Council delays water settlement vote until Thursday, Dec. 17, ‘yes’ vs ‘no’ votes seem to be shifting sand yet
By Tom Travis City Council postponed until Thursday a vote on the $20 million portion of the $641 million water crisis settlement. In a six and half hour meeting, with the first two hours spent bickering over rules and procedures, the council questioned attorneys at length about the water crisis settlement. At Monday’s meeting, it appeared that some council members fluctuated between voting “yes” and “no”...
Book Review: A five-day odyssey of “Motown Man” explores familiar themes, settings in Flint author Bob Campbell’s first novel
By Harold Ford “The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the colour-line.” –from Address to the Nations of the World, W. E. B. DuBois, July 1900 “As much as we all try to think we have all reached the promised land, the reality is there’s still alot of separation.” –Bob Campbell, Motown Man author, Dec. 11, 2020 Flint author Bob Campbell’s first book, Motown Man, was virtually launched Dec. 11 via Zoom and...
“The State brought a piggy bank when they should have brought a safe,” former Mayor Karen Weaver declares at water settlement protest
By Tom Travis “It’s a slap in the face and a kick in the behind. The State brought a piggy bank when they should have brought a safe. They brought a piggy bank to pay us and it’s not right to pay between 80,000 and 100,000 people.” So said former Mayor Karen Weaver in a fiery speech to protesters who gathered at City Hall today to voice their opinions of the $641 million Flint water crisis settlement. Activist...
Tendaji Talk panel asks and tries to answer: does White Christianity reinforce White supremacy?
By Harold Ford “We have to call out bad theology when it’s bad theology.” –Monica Villareal, pastor, Salem Lutheran Church, Flint “Much work to be done.” –Dan Scheid, rector St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Flint Does white Christianity reinforce white supremacy? Four area clerics tackled this tough topic on Zoom at the latest Tendaji Talk Dec. 8, along with nearly 40 online listeners and participants. The panelists included:...
Touting themes of “prayer, planning , and partnership” Mayor Neeley cites COVID response, census, racial justice efforts, pipeline progress in State of the City address
By Paul Rozycki It was just over a year ago that Flint’s Mayor Karen Weaver, gave the last state of the city address in a packed house at Flint’s Capitol Theater, shortly before the election. This year, with the COVID-19 pandemic, Flint’s Mayor Sheldon Neeley, drew a contrast with the previous administration, and faced a dramatically different challenge. He gave his first State of the City address virtually, on both NBC 25, You...