Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and the Green Party’s Jill Stein are tied at around 29%, with 16% of Muslim voters stating they are undecided and 11% planning to vote for former President Donald Trump.
CAIR conducted the election survey two days after the Democratic National Convention ended last month. The organization said 1,500 people responded to the survey out of a random sample of 40,000 Muslim voters across the nation.
The survey results show that Stein has more support in Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan — while Harris is favored in Georgia and Pennsylvania.
There are an estimated 2.5 million registered Muslim voters in the United States.
More headlines for Sept. 9, 2024:
American Muslim Diversity Association breaks ground mosque expansion in Sterling Heights
D’Artillery hosting global artisan pop-up experiences in Hamtramck
ArabCon kicks off this week at the Ford Performing Arts Center in Dearborn
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On the latest episode of the Detroit Evening Report Weekends, Sascha Raiyn spends some time with Garrett Dempsey of Detroit Outdoors.
Detroit Outdoors is a collaboration between the Sierra Club, the city of Detroit and the YMCA, focused on exposing Detroit youth to the outdoors.
This summer, the organization took a group of students to Yosemite National Park to camp, hike and rock climb. But the trip was centered around the history of the Buffalo Soldiers in the National Parks, and the Detroit native who is the park service’s foremost expert on that history, Shelton Johnson.
Garrett Dempsey is the program director for Detroit Outdoors. He spoke to WDET’s Sascha Raiyn about the trip and the organization’s work to get Black and brown youth into the great outdoors.
Listen to the episode using the media player above.
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The race was decided at the party’s Aug. 24 nominating convention in Lansing.
According to official party results, civil rights attorney Huwaida Arraf lost her bid for the party’s nomination for the U of M Board of Regents.
But Arraf said there were irregularities she’d like explained. She said her lawsuit is because party leaders haven’t provided election data she’s been asking for.
“If there’s something [that] happened that we don’t understand, then just tell us,” Arraf told reporters during a press call Thursday.
Arraf’s claims include that more people voted in the race than were credentialed and that the party barred her campaign from observing the vote tabulation process during the August convention.
One source of confusion was the party’s weighted voting system in which “each county’s (or portion thereof) delegates within a multi-county Congressional District Convention, caucus, or meeting, or at the State Convention, have a voting strength proportional to the number of Democratic voters from that county (or portion) at the last General Election relative to the total number of Democratic voters in the District or the state, regardless of how many delegates are present at the convention, caucus, or meeting.”
A press release sent by Arraf’s campaign earlier this week included screenshots that the campaign said show email exchanges with party chair Lavora Barnes listing out raw vote totals and weight equivalent.
In her lawsuit, Arraf is asking Michigan’s 30th Circuit Court in Ingham County to bar the race results from being finalized to the general election ballot until “a full and transparent investigation or audit of the University of Michigan Regents vote-counting process” takes place.
In a statement, a Michigan Democratic Party spokesperson said, “We are waiting to review the complaint filed with the Ingham County Clerk and look forward to following the proper legal process.”
Arraf had entered the race later than her two opponents, whom were already serving on the board and seeking renomination. She came in with support of pro-Palestinian activists.
While talking to reporters, Arraf acknowledged she very well may have lost the race. But she accused the party of sending the wrong message to her supporters by not being transparent.
“Encouraging young people, encouraging minorities, encouraging historically disenfranchised people to get involved in the voting process, what we hear over and over and over again is, ‘What does it matter? My vote doesn’t count anyway.’ And this is exactly the message that they’re getting now,” Arraf said.
According to court records, Ingham County Judge James Jamo has sent a first hearing in the case for Friday at 9 a.m.
Reporting by Colin Jackson, MPRN
Other headlines for Friday, Sept. 6, 2024:
The city of Detroit is now accepting applications from senior citizen homeowners who wish to apply for a discount on their Solid Waste Fee for their home.
This Sunday will be the last day to check out the Michigan Science Center’s “Above and Beyond” exhibition offering a 360-degree view of Earth in Orbit.
