Too broken to live in, too expensive to fix: Detroit's unique housing crisis

The federal government is producing viral content out of immigration raids while subpoenaing ordinary people who criticize ICE online. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa — host of Latino USA and founder of Futuro Media — joins Robyn Vincent to break down the information war, what it took to get inside an ICE detention facility to interview activist Jeanette Vizguerra, and what it means when silence becomes the rational choice. 

They called her the girl behind the camera, but make no mistake, Leni Sinclair wasn’t standing in anyone’s shadow—she was shaping history from the other side of the lens. After emigrating to the United States in 1959 and studying at Wayne State University, Sinclair immersed herself in the cultural pulse of Detroit.  In the 1960s, she documented revolution, both musical and political, capturing icons like Aretha Franklin and the raw passion of the MC-5. And Leni wasn’t only observing movements, she was leading them. A political activist, cultural catalyst, and champion for generations of artists, she transformed Detroit’s creative landscape while chronicling it. The Detroit Historical Society is honoring Sinclair’s extraordinary legacy with a year-long exhibition, “Leni: Looking Through the Lens”. The celebration kicks off March 12 at the Detroit Historical Museum. The evening will be moderated by WDET’s Ann Delisi with an ensemble performance led by Kasan Belgrave, son of legendary trumpeter Marcus Belgrave. Leni Sinclair joined The Metro’s Tia Graham to chat briefly about her career and upcoming event.

The war in Iran — and the regional fallout — is continuing. Without Congressional authorization, President Donald Trump and Israel launched strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader and other military leaders of the current regime. And now over a thousand people have died in this war.  There is no clear path to peace. Neither Israel nor America have signaled that either have much interest in creating stability or democracy in Iran. Yesterday, we spoke with a Middle East scholar about what’s happening in Iran, and some of the different perspectives of the 92 million people living there. But there are a lot more voices to consider. What do folks from the diaspora who live in our region make of the situation? Layla Saatchi is an assistant Professor of Teaching at Wayne State University. She spoke with The Metro's Robyn Vincent.

Romance books have been growing in popularity over the last few years. Now bookstores are following suit. Carolyn Haering opened Mon Coeur, a romance bookstore, in Canton, Michigan just last year. The name means “my heart” in French. Haering says she started the store because she believes the genre allows her to escape into a fun and typically happy story. Haering joined The Metro to talk about her store and recommend books about love.

The U.S. and Israel are at war with Iran. The supreme leader is dead, a region is destabilizing, and Congress never voted on any of it. President Trump says Iranians are getting their freedom. But who actually speaks for 92 million people — and what happens when the United States decides it already knows the answer? Saeed Khan, associate professor of Near Eastern Studies at Wayne State University, joins Robyn Vincent to discuss the history that the U.S. tends to ignore and the costs of reducing Iran to a single story.

Since late last year, “Heated Rivalry”—a series about two male hockey players who fall in love— has taken the country by storm. Now the novel turned HBO series represents the cultural moment we are in now: Romance books exploded in popularity after the pandemic and LGBTQ+ romance stories are becoming more prevalent. To encapsulate the moment, we want to spotlight the queer love stories that came before it. Erin Bell, the director of the Writing Center at the University of Detroit Mercy who studies women’s writing and literature joined to help us pull back the layers of non-traditional love stories. 

Detroit has a housing problem. But in this city, compared with others across the country, the issue isn’t about a lack of housing — it’s the fact that too many existing homes need critical repairs. Tens of thousands of Detroiters live in substandard housing. The stock often has leaky roofs, electrical problems — things that, if they’re not functioning, make a home unlivable. The city has spent tens of millions of dollars on home repairs. But that number is not nearly enough to meet the need, which totals over $1 billion. What is the scale and scope of the home repair needs? And, how did we get here? Briana Rice is a civic life reporter at Outlier Media. She’s among the reporters who worked on Outlier’s “Beyond Repair” series. It explores Detroit’s home repair crisis.

People voted for President Donald Trump, in part, because he promised to shake things up. Change is happening in many spaces, including those related to public health. In Michigan, and across the country, fewer people are getting vaccinated, more people are sick, and fewer individuals have health insurance. Life is also different for people who lead local public institutions.  Kate Guzman is the Oakland County Health Officer. She spoke with The Metro's Robyn Vincent about the current measles outbreaks, the rise in flu cases, and what she's doing to try to keep people healthy during President Trump’s second term in office. 

In 2013, Detroit filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history. Within a few years, outsiders were calling it "the new Brooklyn." But the poverty rate barely moved. Wayne State sociologist Nicole Trujillo-Pagán's new book argues the people who defined the city's problems understood it least — and profited most. Trujillo-Pagán joined host Robyn Vincent to discuss the forces and people who controlled the narrative and the consequences for residents.

For over 20 years, Khary Mason worked in the Detroit Police department and eventually became a detective for the city’s homicide unit. Looking back six years after leaving the department, he considers those training years a form of indoctrination and sees the work of “protecting and serving” communities as a means of controlling them. He illustrates these reflections in his new exhibition “Friendly Fire: Scenes of Service, Searching for Safety." It is on display now at Irwin House Detroit through March. Mason joined the program to discuss his journey into service and why he chose to get out.