Over the decades, the city of Detroit gained an identity of being a dangerous place where beautiful things did not happen. The image of the city being blighted with eyesores and vacant lots often overshadowed the residents trying to maintain those communities. 

There are some in the city who have pushed against that narrative and have worked to showcase Detroit in all of its facets. A lot of those folks are artists. From painters to weavers and knitters to muralists, all have found ways to use their work to uplift the city that raised them. 

It's beyond beautifying neighborhoods and business walls, it's creating paths for economic growth as well. 

One of those people making a statement through art is Sydney James. You know her work very well, from the Girl with a D earring located on the Chroma building in Detroit off W. Grand Blvd.

Sydney is a visual artist, painter and muralist and co-founder of BLCKOUT Walls. The free block party is a celebration of Detroit and the powerful impact art can have on culture. 

The Metro’s Tia Graham spoke with Sydney James about BLCKOUT Walls and the economic power of creatives in Detroit. 

Under the Trump administration, the space for diversity, equity, and inclusion is shrinking. Federal dollars are drying up, and programs that once opened doors are disappearing. In some places, even the idea of equity is depicted as a problem.

Practitioners of restorative practices say that's why it matters so much right now. But restorative justice is not DEI. It does not sit in a binder or hide inside a grant report. It lives in people — survivors and those who have caused harm sitting together, telling the truth, trying to mend what was broken. It is harder to measure, but also harder to erase, because it is built on relationships.

While restorative justice is not the same as DEI, both often speak to the same communities — those historically marginalized by race, class, or circumstance. Where DEI seeks to create fairer systems, restorative justice offers a way to repair harm when those systems fall short.

Angel McKissic has been doing this work for years. She is a psychotherapist, a researcher, and the founder of the Metro Detroit Restorative Justice Network. Now, as director of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at Wayne State Law, she trains Detroiters to bring these practices into schools, courtrooms, and neighborhoods. Her work reminds us that justice is not just punishment. It can also be healing and accountability.

She joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to demystify some of the haze around restorative justice and why she believes it could transform Detroit communities and the criminal justice system more broadly.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

September is Suicide Prevention Month, a time to bring attention to a crisis that touches far too many families.

This month is a reminder that life can feel overwhelming as we juggle family, work, friends, and everything in between. Too often, what gets left behind is our own well-being. And when mental health goes unaddressed, the consequences can be devastating.

Suicide rates in the U.S. climbed between 2000 and 2018, dipped briefly, and remain elevated today. On average, one person dies by suicide every 11 minutes. Behind those numbers are real people—neighbors, loved ones, friends—whose struggles too often remain invisible until it’s too late.

Lori Edelson, a psychotherapist and the owner of Birmingham Maple Clinic, joined the show to raise awareness and share how we can spot the warning signs.  

When who we are and what we believe in conflicts with the traditions that we’re raised in, life broadly leaves us three choices: we can change who we are to fit the tradition, we can leave the tradition behind, or we can try to change the tradition to fit our ideals.

That last choice requires courage. Change is not easy, and when it comes to a tradition like religion, many become upset when people start tinkering with how things are done. 

But that’s exactly what Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie has been doing. The rabbi who runs an alternative Jewish synagogue in New York City came up in Israel under a lineage of orthodox rabbis. But Rabbi Lau-Lavie and his congregation don’t practice orthodox Judaism, they’re doing something unique. 

The new documentary, “Sabbath Queen” explores the life of Rabbi Lau-Lavie and more. Tomorrow, the rabbi will be at an event at the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in Detroit. The film will be screening Sunday at the DIA. 

Sandi DuBowski is the filmmaker. He spoke with Cary Junior II.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

When who we are and what we believe in conflicts with the traditions that we’re raised in, life broadly leaves us three choices: we can change who we are to fit the tradition, we can leave the tradition behind, or we can try to change the tradition to fit our ideals.

That last choice requires courage. Change is not easy, and when it comes to a tradition like religion, many become upset when people start tinkering with how things are done. 

