East Village Magazine – June 2016
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Hispanic/Latino group aims to help undocumented Flint residents cope with water crisis
By Stacie Scherman Among groups affected by the Flint water crisis, as some worried social service providers have pointed out, the undocumented immigrant community has been much challenged and under-represented. San Juana “Juani” Olivares, president of the Genesee...
Parks, council-mayoral issues dominate College Cultural Neighborhood Association meeting
By Kayla Chappell and Jan Worth-Nelson UPDATE: This story has been edited to reflect that Jody Lundquist, the city's chief financial officer, resigned May 31. More than 55 people attended the College Cultural Neighborhood Association's (CCNA) May meeting, which...
“We’re better together”: social justice in black and white
By Robert R. Thomas Seemingly different as their backgrounds, Beecher black pride and Northside Chicago white privilege, Artina Sadler and Tracie Kim share a common passion for social justice. They teach a course titled “Cultural Competence in Health Care” at UM-Flint...
Pulling weeds by moonlight
By Teddy Robertson I got home late, a bit after 9 pm, coming back in June to my house in Flint after a several months’ sojourn in the south babeach cities west of Los Angeles. My partner Dennis---an LA native---won’t arrive until July. I’ll be on my own in...
East Village Magazine – May 2016
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The power of words and a presidential visit
By Nic Custer Author's Note: This essay is the result of my role as a Flint citizen and not while acting as a journalist. It is in that spirit and in that voice that I am offering this piece to share my experience with the community. In the age of constant...
Village Life: President Obama’s drink of water, boos for Snyder, and that primal scream, continued
By Jan Worth-Nelson Editor's note: This is an updated version of an earlier (April 25) Village Life column President Obama’s sip of water from a sparkling clean glass at Northwestern High School during his May 4 visit was nothing less than a show-stopper. After a few...
At 100, Applewood Estate celebrates by welcoming community
By Jan Worth-Nelson In 1916, the Charles Stewart Mott family of Flint clearly were “one percenters” as we’d call them today, and the life they shaped for themselves when they built their estate that year at the foot of Kearsley Street reflects a passion for healthy...
Crossing Water guides Flint residents to safer shores
By Nic Custer Michael Hood knew from 30 years as a wilderness guide that a canoe can’t get from shore to shore unless the rotten wood is replaced first. This metaphor is what inspired the name for Crossing Water, an Ann Arbor-based organization playing a crucial role...
View from a grass-roots table: people coming together to cope with Flint water
By Teddy Robertson We sit in a rectangle of tables, old manila file folders halved and then creased so we can write our names and prop them up in front of us. I’ve found my way to the basement of the Unitarian Universalist church for the meeting of a group called...
Turn on the taps first two weeks of May, water officials implore Flint residents
By Nic Custer Flint residents are being asked to run cold water through their systems daily for two weeks starting Sunday, May 1. The goal is to push out lead trapped in the system by getting a higher velocity of water running through the water pipes, especially in...
Commentary: It’s not the city charter…it’s the people
By Paul Rozycki After several weeks of high profile hearings, criminal charges, and the governor guzzling Flint’s water, perhaps the greatest risk for the average citizen has been the danger of being poked in the eye by someone pointing a finger at someone else, as...
Village Life: Primal scream, anybody? This is going on too long
By Jan Worth-Nelson I was warned: I had Kleenex at the ready. Still, when my tears started up in the dark during Flint Youth Theater's production of “The Most (Blank) City in America” Saturday night at the Elgood Theater, they hit me like a squall. I was crying for...
St. John Street neighborhood remembered by McCree Theater’s Winfrey
By Robert R. Thomas Charles Winfrey, Executive Director of the McCree Theatre, once wrote a play titled “The Saints of St. John Street” based on his fondest memories of growing up in Flint’s St. John Street neighborhood. He told his audience of 40 at the Flint Public...
EPA water use handout project aims at hard-to-reach residents, faces funding needs
By Jan Worth-Nelson Note: This is an updated version of a story appearing in the April hard copy of East Village Magazine based on information available when the hard copy went to press. More information has since become available. A two-sided color...
East Village Magazine – April 2016
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Column: While we were dealing with the water crisis…
By Paul Rozycki As Flint works its way through its water crisis, the range of problems seem overwhelming. Every time it looks like we’ve solved one problem, another rears its head. At first it seemed that all we needed to do was replace the old lead pipes in the homes...
Flint Public Art Project evolving to local leadership, “Motion in Play”
By Stacie Scherman Flint Public Art Project (FPAP) is now under new local leadership as a result of recent changes to its organizational structure. Former director and FPAP founder Stephen Zacks stepped down into the newly created creative director position. He is...
Marijuana dispensaries focus of planning commission discussion
By Nic Custer Proposals for medical marijuana dispensaries at three Flint locations were the main topic discussed at the March 8 Flint Planning Commission meeting, which drew more than 60 people to the city hall’s Dome Auditorium. Many audience members were...
Pretending to be happy: smart guys say it works
This column first appeared in the April, 2009 edition. In light of the rough “Winter of the Water” and all of its depressing side-effects Flintoids have survived, it seems appropriate to remind ourselves of these ideas again. By Jan Worth-Nelson Sheepishly, I admit...
Confront America’s history of racism to understand Flint, activist asserts
By Robert R. Thomas Racism and economic inequality go hand-in-glove in America, an anti-racism activist told an audience of 150 at the Flint Public Library, and Flint’s recent travails are a pointed example. Tim Wise asserted to the St. Patrick’s Day crowd that the...
Gray Panthers stalk Flint events: remembering That Weekend (Part I)
By Robert R. Thomas The plan was to take a list of ten events surrounding the Democratic debate at the Whiting and participate in as many as chilly weather and aging bones permitted. My wife Ingrid and I were more interested in the scenes surrounding the main...
Bernie makes it better: remembering That Weekend (Part 2)
By Teddy Robertson The March 6, 2016 Democratic debate is over. That it was held in Flint seems more amazing now than it did the Sunday I stood in a line that snaked around the Whiting parking lot---students, Flint old timers (“I walked to Flint Central 50 years...
“Today and Tomorrow–Water in Flint” panel covers “confusing” bills, credits, leaks and lawsuits
By Robert R. Thomas Deciphering Flint’s water bills and the coming state “credits,” assessing the prospects of pending lawsuits, and considering the long-term impact of the city’s water crisis were among topics covered at a community meeting March 10 at the Flint...
