Detroit

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8373243

The security company [Renaissance Center Management Company] was created by General Motors Corp. to patrol the property and is majority-owned by G4S Secure Solutions, an international security company based in Florida, according to court documents filed last year.

Officers from the security company in 2017 made headlines with the alleged assault of another Black man in a high-profile incident. Detroit rapper Obie Trice III said he was maced, handcuffed, beaten and dragged through the Marriott inside the RenCen to a small room where water was poured over his nose and mouth, choking him.

Surveillance video viewed by the Free Press shows [plaintiff Demarko] Brown talking with the officers in the Marriott driveway before an officer jumps him, joined by several other officers who hold him down. During the incident, Brown’s head was slammed against the concrete. The video did not include audio of the incident.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8372540

David Ramsey, actor best known for TV's Arrowverse character John Diggle and accomplished Jeet Kune Do athlete, was born today in Detroit in 1971.

Lookin' good, David! 🎂🥳🎉 Happy Birthday, Mr Ramsey! 🎉🥳🎂

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8320864

Although I must admit my first love for this kind of thing is Rockefeller Center, it wins only by a (red) nose. Ho ho ho! 🎅🦌

Further reading:

• While you're there at Cadillac Square, oohing and aahing, Downtown Detroit Markets & The Cadillac Lodge
• Only about a half a mile away...Light Up Beacon Park! Do the walk -- it's good for your heart and your soul!
• Get your Tonya on! Nov 18 -- Detroit's iconic ice skating rink at Campus Martius opens!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8281583

Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield is spearheading an effort to create new incentives for construction contractors that provide health insurance and retirement benefits or participate in registered apprenticeship programs. The ordinance would offer new “equalization credits” that give qualifying companies a better chance of winning bids for city contracts. Some Detroit small business owners are worried the changes will shift preference toward suburban contractors that work with unions.

“This ordinance is not a push to get contractors to become unionized,” the council president told BridgeDetroit in a Thursday interview. “I’m a huge supporter of union contractors and union work, but that’s not what this is about. It’s strictly about the employee and how they are treated.”

[Charity] Dean said she’s had frustrations with the council introducing proposals without consulting her organization [Metro Detroit Black Business Alliance], which represents 1,200 Black-owned businesses. She said the proposed ordinance is a chance to look at other reforms to procurement policies in Detroit, and small businesses should have a greater say in potential changes.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8252596

Harper's report showing no bank account or income came after his campaign reported the actor has self-funded his Senate bid this year by donating and loaning his campaign about $463,000 total through Sept. 30.

Jordan Libowitz, communications director at the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, D.C., said it's "weird" that Harper, a prominent actor, doesn't appear to have much in assets based on his report.

"It’s not that unusual for a first-time candidate who is not from the political sphere to mess up on these. If he did — and you want to give him the benefit of the doubt — he needs to be correcting them."

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8251985

Latest records from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show 237,099 Detroiters were employed in September, up by nearly 10,000 from September 2022, marking the first time employment among residents exceeded pre-pandemic levels. In October 2019, 236,128 Detroiters were employed, which was the most recent high. Duggan touted the growth of 30,000 new jobs since taking office in January 2014.

Detroit's unemployment rate dropped to 4.2% in April from 5.8% in March. [Mayor Mike] Duggan added that one of his early goals was to create programs that would give Detroiters preference for jobs.

"Most jobs in Detroit were actually held by suburbanites, and most Detroiters who went to work actually went to work in the suburbs. We said, 'This is wrong, we want to create jobs in Detroit,'" Duggan said.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8213471

Under the proposed plan, 97% of Detroit homeowners would get a permanent property tax cut starting in 2025, if the state and local officials approve the legislation. The plan would then go to Detroit voters for approval.

Taxes on vacant land, however, would more than double from 85 mills to 189 mills to punish property owners who have allowed it to fall into disrepair, creating eyesores in Detroit neighborhoods.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8158812

Born today in Detroit in 1978, three-time MSU letterman Renaldo Hill played professionally for four different NFL teams during his 10-year career before leaving his Defensive Back position for the Denver Broncos in 2011. Mr Hill is presently the Pass Game Coordinator and Defensive Backs Coach for the Miami Dolphins after coaching many NFL and college teams.

Happy 44th Birthday, Mr Hill!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8143700

This talented lady and Detroit native, commemorated twice on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, was a 20^th^ century cultural touchstone no less than three times in her long career...