The Detroit Board of Police Commissioners is seeking applications for the BOPC Youth Advisory Panel. Applications are due Sept. 30.
Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.
Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
The presidential election is a few months away, and American Muslim voters are weighing out their options for the next president.
Youssef Chouhoud, an associate professor of political science at Christopher Newport University in Virginia, studies trends involving American Muslim voters. He says this year many American Muslims are concerned about Gaza.
“Certainly one of if not the top, if not for some American Muslims, the only issue that they care about is the crisis in Gaza, and so that holds particularly heavy weight this election cycle,” Chouhoud said.
He says American Muslims are nestled within the American fabric, concerned about the economy, climate change, health care and immigration policies.
After 9/11, Chouhoud says, American Muslims were against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. He says after 2010, many focused on domestic issues.
But he says that changed after the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel — during which Hamas killed 1,200 people — and the invasion of Gaza that followed, where the latest death toll stands at more than 40,000 Palestinians killed.
Chouhoud says many American Muslims view themselves as part of the extended Muslim nation, or the ummah.
“One of the beliefs in Islam is that anything that affects one part of the Muslim ummah affects you as well,” he said.
Chouhoud says many American Muslims also have close connections to Gaza.
“Everybody in the American Muslim context, is probably only one degree removed from somebody in Gaza,” he said.
Chouhoud says American Muslims are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to voting for the next president.
“They don’t, by and large, support a Trump presidency, for the reason that during the Trump administration, and you know, the explicit policies that Trump wanted to and has enacted have negatively affected American Muslims.”
He says many American Muslims say they do not feel like they belong to either Republican or Democratic parties.
“The sense of homelessness, I think, that American Muslims feel politically, is something that weighs heavy on them, and something that you know is going to probably continue from now until they go into the voting booth,” he said.
Chouhoud says things are likely to remain up in the air until the November elections.
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This episode of the Detroit Evening Report includes Donald Trump’s most recent campaign visit in metro Detroit, a health safety alert on cinnamon and more stories you should know.
Trump and Vance campaign in metro Detroit this week
Former President Donald Trump was in Michigan today to address a conference of the U.S. National Guard Association. It’s part of a series of events planned in the battleground state this week. Trump’s appearance comes as he and his running mate JD Vance criticized Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz over his service in the Army National Guard.
The visit is also an effort to counter the momentum generated by Vice President Kamala Harris’s historic nomination to head the Democratic presidential ticket. Vance is set to deliver a speech in Michigan about the economy tomorrow and Trump will do the same at a steel facility in the state on Thursday.
WDET’s Quinn Klinefelter contributed to this story.
Arab American museum receives $100K grant to produce doc on drone warfare
The Arab American Museum in Dearborn received a $100,000 Joyce Award grant to produce a theatrical series about the implications of drone warfare. Writer, director and performer Andrea Assaf will collaborate with the museum to create work that “confronts the militarized use of drone technology, the ethics of remote control warfare and the human cost of war.” “DRONE” will be a multimedia piece with live theater, museum and digital design — informed by community conversations with Arab Americans, veterans and anti-war activists in Dearborn.
The 2024 Joyce Awards uplift collaborations between artists of color and community organizations in the region. Assaf is one of five winners this year.
Health alert issued on cinnamon due to high levels of lead
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) says the list of contaminated cinnamon products has increased since July. These cinnamon products have high levels of lead. MDHHS encourages consumers to stop eating or selling the products and throw them away.
Some of the brands of cinnamon include El Chilar, Marcum, SWAD, Shahzada and La Frontera. For a full list, visit fda.gov.
Youth coalition focuses on reproductive rights
The Michigan Youth Reproductive Justice Coalition is hosting a statewide initiative to organize youth around reproductive rights. The group is hosting a Zoom event on September 12 from 5:30-7 p.m. to connect organizers and build power on and off college campuses. People who are interested in joining can fill out a form through the Michigan Student Power Alliance 2024 interest form.
