Bankole's Nation

This week on Bankole’s Nation, journalist Bankole Thompson sits down with Jordan Mottley, a young Detroit entrepreneur whose journey offers insight into the city's future. Jordan is the founder of LoveProject Detroit, a new streetwear clothing line rooted in creativity, community, and Detroit's enduring spirit.

At a time when too many young people are told to wait for opportunity, Jordan represents a generation that is choosing to create it. Through entrepreneurship, he shows that doing business can be about more than building a brand or making a profit. It can also be about empowering a community, affirming identity, and investing hope in the place you call home.

Detroit has always been a city of builders, innovators and dreamers. Its future will depend largely on whether we recognize, encourage and invest in the next generation of leaders prepared to carry that tradition forward. Jordan is one of those young voices.

In this week’s episode, we discuss entrepreneurship, purpose, community, and what it means for a new generation of Detroiters to build something of their own. It is a conversation about business. But more importantly, it is a conversation about possibility.

This week, Bankole Thompson interviews Tom Leonard, a prominent Republican and the former Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives, about the 2026gubernatorial race. Leonard was one of several GOP candidates running for governor this year, but recently dropped out of the race. 

The discussion centers on why Leonarddropped out, his refusal to imitate President Donald Trump on the campaign trail, his advice for fellow Republican candidates, and the challenges and opportunities that Democrats have in this election season. 

During the interview, Leonard explains why he got into the race, the issues he plans to tackle, and why hethinks Democrats present a formidable challenge if Republicans don’t prosecute their case powerfully before voters in November. 

This week, Bankole Thompson interviews Cindy Pasky, a prominent Detroit business leader and founder and CEO of Strategic Staffing Solutions, on the first 100 days of Mayor Mary Sheffield’s administration. Pasky was the first business leader to publicly support Sheffield’s mayoral bid, long before many believed Sheffield could become the city’s first female mayor.

Their discussion centers on Sheffield’s policies, the urgency of addressing poverty and economic inequality, and the importance of workforce development. Pasky also explains why she believes the administration should expand support for small and mid-sized neighborhood businesses throughout Detroit.

During the interview, Pasky recounts that Sheffield reached out early in her campaign, visiting her office to seek her endorsement. She also emphasizes that business leaders should look beyond profits and make meaningful investments in the communities they serve—without assuming they automatically understand those communities' needs.

This week, Bankole Thompson sits down with former Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, who led the city during the height of theglobal water crisis that brought national attention to Flint.

Weaver reflects on her historic election in 2015 as Flint’s first female mayor and weighs in on Michigan’s 2026 gubernatorial race. She explains her decision to support former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, now running as an Independent, and shares insights from their time as leaders of two of Michigan’s most challenged cities. Weaver outlines why she believes Duggan has the experience and leadership needed to serve as the state’s next governor.

The conversation also touches on her strained relationship with current Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, widely seen as a leading Democratic contender. Weaver notes that Benson has not reached out to her to engage on issues affectingFlint.

Additionally, Weaver speaks candidly about the importance of not taking Black voters for granted, emphasizing that supportfrom urban communities must be earned through meaningful engagement and results.

This week on Bankole’s Nation, journalist Bankole Thompson interviews Attorney Tina M. Patterson, Esq., a nationally recognized legal authority and the Principal Attorney at the Patterson Justice Council, PLLC, about economic equity as a 21st-century business strategy in line with the vision of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

Patterson, whose previous cases have been cited in the Georgetown Law Journal on Poverty and by the University of North Carolina School of Law’s Banking Institute, also discusses her federal lawsuit against Genisys Credit Union in Michigan, which was recently dismissed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The lawsuit alleged racial discrimination against her Black client, who had been a longstanding client of the bank. 

Patterson, a former federal government attorney who previously worked for the Social Security Administration, and Thompson discuss the importance of the Genisys Credit Union case and how it raises questions about “Banking while Black,” the phenomenon in which Black customers routinely report being denied services or maltreated at financial institutions across the country. 

The interview examined economic justice as a catalyst for systemic change and the need to create accountability platforms that will shape equitable economic outcomes for marginalized communities. She waxed on the fact that Black and other minority consumers have the power to hold major corporations accountable, pointing to the ongoing, successful boycott of Target as an example following the corporate giant’s decision to roll back its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. 

In the interview, Patterson, who is also the President and General Counsel of The PuLSE Institute, Detroit’s national anti-poverty think tank, and one of the few Black women in the nation leading a major economic justice institution, reflected that economic justice is not achieved overnight and requires consistency, education, courage, and leadership at all levels to achieve equity. 

