Author

Ken Coleman

Ken Coleman

Ken Coleman writes about Southeast Michigan, history and civil rights. He is a former Michigan Chronicle senior editor and served as the American Black Journal segment host on Detroit Public Television. He has written and published four books on Black life in Detroit.

Tlaib, Carter thump auto insurance credit scoring

By: - April 22, 2019

Detroit resident Dotti Sharp has endured her auto insurance rates shooting up from about $160 a month three years ago to more than $200 a month today. “It keeps rising up,” Sharp said on Monday. “I have no tickets. No accidents. So why does it keep going up?” She joined two of her legislators during […]

Tlaib responds to death threat, says she must ‘outwork the hate’

By: - April 22, 2019

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) talked to the Michigan Advance on Monday about a death threat she received from a Florida man last week and the precautions police are taking. As reported by the Advance, Tlaib and two Democratic presidential candidates, U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), received threatening voicemails […]

Manoogian condemns arrests, opposes Chaldean deportations

By: - April 18, 2019

State Rep. Mari Manoogian (D-Birmingham) on Wednesday called on House colleagues to formally oppose the mass deportation of Chaldeans living in Michigan. Metro Detroit is home to the largest concentration of Chaldeans outside of Iraq. Over the last two years, more than 100 state residents of Iraqi and Chaldean-Assyrian descent have been arrested by federal […]

Retired teacher faces eviction from ‘hot area’ in Detroit

By: - April 18, 2019

Eloise Halliburton is in a fight to save her Detroit home. She says that Michigan First Credit Union (MFCU) wants to evict her from her condominium near Woodward Avenue in the trendy New Center section of Detroit. The 73-year-old retired public school biology teacher believes that gentrification could be the reason. “In my opinion, it’s […]

Benson addresses SOS customer service problems

By: - April 11, 2019

On Thursday, Trevon Johnson made his second visit of the week to the Secretary of State office to renew his identification card. That’s because his trip Wednesday was fruitless. He didn’t have time to wait until his number was called, so he left. Johnson likes doing business at the bustling midtown Detroit neighborhood location, but […]

As 3rd grade reading law looms, Detroit district takes new literacy program national

By: - April 11, 2019

Jenise Williams, a first-year kindergarten teacher at Burns Elementary-Middle School in Detroit, is enjoying her rookie year helping students become better readers. At the same time, her district has just publicly launched one of its key new resource tools to improve student literacy called ModEL Detroit. The online program utilizes visuals, single words and short […]

Michigan millennial leads nation’s largest NAACP branch

By: - March 27, 2019

Kamilia Landrum is on the move. At 30, she’s the youngest Detroit NAACP executive director in the branch’s 107 years. The Detroit branch is the organization’s largest and has a storied history, winning several legal battles, including a 1954 case ending segregation in Detroit public housing.  Landrum started with the NAACP in 2012. She earned […]

Hammoud says foe’s criticism of his alcohol-limit bill rooted in Islamophobia

By: - March 25, 2019

State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud’s bill package lowering Michigan’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) threshold has drawn sharp criticism from a Democratic political foe. Brian Stone claims Hammoud is “legislating his personal preferences.” The lawmaker has fired back that he welcomes criticism, but not that which is rooted in Islamophobia.   HB 4420 and HB 4421, sponsored […]

2020 organizing effort in Detroit looks to attract college Dems

By: - March 24, 2019

The Michigan Democratic Party is recruiting college juniors to work this summer in Detroit to become field organizers for the 2020 presidential election. The program, which is called Organizing Corps 2020, is a national project created, in part, by the Democratic National Committee (DNC). It will be carried out in 10 other cities: Atlanta; Charlotte; […]

Schor seeks to end feud with former fire chief

By: - March 15, 2019

Lansing Mayor Andy Schor has apologized to former Lansing Fire Department Chief Randy Talifarro following a recent public dispute about hiring practices for firefighters, the Lansing City Pulse reports. “I apologize for the discomfort and turmoil that you expressed that you experienced in the time that you served as fire chief in the city of Lansing […]

Slideshow: ‘We Build the Wall’ town hall and protest

By: - March 15, 2019

The “We Build the Wall” town hall drew about 500 people at Cobo Center in Detroit Thursday night, as the Advance reported. Former President Donald Trump senior adviser Steve Bannon; Kris Kobach, the former Kansas secretary of state; and David Clarke, former Milwaukee County sheriff were headliners. There also was a protest of roughly 50 people […]

Bannon rallies hundreds in Detroit for Trump’s border wall

By: - March 15, 2019

Former President Donald Trump senior adviser Steve Bannon was serving up plenty of red meat to Republicans on immigration in Detroit Thursday night. Bannon, a popular figure on the so-called alt-right, spoke to a crowd of 500 for the “We Build the Wall” town hall at Cobo Center. He referred to the U.S. Senate vote […]