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: Great Migration
Melvin Parson and the campaign to create a world-class urban farm in Ypsilanti
Posted in Agriculture, Ann Arbor, Detroit, entrepreneurism, Environment, Food, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti Also tagged 13th, addiction, Ann Arbor, Avalon Housing, Black Beauty, community gardens, culinary arts, Dawn Farm, Detroit, Doug Coombe, drugs, Edible Avalon, Emanuel Tyus, food hub, fundraising, Henry Ford, Henry Ford Museum, heroin, inequality, Kerrytown, Kerrytown Farmers Market, local food, local food production, matching grants, Melvin Parson, Michigan Department of Corrections, Parkridge Homes, Port Huron, prison industry, prison reform, Shaka Senghor, social justice, St. Joseph Mercy, substance abuse, the hiring on ex-fellons, urban farming, Washtenaw County Jail, We The People Growers Association, We The People Opportunity Center, white flight, Wizard of Oz, YCS, Ypsi immigration interview, Ypsilanti Community Schools 9 Comments
Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interview: D’Real Graham
A few weeks ago, longtime Ypsilanti resident D’Real Graham left town for Washington, DC, where he’ll soon be restarting his college career. Before leaving, D’Real and I had the occasion to exchange a few emails about his memories of growing up here, how he’d seen the city change over his lifetime, and his plans for […]
Posted in Special Projects, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti Also tagged 1969, 826, activism, basketball, Belle Isle, Black Eden, Chris Stranad, churches, Civil Rights Act, creative writing, D.C., deacon, Detroit, Donald Trump, D’Real Graham, Elijah McCoy, exit interviews, gateway cities, gentrification, Howard University, Idlewild, Kate de Fuccio, Keep Ypsi Black, Metropolitan Memorial Baptist Church, New Orleans, Nick Azzaro, NWA, racism, roasts, S.L. Roberson, social justice, Straight Outta Compton, student activism, Ta-Nehisi Coates, vacations, Washington, Washtenaw County Prosecutor, white supremacy, women's studies, write-in, Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interviews 9 Comments
Stuff you likely won’t hear about at the Ypsi Historical Society, Volume I: The presence of the KKK in the 1920s
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 […]
Posted in Civil Liberties, History, Mark's Life, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti Also tagged anti-immigration, cross burning, immigration, KKK, lynching, Matthew Siegfried, race, racism, Ypsi immigration interview, Ypsilanti Daily Press 29 Comments