The Metro

For more than a century, the U.S. government took Native children from their homes, cut their hair, forbade their languages and set out to erase who they were. It called them schools and Michigan had several. Reporting on them in 2021, Odawa Anishinaabe journalist Sierra Biidaaban Nadeau found 10 of her own relatives in the enrollment records — her great-grandfather, his siblings, and generations before them. Her book, "What the Ancestors Say," is out Sept. 29. Nadeau joins host Robyn Vincent to talk about what she found, who told her their stories, and what a state does with a history it has barely acknowledged. Have thoughts? Email the show at [email protected]

The Season Fair is a free non-profit contemporary art fair. This second edition of the fair is titled "Detroit Presents: Other Routes," exploring how six featured artists came into their craft and how their personal journeys shape their art, down to the non-traditional materials they use.

Amani Olu is the founder and curatorial director of Season Fair. Oshun Williams is a featured fine artist on the Detroit Presents Artist Platform. They join The Metro not only to describe the event, but also emphasize the importance of investing in art. 

The fair is at The Shepherd in Detroit, on Sept. 11-13. 

In Michigan, a local campaign believes residents can have a stronger, more representative democracy if political spending by some big-time actors is limited. The Michiganders for Money Out of Politics measure, which is now on the November ballot, would change some aspects of how money gets into the hands of politicians and political candidates. Voters decide Nov. 3, though opponents have asked the Michigan Supreme Court to block it.

Executive Committee Co-Chair for the Michiganders for Money out of Politics campaign Sean McBrearty spoke with producer and host Robyn Vincent about the consequences if the ballot measure passes.

At least 19 Michigan communities have voted to pause new data centers . The one going up south of Ann Arbor will use more electricity than a million homes and never shut off. State Rep. Jennifer Wortz, a Republican from Quincy, wants to freeze new approvals across Michigan for a year. Her bipartisan bill has sat in committee since February, and both the Republican speaker and the Democratic governor have said no. She joins host Robyn Vincent to talk about power, farmland, and who decides when a data center comes to town. Have thoughts? Email the show at [email protected]

Cartoons and Stereo Vol. 2 is back for another year.

The free festival will feature multiple local and national musical acts such as Curtis Roach, Liv. E and Kareem Riggins of GENA, Mavi, The Cool Kids, Stoop Lee and more.

Alongside a free music festival, there will be a skateboarding competition. The goal of the Cartoons and Stereo is to celebrate the intersections of music, fashion, art, skating and food.

Stoop Lee is a hip hop artist from Detroit and organizer of Cartoons and Stereo Vol.2. Lee says Detroit's hip hop scene is diverse and that needs to be uplifted. “I wanted to do something that put those two worlds together,” Lee said.

Lee joined The Metro to discuss how his music and skating represents the scene as well as the aesthetic of the city. Cartoons and Stereo is Sept. 19 at the Big Pink on Detroit’s Eastside.

This weekend is Labor Day weekend and in Motown—that means it’s time for the Detroit Jazz Fest. Dozens of acts will take the stage in Hart Plaza from Sept. 4-7.

The Detroit Jazz Fest is the world’s largest free jazz festival. This year marks the 47th time the event has been held.

Chris Collins president and director of the Detroit Jazz Fest Foundation. He joined The Metro to preview this weekend’s festivities.

Detroit voters created a board of civilian commissioners in 1974 with the power to investigate their own police department. Eleven members. Its own staff of investigators. Since May, those investigators can no longer pull body camera video themselves.

Victoria Camille represents District Seven on the oversight board. She’s circulating a petition to get that access back. Commissioner Camille spoke with The Metro's Robyn Vincent about what the police oversight board can actually do to hold cops accountable and whether some of its power has weakened.

Editor's Note: After this segment aired, the motion to limit public comment options to solely in-person attendees was rescinded. 

Since the pandemic, Michigan schools have faced a persistent problem: Students are not showing up enough to class. In Detroit public schools, the chronic absenteeism rate has been higher than the rest of the state’s. Recently, that number has been decreasing. In just one school year, chronic absenteeism dropped 10 percentage points. Even in comparison with other high-poverty school districts, a recent report shows Detroit public schools have been the most effective in the state at boosting attendance rates.

Jeremy Singer is an assistant professor of education policy and leadership at University of Michigan-Flint, and does research with Wayne State. He helped write that report, and spoke about it with The Metro's Robyn Vincent. 

In 2018, a Detroit English teacher started a healing circle in her classroom. Students wrote poetry about what had happened to them. Seven years later, healing is happening in a different space: a two-story brick house on the east side. Kids come to do laundry, use a computer, get tutored, and sit in a circle and talk. Three refrigerators stay stocked around the clock, and people come overnight — some with nowhere else to sleep.

Earlier this year the need outgrew four people. Whatever they put out was gone in a day. So they raised money and opened a free grocery store, and now they want to take it across the city.

Sirrita Darby of Detroit Heals Detroit joins host Robyn Vincent to discuss how much can be fixed outside the system, and how much has to happen within it. Have thoughts? Email the show at [email protected]

Michigan is in the national spotlight because of the state’s open U.S. Senate seat. If Democrats lose, their path to a Senate majority all but closes. The race can tell us a lot about the direction of the Democratic Party — what is seen as acceptable to voters, and what appears too extreme. Adrian Hemond is the CEO of the bipartisan advocacy firm, Grassroots Midwest, and a longtime Democrat. He spoke with The Metro's Sam Corey.

Clarification: In the conversation, Hemond said Dr. El-Sayed has associated himself with people who have committed acts of antisemitism. He did not name anyone on air, and we did not press him to at the time. We should have. WDET asked Hemond afterward for specifics and reviewed what he provided. None of it involved conduct by Dr. El-Sayed, and we found no evidence supporting the claim as stated.