Cover Story
The 2023 Metro Times Fiction Issue
Detroit is a city that speaks when entering a room. When we visit our loved ones, or are at the gas station while waiting in line to pay, or merely as we pass a stranger on the street, we acknowledge one another. When we come into a space we say “Hey, how’s it going?” or…
University of Michigan is fabricating grades for students of striking instructors, emails show
As graduate student employees continue to strike for better wages and health care, the University of Michigan is pressuring department chairs to submit grades for students they haven’t taught, according to emails obtained by Metro Times. The Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) has been on strike since March 29. More than 1,000 of the graduate student…
Ford CEO changes mind, will include AM radio in upcoming cars
Well, that was fast — and we’re not talking about the performance of the 2024 Ford Mustang. Well, sort of. The Detroit automaker revealed Tuesday that it will now include AM radio in its upcoming cars, reversing a controversial earlier decision to discontinue the option in its 2024 Mustang. It would have been the company’s…
Producer and emcee Sam Be Yourself on why Detroit’s got the beat worth seeking
The time has come to swap sweaters for bare skin, #FOMO for “OMW” texts, and reality tv for, well, the real real thing because summer is when Detroit comes alive. Whether you’re gearing up to do some serious gallery hopping or putting your best foam finger forward for the home teams, turning up during a…
Detroit house from ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’ listed for sale
Want to live like a rock star vampire? Well, here’s your chance. An astute reader pointed out that a Detroit real estate listing recently posted by Metro Times was actually a filming location for Only Lovers Left Alive, the acclaimed 2013 film by writer and director Jim Jarmusch. The movie stars Tom Hiddleston and Tilda…
Whitmer signs ‘red flag’ gun safety bills
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday signed more bills establishing gun safety reforms during a news conference in Royal Oak. “No Michigander should fear going to school, work, the grocery store, or their own home because of gun violence,” said Whitmer. “Extreme risk protection orders have been proven to reduce suicides, save lives, and keep guns…
Local Buzz: Our picks for Movement Music Festival weekend 2023
Got a Detroit music tip? Send it it music@metrotimes.com. Movement Music Festival recs: The big weekend is finally here, along with your Local Buzz columnists’ picks. Moodymann (5:30-7:30 p.m.) goes straight into DJ Holographic (7:30-9 p.m.) on the Stargate Stage on Saturday; I recommend going in the middle to catch some of both. The Main…
Detroit City Council weighs ordinance to ban evictions without ‘just cause’
Detroit City Council will soon consider a new ordinance that would prevent landlords from evicting tenants unless there is “just cause,” but some housing rights advocates say it doesn’t go far enough. In Detroit and most cities, once a lease expires, landlords can remove a tenant without giving a reason. Councilman Coleman A. Young II…
Live glassblowing and music festival benefiting Detroit Public Schools set for June
The Michigan Glass Project’s ninth annual glassblowing and live arts festival will return to Detroit June 9-11. The charitable festival will take over the Russell Industrial Center with three days of live mural painting, glassblowing, food trucks, and a cash bar. An outdoor stage boasts 90 DJs and live acts including TAUK, Will Sessions, and…
Ice Cube announces Detroit gig at Little Caesars Arena
Just waking up in the morning, gotta thank god that Ice Cube decided to come to Detroit this summer. On August 12, the legendary rapper-turned-actor and filmmaker will perform at Little Caesars Arena. Ice Cube will be joined by special guests DJ Quik, Suga Free, Twista, and Millyz. The last time Ice Cube performed in…
Lapointe: In your car, do you still listen to AM radio?
