. Maulana Karenga, the Africana Studies professor at California State University, Long Beach, created Kwanzaa in 1966. Kwanzaa is a Pan-African, non-religious, holiday that has taken root in our society to the extent the U.S. Postal Service has offered a Kwanzaa stamp for over a decade. [more]
