A Motown 60 Special
NEIGHBORS
Esther Gordy Edwards:
Covenant House Academy Promotes Reading Through
Hope Starts Here
the late creator of Motown Museum to be lauded on Founder’s Day, May 19
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Michigan Chronicle
Vol. 82 – No. 36 | May 15-21, 2019
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We Can Do Better: Let’s Start Here
By Adam Hollier It’s no mystery to anyone in Michigan: Our auto insurance rates are predatory and unaffordable. We pay $2,600 annually — twice the n ational average, according to insurance search engine Zebra. For Detroiters — the average is $5,414. That’s unacceptable.
COMMENTARY
I’m 33-years-old and paying $7,500 a year for my auto insurance. In my neighborhood and ZIP code, the average annual rate is $5,000. My wife and I have three cars, nothing fancy, and two of which are more than 10 years old. If given the chance, we’d opt out of Personal Injury Protection (PIP) because it would save my family Sen. Adam Hollier roughly $3,000 a year, and we have medical coverage like more than 90% of Michiganders thanks to Obamacare (also known as the Affordable Care Act). Under the current system, many families in my neighborhood completely forego car insurance: They don’t drive legally, can’t afford new cars or the insurance, so they don’t buy it. Families are paying more to insure cars than they are worth. Michiganders have had the same no-fault auto insurance system with astronomical rates my whole life. Over the past 10 years that I’ve been working in Lansing, every single elected member from Detroit or an urban community has said, “My number one priority is to get rid of redlining. It’s to change the gender gaps. It’s to make auto insurance more affordable.” This bill does all three. Senate Bill 1 — the bill that passed the Michigan Senate this week — is a step in the right direction of trying to fix our auto insurance laws. While this legislation isn’t perfect by any means, it started the discussion and yielded a better bill in the House. This will lower our rates by including key details that make a difference, especially to Detroiters. When former President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, he knew it was because Congress had been fighting over civil rights laws for seven years. In fact, the first piece of civil rights legislation was passed in 1957 — and quite frankly, it was bad. Even President Johnson said it was terrible and the hardest bill he’s ever completed. Yet, he was proud of it because never, since Reconstruction, had anyone been able to successfully convince
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WHAT’S INSIDE
PHOTO: Montez Miller
Justice Served:
Detroit says farewell to Judge Damon J. Keith By Branden Hunter Judge Damon J. Keith touched many lives during his 96 years on this earth — 42 of which he spent serving as a judge on the United States 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. Those who were inspired by him packed the Hartford Memorial Baptist Church Monday morning to pay their finals respects. The federal judge and civil rights icon passed April 28 at his riverfront home in Detroit. Among the dignitaries in attendance were senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, former United States Senator Carl Levin, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, former Governors Jennifer Granholm and Rick Snyder, Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, and former mayors Dennis Archer and Dave Bing. Detroit Tigers legend Willie Horton, whom Keith looked after when his parents died in a 1965 car accident, was in attendance, as well as former United States Representative John Conyers Jr. and Wayne State University President Dr. M. Roy Wilson. Keith requested that his casket be closed during his homegoing services. The shiny black coffin sat at the front of the sanctuary and two enormous arrangements of red roses towered over it on both sides. Throughout the 3-hour long service, family, friends and clergymen shared their fondest memories of Keith and his legacy. “With the passing of Damon Keith, the world lost an extraordinary man,” said Wilson who was sworn in by Judge Keith when he became president of Wayne State in 2013. “Such men as him are in great demand, but in short
Cecile Keith-Brown, Judge Damon Keith’s eldest daughter. PHOTOS: Andre Smith supply. Damon Keith was a giant in law, in civil rights and in life.” Keith is a 1956 graduate of the Wayne State University Law School. At the University, the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights was erected in Keith’s honor, and a scholarship was also established in his name in 2008. His legal influence and commitment to equality for all in the American justice system helped to change the course of the nation and birth the next generation of leaders. Keith’s previous law clerks included Granholm, a number of judges and law professors, Secretary of State
Jocelyn Benson, and Rashad Hussain who served as deputy associate counsel to President Obama. “A world without Damon Jerome Keith is a world worse off,” said Reverend Ademuyiwa Bamiduro, another former clerk for Keith. “He will no longer be able to offer words of wisdom or provide opportunities for young lawyers or offer fiery descents to judicial rulings. No more speaking for the last, the lost and the left out.” Camilla Brantley, 53, of Detroit said
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Wayne County Community College District joins Detroit Regional Chamber student debt forgiveness program WCCCD Expanding Existing Efforts to Remove Primary Barrier to Degree Completion to Tens of Thousands Across 36 Cities and Townships
Black Girl Magic: Kelli Coleman & Anika Jackson – The TEN Nail Bar
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Wayne County Community College District is expanding its existing debt forgiveness programs by joining other educational institutions and the Detroit Regional Chamber in a student debt forgiveness program. That program offers debt forgiveness of previously incurred educational debt at participating institutions as long as students are enrolled at WCCCD or another participating school, are current on any new education financial obligations, and continue progress towards degree or certificate completion. WCCCD last year announced its Tuition Amnesty Program, which reduced tuition and fees by 30 percent, and reduced past debt for returning students who had earned some college cred-
“We have long understood that regional cooperation would be required to make meaningful change in big goals such as workforce transformation and increases in college completion,” Ivery said. “We have been at the forefront of these initiatives and are proud to leverage existing programs and work to make sure that we are all pulling in the same direction to help the communities we serve thrive.” its, but have not been able to complete a degree because of financial constraints. WCCCD expands that commitment with its agreement to the Regional program’s principles of extending it to an unlimited number of students, and agreeing to debt forgiveness of as much as a one-
half of total outstanding student debt. “Our mission has always been to provide pathways to better lives through higher education,” said WCCCD Chancellor Dr. Curtis L. Ivery. “This initiative is a vital step in that direction.
The Detroit Regional Chamber-led program is part of its broader goal to improve postsecondary educational attainment from 40 percent to 60 percent by 2030. Wayne State University, Oakland University and Henry Ford College are also partners in the program.