But that’s exactly what Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie has been doing. The rabbi who runs an alternative Jewish synagogue in New York City came up in Israel under a lineage of orthodox rabbis. But Rabbi Lau-Lavie and his congregation don’t practice orthodox Judaism, they’re doing something unique. 

The new documentary, “Sabbath Queen” explores the life of Rabbi Lau-Lavie and more. Tomorrow, the rabbi will be at an event at the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue in Detroit. The film will be screening Sunday at the DIA. 

Sandi DuBowski is the filmmaker. He spoke with Cary Junior II.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

The future of a nearly 100-year-old dam in Flat Rock, MI will be determined tomorrow. The board of commissioners for Huron-Clinton Metroparks, who owns the dam, will vote on its long-term plans for the structure at 1 p.m. on Thursday, September 11 at Willow Metropark. Community members and elected officials oppose removing the century-old Flat Rock Dam.

Brad Booth of the Flat Rock Dam Coalition joined The Metro to discuss.

The University of Michigan is ending gender-affirming care for minors, leaving an untold number of families with fewer options and greater uncertainty.

Gender-affirming care for minors is legal in Michigan, and major medical and mental-health associations recognize it as best practice. Research links it to lower depression and suicide risk. 

But a Michigan Medicine spokesperson said in a prepared statement that the risks of offering this care are now too high. This comes after it received a federal subpoena as part of a criminal and civil investigation into gender-affirming care for minors.

“We recognize the gravity and impact of this decision for our patients and our community. We are working closely with all those impacted,” the statement reads.

The announcement represents a profound loss for families. For some young people, it means a place they felt safe and could trust is closing its doors. And the consequences are real: more anxiety, more depression, greater risk of suicide.

Equality Michigan’s Emme Zanotti joined Robyn Vincent to discuss the impacts on Michigan families. Zanotti, a trans woman, also took off her advocate hat to reflect on the personal reverberations she feels at this moment.

Michigan Medicine did not respond to an email request about the number of patients who will be affected and how the hospital plans to assist patients during this transition. 

Editor's Note: After this conversation aired, Corewell Health, a major healthcare provider in Michigan, also announced the end of its gender-affirming care. 

The thriving Detroit film scene continues to produce fan favorite shows and movies, which can often be found on Tubi and Youtube. The local artists and creators in Detroit continue to do what they can with what they have.

Resources and access to them are limited, but the City of Detroit wants to make a change. 

The city is offering a new initiative to support local film creators called Film Detroit. They want to attract actors, production assistants, directors and more while providing them the chance to connect and learn about what the city has to offer.

This Wednesday September 10th, the city is hosting its first Film Detroit outreach session which will include food, music and networking. 

Chantal Cook is the program coordinator for Film Detroit. She joins The Metro to speak more about Detroit's film community.

Detroit’s industrialization often cuts people off from various spaces with its grey infrastructure — roads with wide lanes, large, corporate plants, and several highways. 

That’s why some are excited about the Joe Louis Greenway. When completed, the project will wrap itself around the city, stretching 29 miles and connecting 23 Detroit neighborhoods with bike and pedestrian paths. 

But the Greenway doesn’t have all the funds it needs yet. That’s why it was a big deal that the Knight Foundation recently gave the project $7 million dollars to continue its construction. 

Leona Medley is the executive director of the Joe Louis Greenway Partnership. She spoke with Robyn Vincent.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Social service agencies, particularly government and nonprofit ones, rely on money from the federal government to feed people, provide healthcare, and cover housing payments. And since federal cuts from both the Trump administration and the Big Beautiful Bill, many local organizations are concerned about the future of their operations.

That includes the Community Housing Network, which helps people get housing in Macomb and Oakland counties. 

How has it been reacting to federal funding cuts? And, what does homelessness look like in the suburbs, especially as it’s been rising over the past five years? 

Kirsten Elliott, the president of Community Housing Network nonprofit, spoke with producer Sam Corey about that and more.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.