Michigan in Color
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
The unexpected valentine
Wednesday, February 8, 2023 — 7
Truth or Lies is an original
column written by Felicia Wilbert.
Every
short
story
published
under the column is either “truth”
(nonfiction) or “lies” (fiction).
Readers have to wait until the next
issue of Groundcover News, to
check if “The unexpected valentine”
is truth or lies!
“Good
morning!
You
are
currently rocking with K-M Vibes
of Manhattan, New York, the
station that plays all your favorite
hits. DJ Chopper is the greatest,
chopping out hits from old to
new…”
Jack
Harloway,
aka
DJ
Chopper, was a popular upcoming
disc jockey. Chopper had won a
five-year
radio
apprenticeship
during his last year in college
at
Musicland
University.
All
throughout
school
he
never
participated in any programs or
dances,
considering
everyone
teased him about the birthmark
on his face. It spanned from the
middle of his eyebrows, curving
around his eyes and ending at
the tip of his nose, shaped like a
heart. He did ask Ashley Blake to
the prom in high school; however,
she shut him down, criticizing the
birthmark. He had a crush on his
science partner Dapheny Pager
in college, but he never acted on
his feelings. Ultimately, he never
gave up on his DJ career and was
ecstatic about his position at the
local radio station.
It was his third year working
at the station, and he was now
working the morning shift. This
position was very important to all
his co-workers; everyone wanted
the morning shift except Chopper.
He knew the position came with
a lot of public association and
appearances. His co-worker, “DJ
Head,” was a confident handsome
man, popular with the ladies. DJ
Head often teased Chopper on
and off the radio about talking to
women…
“Good day, ladies” — DJ Head,
the smooth operator — “smooth
with the ladies, playing the
smooth sounds of love. Unlike
Chopper, always chopping up your
smoothness with his uncouth
sense for love.” It was Chopper’s
turn to speak. “Chopper fans,
hop on to this beat!” He played “I
Need Love” by LL Cool J.
Being a shy man, the evening
shift was perfect for Chopper: he
could express himself without
being seen. Unfortunately for
him, Valentine’s Day was the
next holiday on the schedule.
The holiday he hated the most.
He often remembered the only
valentine
he
ever
received
in school that read, “Be my
Valentine, Scarface. Sike!”
The station decided to hold
an auction at the state fair
auditorium to raise money for
muscular dystrophy. The winner
would receive a free movie and
dinner date with their favorite
DJ. He was worried that once
the winner saw the birthmark on
his face they would be appalled.
DJ Head was an arrogant man,
talking about the auction and
how the ladies were going to come
out and bid for him. On the other
hand, Chopper was totally shy,
trying to avoid his questions about
who was going to bid on him. He
wanted to opt out of the auction;
however, it was mandatory that
each DJ participate in the auction.
One morning two weeks before
the auction, Chopper had had
enough abuse from his co-worker,
and he just told his story on the
radio. He expressed how he did
not like Valentine’s Day due to
the prank that was pulled on him
in school. He also stated he was
looking for a wife, not a playgirl to
break his heart. How he wanted
to love one woman and have
children in the future.
DJ Head assumed that he had
embarrassed
Chopper,
asking
about his birthmark on the radio,
and that the women would not
like him or bid on him due to
his birthmark. The holiday was
quickly approaching. It was four
days before the auction, and
Chopper got off work and went to
his car in the parking lot.
He could not believe his eyes —
his car was covered in Valentine’s
Day cards, even the roof. There
was a large card signed by fans
and a red bow sitting on the hood,
surrounded by other pink, purple
and red cards. He gathered all the
cards, planning to read them once
he got home, where he fixed his
dinner and put on the TV.
To his amazement, they were
talking
about
the
upcoming
auction on the news. Just then,
he remembered the cards and
retrieved them from his car to
read them. Reading the first
three cards, he was flattered and
blushing — feeling something he
had not felt in all his life.