This week on Bankole’s Nation, journalistBankole Thompson interviews Chicago Congressman Jonathan Jackson, one of the sons of the late Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson Sr., the renowned civil rights leader and global statesman who passed away last month. 

Congressman Jackson, in the interview,revealed that his father told him three years ago he wanted him to deliver the eulogy at his funeral as the civil rights leader and aide to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. began to get ill. 

At the private funeral for Rev. Jackson,Congressman Jackson delivered what became the eulogy that climaxed days of activities across the country honoring his father. His powerful remarks defended Rev. Jackson’s decades of groundbreaking work to improve thelives of not only African Americans but also people of African descent in the global Black Diaspora, which included successfully fighting for NelsonMandela's release during South African apartheid. Like a surgeon, Congressman Jackson, in his eulogy, dissected the fallacies of his father’s critics, who opposed his crusades for economic justice and his push for diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

In the interview, he reflected on the eulogy, the urgent need for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and why Congress needs to push the issue rather than abandon it. He also discussed the upcoming midterm elections, the 2028 presidential election, and what is at stake for the nation. 

This week on Bankole’s Nation, journalist Bankole Thompson interviews James Tate, the new president of the Detroit City Council, about the legislative agenda for 2026 and key issues he plans to address as leader of the city’s legislative body. 

Tate reiterated his earlier comments in the interview, stating that the legislative body would not serve as a rubber-stamp institution and would work with the new administration of Mayor Mary Sheffield on a shared vision to address the city’s increasing affordability crisis. 

He pointed, for example, to the poverty crisis unraveling in the neighborhood of Brightmoor, a historic community where many families are said to earn less than $30,000 a year, and noted that this was a severe reality of economic inequality facing Detroit. 

During the interview, Tate emphasized the need for more truly affordable housing in the city to ensure that Detroit remains accessible not just for those with deep pockets but also so that longtime residents can still call the city home. 

This week on Bankole’s Nation, journalist Bankole Thompson talks with Mary Waters, one of the most outspoken members of the Detroit City Council, about the agenda for the legislative body in 2026 and her expectations for the new mayor, Mary Sheffield. 

Waters, a former Lansing legislator and the highest vote-getter in the last election, discusses several issues facing the city that the City Council should address. These include the troubled Detroit Land Bank Authority, whose governance has been publicly questioned by frustrated residents, hiringDetroiters and placing them in jobs that pay livable wages, as well as the pressing issues of affordable housing and the state of homelessness in the city. 

Waters, who has been assigned to the council’s Budget Committee, also discussed her recent conversations with the current Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Scott Turner, about helpingto address the homelessness crisis in the city, especially regarding resources for shelters to house families. 

During the interview, the councilwoman advised Mayor Sheffield to build a mutually respectful relationship with the City Council to ensure an effective partnership that prioritizes the needs of all residents, including the most vulnerable. 

This week on Bankole’s Nation, journalist Bankole Thompson discusses the road ahead for Detroit's incoming mayor, Mary Sheffield, who is set to take office in January 2026. Sheffield faces a series of challenges in the city, including how to address the stark poverty crisis highlighted by the 2024U.S. Census report. The Census data show that Detroit has the highest poverty concentration among cities with a population of half a million or more.

Additionally, the report indicates that more than half of Detroit’s children live in extreme poverty.   

Thompson believes that the new Sheffield administration must act quickly to address the issue of inequality, because many Detroit families are facing a crisis of affordability, including seniors who are being priced out of their once-affordable apartments around downtown. 

Central to the discussion is who will oversee the jobs and economy portfolio, especially after Sheffield announced her longtime chief of staff, Brian White, as the next deputy mayor for Detroit. Thompson urges listeners and viewers to pay close attention to whoever is appointed to the influentialroles in jobs and the economy, because that position will connect to affordability concerns for economically disadvantaged Detroiters, as well as to mega investors who are looking to the new administration to back their development deals.  

This week on Bankole’s Nation, journalist Bankole Thompson discusses the October 15 debate between Detroit mayoral candidates Solomon Kinloch Jr., the senior pastor of Triumph Church, and Mary Sheffield, the president of the Detroit City Council. 

 Thompson believes that Kinloch, the anti-establishment candidate, has a chance to seal the deal in the debate by presenting an inclusive economic vision for Detroiters, who face a 51 percent child poverty rate and a 34 percent overall poverty crisis in the city. 

In what is perhaps the only debate that will occur between the two candidates for the city’s top job, Thompson believes that it is Kinloch’s opportunity to make the case against Sheffield, who has the support of city establishment members.

He should explain to skeptics and doubters alike why he is running and clarify the change he wants to bring to City Hall. 

He said the high cost of living is causing economic misery for many in the city, and that should be a central focus of the debate.