
The Latest in Comment


Breaking bread with police to break down barriers
On Wednesday, at the same time a Kentucky attorney general was announcing findings in the Breonna Taylor case, a small group of men and women gathered on Detroit’s east side to eat some barbecue they had cooked outside together. And as cities across America saw...
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life could teach us all a lesson
I am not a woman. That’s obvious. But it didn’t keep me from admiring Ruth Bader Ginsburg for years, her courage, her tenacity, her firm belief in being a fair jurist and standing up for issues she believed in. I am not a lawyer. And I did not agree with all...
Devastating week leaves us weary, worn and wondering
Friday night, at the end of a long, draining day, I put on some music. Up came “The Peppermint Twist” by Joey Dee and the Starliters. I found myself enjoying it far more than usual. It’s so simple. So happy. It begins the way many songs from the late 50’s and early...
Hey, Gov. Whitmer: Let the curtain rise on movie theaters
Now that our governor is finished with her shark week, perhaps she can bite into a small but persistent inequity in our COVID-19 shutdowns that, frankly, has gone on too long. Movie theaters. They have been closed in Michigan, with the exception of the Traverse City...
Masks or computers a losing battle for Michigan schools
I work with kids. A lot. Many of them don’t speak English. The best tool I have, when we need to communicate, is the three or four inches between my nose and chin, and the two or three inches between theirs. If they don’t understand something, I push up a...
Burying the unclaimed dead shows the greatest respect for life
A small chain of human decency, a quiet, under-the-radar effort involving government workers, funeral home directors and cemeteries oversees a final kindness for unclaimed dead.

Our next attack on COVID-19 must be smarter
Ever since coronavirus blanketed our country, it’s been “many” versus “some.” Many people will get sick. Some will die. Many people wear masks. Some do not. Many people closed their businesses. Some lost them forever. Today we stand on a new precipice. We tried...
Anti-Semitic posts — and tepid reactions — should enrage us
We must consider why DeSean Jackson’s anti-Semitic comments drew less outrage than other types of hateful language.