FELICIA WILBERT
Groundcover Vendor No. 234
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Amy Deng/MiC
Stop ignoring homeless
people on State Street
If you ever find yourself at the
University of Michigan, chances
are you’ll take a trip down State
Street. During the early evening
hours after the last classes for
the day have ended, State Street
comes alive. Many of the local
campus eateries, shopping and
living complexes are centrally
located there. Although it is a hub
for college students and located in
the heart of one of the country’s
best college towns, Ann Arbor is
still a city where individuals and
families with no association with
the University reside.
Recognized as the third best
public university in the nation,
it is no surprise to University of
Michigan students and associated
employees that the cost of living
in downtown Ann Arbor and its
surrounding
neighborhoods
is
high. The level of prestige, elite
status and innovative research
tied to the Michigan name alludes
to an exclusive lifestyle attainable
by the average student on campus.
It’s important to acknowledge that
the average U-M student most
likely doesn’t have an issue with
meeting housing costs due to help
from family members or other
resources. The median student
household income of a student
that attends the University of
Michigan is $154,000, while the
average
American
household’s
median income is $67,521.
Therefore,
when
apartment
complexes located close to campus
like Foundry Lofts, The Hub and
The Varsity begin charging more
than one thousand dollars per
occupant in a unit, it’s no shock
that other complexes in Ann
Arbor have started following suit.
According to PayScale, housing
costs in Ann Arbor are 16% higher
than the national average. In 2023,
the average Ann Arbor apartment
is predicted to cost between $1,368
and $1,917 per apartment. With
47,659 students currently enrolled
as either an undergraduate or
graduate student at the University,
there is demand for housing that
needs to be met. And as recalled
before, the average U-M student
has the means to meet prices put
in place by landlords. However,
where does this leave low-income
and/or unhoused residents of
Ann Arbor not associated with
the University? And how do they
manage to survive in a town built
to cater to those who come from an
upper-class society?
According to the Washtenaw
Housing
Alliance,
in
2020,
2,800
individuals
experienced
homelessness or sought emergency
housing. More recently, at the end
of 2022, the demand for a place in
Ann Arbor homeless shelters rose
by 30%.
During my time as a student,
I’ve noticed the housing crisis gets
worse on everyday walks down
State Street as the population of
unhoused
people
continuously
grows.
There
is
a
common
misconception that those who face
housing insecurity or financial
troubles misuse their money or
“don’t spend it on the right things.”
(Who are we as a society to police
the way people choose to spend
their money? Unhoused persons
may
struggle
with
addiction
and
when
medical
resources
are unavailable, treatment for
substance abuse is unattainable.)
However, research shows that the
average person is only one or two
paychecks away from experiencing
homelessness.
In
general,
society holds extremely negative
perceptions of people in poverty
experiencing
homelessness.
It
often leads to the dehumanization
and
criminalization
of
the
homeless population.
Unhoused
persons
are
more likely to be subjected to
violent
crimes,
harassment
and public degradation. There
are
rules
present
in
cities
across
Michigan
prohibiting
sleeping, receiving free food or
loitering, all activities unhoused
persons engage in to survive.
In Ann Arbor, the Michigan
State Police once threatened to
evict residents of Camp Take
Notice, a tent community that
provides food and shelter to
individuals in need. The policies
established to erase Ann Arbor’s
homelessness
crisis
continue
to
isolate
homeless
persons,
restrict
them
from
receiving
help and further perpetuate the
idea that an individual’s actions
are what got them to that place.
It fails to acknowledge other
non-controllable
and
systemic
circumstances that can cause
someone to become homeless.
Furthermore,
people
tend
to look away when they see a
homeless person on State Street.
For some reason, they have this
elaborate fantasy that they’ll be
singled out by an unhoused person,
where they will then be forced
to offer money. When the people
of Ann Arbor turn a blind eye to
the town’s homeless population,
it
denies
their
experience,
ignores the realities of the Ann
Arbor housing crisis and further
alienates unhoused persons from
society.