By even the hyperbolic standards of auto reviews, Car and Driver gushed about the noise that booms from the 2024 Ford Mustang. “Put it into sport mode,” the magazine wrote, “and the Coyote V-8 snarls and shouts.” That sounds just swell. But something you won’t hear from this new product of the Motor City are…
Black IndieStream Film Fest heads to Detroit
A festival celebrating independent Black cinema is coming to Detroit for five days in May. Hollywood Casino at Greektown will host the Black IndieStream Film Fest and Awards (BIFFA) on May 24-28. The festival will include film screenings, casting calls, master classes, panel talks, and a fashion show hosted by the Detroit Historical Museum. It…
A new Black-owned immersive art gallery is opening in Ferndale
Lauren Fresh wanted a space where people could free their inner child, so she decided to open an immersive art gallery. Located in Ferndale at 211 W. Troy St., The Imani Immersive Gallery offers an escape into an underwater fantasy. Whales and fish swim along the walls of the 4,850 square-foot space, alongside colorful fish…
Detroit painter and designer India Solomon launches ‘Fluid Spaces’ brick and mortar
On paper, India Solomon is an unlikely artist. She went to college at 16 years old to study public policy, worked as a probation clerk for the 43rd District Court at age 17, and later got her master’s degree in urban planning. Now she’s an abstract painter and designer who’s celebrating her first solo exhibit…
Skirmish over Highland Park’s marijuana ordinance leads to claims of corruption, misogyny, and bad government
Three new Highland Park City Council members who were elected to bring fresh ideas to the financially struggling city have found themselves stuck in a virtual loop of mayoral vetoes, internal pushback, and insults. On Monday, they finally had enough and walked out of a council meeting, leaving the other two elected members without a…
‘Monica’ portrays a trans woman’s return to her terminally ill mother
After seeing Monica, the new film by Italian writer-director Andrea Pallaoro, I’m sure opinions will be divided. Shot in a narrow aspect ratio and composed almost entirely of static shots, Monica could be dismissed as a chilly exercise in rigid formalism. Other (harsher) critics will label its heavy subject matter and infrequent bursts of levity…
Dingell joins Jayapal and Sanders in reintroducing Medicare for All
U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) gathered Wednesday with Democratic colleagues and advocates from across the country for a Washington, D.C., rally following the reintroduction of Medicare for All bills in Congress. According to a statement from Dingell’s office, the reintroduction of Medicare for All…
Tlaib joins fight for $14 trillion in reparations for Black Americans
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib is calling on $14 trillion in federal government-funded reparations for descendants of enslaved Black families. The Detroit Democrat joined U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-MO, who introduced the Reparations Now Resolution, in urging their colleagues to help atone for the practice of slavery and hundreds of years of racist policies that followed.…
Detroit’s Concert of Colors launches 2023 event with focus on Latino music
Organizers have shared new information about the 31st annual Concert of Colors, which will have a special focus this year on Latino music and culture. Naturally, part one of the festival will kick off with a free event in Detroit’s Mexicantown on Saturday, June 3, ahead of the remainder of the event, scheduled for July…
Son of BMF’s ‘Southwest T’ opens dispensary
Metro Detroit’s latest cannabis dispensary has opened Downriver — and it has a connection to the hit Starz TV series BMF. 263 Cannabis Co.’s founder is Terry Flenory Jr., son of Terry “Southwest T” Flenory of the famous BMF organization, or Black Mafia Family, depicted in the popular show of the same name. Related “We…
Plug pulled on queer Detroit club Flaming Embers
A sports bar in downtown Detroit’s Broderick Tower recently rebranded as an all-inclusive queer nightclub, dubbed Flaming Embers. But staff at the revamped hangout, formerly known as Detroit Sports Bar and Grille, say the queer community is now being shut out. A source familiar with the matter tells Metro Times that several workers cut ties…
Duggan slams new census estimates that show Detroit’s population continues to shrink
Detroit shed nearly 8,000 residents between July 2020 and July 2022, according to new U.S. Census Bureau estimates released Thursday, but Mayor Mike Duggan says he isn’t buying it. The population in Michigan’s largest city dropped to 620,376 during that period, a 2.7% decline from a year ago, according to the data. Detroit now ranks…
Irwin House Gallery’s ‘We. Look. Good.’ is an ode to self-love
Look in the mirror and tell yourself, “I was born to fly. So why would I live my life on the ground?” If you’re having trouble with that affirmation, Donald Calloway’s mirror assemblages at Irwin House will help. The Detroit artist’s pieces are on display in the gallery’s latest group show, titled We. Look. Good.…
Don’t miss these concerts downtown during the Detroit Grand Prix weekend
The Chevrolet Grand Prix will return to the streets of downtown Detroit June 2-4 for the first time since taking over Belle Isle in the early 1990s. Even if you aren’t into fast cars, there’s a steady lineup of live music over the Grand Prix weekend to keep your attention. Outkast’s Big Boi and Steve…
Motor City Cinema Society launches 16mm series at Redford Theatre
Detroit film heads have banded together to show old movies in 16mm, an old-school format that turns 100 years old this year. The new Motor City Cinema Society (MCCS) will screen the films in the Redford Theatre Annex located at 17352 Lahser Rd., next-door to the old Redford Theatre. “The goal of the Motor City…
Detroit moves closer to creating gun-free zones in downtown and at events
The Detroit City Council on Tuesday took a step closer to creating gun-free zones at events and in popular parts of downtown. The council approved two resolutions that set the stage for gun-free zones. The first called on state lawmakers to pass a Senate bill that would authorize municipalities to create gun-free zones in public…
Economists warn of Detroit Grand Prix’s financial risks to taxpayers
(The Center Square) – The roar of IndyCars returning to the streets of downtown Detroit in June might sound like the ringing of cash registers for some Wayne County businesses, but likely won’t benefit the remainder of the state. The Lear-sponsored Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix is returning downtown June 2-4 after intermittently appearing on Belle…
Free Will Astrology (May 17-23)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries dramatist Samuel Beckett, winner of the prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature, wrote 22 plays. The shortest was Breath. It has no dialogue or actors and lasts less than a minute. It begins and ends with a recording of the cry of a newborn baby. In between there are the sounds…
