Today I want to start by telling you the story of a young black guy who, eighteen years ago, was frustrated and unhappy with the way his career was going.  He had rashly challenged an incumbent congressman in the Democratic primary the year before, spent a lot of money he didn’t have, and ended up…

The post Coming to terms with our past appeared first on Lessenberry Ink.

Black History Month begins tomorrow, and for a long time, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the whole idea of a special month set aside for our African-American heritage.  Now, don’t get me wrong. African-American history is not only crucially important—it is absolutely fascinating, and I think it is as almost as essential that…

The post Black history is our history, period appeared first on Lessenberry Ink.

I like restaurants that have photographs on the walls showing their towns in times past. Last weekend, I was in one with a picture of people lined up to get into the Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth. Judging from their clothes and the cars, it was from the late 1940s. Another diner near me has a…

The post Time Passage appeared first on Lessenberry Ink.

Here’s a trivia question for you:  How many movies have been made throughout history?  I don’t mean class projects, industrial films or shorts, I mean full-length feature films. After spending a little time on the Internet, I was able to come up with this definitive answer: Nobody knows. I found estimates ranging from 140,000 to…

The post Car movies that need to be made appeared first on Lessenberry Ink.

Three years ago, I saw a silly article published by the Mackinac Center, under this headline: “Michigan Economy No Longer Dependent on the Auto Industry.”  The author based that ridiculous statement on the fact that more people now work in retail trade and in hospitals than in the auto industry.  I wonder what he thought…

The post Yes, the auto industry is still all that appeared first on Lessenberry Ink.

Though I am a Detroiter, I have never been a big car buff.   I admire the styling of some really classic cars – especially from the 1930s. But I spend a lot of time in my car, and want it to be safe, comfortable, practical, and have whatever other features make sense. I’ve always felt…

The post Why go to the auto show? appeared first on Lessenberry Ink.

Michigan State University trustees had what they thought was a brilliant idea almost a year ago. They would appoint John Engler, the former Michigan governor, as their interim president. Their thinking wasn’t hard to figure out. Engler had been a very effective governor during his twelve years in office, and was especially skilled at bending…

The post What John Engler’s firing taught us appeared first on Lessenberry Ink.

For years, we’ve been told that the classic car with a gasoline engine, completely controlled by a human driver and a steering wheel is yesterday’s technology.  I get that. I know we are supposed to be thinking about electric or alternative fuel cars and hybrids, or better yet mass transit. But why then is the…

The post Not Dead Yet appeared first on Lessenberry Ink.

I have to confess I don’t know what kind of cars Martin Luther King Jr. drove.  I know that he had a car, because he spent a lot of time driving people to work during the famous Montgomery bus boycott following Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat. By the way, he was harassed…

The post The real Martin Luther King appeared first on Lessenberry Ink.

The North American International Auto Show is an absolutely amazing tradition; the first one was staged in 1899, at a time when almost no one had ever heard of Henry Ford. They’ve held it again every year since 1907, except for a few years during and after World War II. Since 1965, it’s been at…

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