The Reverend Jesse Jackson has died.  He was 84 years old.  Jackson joined the civil rights movement in the early 1960s and begam working closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Junior.  Jackson was near king on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis when King was shot to death in April 1968. 

Jackson became a leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the years after King’s death.  He went onto create Operation PUSH in Chicago as part of his effort to continue advocating for change.  One of his signature slogans was “Keep Hope Alive”.  Jackson ran for president in 1984 and 1988, but failed to win the Democratic Party nomination. 

Jackson maintained close ties with civil rights leaders in Detroit, often visiting for NAACP or Operation PUSH events in the city.  The Rainbow/PUSH non-profit coalition was created in the mid-1990s.  Jackson also gave the eulogy for Rosa Parks at her funeral in Detroit in 2005. 

President Clinton awarded Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000.

Additional headlines from Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 

SW Detroit residents remember flood 

This is the first anniversary of a major flood in Southwest Detroit.  A 54-inch water main broke last year, causing problems for hundreds of residents in the area.  

Several feet of icy water poured into streets and basements.  The city had to evacuate more than 150 homes in the Springwells neighborhood.  Residents in the area say some were evacuated by boat.  Some lost their cars due to the amount of freezing water in the streets. 

Michigan ranked #1 for men’s college basketball

And Michigan is ranked number on in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll.  It’s the first time that’s happened in 13 years.  

The AP says the Wolverines claimed 60 of 61 first-place votes in yesterday’s new poll.  Michigan is set to play number three Duke Saturday evening. 

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Across the country, small businesses in immigrant communities are reporting the same pattern: customers are disappearing, workers aren’t showing up, and revenue is in decline.

Federal immigration enforcement has reshaped daily life in these neighborhoods, and some business owners say it’s hitting them harder than COVID, in part because there’s no PPP loan or government lifeline this time around.

In Los Angeles County, the vast majority of surveyed businesses reported negative impacts, with nearly 50% losing more than half their revenue. In Chicago’s Little Village, business sales have dropped an estimated 50 to 70%. And the Brookings Institution estimates that 2025 may have been the first year in over half a century that net migration to the U.S. went negative.

That same predicament is playing out in metro Detroit. In Southwest Detroit, Dearborn, and Hamtramck, the small businesses that anchor entire neighborhoods are under growing pressure. Business owners along Vernor Highway describe empty storefronts, canceled appointments, and streets that used to bustle with foot traffic now eerily quiet. Community networks — WhatsApp alert groups, volunteer patrols, whistle distribution — have emerged to help residents maintain their daily routines.

Mark Lee is the president and CEO of The Lee Group, a consulting firm that works with small businesses on strategy, marketing, and growth across Southeast Michigan. He joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to talk about what he’s hearing from owners on the ground.

Listen to the full conversation using the media player above.

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Immigration enforcement over the last year has become a lot more visible. Late last year, four Detroit students and their families were detained by ICE. The incident sparked outrage among community members who voiced their concerns.

Teachers, students, and parents requested the Detroit Public Schools Community District institute stronger protections for immigrant students, and over the weekend, protestors urged the city council to make Detroit a sanctuary city.

A new project spearheaded by two Detroiters aims to give people whose loved ones were detained or separated by immigration enforcement a place to heal.

The Altars for Collective Grief Project is an effort by Theresa Beckley-Amaya and Julianna Sanroman to construct altars around Southwest Detroit. They will be made of photos of loved ones who have been detained. Beckley-Amaya and Sanroman joined the show to discuss the project and why they organized around grief.

Submit your photos to the project here.

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During President Trump’s second term, immigration enforcement has become more dangerous and more visible. 

Detention has expanded rapidly. Last year was the deadliest year in more than two decades. Federal records show people have continued to die in custody in the opening days of this year.

There have also been multiple fatal shootings at the hands of on-duty and off-duty ICE agents in recent months. 

In Minneapolis, an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good. That killing prompted lawsuits from Minnesota and its largest cities. There were also resignations inside the Justice Department after leadership declined to open a customary civil rights investigation.

Other people have also been killed by ICE agents, including Silverio Villegos González near Chicago and Keith Porter Jr. in California. Those deaths, though, did not trigger the same national response.

In Detroit, City Council Member Gabriela Santiago-Romero is pushing the city to act. She represents Southwest Detroit and chairs the City Council’s Public Health and Safety Committee. She’s asking whether Detroit can legally restrict ICE activity on city property and in sensitive areas, such as schools and hospitals. 

Santiago-Romero joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss how cities can respond when federal immigration enforcement becomes more aggressive, and how local governments weigh responsibility, risk, and trust.

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