Detroit’s health department will host its 3rd annual block party next month, offering free health screenings and resources to residents. The program kicks off on Sept. 7 with a safe sleep walk and rally at 11 a.m. and then a block party from 12-4 p.m. at 100 Mack Avenue at John R Rd. in Detroit.
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On this episode of the Detroit Evening Report, stories include the Pro-Palestinian demonstrations unfolding outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago; Michigan delegates’ preparations for the week’s convention and more.
Pro-Palestinian and anti-war demonstrators marched from Union Park to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday to protest the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Chicago officials said they were committed to keeping the demonstrations peaceful. The Associated Press reports that protesters broke through a fence set up by police near the convention site Monday.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud recently met with Vice President Kamala Harris, who’s set to accept the Democratic nomination for president at the convention this week. A source with knowledge of the meeting says they talked about how Harris might approach the issue if she wins the November presidential election. Her campaign says she supports deals for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages.
-Reporting by Pat Batcheller, WDET News
Michigan delegates prepare for DNC
A top Michigan Democrat says party leaders need to stress messages that speak to Michiganders during this week’s national convention in Chicago. State Rep. Jason Morgan is the Michigan Democratic Party’s first vice chair.
He says the party needs to be unified coming out of the convention and needs to show support for Michigan’s working class.
“We can do great things to rebuild the middle class in this country, and I think that’s going be a big focused for us,” he said.
Tonight’s convention speakers include President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. NPR’s convention coverage begins at 9 p.m. on 101.9 WDET.
-Reporting by Steve Carmody, Michigan Public
Neighborhood Wellness Centers offer free health screenings
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Detroit Health Department are offering overall wraparound health services to the community.
Seven Neighborhood Wellness Centers in Detroit will offer free resources, including COVID-19 testing, and free blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol screenings.
The Detroit Health Department launched a new satellite health center at the Samaritan Center on Detroit’s east side. The space will offer immunizations for children and adults, lead screenings, and supplemental nutrition education through the Women, Infants, and Children or WIC program.
The center will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, and is located at 5555 Conner St., Suite 2224, Detroit.
Redford Theatre hosting free movie weekend
The Redford Theatre in Detroit will host free movies this weekend as part of Pluto TV’s “Summer of Cinema” campaign supporting independently run theaters in the U.S. The independent nonprofit theater will give out free tickets for screenings of the first Indiana Jones film, “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” at 2 and 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
There will be 400 free tickets per show available for purchase online, with 100 free tickets in person. People can purchase additional tickets for $7, or $5 for seniors and kids.
Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.
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WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
The Uncommitted National Movement’s organizers are attending the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week, hoping to change policy toward Israel during the ongoing war in Gaza.
Abbas Alawieh is one of the leaders of the uncommitted movement and one of two uncommitted delegates from Michigan attending the DNC.
“We have a mandate to represent the hundreds of 1,000s of uncommitted pro peace voters who showed up in the Democratic primary to ensure that Gaza is a part of the discussion,” he said.
The uncommitted campaign continues to put pressure on the Democratic Party to listen to the multi-ethnic, multi-faith, and anti-war movement to stop U.S. money from going to Israel in its conflict with Gaza.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the past 10 months, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The war began after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas which killed 1,200 people.
The uncommitted campaign recently launched an effort aimed at getting Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris to commit to an arms embargo.
Listen: Uncommitted delegates at DNC to put pressure on Harris’ Gaza policy
Ronald Stockton, professor Emeritus of political science at the University of Michigan -Dearborn, says it’s unlikely that Harris will take a stronger stance.
“Harris is not going to come out and renounce Israel. She’s not going to call for an arms embargo,” he said. “That’s not realistic.”
Stockton says privately Harris’ national security advisor is saying more to support a permanent ceasefire in exchange for Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees.
The Uncommitted National Movement began as the Listen to Michigan organization in February ahead of the primaries to get 10,000 uncommitted Democratic votes in protest of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
They garnered more than 100,000 uncommitted votes – birthing the Uncommitted National Movement across the U.S., with more than 700,000 uncommitted voters and now 30 uncommitted delegates.