• winning an Academy Award for her iconic role as Stella in Kazan's 1951 film version of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, the role she played in the original Broadway production
• getting (literally) into the skin of Prof. Zira of the original 1968 Planet of The Apes movie series ("...but you're so damned ugly.")
• adding that Emmy Award nominated touch of class to classic daytime soap opera The Edge of Night as Nola Madison

Ms Hunter, born today in 1922, would have celebrated her 100^th^ birthday but, unfortunately, passed away September 11, 2002.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8142443

Feed your face for a good cause!

Visit over 25 top Detroit restaurants during November 12 - 16 to experience 3-course meals for $20, $35, $50 and/or$75. Let’s Do Dinner Detroit presented by Stella Artois features delicious food at discounted prices while supporting Forgotten Harvest.

For every Let’s Do Dinner Detroit meal served, Forgotten Harvest receives a donation that provides 8 meals to individuals and families in need.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8114448

In case you are remiss in your music history…

In 1971, Coffey recorded "Scorpio" which was a million selling instrumental single that peaked in the US at number nine on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart and at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. The instrumental track featured the former Motown "funk brother", Bob Babbitt on bass. On January 8, 1972 Coffey became the first white artist to perform on the television show Soul Train, playing "Scorpio". "Scorpio" received a gold disc awarded by the Recording Industry Association of America on December 9, 1971.

Everybody knows Scorpio! Happy 82^nd^ Birthday, Mr Coffey!

• Dennis Coffey @ Wikipedia
• The Temptations (Coffey on guitar) -- Cloud 9 (1969)
• Dennis Coffey and The Detroit Guitar Band -- Scorpio (1971)
• Dennis Coffey and The Detroit Guitar Band -- Taurus

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8077220

"Whatupdoe…Come and get your glizzies."

Diamond — that's her business name — had worked as a stripper in many 8 Mile clubs, with the stage name of, you guessed it, Diamond. But a 2010 car accident on the Lodge Freeway changed her life, and she started making her living by hustling in a different way.

After the accident left her with a broken foot, Diamond spent some time in Arizona, where she noticed that taco trucks and other food vendors were raking in the dough. “I could do this in Detroit,” she thought.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8076190

60 years ago today…

“What you and I need to do is learn to forget our differences. When we come together, we don’t come together as Baptists or Methodists…You don’t catch hell because you’re a Baptist, and you don’t catch hell because you’re a Methodist. You don’t catch hell ’cause you’re a Methodist or Baptist. You don’t catch hell because you’re a Democrat or a Republican. You don’t catch hell because you’re a Mason or an Elk, and you sure don’t catch hell because you’re an American; because if you were an American, you wouldn’t catch hell. You catch hell because you’re a Black man. You catch hell, all of us catch hell, for the same reason.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8051549

Tonight at 7:00pm and a Sunday matinée at the lavish Detroit Film Theatre.

[Jean-Luc] Godard’s foray into lush color and CinemaScope moviemaking stars the great Michel Piccoli as a screenwriter caught in a tangle of deceit and ambition between a difficult, demanding director (Fritz Lang), a crude, snarling American producer (Jack Palance), and his disillusioned wife (Brigitte Bardot), as he attempts to doctor the script for an adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey.

• Contempt at Wikipedia

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/8051187

...Draw with them!

Today and Sunday, The DIA hosts another Drop-In Workshop: Drawing with Scissors, that allows attendees to get their Matisse on...without all the downsides, of course!

Explore the art of collage and create your own unique work using just paper, scissors, and glue, inspired by Henri Matisse's Jazz series on view in the special exhibition After Cubism.

Free with admission; all supplies provided.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/7982630

Non-Detroit-specific post. Sue me.

Today is just one facepalm after another, folks...

The U.S. Supreme Court in June 2022 ruled abortion laws must be left up to the states, overturning a half-century of federal abortion protections and spurring Michigan voters to approve Proposal 3 in the November 2022 general election, adding the right of a woman to terminate a pregnancy to Michigan's constitution.

In a statement Wednesday, Stacey LaRouche, [Gov. Gretchen] Whitmer's press secretary, said the governor would work to defeat the lawsuit.

"It shouldn’t be lost on people that these right-wing organizations and radical Republicans in the Michigan Legislature are cherry picking courts to try to once again overturn a constitutionally guaranteed right because they can’t win with voters," LaRouche said.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/7962634

Mayor Pro Tem Mohammed Hassan, one of three incumbent [Hamtramck] city councilmen running for reelection, was the top vote-getter among the six candidates, according to results from the city clerk.