Extending a hand or simply
smiling at someone is an act of
kindness that’s often forgotten
about. Walking past someone
asking for food or money in front
of our local Target or Starbucks
is a form of dehumanization that
U-M students actively participate
in every single day. As another
student,
I
understand
that
sometimes we can be trapped in
our own world with tunnel vision,
focused on being on time to the
next class or meeting. However,
when you consciously put in your
AirPods, fake a phone call with an
imaginary friend or decide to cross
the street early before you are
approached by a homeless person,
it becomes clear that they are not
seen as a person in your eyes as
they become invisible to you.
ANCHAL MALH
Previous MiC Senior Editor
Trotter Multicultural Center: the legacy of
Black student activists and their vision for a
multiracial University of Michigan
This article is a reprint and
originally appeared in Groundcover
News in Issue 5, Volume 10, [May
2019].
“The Trotter Multicultural Center
serves as an iconic and programmatic
symbol for all students; as an open
and inclusive facility that fosters
intercultural
engagement
and
strengthens connection between and
among communities; as a supportive
and environment to those committed
to social justice and diversity; and as a
space that celebrates the tradition and
legacy of the Trotter Multicultural
Center and the activism of students.”
– University of Michigan Vision
Statement for the new Trotter
Multicultural Center
In the 1960s, young Americans,
especially college students, found
themselves in revolt. Activism to
change the world was in full effect.
There was activism for women’s
liberation, including reproductive
rights. There was activism to
protect the environment and save
the planet. There was activism for
educational diversity, equity and
inclusion. And of course, there was
a major civil rights movement to
end racial injustice, social injustice,
economic
injustice,
healthcare
disparities,
racism,
poverty,
militarism,
discrimination
and
inequality.
With Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr.’s leadership and the involvement
of millions of “ordinary” people,
Congress passed the 1964 Civil
Rights Act. The following year,
in 1965, Congress passed the
Voting Rights Act. Both were
signed
into
law
by
President
Lyndon Johnson. That same year,
President Johnson came up with
a
non-discrimination
executive
order; it created a national office
for affirmative action compliance.
The key goal of this executive
order was to encourage colleges,
K-12 schools, state governments,
local governments and businesses
to take serious actions to recruit,
train and retain people of Color.
The federal government wanted
any organization that was getting
government
contracts
to
help
promote
diversity,
equity
and
inclusion in America. The Civil
Rights
movement
pushed
for
a
multiracial
democracy
and
Johnson’s administration used the
compliance power of the federal
government
to
ensure
more
multicolored
and
multi-cultural
college campuses and workplaces.
The assassination of Dr. King in
Memphis, on April 4, 1968 was an
earthquake that shook the moral
conscience of our nation. It led to
riots and profound demonstrations
in most of the major cities and
towns.
There
was
sadness
everywhere. Dr. King’s death led
to increased activism by Black
students and their multiracial allies.
Those activists did sit-ins, protests
and even occupied buildings which
housed university presidents and
other administrators. There was
always a list of demands.
At the University of Michigan,
students demanded more students
of Color be admitted, more faculty
and staff of Color be hired, that a
building be designated as a U-M
multicultural center and that a
Center
for
Afroamerican
and
African Studies be established.
The implementation of the above
demands,
among
others,
was
gradual, and some have yet to be
met. In the early 1970s, the William
Monroe
Trotter
Multicultural
Center was first established off-
campus at the corner of Washtenaw
Avenue and South University Street.
The University’s community of
students, administrators, faculty,
staff and alumni were happy to see
the relocation to a more central
campus location.
Trotter’s legacy
William Monroe Trotter was
an African American journalist,
civil rights activist and real-estate
businessman in Boston. He was
born on April 7, 1872 in Chillicothe,
Ohio and died April 7, 1934, in
Boston. After Trotter graduated Phi
Kappa Beta with a distinction from
Harvard University, he founded and
edited The Guardian, a progressive
newspaper that was published in
the building that had previously
housed an abolitionist newspaper,
The Liberator.
WILL SHAKESPEARE
Groundcover Vendor No. 258
The racialization of Washtenaw County’s unhoused population
CEDRIC McCOY
MiC Assistant Editor
This article is part of a special
collaboration between Michigan in
Color and Groundcover News. Read
the rest of the joint issue here.
In the last decade, scholars
across academia have begun to
investigate
the
phenomenon
of
homelessness
through
contemporary,
intersectional
lenses.
