Free read, March 17-21: Detroit schools leader bashes Trump, postal workers protest, Cade's buzzer beater
Catch up on what you missed from this week in Detroit news
Howdy, subscribers!
The weather is heating up and so are races for city council and mayor.
If you’re a council candidate, please reach out on social media or email: samueljrobinson@icloud.com
This week, we featured the District 5 race. In District 6, an intriguing matchup is shaping up between incumbent council member Gabriela Santiago-Romero and state Rep. Tyrone Carter, D-Detroit.
On Tuesday, I attended the Politics and Pancakes breakfast hosted by the Michigan Chronicle, and capped the day off attending an Iftar dinner for mayor and city council members at the Islamic Center of Detroit.
Mayor Mike Duggan and his wife Dr. Sonia Hassan and City Council member and mayoral candidate Fred Durhal III spoke at the event. So did former State Rep. Abe Aiyash, D-Hamtramck, who urged guests to speak out against the war in Gaza.
City Council President Mary Sheffield, also running for mayor, attended but did not speak.
Here’s what else happened this week:
DPSCD superintendent Vitti: Trump ‘not supportive’ of students
Detroit school district superintendent Nikoli Vitti told employees this week in a virtual budget update President Donald Trump isn’t “supportive of our children,” according to a report from the Detroit Free Press’ Lily Altavena.
Vitti reportedly said employees who voted for Trump "have to reconcile that" with their day-to-day jobs.
“There's certainly DPSCD employees that voted for Trump," Vitti said. “I really think you have to reconcile that with your day-to-day job and the children that you support, because this current president and this administration is not supportive of our children and our communities based on their budget, and budget defines your priorities.”
The comments were made as Vitti tackled questions over how proposed cuts to federal funding and the president’s attack on the U.S. Department of Education will affect the 49,000 Detroit Public Schools Community District students.
If Congress scales back federal education funding, and Title I funding for schools that serve economically disadvantaged students in particular, Vitti said the district may experience “hurt and pain,” according to the Free Press.
Cade Cunningham is a NBA superstar
Pistons guard Cade Cunningham is being promoted by the league unlike ever before.
The Pistons, 38-32, turned Dade County into Cade County Wednesday night thanks to a last second bank-shot from three by Cunningham. His game winning shot capped off a 25 point, 12 rebound and 11 assist tripe-double performance in Miami.
The game, broadcast on ESPN, was the Pistons’ second time playing on national television this year.
Detroit is firmly in sixth place in the east, having improved 25 games since last season.
National pundits are taking notice. The league and ESPN on social media haven’t stopped posting about Cunningham’s performance Thursday night and his breakout year.
Cunningham is playing an ethical brand of basketball which includes an active mid-range game and a limited number of free throw attempts. His highlight reel includes poster dunks, flashy cross court passes, chase down blocks. But more important is his creation of open opportunities for teammates like Malik Beasley out of double-teams.
Sometimes Cade acts like a big man, using his size to back down smaller guards which leads to help defenders leaving Detroit’s perimeter players wide open.
The Pistons appear in the best position to win their first playoff game since 2008, though they dropped Friday night’s game in Cunningham’s hometown, Dallas.
UM study: Detroit homeowners gain $700M in housing wealth
Owner-occupied homes in Detroit increased value by nearly 10% over a one year period, a study from the University of Michigan found.
The data released Friday by Michigan Poverty Solutions reports Detroiters gained $700 million in net home value in 2023.
Mayor Mike Duggan highlighted the study in a press conference Friday at the Northwest Activities Center that countered the narrative budding from some mayoral campaigns that the city’s revitalization hasn’t reached neighborhoods like it has downtown.
Median home sale values grew the most in hispanic neighborhoods, which experienced a 329% increase in median home value as of 2023, the study found.
But Black homeowners continued to have the largest share of net housing wealth in the city, representing 75% of all housing wealth generated in 2023, a $3.2 billion increase in net housing wealth.
Resident Jerry Sanders, who grew up in Black Bottom and has lived on 8 Mile for 20 years, credited the mayor for the city’s comeback. He said he was the only one of his 10 siblings to stay in the city instead of moving to the suburbs.
“You have brought a vibrance to this city that is phenomenal,” Sanders told Duggan. “I watch the Lions, the Tigers, the Pistons. Each one, some kind of way, this mayor has pushed them — Campbell didn’t bring grit, it was already here. He already had it… I thank you for the growth of this city.”
Postal workers protest Trump, Musk
American Postal Workers Union members in Detroit marched in the rain and cold this week to protest proposed changes to the agency sought by Republicans.
Protestors stood outside the post office on West Fort Street to tell the White House to leave the Postal Service alone.
President Donald Trump and donor Elon Musk have both suggested privatizing the public agency. Last month, Trump proposed merging the U.S. Postal Service, an independent agency, with the Commerce Department.
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib stood with the postal workers, who held signs and chanted “U.S. mail, not for sale.”
The U.S. Postal Service employs 640,000 people across the country, including Detroit’s Mike Copeland, who was celebrated by thousands after the photo I took of him Tuesday went viral.
“Thank you for all that service to the community Mr. Copeland,” Detroit rock star Jack White said in a comment on Instagram Friday.