Commentary: What’s the new normal for 2016 and 2017?
By Paul Rozycki Looking back on 2016, it is strange how quickly the abnormal became normal. One of the most worrisome aspects of the Flint Water Crisis is how normal certain things have become. I’ve gotten used to having the house littered with water bottles and having cases of water piled all over the kitchen. I’m used to changing filters every week or so. I’m used to picking up a carload of water every few weeks. I’m used to...
Commentary: Post-mortem on the 2016 election poses a “Top Ten” list of questions
By Paul Rozycki We all thought it would be over after Nov. 8. Almost everyone expected Hillary to win by a close, but decent margin. She had a half dozen ways she could win the Electoral College. Trump barely had one. Yet after the shock and dismay of this unprecedented and vicious campaign, we are still reeling from the results. It may take years to assess the full impact and implications of the 2016 campaign, but there are at least...
Village Life: Buckle up for the pursuit of truth
Amendment I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. By Jan Worth-Nelson There’s a room in our house I can’t go into right now. It’s the den, a formerly beloved room we’ve always nestled into, a small...
Book Review: NOBODY: Casualties of America’s War on the Vulnerable, from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond
By Robert R. Thomas In the January 2016 issue of EVM, I wrote a book review of Demolition Means Progress (2015) by Andrew Highsmith, a definitive account of the reality of Flint’s last 80 years. The book arrived in my life at a time when I desperately needed to understand the Flint I had returned to in 2005. Eleven years later life in Flint has come to a new bend in the river where I needed to reflect and review. Where had we come...
Community Commentary: Why I quit singing the Star Spangled Banner
Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt of a column reprinted with permission from Woodside World, a newsletter issued to the congregation of Woodside Church of Flint, where Rev. Conrad is senior pastor. She wrote it partly in response to NFL star Colin Kaepernick’s recent national anthem protests. This is not offered as the editorial position of East Village Magazine but rather as an opportunity to read and consider the view...
Straight talk on the “straight ticket”
By Paul Rozycki There are at least two ways to win an election. Obviously, the best is to have a great candidate, put on the strongest campaign, sell your ideas to the voters and hope they support your views. At least that’s the classical democratic view of winning an election. The other way is to massage the rules of the election so your party has a built-in edge. For the last decade or more the Republicans have been masterful at...
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