Kenneth Reed, 48, spokesman for the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, is African American and a resident of Detroit. This interview took place in the midst of the recent spate of police-involved killings nationwide — after police killed an African-American man in Baton Rouge and another in Minnesota and after a shooter in Dallas killed […]
Urban Affairs
In-depth reporting on Michigan’s largest city and surrounding communities, including deep dives into the big changes afoot in Detroit, its schools, neighborhoods, institutions and city hall.
Posted inUrban Affairs
Matthew Jaber Stiffler
Matthew Jaber Stiffler, 37, is research and content manager at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn. His father is white. His mother was born in America and is of Lebanese descent. Stiffler said he was raised as, and thought of himself as, a white child. Other than noting that he was once followed around […]
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Poverty and joblessness, fuel for '67 riot, even worse today
Unemployment and poverty drove much of the violence that swept across Detroit in the summer of 1967. Today, those numbers are even worse.
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A brief history of poverty and jobs in Detroit
Detroit’s boom and bust auto industry explains a lot about the poverty and jobs challenges the city faces today.
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Detroiters in poverty face nearly insurmountable obstacles
Politicians and media reports indicate Detroit is in the middle of an economic resurgence. That’s true for the central business districts. That’s not the case for many residents in the poorest neighborhoods
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House by house, do-it-yourself residents transform Detroit
Tired of waiting for the garbage trucks and housing inspectors who never seemed to come, here’s how one ordinary, extraordinary Detroiter restored beauty and a sense of safety to the street she calls home
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In a city with long memories of racial torment, Detroit’s police chief seeks to turn a corner
The city’s feared, nearly-all-white police force eventually integrated after the 1967 riot. But crime and mistrust within the city’s African-American community did not fade so easily. Residents say a new chief is helping to ease old animosities
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Police brutality: The struggle isn't over
In Baltimore Freddie Gray died after being arrested and thrown in the back of a police van. In Cleveland, video captured images of 12-year-old Tamir Rice as he was shot by a Cleveland officer. And in Ferguson, Missouri, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot dead in the street. These events and others have increased racial tensions in cities across the nation in a way not seen since the 1960
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State launches investigation into Detroit charter school
In the aftermath of Bridge’s story on the Detroit Community Schools, the Michigan Department of Education is checking for certification violations
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One poor neighborhood, one struggling school
A low-achieving Detroit charter, now run by former city councilwoman Sharon McPhail and administrators with checkered pasts, is the only high school in Brightmoor. Other city neighborhoods face a glut of schools. Can a new commission bring order to Detroit’s chaotic school landscape?