Life is becoming less affordable for Michiganders. And in Lansing, despite the constraints they face, many believe lawmakers are not doing enough to change that for residents. 

With state Senator Erika Geiss term limited out of her seat, two Democrats are now vying to improve life for residents in parts of Detroit and Downriver.

Justin Onwenu is running as a Democrat for District 1’s state Senate. He spoke about what he wants to change with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.

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Four years in, the war in Sudan has produced the largest displacement crisis in the world. Nearly 14 million people have been forced from their homes. Both the United States government and a United Nations fact-finding mission have called the violence a genocide, citing a coordinated campaign by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces against the Zaghawa and Fur communities of Darfur.

In the United States, the response has been quiet.

Khadega Mohammed has spent much of her life trying to say something about that silence — through poetry, community organizing, and her work at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, where she is the only Sudanese person and the only Black person on staff.

Born in Sudan, raised in Saudi Arabia, and resettled in the United States with her family in 2007, Mohammed is a spoken word artist whose signature poem, “Between,” opens the PBS AfroPoP documentary “Revolution from Afar.”

She joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to talk about the Sudan she remembers, the America she lives in, and the in-between where her poetry was born.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

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Metro Detroit’s infrastructure is old. Many of the homes people live in, the streets they drive on, and the drainage systems they use were constructed many decades ago. And most of that infrastructure is considered gray — it’s made of concrete, steel, and asphalt. 

That material is sturdy. But it’s less helpful for navigating extreme weather, especially flooding. The good news is that across metro Detroit, green infrastructure projects are cropping up. 

What do those look like? Why do they matter? And, how can more residents create green infrastructure projects to prevent flooding, and beautify their communities? 

Jim Nash is the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner. He spoke with host Robyn Vincent.

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In 2019, Michigan’s largest utility ended what’s called net metering. That meant if you had solar panels, you no longer got full credit for the extra energy you sent back to the grid. So, instead of getting a dollar’s worth of credit, you might get 30 cents.

But in Ann Arbor, this didn’t slow down rooftop solar, or make it less attractive financially. Solar installations exploded there —from 17 per year before 2019 to 180 per year since 2020.

This is partly because of a program called Solarize — neighbors banding together to get group discounts on solar installations. Now it has spread across metro Detroit.

Julie Roth launched Solarize. Today, she’s the energy manager at the city of Ann Arbor’s Office of Sustainability and Innovations. She spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.

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Usually, they are found in school gymnasiums or church fellowship rooms. Voting booths are among the most intimate spaces in American democracy.

The process is typically quiet and quick, and it is supposed to be equal. But this is not the case for people with disabilities. A new report published by Detroit Disability Power documents just how often there are barriers at the voting booth, and why it keeps getting worse.

1 in 4 Americans has a disability. In Michigan, that number is nearly 1 in 3. Yet this new report finds only 10% of the polling places assessed in 2025 were fully accessible. That’s down from 13% in the previous report covering the 2024 elections and 16% in the report covering the 2022 elections.

Detroit Disability Power has now audited more than 1,000 polling places across metro Detroit. Trained volunteers have visited precincts during early voting, primaries, and on Election Day, carrying a checklist and a mission: ensure the law is being followed.

Eric Welsby is the advocacy director at Detroit Disability Power. He serves on the Michigan Bureau of Elections’ Voting System Advisory Committee for Accessible Elections, and was recently appointed by Governor Whitmer to the Michigan Developmental Disabilities Council.

Bakpak Durden is a Detroit-born artist, disability advocate, and one of the people who actually show up to do the audits — at roughly 100 polling sites and counting.

They joined Robyn Vincent to discuss why the number of accessible polling locations continues to shrink and what it feels like to be part of a community treated like an afterthought.

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When President Donald Trump took office, he promised to crack down on immigration. He’s done that. 

Since January of 2025, at least 2,400 immigrants were arrested in Michigan alone. But President Trump and immigration officials are not following an orderly process. Officials are often skirting the law, or violating it. 

This was visible months ago in Minneapolis, when masked ICE agents shot and killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti and thousands took to the streets. Here in Michigan, the work of ICE is harder to spot. But due to action in the courts, we’ve been learning more. 

Federal judges recently ruled that hundreds of people in Michigan were unconstitutionally detained as they never had a chance of being released on bond. 

For its part, the administration says it’s detaining the “worst of the worst.” But in many cases, non-citizens without a criminal record have been detained. 

So, what do ICE arrests and detentions look like in metro Detroit? What are the stories of those who’ve been detained? How are local police involved in the work? And, who’s fighting back? 

Violet Ikonomova is an investigative reporter for the Detroit Free Press. She spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.

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Automakers and auto suppliers are a huge part of metro Detroit’s economy. And they will likely have to change as the war unfolds. 

As America’s strikes against Iran continue, and the Strait of Hormuz remains in question, gas prices are rising, and more people are thinking about purchasing an electric vehicle. 

But despite interest, how much will EV sales actually increase for companies like Ford, GM and Stellantis — especially as car sales in general have plummeted over the past few decades?

John McElroy is an automotive analyst with Autoline. He spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.

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The economy has undergone many drastic changes over the years. If you’re a millennial, change and chaos have been commonplace.

The Great Recession hit in the late aughts, reducing wealth. About ten years later, the pandemic occurred, causing many to stay at home and others to risk their health at work. Inflation deepened during President Joe Biden’s time in office. President Trump enacted tariffs. And now, the U.S. and Israel are at war with Iran. 

It’s hard to gauge all the consequences of this latest shock, but it’s a continuation of one thing: uncertainty. 

Rising gas prices and supply chain disruptions are now among the challenges small businesses must navigate. It might be why over half of small businesses owners in Michigan say they’re making operational changes to prepare for a recession, according to a recent survey. 

Which small businesses are hit hardest by the war in Iran and its disruptions? And, what could make them more resilient in the face of chaos?

Mark Lee is the president and CEO of The Lee Group, where he consults with small businesses across Southeast Michigan. He spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.

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