Just before the event, Alawieh and Uncommitted National Movement co-founder Layla Elabed asked Harris to set up a formal meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza. They say Harris seemed receptive to the idea, but a meeting has not yet been confirmed.
Alawieh says the uncommitted movement will endorse Harris if she chooses an arms embargo, one of the recent asks by the organization along with the “not another bomb” campaign to stop funding bombs in the conflict.
“We will drop everything we’re doing, endorse Vice President Harris and make sure that we proactively encourage the voters who have believed in this movement to vote for Vice President Harris,” he said.
Some uncommitted voters, like Saleema Nawab — who voted uncommitted in the February primary — say that’s not enough to get their vote, however.
Nawab says before the conflict in Gaza she wasn’t very involved in politics but typically voted Democratic. She hopes the Democratic Party realizes that voters should not be taken for granted and they will no longer vote “for the lesser of two evils.”
“I understand that the threat of Trump is going to have, you know, consequences for not only my community but other communities. But I think that this two-party system needs to be shaken up, and our voices — that are beyond the Muslim and Arab voice — need to be heard in a serious way,” she said.
Nawab is considering voting for a third-party candidate, Green Party’s Jill Stein.
Critics say that uncommitted voters will likely have to decide between the two-party system in the end.
Wayne State University Professor Saeed Khan says uncommitted voters are engaged.
“If they were not interested in considering the Democratic Party in November, then one could say that they would be completely disengaged and put all of their efforts into third party candidates or just simply staying home,” Khan said. “But the fact that we’re seeing this level of engagement and interaction then suggests that they are possibly moving toward making a decision of voting for what is now the Harris-Walz ticket.”
Like many voters, Janae Wilson of Detroit says she’s waiting to see if Harris makes any strides in Gaza policy.
“Putting pressure on Kamala is not equal to electing Trump, in my opinion,” she said.
She hopes Harris addresses the arms embargo and addresses the Islamophobia in the U.S.
Alawieh says the uncommitted movement isn’t going anywhere.
“I hope that the Democratic Party doesn’t inadvertently help Donald Trump by failing to unite the base of our party around a more humane approach to Gaza policy,” he said.
The Uncommitted National Movement is speaking at the DNC this week about Gaza while tens of thousands of Pro-Palestinian protestors are also protesting the DNC over the Biden administration’s funding of the war in Gaza.
ACCESS’s Community Health and Research Director Mona Makki shared this year’s theme is Advancing Health Amidst Conflict and Crisis. It will focus on global crisis, including the war in Gaza and how that impacts local Arab American communities.
“This health summit really creates a platform for researchers and health professionals, scholars and other health professionals to come together to focus on the health issues of Arab Americans, and really, to come up with a strategy on…how do we address health in times of crisis and conflict,” Makki said.
Makki stated when the war started in October in Gaza, many community members needed access to mental health services. ACCESS also rolled out free mental health first aid courses for the community.
Makki expects 500 participants to attend the event.
The summit will cover substance abuse prevention, mental health and research that impacts Arab American communities as the new Middle Eastern North African designation is added to the Census.
The summit takes place October 21-23 at The Henry Hotel in Dearborn. You can find more information, including how to register, at accesscommunity.org.
More headlines for Aug. 13, 2024
Detroiters for Tax Justice releases report detailing funds being redirected from millages to developers
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says she’s the latest victim of swatting
Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.
Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
Protestors in Bangladesh called on Hasina to step down amid growing tensions with government leaders who killed hundreds of peaceful student protestors. They spoke against a quota system that gives one-third of government jobs to the descendants of those who fought in the 1971 Independence War.
Tracy Sabrina of Lake Orion joined the Detroit celebration.
“We’re here to just to celebrate the…start of the new Bangladesh, and I really hope for the best for the country,” Sabrina said.
Sign welcoming people to the Banglatown neighborhood on the Detroit-Hamtramck border.
