Metro Detroit is home to one of the largest Iraqi communities outside the Middle East. Muslims and Chaldeans share streets, shops, and schools here. Together, they hold stories of displacement, of wars fought by the United States on their homeland, even as that same nation became their place of safety. Yet that closeness is cleaved by sharp differences, especially at the ballot box. 

Many Chaldeans, rooted in Catholic tradition and conservative values, have leaned Republican. Muslim Americans, once loyal Democrats, broke away in 2024, frustrated that the Biden administration did not stop the devastation in Gaza. Many instead voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

These political choices are layered with questions of identity, family, and faith. They are the backdrop of Pomegranate, a film written and directed by Iraqi American author Weam Namou.

The story unfolds during the 2016 election. It follows Niran, a young Muslim refugee who finds herself in a conservative Chaldean Christian neighborhood. Through her eyes, we see the push and pull of trying to belong amid the stereotypes Middle Eastern women face in America.

Namou has spent her career writing about these themes. She has given voice to Iraqi women’s experiences of migration, resilience, and faith. “Pomegranate” carries that work forward. Although the film is set years ago, its questions still feel urgent: How do communities live together when politics and religion pull them apart? How do women escape the boxes sharply drawn out for them?

Namou joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss belonging in America today.

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Colorism is defined in the Oxford dictionary as “prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group.” 

It’s one facet of discrimination that often goes without proper acknowledgment, and one that Professor Rogerio Pinto aims to shine a light on through his work.

Rogerio Pinto is a University Diversity Social Transformation Professor. He is a Berit Ingersoll-Dayton Collegiate Professor of Social Work and he’s a Professor of Theatre and Drama, School of Music, Theatre & Dance at The University of Michigan. 

Born in Brazil, Professor Pinto has dedicated his life to breaking the social constructs of colorism and other “-isms” that divide people. 

Earlier this year, Professor Pinto curated and hosted “Colorism,” a mixed-media installation that used video, photography, tactile elements and a montage to explore colorism. “Colorism” took a look at the term from its roots to where we are today in society.

Professor Pinto also curated a Secret Society of Twisted Storytellers live event on colorism.

Professor Pinto stopped by The Metro to explore the complexities of colorism and its impact on people immigrating to the U.S., and how to tackle identity in times of division.

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For the first time in 30 years, a major exhibition featuring contemporary Native American art from the Great Lakes region will be on display at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). “Contemporary Anishinaabe Art: A Continuation” opens Sunday, September 28, 2025 and runs through April 5, 2026.

While the DIA has an extensive Indigenous Americas collection with artifacts from South, Central and North America, this exhibition stands out as one consisting entirely of contemporary art from Anishinaabe artists.

The exhibition features 60 artists and over 90 works in mediums from textiles to film, all of which were created by Anishinaabe artists and curated with guidance from a council of Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi artists.

Curator Dr. Denene De Quintal and museum director Salvador Salort-Pons joined The Metro to discuss the exhibition.

The exhibition is free with general admission to the DIA, which is always free for Tri-County residents. It is also free for visitors and accompanying children with a tribal ID.

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Under the Trump administration, the space for diversity, equity, and inclusion is shrinking. Federal dollars are drying up, and programs that once opened doors are disappearing. 

Given this climate, could restorative practices hold additional weight? Restorative justice is not DEI. It does not sit in a binder or hide inside a grant report. It lives in people — survivors and those who have caused harm sitting together, telling the truth, trying to mend what was broken. It is harder to measure, but also harder to erase because it is built on relationships.

While restorative justice is not the same as DEI, both often speak to the same communities, those historically marginalized by race, class, or circumstance. Where DEI seeks to create fairer systems, restorative justice offers a way to repair harm when those systems fall short.

Angel McKissic, director of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at Wayne State Law and founder of the Metro Detroit Restorative Justice Network, helped lead the recent report Unraveling Harm, Cultivating Safety. Based on surveys and interviews with Detroiters, the report found that many residents want alternatives to the traditional justice system — responses that emphasize healing and accountability rather than punishment.

McKissic’s work brings those findings into practice. Through trainings and community partnerships, McKissic is helping Detroiters use restorative practices in schools, courtrooms, and neighborhoods. For her, justice can mean both accountability and healing.

She joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to demystify some of the haze around restorative justice and why she believes it could transform Detroit communities and the criminal justice system more broadly.