Historically,
being
unhoused has been understood
as unimpacted by societal and
systemic
influences
and
more
often interpreted as resulting from
a series of an individual’s choices
or circumstances. Modern studies
have deemed this framework to
be objectively false: homelessness
is a complex issue that requires
multifaceted approaches in order
to determine its root causes as well
as its catalysts. As Vijay Mago et al.
describes in “Analyzing the impact
of social factors on homelessness: a
Fuzzy Cognitive Map approach”:
“Homelessness is a complex
social problem with a variety of
underlying economic and social
factors such as poverty, lack of
affordable
housing,
uncertain
physical
and
mental
health,
addictions, and community and
family breakdown. These factors,
in varying combinations, contribute
to duration, frequency, and type of
homelessness … Homelessness is
difficult to define, thus governments
struggle with uncertainty when
creating and implementing policies
they hope will effectively manage
or eradicate this problem.”
The
rise
in
our
unhoused
populations
is
problematized
further by concurrent factors that
act as limiting and oppressive,
such as race, gender, ability and
immigrant
status.
This
article
takes a look at the demographics
of Washtenaw County’s unhoused
population along one of those
axes, race, in order to demonstrate
the dramatic overrepresentation
of People of Color in our local
community.
In
his
article
“Racialized
Homelessness:
A
Review
of
Historical
and
Contemporary
Causes of Racial Disparities in
Homelessness,” Dr. Matthew Z.
Fowle describes the narratives that
have formed around homelessness
in the last half-century:
“Research
examining
the
prevalence of homelessness by
race and ethnicity implies that
homelessness prior to the 1980s
was predominantly experienced by
single older White men. However,
a broader understanding of the
histories of homelessness among
Black, Latinx, and Native American
people suggests substantial racial
overrepresentation has existed for
far longer than the past 40 years—in
many cases, for centuries.”
Fowle goes on to identify the
early
manifestations
of
what
would become “homelessness” in
the colonization of America. By
making connections to the forced
migrations of Indigenous peoples
and enslaved Africans primarily,
Fowle crafts a new narrative — one
in which the displacement of People
of Color in America is understood as
a cultural institution that has been
operating since the “conception”
of this nation by Europeans. This
understanding directly parallels the
origins and histories of Washtenaw
County and its municipalities. For
example, the name “Washtenaw”
is an English approximation of
the Ojibwe (sometimes “Ojibwa,”
“Ojibway” or “Chippewa”) word
used to describe the land that
various peoples inhabited prior
to colonization. Not only is this
land stolen and its peoples forced
elsewhere, but so are its name and
cultural significance.
The Detroit metropolitan area
became one of the larger centers
of trade and commerce in the late
18th–19th century for the early
Midwest. Originally colonized by
the French, Indigenous peoples
were the first to be enslaved and
used in the fur trade industry.
These Indigenous slaves were the
primary labor force of the area,
until wealthy French slave owners
and their African slaves began
to settle in the region soon after.
Harvard professor Dr. Tiya Miles
describes these early enslavement
practices and demographics in her
2017 book “The Dawn of Detroit: A
Chronicle of Slavery and Freedom
in the City of the Straits” as well as
her U-M UROP program Mapping
Slavery in Detroit. Immigration to
(as well as migrations from) Detroit,
located in modern neighboring
Wayne County, had a significant
impact on the racial demographics
of
surrounding
areas
in
the
coming centuries. By the peak of
American
industrialization
and
the subsequent Great Migration
in
the
20th
century,
Black
Americans as well as Latine and
Indigenous
peoples
began
to
constitute
significant
portions
of the regional population. Upon
the collapses of major American
manufacturing
industries
and
factories in the Midwest during the
mid-20th century, however, newly
immigrated
populations
lacked
the social and economic capital to
relocate again; thus, many of these
communities have remained a part
of the makeup of the region.
People of Color in the state
of
Michigan
in
general,
but
Washtenaw County specifically, are
demographically underrepresented
in the population when compared
to the national average.
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Washtenaw Community College
Read more at MichiganDaily.com