Author Archives: Mark

Affirmative Action is dead in the United States… Now what?

By Mark | April 23, 2014

The U.S. Supreme Court, as I’m sure you all know by now, upheld Michigan’s ban on affirmative action yesterday in a 6-2 decision, with Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissenting. (Elena Kagan, recused herself, presumably due to the fact that she was involved in the case prior to joining the Supreme Court, during […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Civil Liberties, Detroit, Michigan | Tagged achievement gap, affirmative action, Arizona, Bill Schuette, California, Civil Right Act, college, college admissions, conservative legislation, dissent, diversity, Elena Kagan, Florida, higher education, KKK, Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Proposition 2, racism, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Schuette v. BAMN, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court, Ted Spencer, the conservative agenda, the free market will fix everything, University of Michigan, Ward Connerly, Wisconsin | 8 Comments

The Untold History of Ypsilanti: Our Native American Past

By Mark | April 21, 2014

As I mentioned a few days ago, two articles were recently brought to my attention (one from 1901, and the other from 1914) about the discovery of what appeared to be Native American remains on the property in downtown Ypsilanti we today call Water Street. Well, I followed up with the fellow who sent these […]

Posted in History, Michigan, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged 1600s, 1680, 1700s, 1800s, 1823, Abram B. Burnett, agricultural communities, Algonquian, archeology, Athens, beaver, Beaver Wars, Blue Jacket, burial grounds, burial mounds, burial tumuli, cemeteries, Chippewa, Concordia College, de La Salle, Delaware, dislocation, Edward King, epidemics, farming, forced removal, Ford Lake, Fort Recovery, French and Indian War, frontier, fur trading, Gabriel Godfroy, Georgian Bay, Gilbert Residence, Giwitatigweiasibi, glaciers, Hinsdale Atlas of Michigan Archaeology, Historic Preservation Act of 1966, Ho-Chunk, Hopewell Mound, human history, hunter gatherer, Huron River, Huron River Watershed Council, ice age, Indian, Iroquois, Joslin, King’s Flats, Lake Erie, Late Woodland period, Little Turtle, looting, Matthew Siegfried, Miami, Michigan Avenue, Michigan Pioneer Collection, middens, Nandewine Sippy, native american artifacts, Native Americans, nomadic, Northwest Indian War, Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, Odawa, Ohio River Valley, Ojibwe, oral history, Ottawa, Pontiac’s War, Potawatomi, reservations, Revolutionary War, Romaine La Chambre, Sauk, Sauk Trail, Serpent Mound, Shawnee, smallpox, South Huron, springs, Tecumseh, the British, the French, the history of white people, Three Fires, trading post, Treaty of Greenville, untold history, War of 1812, Washtenaw County, Water Street, westward expansion, Wilbert B. Hinsdale, Winnebago, Woodruff's Grove, Worden House, Wyandots, Ypsi history | 24 Comments

The City-wide Easter egg hunt is on, and everyone is looking for the map to the secret brunch in the woods!

By Mark | April 20, 2014

“Squirrel eating a Totally Awesome Fest egg outside the Co-op… It better not be the one with the secret brunch location!” -Georgina Susan I went out this morning with the kids looking for Totally Awesome Fest eggs, and we had a great time, not only finding them for ourselves, and, in some instances, moving them […]

Posted in Special Projects, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged Easter eggs, littering, mental illness, secret brunch, Totally Awesome Fest | 6 Comments

The complete Totally Awesome Fest 10 line-up beginning with Sunday’s city-wide Easter egg hunt!

By Mark | April 19, 2014

Since last week’s press conference, Ypsilanti has been in the grip of Totally Awesome Fest fever. You can’t leave your home, it seems, without getting tangled up in drunken beard, wet lips smacking against your ear, speculating as to what Patrick Elkins may have up his sleeve this year. Well, earlier this morning, a bit […]

Posted in Art and Culture, Special Projects, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged Amanda Krugliak, Andara, Animal Magic, Annie Palmer, B.S.R.B., Ben Miller's take-home fashion show, Brian R. Tucker, Buffalo Coven Party, Chemical Valley, Chit Chat, chocolate tampons, Community Rebirth, Creode, Croidoid, croquet, Curtains, Dan Florida, Deadbeat Beat, Dear Darkness, Disinformants, DJ Buffalo Coven Party, DJ Homonormal Park, Dreamland Theater, Easter, Easter eggs, Emily Jane Powers, Girth, Growth Spert, Happy Campers, Hollis Coats, House of Mole, Izzy Johnson, JAV, Jessie Bott, Jo Pie Whyld, Joey Molinaro, Jovantoes, Juniper Baby, Little Weasel House, Lord of the Yum-Yum, Magic Markers, magical events, Man vs. Indian Man, Manhole, May Pie, MC Trashpedal, Ministry of Boredom, Minus 9, Nausea Valley, Nick Painter, noise music, Oak Openings, Ooze Dude, Pajama Party, pancake parade, pancakes, Patrick Elkins, Pie Reading, pizza, Poetry Eating, Princess Xanthipe, Public Urination, Rebel Kind, Richard Album, Riverside Park, Salt City, Sam Finch, secret brunch, Sex Police, Shells, Snesi, Stef Chura, Surprise in the Woods, tampons, Telepathic Telephone, The Blob, The Jols, The Lovelies, The PreMadonnas, The Real Spicollis, The True Love Story of the Wizard & the Swamp Witch, The Understorey, Thom Elliott, Totally Awesome Fest, Truman, Ugly Mug, Unicorn, Van Houten, VG Kids, Video Games, Vomit Express, Voss Acres, Voss's Zas, Water Street Commons, weed, White Dwarf, Woodruff's, Ypsilanti Downtown Library | 8 Comments

You don’t have to be the Mystery Pooper to shit on Ypsilanti… You can be a corporation

By Mark | April 18, 2014

When Adams Outdoor Advertising was lobbying the City for permission to place a digital billboard on the edge of town, facing 94, they said it would be a good thing for us. Not only would they be paying rent, they said, but we could use the massive billboard to positively promote the city to the […]