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Detroit City Council’s Historic Designation Advisory board is nominating the Bagley-West Vernor commercial district in Southwest Detroit for the National Register of Historic Places.

The board will present to nomination to the neighborhood on September 11, and answer questions about the benefits of receiving the designation.

A spot on the register could open up many federal dollars for the area to restore and revive many of the buildings in the corridor.

Michael Gutierrez is a resident of the area and a journalist with the El Central Hispanic News. His family also owns Mexican Village Restaurant on Bagley.

“Mexican Village wasn’t just serving food,” Gutierrez said. “Upstairs they were also hosting labor union meetings in the 1950s where Latino workers were fighting for better conditions.”

 Gutierrez says many of the buildings and businesses in the area date back to 1800s. It’s been a cultural, social, and economic hub for the Latino community for a long time and recognition through this designation would provide a sense of validation.

“There’s something to be said, when you’re walking on the streets of your own neighborhood and you know that there’s this is kind of like, not just the beating heart of the Latino part of your city, but that you know that this place has roots, that that really go back for a long time.” Guiterrez said.

If approved, the designation would open the corridor up to financial incentives and tax credits up to 45% for renovations and restoration of the buildings.

It could also attract more visitors to the area, which can provide a boost for small businesses.

The Shifa Institute hosts Islamic psychoeducation workshops across community centers and college campuses as students return to school.

At a recent Institute for Muslim Mental Health networking event, Shifa founder Salman Pervez shared how this initiative is creating mental health safe spaces across the state. 

“It’s it started at MSU as a school chapter, and then now we’ve branched out into the community… we have chapters starting at Wayne State University and the University of Michigan and University of Detroit Mercy this fall,” he says. 

Shifa means healing in Arabic. 

Pervez says the group uses creative outlets to introduce students to wellness, “like Golden Age ideas of Islam, like astronomy or art or, or like, engagement with nature and sort of like being in awe of it.”

The workshops usually consist of professional speakers engaging people about mental health related topics in third spaces by “informing people, translating mental health research, and sharing it with college students in a way that’s relatable, applicable to them,” he says. 

“We found that that’s very effective in getting students to engage with this sort of work and into the field as well education,” says Pervez.

The group also works with campus Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), which provides free therapy to full-time students. 

Pervez says he works with college students to help them become aware of resources and even potentially go into psychology as a field. He says Gen Z is a lot more open to talk about mental health.

“I think it’s overall, it’s really nice that they’re they’re more casual about it, and that they want to do something about it,” he says. 

Last week, the lights went dim on a renewable energy program with big promise for the planet and your pocketbook. 

Michigan was set to receive $156 million from Solar for All. 

The money would have helped low-income households add rooftop or community solar, paid for battery storage and basic upgrades like panels, wiring, or roof work, and funded workforce training and community outreach. Households were projected to save about 20% on electric bills—roughly $400 annually. 

The Environmental Protection Agency terminated the $7 billion program after Congress rescinded the funds via President Trump’s new tax-and-spending law. Lawmakers are contesting the move, but for now, projects are paused, and families who expected relief from high energy bills will keep waiting. 

Oakland County Commission Chair Dave Woodward has supported local solutions that lower residents’ costs and give businesses tools to adopt renewable energy. He joined Robyn Vincent to discuss what a real path forward could look like in the absence of federal support.

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Voters in Detroit face a defining choice in the August 5 primary election. But right now, fewer than 10% of registered voters have participated. Most of those ballots have been mailed in. In‑person early voting, which ended August 4, was minimal.

That is a little surprising this year, given Michigan’s no‑excuse absentee law, which voters approved in 2018. It lets anyone request a mail-in ballot without needing a reason.

This is also the city’s first competitive mayoral race in over a decade, with three-term Mayor Mike Duggan running for governor of Michigan. In other words, it’s a pivotal chance for leadership change. But turnout, so far, doesn’t yet reflect this moment.

Meanwhile, voter accessibility has been a question. During the 2021 election, disability advocates filed an ADA complaint saying key voting information, like where and how to vote, was inaccessible online for users of screen readers, affecting thousands of Detroiters. And, some polling locations across metro Detroit remain inaccessible to voters with disabilities.

To discuss this, Detroit’s top election official, City Clerk Janice Winfrey, joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro.

The Metro has spoken with all of the candidates running for mayor. You can find those conversations at WDET.org/voterguide2025.