Hassan drew national scrutiny earlier this year when he introduced a council resolution in June passed unanimously that banned the display of LGBTQ+ flags on city property. The resolution was passed and since then, Hamtramck has seen a wave of attacks against LGBTQ+ flags, symbols and people, according to residents and activists.

Hassan refused to comment Tuesday afternoon while outside a polling site at Hamtramck High School, saying he does not talk to the media. Hassan has not returned emails and phone calls from the Free Press this year about his flag resolution or other issues in Hamtramck.

Further reading:

• Detroit News: Hamtramck's 'neutral' flag ordinance sparks federal lawsuit
• Hamtramck City Council candidate doubles down on comments about Holocaust, child marriage, and homosexuality

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/7957584

As if you didn't know, Detroit-born Ms Shakoor (born Jeanette McGruder) is host of Detroit Public Television's long-running Detroit Performs: Live from Marygrove and one of The Brides of Funkenstein. Singer, musician, comedienne, actress, writer, storyteller, Ms Shakoor is also a 2017 Kresge Literary Arts Fellow.

• The Brides of Funkenstein: Didn't Mean to Fall in Love

Happiest Birthday, Ms Shakoor! 🥳🎂🎉❤

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/7835156

The Free Press reported police radios in scout cars, precinct stations and patrol wagons heard the message from headquarters: “Attention all cars, Gordie Howe’s new record is 545.”

“People have asked me what was my greatest moment in hockey, and I always say it was that goal,” Mark Howe said in an interview. “The ovation just went on like it seemed forever. I remember thinking, ‘I’m the only one in here who can say, ‘that’s my dad.’ ”

…when they came across LeRoy Foster’s “Renaissance City” — a large-scale painting that had been displayed in the cafeteria — they knew they had to save it, too. They rolled the painting up, got the hell out of there, and stored it on top of a cabinet at the new Cass Tech erected next door…

That was back in 2006, shortly after the former Cass Tech closed in 2005. As far as most Detroiters and legions of former “Technicians” were concerned, “Renaissance City” had been lost in the rubble when the old building was torn down.

Further reading…

• Cranbrook Art Museum: Skilled Labor: Black Realism in Detroit, Oct. 28, 2023 – March 3, 2024

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/7766045

“The scale of the tree is a bit of an optical illusion. It must look appropriately sized within the grandness of the skyline but also it needs to be strong, symmetrical, and able to hold the 7-foot star on top"

[David] Cowan [chief public spaces officer for the Downtown Detroit Partnership] said their organization has supported the transformation of Campus Martius Park, which now ranks as the No. 1 Public Square in the U.S. according to USA TODAY, for 20 years.

Oooh...pretty...

The official lighting of the Campus Martius tree is Nov. 17.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/7726471

Nasr Hussain, who is among six people running for Hamtramck City Council, suggested on Facebook on Monday that the Holocaust was “advance punishment” for Israel’s “savagery” against Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war.

“She was betrothed at six, marriage consummated at nine after reaching puberty and giving her consent,” Hussain wrote in response to a news story about a child getting married to an adult man. “Women reach puberty between 8 and 12. If she was ok with it and her parents were ok with it why does it bother you.”

In response to a WXYZ-TV story about a mother and son who were charged with kidnapping for taking a teenager to get an abortion, Hussain wrote, “15 years old [SIC] can’t get married but she can get sexually assaulted, kidnapped, and forced to have an abortion. Liberal logic!!!”

---

Further reading:

• Detroit News: Hamtramck candidate's post suggests Holocaust was 'advance punishment' for Gaza attack
• Some in Hamtramck concerned over antisemitic Facebook post by city council candidate

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/7578769

[G.C.] Cameron, 78, a Detroit native who still lives here, is not being inducted with the Spinners.

That irresistible, pleading lead voice of G.C.’s on “It’s a Shame” — he goes into a passionate falsetto at various points that could give Marvin Gaye pause — brought the group its first post-doo-wop hit in 1970, thanks to the songwriting and producing skill of Stevie Wonder, as well as the earworm guitar riff from a Funk Brother (reportedly Dennis Coffey) — that voice is not included?

Drama, romance, politics, geography...it all plays into the story, while we all yawn and say, "who gives a rat's ass about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame anyway?"