When Mike Duggan was sworn in as Detroit’s mayor more than a decade ago, much of the city was in the dark. Four out of every 10 streetlights didn’t work. His administration rebuilt the grid and relit neighborhoods block by block.

Blight became another target. Crews tore down thousands of abandoned houses that posed safety risks. With hundreds of millions in federal relief, Duggan stabilized the budget and funded neighborhood programs. Meanwhile, the city’s violent crime rate eased: just over 200 homicides last year, the lowest number since the mid-1960s.

Other markers point to momentum. Detroit’s population has inched up for two years in a row — rare for a city that has seen decades of decline. Moody’s even restored Detroit’s investment-grade bond rating. 

Duggan highlights these milestones when he calls himself “a fixer.”

But Detroit’s recovery is uneven.

Roughly one in three residents lived in poverty last year — the highest rate since 2017. The city has yet to fully address an estimated $600 million in property-tax overassessments that forced many families from their homes.

Housing, overall, remains scarce. A city-commissioned study estimates Detroit needs more than 40,000 additional affordable rental homes for households earning under $25,000 a year — a 45,200-unit gap as of 2021.

The broader picture is mixed: while downtown investment is visible, many neighborhoods still face population loss and a lack of basic infrastructure.

Still, compared with the Detroit Duggan inherited in 2014, the city holds more promise today, and much of that transformation happened under his watch.

Now Duggan wants to take his record statewide. He’s running for governor of Michigan in 2026 as an independent — and asking voters across the state to buy into his version of Detroit’s turnaround.

The mayor joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss how he thinks his strategies can scale statewide.

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When women actors in Hollywood called out other actors and executives who committed some form of sexual violence against them, the whole world took notice. Survivors were finally being heard and it sparked the #MeToo era, in which accusations of sexual misconduct were heard more than ever before.

In Michigan, decades of abuse by sports doctor Larry Nassar came to light around the same time. A few years ago, the University of Michigan agreed to a settlement worth $490 million, with over one thousand people saying they were sexually assaulted by the late physician Robert Anderson.     

According to a 2018 survey by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 81% of women and 43% of men reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment and/or assault in their lifetime. 

It’s also important to note that many survivors are harmed by someone they know, someone close to them. In the US, 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner, according to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence survey.

So how far have we come when it comes to having conversations about domestic violence and abuse to prevent it from happening? And what kind of support does a survivor need to work through their trauma? 

Kalimah Johnson is the Founder, CEO and Executive Director of the Sexual Assault Services for Holistic Healing and Awareness (SASHA) Center, which provides services for sexual assault recovery, prevention, and educational agency. Kalimah is also a consultant on relationship safety and management.

We spoke with Kalimah about the SASHA center and the importance of the language we use when talking about sexual violence, specifically against Black women. We also learned about the upcoming fifth edition of a back-to-school program hosted by the SASHA center.

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For years, pharmaceutical companies have pushed drugs onto people and doctors, increasing addiction rates and overdose deaths in Michigan and across the country.

Last month, a national settlement with Purdue Pharma created new funds for drug treatment in Michigan. The state is expected to receive $154 million over 15 years. The new funds will go to a larger pot of money from additional national settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors. 

The money comes at a really pivotal time. Michigan is set to lose over $90 million from cuts to federal grants for substance use disorder programs, according to the Michigan Health and Human Services Department. 

Where will the state’s new opioid money go? And, what do we need to do to both prevent addiction deaths in the short run, and prevent addiction entirely in the long run?

Founder of The Recovery Collective in West Bloomfield Steve Norris joined Robyn Vincent to discuss.

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

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

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