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The Detroit Police Department is asking city council to increase its enforcement of the city’s youth curfew. Fines for the parents of kids out past 10 p.m. is $75 and could go up to $200.  

This is a response to an increase in violence among young people, including several shootings this month.

The issue of teen violence recently came up at Detroit’s Board of Police Commissioners Community meeting. It’s also started a conversation about how to better support young people in Detroit. 

Metro Producer Jack Filbrandt talked to Detroit Documenter Nadia Ziyad and Coordinator Lynelle Herndon about solutions that are being discussed at meetings and in the community. 

We also spoke with Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison last week about the changes to Detroit’s curfew fines. He said the fines are meant to encourage parent accountability and prevent those parents from greater problems down the road. 

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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Soul food is one of the most identifiable American cuisines. 

The dishes were crafted from the scraps that were left behind for Black people at a time when slavery was the law of the land. With a little ingenuity and a lot of determination, those leftovers became a main attraction for Black families and the rest of the country eventually caught on.

This weekend, collard greens will be placed center stage as Detroiters gather in Chandler park to celebrate the soul food staple. The 3rd annual Collard Green Cook-Off will take place from 2 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, July 23, bringing together food, culture and community.

Khary Frazier  is the founder of Detroit is Different, the organization hosting the event. He joined The Metro on Tuesday to share what’s in store this year and the importance of celebrating Black culture, community and culinary excellence in the city.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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The Trucks Off Our Streets coalition urged the Detroit City Council on Tuesday to enforce existing truck regulation laws while waiting for a route ordinance to pass. 

Subscribe to the Detroit Evening Report on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Detroit was named one of the worst cities to live with asthma in 2024, and activists says a leading cause of that is the trucks driving through residential areas.   

Activist Simone Zagovac says a truck census in 2024 on Livernois counted 1,000 semi-trucks passing in one day on a road without any industry on it.   

“So every day, yesterday, today and tomorrow, 1,000 semi trucks are driving down those streets. In the last two years since we toured city administration staff, that means one million semi trucks have driven down Livernois,” she said.  

Zagovac told city council simple enforcement of existing laws against speeding, parking, and route restrictions of semi-trucks can greatly improve the health of residents.   

She advocated for the council to also consider zoning amendments to better separate industry and residential areas.  

Other headlines for Wednesday, July 23, 2025:

• A Detroit man is suing the city of Detroit and its police and fire departments for $100 million in damages over his wrongful conviction in 2013.
• Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey will be kicking off early voting with a block party celebration this weekend. The Block Party for Democracy will be held on Saturday, July 26, on Grand Boulevard between Second and Third streets to mark the opening of Detroit’s Early Vote Centers.  The party will feature DJs, local vendors, food trucks, and dog adoptions from the Michigan Humane Society.  Primary election day is Aug. 5.  
• Temperatures are expected to reach the mid to upper 90s on Thursday, July 24. Detroit is reopening their cooling centers. Residents can visit any Detroit recreation center or Detroit library during normal hours to beat the heat. The Northwest Activities, Patton, and Heilmann recreation centers will have extended hours from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.  

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

It’s no secret Detroit is at a turning point. Mayor Mike Duggan is on his way out. And soon, a new group of city leaders will enter the fray.

But will these leaders and their appointees truly represent the needs of everyday Detroiters?

That’s exactly what the Detroit City Appointments Project is working on. It’s trying to recruit and vet residents who want to serve under Detroit’s next mayor.

The project, led by longtime organizer Maurice Weeks, is focused on finding qualified people. It’s also about finding leaders committed to fairness, equity and accountability to Detroit’s neighborhoods.

Weeks joined The Metro on Monday to talk about the project, what’s at stake for Detroiters, and how roles in local government can be transformational for the city.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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Detroit voters will elect a new mayor this fall. Nine people are running to succeed Mike Duggan, who’s making an independent bid for governor next year. The top two finishers in next month’s primary election will advance to the general election in November.

WDET is having one-on-one conversations with voters about the issues they want the next mayor and city council to address. We call it the Citizen Vox Project.

WDET’s Bre’Anna Tinsley spoke with Eugene Brown II, a resident of Detroit’s Brightmoor neighborhood on the city’s west side, about why he says honesty and action matters in the city’s next leader.

The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Eugene Brown II: Because we’re not too big on the words anymore. We need to see action, movement, growth, development, and these are all things that are taking place now in the city of Detroit and have been taking place for the past 15 years. So, we have always been at work setting up things, having successful things happen by by way of the water department. Even initiating the things that have happened with the Gordie Howe Bridge. You see what I’m saying? So, we’ve been hard at work, really, in the streets.

