It’s no secret that America’s politics are polarized. According to one preacher and educator, they’re not broken beyond repair. Jim Wallis, author of “The False White Gospel” says the Christian gospel is one way to bridge the political divides in the United States.  

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Wallis says the teachings of Jesus Christ are at odds with the white Christian nationalism that has dominated conservative politics for a long time. 

“Jesus did not say ‘blessed are the peace lovers, or the peacekeepers.’ He said blessed are the peace makers — which means conflict resolvers,” Wallis said. “White Christian nationalism is a conflict maker, dividing people. And Jesus says we’re supposed to be peacemakers, conflict resolvers.” 

Guest: 

• Jim Wallis is a writer, educator and preacher. He is the author of “The False White Gospel” and is the inaugural holder of the Chair in Faith and Justice and the founding Director of the Georgetown University Center on Faith and Justice. 

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.

Detroit residents are burdened by the cost of living in the city.

A majority of Detroiters spend 30% of their pre-tax income on housing. And while the city is working to increase affordable housing in Detroit, residents are trying an approach that they say keeps prices low and gives them more say in how their communities develop.

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Neighborhoods across Detroit are starting community land trusts, a nonprofit organization run by community members that owns property in the area. Jerry Hebron is the executive director of Detroit Cultivator Community Land Trust in the North End neighborhood. 

Hebron’s organization is one of five groups partnering with the nonprofit law firm Detroit Justice Center to establish community land trusts. Hebron and Mark Bennett, a staff attorney at the firm, join Created Equal on Thursday to explain how community land trusts work and what they might do for Detroiters. 

Guests: 

• Jerry Hebron is the executive director of Detroit Cultivator Community Land Trust. 
• Mark Bennett is a staff attorney at the Detroit Justice Center.

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.

One year since the Hamas attack that killed over 1,200 Israelis, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in Gaza, countless more displaced and injured. More than 1,000 Lebanese have been killed in Israeli airstrikes. 

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Arab and Jewish Americans in metro Detroit have been processing grief, frustration and anxiety since the war started.  

For Lebanese Americans in metro Detroit, the expansion of the war into Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah brings back memories of war and occupation of years past. 

“The trauma is unimaginable. It’s affecting people’s lives daily. We’re all in grief and shock and horror,” said Diana Abouali, the director of the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn.

“Everyone that I interact with in Dearborn, in the Arab American community in southeast Michigan, I find a deep sense of community.” 

James Zobgy, the co-founder of the Arab American Institute, says that sense of community and collective grieving is difficult to find. 

“For the most part, we walk alone with our pain, and it’s a difficult one to explain,” Zogby said.

Use the media player above to listen to the full conversation with Abouali and Zogby.

Guests: 

• James Zogby is the president and co-founder of the Arab American Institute. 
• Diana Abouali is the director of the Arab American National Museum. 

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.

The rural landscape of West Tennessee is undergoing a massive change. Ford’s “BlueOval City” electric vehicle manufacturing complex spans six square miles and is expected to bring 6,000 jobs to the area. That kind of economic development would be the envy of many states, including Michigan, but some residents are asking Ford to adopt a community benefits agreement.

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Rebekah Gorbea is the statewide coordinator for Tennessee for All and says some residents in West Tennessee are asking for Ford to engage in a meaningful dialogue with community groups, including BlueOval Good Neighbors. The proposed community benefits agreement outlines three main areas of concern: environmental protections, affordable housing and jobs and training for residents of the area. 

Ford expects the manufacturing complex to bring jobs and economic growth to the area. Gabby Bruno, Ford’s community relations director, says they are actively working with surrounding communities in West Tennessee and seeking resident input on the development. 

“Ford and Ford Philanthropy are committed to our community initiatives because we want residents in every community neighboring BlueOval City to benefit as the campus comes to life. I look forward to introducing our Good Neighbor Plan, developed with the help of resident input and the community leaders who make up our Equitable Growth Advisory Council.”  

