In March 2025, President Donald Trump passed an executive order to “restore truth and sanity” to American history. His administration has pressured the removal of “negative history”— which often surrounds the historic struggles of people of color—while restoring Confederate statues.

Meanwhile, a Detroit artist may be the first to create an outdoor public monument to honor Civil Rights leader Malcolm X. 

Mario Moore is a multi-disciplinary artist from Detroit whose works are on display in museums and galleries across the country, including the Detroit Institute of Arts. He has a goal of erecting a 14-foot statue of Malcolm X. He believes Detroit is the perfect place to honor his life.

Moore was a student at Malcolm X Academy in the 90’s, where he learned why the leader fought for human rights. He remembers fondly mobs of angry adults, deeming the school bad for the community. The school even received death threats.

Moore plans to build a park that will be the permanent home for the monument in the Dexter/Linwood community. It’s a few blocks from Temple No. 1, where X practiced Islam.

He joined The Metro to discuss how his works are a mode of historical preservation and conversation starters.

Right now, the project is in its infancy, with a quarter of the funding raised. To support Moore and the Malcolm X Plaza, visit Canfield Consortium to learn more.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and stream on-demand. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Michigan’s governor says the state needs to stay the course on education policy. In recent years, the state has changed its reading curriculum, offered free school meals to everyone and paid for literacy coaches. 
But the latest reading scores show slight declines across the state in the percentage of students in grades 3-8 who are reading at grade level.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer says the rather than making big frequent changes the state needs to focus on strategies it knows work. This school year, the state is changing how it funds districts based on the number of “at-risk” students they serve. 

The governor also indicated she is waiting to decide whether to opt in to the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit. The program offers tax breaks for donations to organizations that grant scholarships to low-income students.

Opponents say the program violate the prohibition against giving public money to private schools that voters have supported several times. Michigan is one of 15 states that still hasn’t decided whether to join the program-despite calls from Republicans. 

Whitmer says she’s still waiting on details from the U.S. Treasury Department about how the program would work. 

Additional headlines for Sept. 9, 2026

SMART plans expansion

SMART is preparing to expand bus service into additional Metro Detroit communities after voters approved countywide transit funding while public transit usage is increasing, according to new data. 

The agency’s report shows ridership rose about 25% over the past year. The SMART system currently operates 45 fixed routes across Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. The agency plans to extend service into communities that previously opted out of the regional bus system.

SMART has proposed adding eight new routes and five extensions. New routes have been proposed for the Telegraph, Middlebelt,and Seven Mile corridors, as well as the return of SMART service to Hamtramck. Saturday routes will also be added for the first time since cuts in 2011. 

Detroit home repair programs

Applications for the Detroit home repair programs opened today. The Critical Home Repair option is open to owned homes with children under 18, seniors over 62 or residents with a documented disability. The Detroit LeadSafe program serves families who own or rent their homes with children under age 6 or with a pregnant woman in the home.

Both programs have income eligibility requirements and are only available to homes where property taxes are up to date or being paid through a payment plan. For more information, call 866-313-2520 or email hhfsHomeRepair@detroitmi.gov. 

Art explores how Detroiters view home

Tomorrow is the opening reception for “Where We Belong: The Architecture of Home” at the Boulevard. The reception and exhibit explore the question of who gets to call Detroit home. Thursday’s event offers music, food and conversation as well as art.

On Saturday, Outlier Media’s Orlando Bailey will conduct “special interviews” exploring concepts of home, neighborhood, memory and belonging. On Sunday, the exhibit holds the conversation it calls “Building Belonging” with three Detroiters working in place, people and the built environment.

The exhibit runs through Sept. 20. For more information, visit abayomicdc.org/wwb. 

Stevie Wonder in Detroit

Stevie Wonder is planning a stop in Detroit this fall as a part of a tour celebrating the 50^th Anniversary of his album “Songs in the Key of Life.” The legend will play the Fox Theatre on Dec. 8-9.

Tickets go on sale on Sept. 15 at 10 a.m. at 313presents.com, livenation.com and ticketmaster.com. 

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

What’s behind Majesty Hope Blands’ woven purpose?

A native Detroiter, Bland is a seamstress, tailor and fiber artist. As an alum of the College for Creative Studies and ISAIC, Bland has taken what she’s learned and tested its limits.

Bland creates one-of-one pieces that invite people to reconsider their relationship with their clothes.

Working with upcycled materials and whatever is around her at the moment, Bland sees resourcefulness not as a gimmick, but as a way of life.

In this episode, we learn a little more about Majesty Hope Bland.

CONTAINER On The Metro is a WDET produced storytelling series that brings Detroit’s creative heartbeat to the airwaves. 

CONTAINER is a program created by The Love Building. Its goal is to showcase Detroit’s creative talent across music, fashion, fine arts and food. Done in collaboration with WDET Public Radio with major support from the Gilbert Family Foundation.

Subscribe to Container on The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

In 2008, Damon DeWitt was 25, living in Miami. It was an election year, Barack Obama was running on a platform for change, and the city was electric — celebrities giving speeches on soapboxes in South Beach.

He was working two jobs and trying to figure out whether he was actually going to be an artist. So he made himself a deal: he’d paint every American president, and if he still wanted to make art at the end of it, he’d keep going.

Forty-five portraits later, each one in a different style, his series “Dads of Democracy” is on display.

It’s at Wayne State University’s Hilberry Gateway Gallery — in Detroit, in an election year, in the 250th year of the Declaration of Independence.

Damon DeWitt joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss the presidency, American power, and the connection between art and politics.

Editor’s Note: The collection is on loan to Wayne State from Mary Zatina and Kevin Prihod. Mary Zatina is WDET’s general manager.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

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

Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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