Coming Into a Black Woman’s Anger
On Audre Lorde and Minnesota Nice.
Reviving Detroit’s Historic Blue Bird Inn
Once “the nerve center” of the jazz scene in Detroit, the venue is now in shambles. But the Detroit Sound Conservancy and neighborhood leaders have plans to change that.
The Last Children of Mill Creek [Excerpt]
"My father was the grandson of Mississippi slaves, and the son of a thrice-married and divorced mother who had cleaned white peoples’ homes and cared for their children in two states by the time they settled in St. Louis in 1929."
The Restoration of Maxo Vanka’s Working-Class, Immigrant Murals
On the walls of a Pittsburgh-area church, twenty-five scenes of God, war, justice, family.
Remembering the Kent State Shootings, Fifty Years Later
Survivor Chic Canfora reflects on life then and now.
An Elegy for John Prine
"If you listen long enough, you’ll find your own Prine line, the one that makes you feel real lonesome and want to laugh, all at once."
Mutual Aid in the Rust Belt
A developing list of coronavirus-related efforts in the region.
2020 Vision: Cincinnati’s West End
More than twenty-five thousand people lost their homes so a highway could be built in my neighborhood.
What COVID-19 and the Chicago Heat Wave of 1995 Have in Common
Large-scale emergencies reveal underlying gaps in access and infrastructure.
The Race for the Ohio Fourth
Incumbent Jim Jordan faces challenges from Democrats and (former) Republicans alike.
Fighting For a Fair Census in 2020
In an absence of federal investment, organizers across the region are working to improve the chances of an accurate count.
Ida Tarbell: Reporting the Oil Region
An excerpt from "Citizen Reporters."