Category Archives: History

Checking in with Ypsi’s least favorite son, Tom Monaghan

By Mark | July 9, 2014

The new issue of Businessweek has an interesting piece comparing and contrasting Michigan’s aging pizza barons, Tom Monaghan and Mike Ilitch. And, as it’s been a while since we’ve discussed Monaghan, who started Domino’s here in Ypsilanti in 1960, I thought that I’d share a bit. Tom Monaghan was once a billionaire. He owned 244 […]

Also posted in Ypsilanti | Tagged anti-abortion, anti-gay people who are most likely gay, anti-homosexual nonsense, Ave Maria, baseball, birth control, burgers, Catholicism, Detroit Tigers, Domino's, Gyrene Burger, Harry Bennett, homophobia, Jim Towey, John Norman Collins, Joseph Fessio, Little Caesar's, Mike Ilitch, pizza, pro-life, religious fundamentalism, Tom Monaghan | 14 Comments

Frederick Douglas on the hypocrisy of July 4

By Mark | July 5, 2014

In spite of the warrantless phone tapping, the daily drone strikes, and the fact that wealth is rapidly concentrating in the hands of just a few, I actually love America. For all of its flaws, I think we’ve created something truly unique and beautiful here… something worth fighting for. It’s an extremely fragile thing, this […]

Also posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1852, Fourth of July, Frederick Douglass, Howard Zinn, July 4, patroitism, slavery | 14 Comments

Is Star Trek good for girls?

By Mark | June 28, 2014

At some point, about a year ago, Clementine and I got out of the habit of reading together every night. It might have had something to do with the fact that Arlo had come along, and was demanding more of my time, but I suspect she’d also gotten to an age where our interests were […]

Also posted in Mark's Life, Pop Culture, Uncategorized | Tagged 1966, Captain Kirk, Clementine, Gene Roddenberry, it's complicated, Majel Barrett, Martin Luther King, MLK, Nichelle Nichols, sexism, Star Trek, teachable moments, Uhura, women's rights | 10 Comments

Stuff you likely won’t hear about at the Ypsi Historical Society, Volume I: The presence of the KKK in the 1920s

By Mark | June 16, 2014

On occasion, I find that it’s easier to steal content than to write it myself. And, just now, I was given a terrific opportunity to do just that when my friend, the local historian Matt Siegfried, posted the following two newspaper scans to the South Adams Street page he maintains on Facebook. From the November […]

Also posted in Civil Liberties, Mark's Life, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged anti-immigration, cross burning, Great Migration, immigration, KKK, lynching, Matthew Siegfried, race, racism, Ypsi immigration interview, Ypsilanti Daily Press | 26 Comments

Is it time for Deja Vu to go?

By Mark | June 15, 2014

Apparently no photographic proof exists, but an acquaintance of mine was issued a written warning by Ypsilanti police yesterday after writing “Ypsilanti respects women” and “Ypsilanti doesn’t need a strip club” in liquid chalk on the facade of our local all-nude strip joint, Deja Vu. (See his written warning from the officer below.) He and […]