Making, And Leaving, Home In Flint
In 1997, an international incident was brewing. The World Wrestling Federation’s Shawn Michaels and Hunter Hearst Helmsley had declared war on their Canadian rivals, the Hart Foundation.
Happy Anyway: A Flint Anthology
I had just started writing about Flint when I found myself sitting next to Michael Moore, listening to him talk about what Flint had to offer the world.
Flint’s Younger Voices Get a Hearing on Stage
On a recent Friday evening, the cast of Flint Youth Theatre’s current production The Most [Blank] City in America, rehearsed a scene in which community members have gathered for a meeting ...
How Michigan’s Municipal Policies Led To Crises In Detroit and Flint
Michigan has the most decrepit cities in the United States...It’s not just a result of neglect. It’s a result of policy.
Flint’s Water Problems are the Symptom, Not the Disease
I don’t recognize the Flint I’m seeing on TV these days. I was born in Flint, Michigan, in 1953, and attended public schools from kindergarten through high school, and two years of college, before leaving in 1973...
A Flint Manifesto for the Rust Belt
Flint’s water crisis has become an alarm bell that’s ringing across the country, especially in the Midwest. Now that the poisoning of a Michigan city has become national news, the press and public are looking for lessons.
Celebrities Descend Upon Flint — For Better Or For Worse
It started with Cher calling for Rick Snyder’s head, and really, who could blame her? This was in January, when the media had fully descended upon Flint, Michigan, in the midst of its water crisis...
When You’re Embarrassed To Be A Michigander
Supposedly, “Michigander” is an offensive term, first coined by Abraham Lincoln as an insult. Lincoln thought Lewis Cass, the great Michigan governor for which so much of our institutions and municipalities are named...
Report From Flint: Don’t Call It “Katrina”
The drive from Lansing to Flint is relatively easy, a straight shot along I-69. It’s a drive I first made in August 2008 after accepting a teaching job at the University of Michigan-Flint.
In Bad Times And In Worse, Pastor Bobby Is Flint’s Water Man
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder was on his way to Flint to spend some quality time with reporters dodging questions about whether or not he was responsible for the lead that had found its way into Flint’s water supply ...
Of Bibles and Body Slams: The Story Of Flint Wrestler Leo “Father Time” Napier
Leo Napier is walking around each side of a wrestling ring in Dearborn, Michigan, teaching the audience assembled there how to be his fan. They are willing. They are eager.
Not Just Another Soup Kitchen: Inside the Flint Community Cookout
“Hey, man, he got a spot,” says Kenny Lucas, pointing his thumb toward Dallas Schiestel, as another man joins the growing party in Riverbank Park, waiting for the Flint Community Cookout to begin.