Melvin Parson and I have been working off an on for the past two years on an interview for this site. It began as an Ypsilanti Immigration Interview, and, over time, as we dug deeper into his work with We The People Growers Association, evolved into something more about his dream of establishing a world-class […]
Tag Archives: community gardens
Melvin Parson and the campaign to create a world-class urban farm in Ypsilanti
Ypsi Immigration Interview: Megan Maurer
Several days ago I was approached by a young woman named Megan Maurer, asking if she could interview me for her master’s thesis. I agreed on one condition. I told her that, for every question she asked me, I’d ask one of my own. What follows are her responses to my questions. MARK: As I […]
WISD Superintendent Scott Menzel on the proposed merger of the Ypsilanti and Willow Run school districts
A few days ago, I posted something here about the proposed merger of the Ypsilanti and Willow Run school districts. Well, what I’d written was apparently brought to the attention of Scott Menzel, the superintendent of the Washtenaw Intermediate School District. Scott asked for an opportunity to clarify a few things concerning the proposed merger, […]
Is there an opportunity for the community to take control of the impending consolidation of Ypsi and Willow Run public schools, and push for a visionary curriculum?
If you’re a regular reader of this site, you know that my friend Maria Cotera has, over the past few years, been sharing reports with us on the status of Ypsilanti’s public schools. From the closing of Chapelle elementary to the the adoption of the recent deficit elimination plan, she’s established herself, at least in […]
Ypsilanti immigration interview: Michael Geminder
As you know, over the past few weeks, I’ve been interviewing people who have, for one reason or another, chosen to leave the Ypsi/Arbor area in hopes of making a better life somewhere else. While I think I had a pretty good sense as to why people generally leave our community, I thought that it […]