The Metro

Wayne State University is opening the city’s first standalone School of Public Health. The school is designed to train health care professionals who will embed in Detroit’s neighborhoods. Construction is set to begin this fall on a $200 million dollar health sciences research building, with community input central to the operation.

Dr. Bernard Costello, Wayne State’s senior vice president for health affairs, is utilizing this opportunity as a tool to lead an effort to reignite public trust in Detroit health institutions via real and equitable change. Knowing Detroiters struggle with chronic illnesses and limited access to care, he joined The Metro to talk about what opening this school means for our community.

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

It's been more than 50 years since the first Pride march took place in New York City in 1970, commemorating the one-year anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Riots.

Known as the Stonewall Uprising, a police raid on the New York City gay bar the Stonewall Inn led to a six-day clash between police and the LGBTQ+ community.

Pride celebrations look very different in the U.S. today, says Alejandra Márquez, assistant professor of Spanish and gender and sexuality researcher at Michigan State University. 

She says the commercialization of Pride Month in the '90s helped to expand LGBTQ visibility and representation in those communities, but it has also caught the attention of corporations and others seeking to monetize the movement. 

Marquez joined The Metro to discuss LGBTQ+ representation in the U.S. and Latin America and how Pride celebrations have changed over the years.

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

There are a few candidates running as outsiders in Detroit’s mayoral election. They say they aren’t typical politicians and that they plan to prioritize the needs of residents in neighborhoods first. Joel Haashiim is one of those outsiders.

He’s a businessman who first opened a store on Seven Mile and Hartwell Street at the age of 20. Now, the 73-year-old is running on a platform to stop billionaires like Dan Gilbert and the Ilitch family from controlling local politics. Haashim says he wants to put power into people's hands. To do this, he says he wants to bring back “Citizens’ District Councils,” and start a public bank. 

Haashiim joined The Metro to share more about his platform and priorities for the city if elected Detroit's next mayor.

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

Come November, Detroit residents will decide who will lead the city into its next chapter. Nine candidates and a write-in say they have a path forward.

Former Detroit Police Chief James Craig is among them. Serving as chief from 2013 to 2021, he helped speed up police response times and implemented “Project Green Light” for businesses to get police attention more quickly, among other accomplishments. Craig also served as police chief in both Cincinnati and Portland, Maine.

After retiring from law enforcement, Craig ran for governor in 2022 on the Republican ticket, but was removed from the ballot due to alleged fraudulent signatures on his nominating petitions. He also ran for a Michigan U.S. Senate seat last year, but suspended his campaign after it failed to gain momentum.

Now, Craig is the only Republican candidate running for mayor of Detroit, and he says he'd use his experience rooting out waste in government to increase efficiency and utilize city resources better. 

He joined The Metro on Tuesday to talk about his mayoral bid and what sets him apart. Only two candidates will move forward to November's general election following the Aug. 5 primary.

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

Christian Vincent joins us on The Metro to talk about Noah’s Arc, the 2005 TV drama centered on a group of queer Black men, and the impact it’s had on media.

Christian, who plays Ricky in the series, is also a dancer and choreographer who grew up just across the river in Windsor, Ontario. He joins us to discuss the Noah’s Arc universe—and how his time living, training, and working in Detroit helped shape his journey.

Located in the Cass Corridor, Roar Brewery is gearing up for its grand opening. Detroit is known for its many exports, and beer happens to be one of those significant Detroit staples, playing an important role in our city.

Roar Brewery plans to add to the legacy that is Detroit beer as a Black-owned brewery, opening its doors next month. Founder and US veteran Evan Fay wants to make sure Roar is a space the community can feel at home, and he joins us on The Metro today to welcome us in.

On Saturday, as millions of people protested what they see as President Trump’s federal overreach, an assassin allegedly killed a former Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband. The victims were on a manifesto with about 70 names connected to abortion rights advocates and Democratic officials.

Historian Jeremi Suri says this tension and violence is nothing new, reminiscent of the assassination of Lincoln, the social upheaval of the 1960s, even the January 6th Insurrection and its aftershocks. He joins us on The Metro today to give us more on how history repeats itself, and what this violence means for our democracy.

Come November, Detroit residents will decide who among them will lead the city into its next chapter by taking Mike Duggan’s place as mayor.

Today’s episode of The Metro features Todd Perkins, one of the ten mayoral candidates, as well as an Attorney, Founder and owner of The Perkins Law Group. He speaks with our host Tia Graham about what he thinks makes him the one for the job.

We’re coming off a powerful weekend of action. Millions of people in hundreds of cities were united in “No Kings” protests that swept the country. 

Americans were out to condemn what many see as President Donald Trump’s federal overreach, aggressive anti‑immigrant enforcement, and a military parade that celebrated him and the U.S. Army. 

In Los Angeles, protesters have been out for days and Trump responded with a page from the authoritarian playbook. He deployed thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of active-duty Marines onto the streets of L.A. On Friday, for the first time in recent history, military personnel temporarily detained a civilian.

Here in Detroit, thousands raised their voices at Clark Park, shouting “down with deportations.” Local advocates say ICE agents recently arrested a Venezuelan family in Southwest Detroit moments after their asylum hearing was dismissed. At the McNamara federal courthouse, asylum seekers were detained just as judges ended their proceedings. 

That tactic — attend your immigration hearing and risk arrest — is becoming common.

An almost-graduated Detroit high school student was also detained during a traffic stop on his way to a school field trip. He was deported last week despite many calls from the community urging officials to let him temporarily stay. 

To help us think about this moment, we’re joined by attorney and professor Sabrina Balgamwalla. She’s the director of the Asylum and Immigration Law Clinic at Wayne State University. 

As Detroit’s mayoral race begins to take shape, residents will have to decide which candidates will address the issues most important to them. The candidates have outlined the issues they believe will improve the lives of Detroit residents, but what do residents and community leaders believe needs to be addressed by the next mayor?

Cindy Gamboa is the Executive director of MI Poder- a non profit civic engagement organization that services Michigan’s Latino population- and she’s joined  The Metro today to shed light on the subject.