The Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership recently hosted a ceremony to award certificates to seven young people, ages 11 to 18, who successfully completed the Feedom Freedom Growers (FFG) 2012 youth farm mentorship program. ...

By Grace Lee Boggs Special to the Michigan Citizen On Oct. 13, I spoke at the 2012 biennial gathering of Kellogg Fellows meeting at the Detroit Westin. This year’s theme was “Resilience, Transformation, Transcendence.” Also on the program was Dr. Regina Benjamin, the U.S. surgeon general, who is a Kellogg Fellow. In my remarks, I described how drastically Detroit has changed since I moved to the city 60 yea ...

On Jan. 1, 1994, a small group of indigenous peoples in Mexico armed themselves and took control of various cities across the state of Chiapas. They burned down police headquarters, freed prisoners being held in jails and resisted with arms when the Mexican government attempted to wrest control back from them. This group of revolutionaries called themselves the Zapatistas. ...

Last week’s conference honoring the 40-year career of University of Michigan professor Bunyan Bryant was both inspiring and instructive. In one session after another, former students of many different ages and ethnicities described how Bunyan’s environmental justice leadership empowered them to struggle for a better environment for all our children. ...

This is the third in a series of columns on the 14th Environmental Justice principle: Environmental Justice opposes the destructive operations of multi-national corporations. ...

There is much being said about our food these days and it can be confusing. However, it is clear that we will find ourselves involved on some level. Whether it is as an activist or eater, we cannot pull out of the battle. ...

By Grace Lee Boggs Special to the Michigan Citizen As I write this, it is Tuesday, Oct. 2 and I am looking forward to next weekend’s Retirement/Celebration party for University of Michigan professor Bunyan Bryant at the Ann Arbor Sheraton and thinking about the how and why of this gifted visionary organizer. I received from him recently a letter that offers clues to these questions. Like Einstein, Bunyan re ...

This is the second in a series of columns on the 14th Environmental Justice principle: Environmental Justice opposes the destructive operations of multi-national corporations. A multi-national corporation is a corporation enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. A few of the many U.S. multi-national corporations are Coca-Cola, Exxon, Dell, Nike, Wal-Mart, Yahoo and X ...

By Myra D. Lee How is the current food system in Detroit defined? Is it progressive, evolving or innovative? Does the Detroit food landscape show humility to both laborer and consumer? Where do shoppers spend their dollar for groceries and why? Do they use their power of influence as a consumer? If so, when? Do they know their local farmer? Does Detroit’s food system exemplify resident ownership and support ...

By Julianne Malveaux Trice Edney News Wire In this 2012 election, most of the focus is on the top of the ticket. Can President Obama maintain, or increase, his lead over Republican nominee Mitt Romney? Will “deep pockets” Romney prevaricate enough in his ubiquitous advertising to turn the tide? Recent news suggests fundraising for Mr. Romney has recently faltered. That, too, is the fodder for national news ...