Revelers passed out sweets, chanted, and marched down Conant Avenue from Detroit to Hamtramck.
Michigan is home to the third largest population of Bangladeshi Americans.
Nuzhat Ali says she was initially traumatized by the news of deadly clashes in Bangladesh, where much of her family still lives. Nearly 300 people have died as the Bangladeshi government tried to suppress the protests.
Ali is hopeful about the changes in the country.
“We’re not going to have a prime minister like [Hasina]. We’re going to have a better Bangladesh,” she said.
Ali shared her family members in Bangladesh have not been able to open their shops, nor has her 92-year-old grandfather been able to get medical attention due to the country’s unrest.
Members of metro Detroit’s Bangladeshi American community gather at Jayne Park on Aug. 5, 2024, in Hamtramck, Mich.
MD Nahidur Rahman says this moment marks a “second” independence for Bangladeshi people since 1971.
“We are very happy. My parents, everybody, all the old Bangladeshi people, they are so happy. You can see everybody…eating the sweets for the independent, independent day today,” Rahman said.
Rahman was born and raised in Bangladesh. He says Michigan’s Bangladeshi community has been supporting the student protestors since the deadly clashes.
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus will serve as the Chief Advisor for the interim government. Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for founding Grameen Bank and giving micro-loans to women in Bangladesh.
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Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s decision to flee comes after weeks of protests against a quota system for government jobs descended into violence and grew into a broader challenge to her 15-year rule.
Student protestors have been asking the government to end the quota system, which allocated one-third of all government jobs to the descendants of those who fought in the Independence War of 1971. That left a small number of jobs for others in a country with more than 170 million people.
The government met protestors with force — killing hundreds and wounding and arresting thousands. More than 200 people have been killed by government forces in the last few days as people demanded answers about the deaths of student protestors.
Thousands of protestors celebrated the news of her resignation in the capital Dhaka. But the celebrations soon turned violent in places, with protesters attacking symbols of her government and party, ransacking and setting fires in several buildings.
A community gathering is scheduled for 6 p.m. today at Jayne Field in Detroit.
Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.
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The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan announced Wednesday it won a nationwide lawsuit after a seven-year legal battle to prevent family separation, detention and deportation on behalf of Iraqi nationals.
The class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of 1,400 Iraqis — many who were arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to be deported immediately.
ACLU Michigan said in a news release the settlement prevents indefinite detainment and protects people from old removal orders when they seek to change their immigration status.
“We are proud that our work helped stop the needless detention and deportation of hundreds of people, who otherwise would have been separated from their families,” said Miriam Aukerman, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan, in a statement. “Too often, immigrants are locked up for months or years for absolutely no reason other than they want what so many of us have already, the chance to build a life in America. The settlement will make it easier for them to do that.”
The lawsuit was filed in 2017 due to the mass arrests of Iraqi nationals over technical immigration violations or past convictions. The Iraqi government did not process travel documents for deportation, leaving people vulnerable. Many of the people had not lived in Iraq for decades.
A deportation could result in torture or death due to changing conditions in Iraq. The class action lawsuit allowed detainees to be released and pursue other legal avenues for immigration status, such as allowing them to file for asylum or citizenship.
The lawsuit, Hamama v. Adducci, was filed against ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. attorney general in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Other headlines for Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024:
The Michigan Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) has issued a new report stating there’s a surge in anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate in the state.
The Detroit Water and Sewer Department launched a new EasyPay plan to help residents pay off past due water service balances.
A Community Wellness Fair offering free resources and family fun will take place from 1 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10, at the Northwest Activities Center Field Immunizations, voter registration, job requirement and HeadStart enrollment will be available. Additionally, there will be free haircuts, book bags and food.
The Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights and the Michigan Carpenters of African Descent is hosting a back-to-school and back-to-work community cookout on Saturday, Aug. 10, at the Union Carpenter & Millwright Training Center in Detroit, featuring food vendors, a school supplies giveaway and entertainment.
Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.
Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
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