“BlueOval City” is expected to produce 500,000 vehicles annually once it is fully operational, with recent estimates putting that start date to sometime in 2027. 

Guests: 

• Jamie Butters is the Executive Editor of Automotive News 

• Rebekah Gorbea is the statewide coordinator for Tennessee 4 All 

• Shannon Whitfield is a resident of Mason, TN and a member of BlueOval Good Neighbors advocacy group 

• Eloise Thompson is a resident of Mason, TN and a member of BlueOval Good Neighbors advocacy group 

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on Detroit Public Radio 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.

The cost of child care is an enormous financial burden for parents and guardians of young children in the United States — especially low-income households.

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According to reporting from Outlier Media’s Laura Herberg, the cost of child care in Detroit is much higher than the federal government’s definition of affordable care, 7% of median income. In Detroit, the average cost of care is closer to 20-30% of median household income. 

Paradoxically, that high price tag doesn’t translate to high wages for early child care education workers. In fact, child care workers are in the bottom percentiles of salaries for careers in the U.S., according to a report from Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. 

That same report finds that the younger the children an educator is responsible for, the lower the pay. There are also racial pay gaps, with Black and Latina early educators making less than their counterparts as well. 

The child care worker crisis came into sharp focus during the pandemic, exposing a problem that was temporarily assuaged thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. That windfall, however, is drying up, leaving parents, legislators and educators wondering what’s next for the unaffordable child care system in the U.S. 

Herberg joined Created Equal on Wednesday along with Wanzi Muruvi of Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment to discuss these issues.

Guests: 

• Wanzi Muruvi is a Senior Research and Policy Associate at Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment. 
• Laura Herberg is a civic life reporter for Outlier Media. 

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on Detroit Public Radio 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.

Editor’s note: A previously uploaded version of this episode included incorrect audio from an earlier episode about grief and loss.

A staggering amount of metro Detroit’s polling stations are not accessible for disabled people — 84%, according to a 2022 audit by Detroit Disability Power.

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Another, less visible, barrier to democratic participation is equitable access to information. Yet nearly half of Detroit households don’t have broadband access.

That picture only gets worse when you account for household income. 

Voting sites inaccessible 

There were four criteria Detroit Disability Power used in their audit to define accessibility at a polling location: 

1. An accessible parking area with a clear pathway into the building
2. A fully accessible voter assist terminal (VAT)
3. An accessible entrance into the building
4. An accessible booth for casting paper ballots privately

Dessa Cosma from Detroit Disability Power says that being able to vote in-person without barriers is a democratic issue, but the state of polling location accessibility now is not acceptable. 

“I can tell you as a disabled voter, it is frustrating and demoralizing and dehumanizing to go exercise my right to vote and realize that people weren’t prepared for me to show up,” Cosma said. “When they were thinking about who mattered and people they needed to set up their day for, I wasn’t on their list.”

Detroit Disability Power plans to conduct another audit of metro Detroit’s polling locations for the general election in November. 

Internet access 

Democratic acts such as voting, accessing a city hall website, attending virtual public meetings, or contacting representatives are all reliant on having internet access.  

Detroit is among the worst-connected cities in the nation, with nearly 40% of homes without a broadband connection. 

But access to broadband internet is only one of three pillars of digital equity, says Christopher Ali, telecommunications research at Penn State University. The other two pillars are affordability and skillset. 

“The internet is our window to the world right now. It’s how we get news and information […] it’s how we engage with the many of the governmental services we need to do on a daily basis. It’s how we book the COVID vaccine and apply for benefits and file our taxes,” Ali said.

Cosma and Ali both joined Created Equal on Wednesday to discuss equitable access to voting and information.

Guests:  

• Dessa Cosma is the executive director of Detroit Disability Power

• Christopher Ali is the Pioneers Chair in Telecommunications and professor of telecommunications in the Bellisario College at Penn State. Ali is the author of “Farm Fresh Broadband: Politics of Rural Connectivity.” 

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.