Bre’Anna Tinsley, WDET News: Who do you think right now is the best person for the job? Do you have someone in mind?

EB II: Well, you know, when I look at Mary Sheffield — I usually don’t, I usually don’t endorse people. But when I look at the Sheffield brand, it’s pretty solid.

BT: What is it specifically about her brand that speaks out to you?

EB II: Well I would you say from past to present. And then you could probably say to yourself, if you know certain people that have that name, then you probably can say that for yourself. You can put it together however you want to put together. I don’t name drop, but you could just look at that and just put it together and see. And then if she lying, she’d be called out, just like anybody else is.

BT: Is there anything specifically in your neighborhood that you would like to see the mayor possibly work on?

EB II: Well, our neighborhood is pretty solid. We’re pretty much a group of family. The only really thing that we really focus on here is protection, peace, happiness, love, no violence, no killings, no stabbings, no robbings; none of that stuff out here. We don’t need any of that. I came from the ’80s. I already lived through all that — ’90s drug era, crack epidemic, Devil’s Night. You see, then ‘YN’ crazy culture, like whatever we’re dealing with right now. But the Detroit Police Department is doing a very fine job, as well as the adjacent, you know, task force that have been set up for the 25 years [sic].We all know this Wayne State progression. It’s a beautiful thing to see people coming together in the city to handle life differently after things were so ripped off, like the water department. We received about a what, 25% pay cut in 2008 to actually help with this process. We actually helped with this process because we were robbed of our money. Well, not robbed. I’ll say… our money was put in trust.

We are investors in the Gordie Howe project, because we had to take the blow of this for the citizens of Detroit to drink water to live, and to flush their boo boo down the pipes so they don’t die. So, you know, we’ve really been hard at work, city of Detroit Water Department, so as far as I’m concerned, since we worked the waters, a portion of these assets that they’re wanting to collect, we should probably be repaid. So, I’d like to see that happen, because all those brothers, they live in this community, too.

Chinatown in Detroit was the destination for many Chinese immigrants who traveled to the city. Urban renewal and the construction of the Lodge freeway was then built through the neighborhood and Chinatown residents moved from Jefferson Avenue to the Cass Corridor. That’s where it existed up until Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine – a staple eatery in Chinatown for decades  — shuttered in 2000.

Now, new investments are being made into the area to revitalize what was once a cultural staple in the city. And to celebrate and continue those efforts, Michigan Humanities is hosting a fundraising event on Friday, July 18. And later this month, the Detroit Chinatown Vision Committee is hosting its first annual Block party.

Detroiter Curtis Chin is the co-founder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop in New York City and the author of “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese restaurant” — an appropriate title given his family owned the historic Chung’s restaurant in Detroit’s Chinatown neighborhood. He joined The Metro on Thursday to discuss the history of the neighborhood and it’s revitalization.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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Wilderness Inquiry is a Minnesota-based company that brings the program to schools around the country. The Canoemobile spent five days in the metro Detroit Area, with students from six different schools participating.

“It provides a space for people to feel included in the outdoors and provides the knowledge and the message that everyone belongs, deserves and should have a space in the outdoors — no matter your age, ability, background or identity.”

 

– Scout Trom, Wilderness Inquiry captain

In Detroit, the fallout from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s doubling down on aggressive tactics has shaken local communities.

Just last month, a Detroit teen less than four credits from graduation was deported after getting stopped by ICE for a traffic violation.

These are some of the tactics that led over 300 faith leaders and community members to march this week from Corktown to Detroit’s ICE field office. The goal of the demonstration — organized by the advocacy group Strangers No Longer — was to deliver a pastoral letter demanding humane enforcement.

Immigrant rights and environmental justice advocate Odalis Perales is working with Strangers No Longer to break down barriers between faith communities, in schools, and among police about the challenges and tension of this moment.

She joined The Metro on Thursday to talk about her progress and respond to ICE’s refusal to engage with the group’s pastoral letter and demands. 

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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The African World Festival is an annual event hosted by the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. It’s a three-day experience with vendors, music and other performances that represent all the beauty and talent in the African Diaspora. 

African culture is so rich and widely recognized here in the city of Detroit. The festival — taking place this Friday, July 18 to Sunday, July 20 in Hart Plaza — has been around for 60 years. 

