Life & Community | Thrive Detroit

24Jun 2018 by sajjiah

Monthly JOW: A Million Reasons Why

Health and Wellness, Life & Community, Lifestyle

The Monthly JOW - Jewel of Wisdom By Sajjiah Parker A Million Reasons Why … “The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.” --Mark Twain How profound are the words of Mark Twain if you take the time to consider their meaning. Let’s dissect, and delve a little deeper, beginning with the first half of the quote: “The two most important days in your life are the day you were born…”. Stop right there … “THE DAY YOU WERE BORN!” I pause here and place emphasis on this point because I think we all generally take the day we were born somewhat for granted. It is understandable, and I am guilty of it myself given that, after…

14Aug 2017 by Adam Sennott

Racial Violence in Charlottesville

Stories

One person died and dozens were injured after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville Virginia Saturday. The “Unite the Right” rally was organized by Jason Kessler, a white nationalist who described the event on his Facebook page as “biggest pro-Confederate right-wing rally of the year!” The rally began in Emancipation Park at around 7 a.m. and began spiraling out of control after two people were injured in an altercation near the park, the city said on its official twitter account. By about 11:30 a.m. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency in Charlottesville, according to a statement released by his office. A short time later a car drove through a crowd of people in the downtown area, killing one and injuring 19 others, Charlottesville police said on their Facebook page. James Alex Fields Jr., 20 of Ohio, was arrested for…

05May 2017 by Adam Sennott

Culturally Sensitive Shelter for Homeless Muslim Women

Life & Community

Adam Sennott Pictured: Representing shelter room sponsors Malden Masjed from left-Sister Khadijah, Laila, and Fatima For Muslim women, living in a homeless shelter comes with an added layer of difficulties. At times, they are unable to eat the food that is served due to religious restrictions and can’t remove their scarves when men are present since that would violate their religious beliefs. Malika MacDonald, national director of ICNA Relief USA's Shelter Network has worked with women who have been harassed and even attacked in public shelters for praying. And talking to male staff about their struggles can be “extremely uncomfortable,” MacDonald said. “Often times councilors will say to them ‘well, you know, doesn’t your religion oppress women? Doesn’t your religion call for this type of treatment of women?” MacDonald said. “It’s not very uplifting.” Over…

28Apr 2017 by Adam Sennott

Using Vacant Federal Property to Develop Affordable Housing

Life & Community

The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty is offering a helping hand to municipal governments who want access thousands of free properties from the federal government to permanently house homeless people. The NLCHP launched it Public Property/Public Need toolkit Monday to help state and local governments and nonprofits organizations find and apply for property available under Title V of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, the Law Center said in a press release. The program was started in 1987, and in December the government clarified that federal property can be used to permanently house homeless people. “The program provides eligible homeless service providers with a right of first refusal to properties no longer needed by the federal government – including warehouses, administrative buildings, and vacant land,” the Law Center said.…

09Jun 2016 by guest

Interview with Joel Batterman: The Organizer of The Motor City Freedom Riders

Life & Community

[caption id="attachment_2576" align="aligncenter" width="640"] photo by Alexander Rentsch[/caption] Interviewer: Carolyn Lusch, Master of Urban Planning, UM Could you tell me about your history as a regional transit advocate? Although I’m from Ann Arbor originally, I went to school in Portland, Oregon. Out there, I was really impressed by what an extensive public transit system they had, and I started to wonder about why Portland had this system while metro Detroit had very little public transit. I ended up doing research on that and found that the lack of an extensive regional transit system in metro Detroit was in large part the result of the region’s contested racial politics. There was a plan for regional transit back in the 70s, but it was defeated largely by suburban opposition. A lot of…

09Jun 2016 by majallen

Think’ Bout It

Life & Community, Lifestyle

by Majallen Cespedes I can feel myself maturing every day, and I am becoming more independent. But, on the other hand it is scary because with maturity comes much more responsibility and very soon the realities of being a real grown-up. Even though I want to grow up and have more freedom, I’m not too much in a rush! I suggest you don’t be either. Let’s face it- it just all seems like a lot…work, bills, kids to take care of, a home to maintain, marriage, etc., and that might not even know the half of it! I actually think I can wait…what about you? I think we are better off just planning for our futures now. That’s something else my mom is ALWAYS talking about, and it does kind…