Hope Requires Work
Leslie McGraw joins Turning A Moment Into A Movement to honor Rev. Jesse Jackson’s legacy and explore what accountability looks like today. This conversation connects past and present, calling us to move from awareness into action.
The Way to Right Wrongs
The National Park Service is asking for public comments on lynching sites in the Memphis region, including Brownsville, Tennessee—where Elbert Williams was killed in 1940 for organizing Black voter registration. This is more than a historical review. It is a chance for communities and descendant families to help shape how this story is remembered, preserved, and taught. For many of us, especially those with roots stretching from Tennessee to Michigan, this history is not distant. It lives in
No Kings was a Call to do the Work
Community members are organizing in Romulus in response to the proposed ICE detention center. After this weekend’s demonstration, the work continues tomorrow with opportunities to gather, learn, and take action. What’s at stake is bigger than one site. It is about how resources are used and who our systems are built to protect.
Accessibility is a Voting Rights Issue
After three years of legal advocacy, a group of women with disabilities secured a federal settlement that will bring major accessibility improvements to Detroit’s public buildings, including the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center. These changes—impacting access to courts, public meetings, jury service, and voting—are not cosmetic; they are fundamental to democracy. The legacy of lead plaintiff Jill Babcock lives on in this reminder that access denied is democracy denied.
Caring for Ourselves Is Civic Work: We Are Our Own Rainbows
September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. While studies show there are many reasons why someone might consider suicide, the biggest deterrents to suicide are positive social connections and access to mental health care. As a writer and activist who leans into many political spaces, taking care of myself is often in competition with other […]
Naming the Wound, Finding the Healing
What happens when lived grief meets clinical wisdom? At the Ann Arbor District Library, George Floyd’s family and leading psychologists gathered for a powerful evening of truth-telling, resilience, and racial healing. From personal loss to the psychology of racial trauma, the panel revealed how turning pain into purpose demands not only courage—but also community, love, […]
Before The World Knew His Name
On what would have been Emmett Till’s 84th birthday, we remember not just the brutal injustice that took his life—but the vibrant boy he was before the world came to know his name. Before his name became a national rallying cry, Emmett Louis Till was a 14-year-old Black boy navigating the joys and challenges of […]
Honoring 60 Years of Peace, Justice, and Community: ICPJ Celebrates a Milestone
“We are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s business.” – Gwendolyn Brooks This year marks a powerful milestone: 60 years of community-rooted activism, education, and solidarity from the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice (ICPJ). Since 1965, ICPJ has been a hub for people across Washtenaw County and beyond who believe in building a […]
5th Annual Ypsilanti Area Juneteenth Celebration
The Elbert Williams Voting Corner is excited to be part of the Ypsilanti Juneteenth Celebration on Saturday, June 21—a day that honors Black freedom, resilience, and the ongoing fight for justice. As we gather to celebrate emancipation and community, we also uplift the legacy of Elbert Williams, one of the first known martyrs of the […]
Discovering Juneteenth
Article Reprinted, Courtesy of Brownsville States-Graphic OPINION | DISCOVERING JUNETEENTHBy Leslie McGraw, Great Grandniece of Elbert Williams I didn’t grow up celebrating Juneteenth. Like many Black Americans in the Midwest, I knew of it only vaguely—something about Texas, something about the end of slavery, but it felt distant, like someone else’s history. In my 11th […]