Zu Vernon, programming lead for the festival, joined The Metro on Wednesday to talk about what’s in store at this year’s event.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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WDET’s CuriosiD series answers your questions about everything Detroit. Subscribe to CuriosiD on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode of CuriosiD, we answer the question:

“Where in Detroit is the community known as Dogleg?”

The short answer

Dogleg refers to the southernmost part of the city of Detroit. It is referred to by residents as such because the outline of the area resembles the hind of a dog’s leg. But Dogleg is not its official name.

What is the official name?

That depends. Dogleg consists of two neighborhoods: Oakwood Heights and Boynton. This part of Detroit is the only section of the city that resides south of the Rouge River. The only connections to the rest of the city are bridges on Fort Street, Jefferson Avenue, and Interstate 75.

Some refer to it as the real Southwest Detroit. It’s also makes up the entirety of the zip code 48217, which has gained the moniker “the most polluted zip code in Michigan.”

Michigan’s most polluted zip code

Dogleg is surrounded by 42 major and minor polluting sources releasing toxic chemicals into the air day after day. One of the biggest offenders is the Marathon Oil Refinery.

The area also collects pollutants from industry in neighboring cities like Ecorse, River Rouge and South Dearborn, including the EES Coke Battery Plant and U.S. Steel plant on Zug Island, various scrap yard and metal crushing facilities, wastewater treatment plants, asphalt plants, power stations, and much more.

Clear the Air Michigan is a nonprofit organization focused on environmental justice in the area. They hosted the “Toxic Tour,” an expedition through Southwest Detroit, Ecorse and River Rouge of the various industries polluting the air within a three-mile radius of the area.

Theresa Landrum is a community activist and life-long resident of Dogleg.

She recalls growing up with foul odors in the air and thinking that was normal.

“I grew up with the norm of the air being dusty, and coughing or sneezing, because something has irritated me,” Landrum said.

Landrum now leads the Toxic Tours, informing people of the conditions in the area. She says the community had not met the National Air Quality Standards for more than 16 years. 

Quoting environmental lawyer Nick Leonard, she said: “‘If you have a kid that’s 14 years old, your child has never breathed clean air if you live in Detroit.’ So that’s [an] impactful statement.”

Landrum says quality of the air is so bad, that children are being born with health conditions such as asthma and residents of the area are developing rare diseases as a result of the pollution.

Samra’a Luqman is another activist with Clear the Air Michigan and a resident of South End Dearborn. She says 48217 has abnormal rates of cancer, asthma and kidney disease.

“There are people that I’ve known here in the south end who have died of nasal cancer. The number of people I know are five. I personally know that have died of nasal cancer. Nasal cancer is one of the rarest cancers in the world. There are only 2000 people that are diagnosed with it annually in the U.S.,” Luqman said.

Residents living in Dogleg continue to fight against new pollution sources and new industries in the area — from the potential sale and re-opening of a neighboring steel company to increased semi-truck traffic expected to come from the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge.

The Toxic Tours and other activism have led to one huge step forward for the residents – an air monitoring station behind the New Mount Hermon Baptist Church by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

But with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under attack by the Trump administration, the future of these monitoring stations is unclear.

About the listener

Keith Mason first moved to the Dogleg area as a child in the 1950s. He purchased and moved back into his family home after his mother died in 2020. Mason volunteers at WDET for the Detroit Radio Information Service (DRIS) is southeast Michigan’s Radio Reading/Audio Information Service for people with disabilities.

We want to hear from you! 

Have a question about southeast Michigan’s history or culture? Send it our way at wdet.org/curiosid, or fill out the form below. You ask, we answer.

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“Black Power” is widely known as a political slogan — a rallying cry to mobilize Black Americans to attain social, political and economic power and fuel a sense of self-determination. 

A lot of progress has been made since the Civil Rights Movement in the ’60s and ’70s, but Black Americans today still face major systemic obstacles. Black people are more likely to live in poverty and they have one-tenth the wealth of white Americans.

Those factors are important indicators. But could directing attention to the gains Black people have made and replicating those circumstances offer better outcomes than comparing overall wealth?

Andre Perry is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute and the author of the new book, “Black Power Scorecard: Measuring the Racial Gap and What We Can Do to Close it.” In the book, he suggests that a reframing of this problem might help us rethink how we assess its solutions.

Perry joined The Metro on Wednesday for a deep dive into the mentality behind this book.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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