Recent Posts

THE TRIAL OF ELI SAVIT

THE TRIAL OF ELI SAVIT

Brian Geiringer

This is the story of my friend Shihab Jackson. It’s also a story about Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit. Two men: a felon and a prosecutor. Both are on trial.  Let’s begin on November 3rd, 2020. It’s Election Day. Outside Temple Beth Emeth, a 29-year-old…

‘Stop Cop City’ Activists Protest Outside “Accident Fund,” An Insurer of Cop City

‘Stop Cop City’ Activists Protest Outside “Accident Fund,” An Insurer of Cop City

Sunrise Movement Ann Arbor

LANSING, MI — A group of activists from Sunrise Ann Arbor and associated organizations gathered outside of AF Group this Friday afternoon to protest the insurance company’s contract with the unpopular Cop City project. Accident Fund provides workers’ compensation insurance to Cop City, a proposal…

Abolition Rally – Brandon Edward Mitchell

Abolition Rally – Brandon Edward Mitchell

Brandon Edward Mitchell

On April 20th, organizers with Detroit Will Breathe, the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, the movement to Stop the Expansion of Camp Grayling, the School of Environment and Sustainability, and Defend Affordable Ypsi, joined with striking members of the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) at the University…

Abolition Rally — Jackson

Abolition Rally — Jackson

Shihab Jackson

On April 20th, organizers with Detroit Will Breathe, the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, the movement to Stop the Expansion of Camp Grayling, the School of Environment and Sustainability, and Defend Affordable Ypsi, joined with striking members of the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) at the University…

Ypsi Hip-Hop Duo “The Dastardly Kids” Return

Ypsi Hip-Hop Duo “The Dastardly Kids” Return

Alex Moroz

The Dastardly Kids may not be youngins anymore, but their 2023 double 7” release Delinquent harnesses the raw energy bursting out of their tracks from a decade earlier. Staying close to their Ypsilanti upbringing, the two artists linked up with prolific Detroit producer Omar S…

Military Recruitment Disrupted; Two Arrested at UM Career Fair

Military Recruitment Disrupted; Two Arrested at UM Career Fair

friends of the forest

“STOP CAMP GRAYLING” Protesters disrupted a University of Michigan career fair yesterday, in solidarity with the movement to Stop Camp Grayling. A number of military, police, and surveillance recruiters gathered in a western hall of the Michigan Union when anonymous members from the crowd suddenly…

Ann Arbor: Protest to Stop Cop City staged at Merrill Lynch and Porsche; Tortugita Remembered

Ann Arbor: Protest to Stop Cop City staged at Merrill Lynch and Porsche; Tortugita Remembered

friends of the forest

Just past nightfall on Saturday 1/28 a crowd of 50 to 100 gathered on Eisenhower Parkway, near the 777 building in south Ann Arbor, to protest the police murder in Atlanta of a beloved forest defender known as Tortugita. Many in the crowd wore black from head to toe in mourning; signs commemorating Tortugita and decrying police violence were visible…

GEO Fights for Affordability and Dignity; UMich Requests Mediation

GEO Fights for Affordability and Dignity; UMich Requests Mediation

Graduate Employees' Organization (GEO)

On November 17, 2022, negotiations between the University of Michigan and the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) kicked off with a bang. Over 400 graduate workers and community allies rallied and marched to the bargaining room, where they watched as GEO members put forth a platform…

Starving People to Save Them from “Blight”: The ‘Love Stand’ Shut Down by City

Starving People to Save Them from “Blight”: The ‘Love Stand’ Shut Down by City

Shae Parrilla Pantry Worker, Member of the MANY, Founder of Ypsi Free Stuff

D’Real Graham and Tyler Weston started the open-air porch pantry earlier in the pandemic when increased food scarcity and social distancing made it a clever solution to these intersecting challenges. Of course, neither of these things have gone away—quite the opposite—Food Gatherers reports more scarcity…

The Fight Against Landlord Monopolies Continues

The Fight Against Landlord Monopolies Continues

Campaign Manager Brian Geiringer

Dear friends, comrades, and enemies, We’ve reached the official end of the 2022 Amber Fellows race to become the mayor of Ypsilanti, Michigan. Amber will not be our next mayor this time around: Nicole Brown gets that designation. Our campaign was victorious nonetheless–due to your…

Announcing: ENTRAILS Magazine and Collective

Announcing: ENTRAILS Magazine and Collective

izzy johnson

My name is Izzy Johnson, and I’m an artist and musician based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I’ve been living with inflammatory bowel disease (due to Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis*) for over 20 years and a permanent ileostomy for about four years. At age 33, I…

Abortion Resources

Abortion Resources

Find resources, flyers, stickers, and more at plancpills.org Where to get pills online Plan C Pills PlanCPills.org/guide Find a brick and mortar clinic**Don’t rely entirely on Google to find a clinic! I Need an A Ineedana.org Abortion Finder AbortionFinder.orgNational Abortion Federation prochoice.org Cyber security info Digital…

NO MASS SURVEILLANCE

NO MASS SURVEILLANCE

*This article has been updated to include more information* Ypsilanti Township does not have a police department; the washtenaw county sheriff’s office (WCSO) is the primary police department patrolling the township. The township, in conjunction with the WCSO, is currently considering installing 60 to 70…

Cosmic Storm [Week 2]

Cosmic Storm [Week 2]

SoulGalaxyGirl

The cosmic storm rages on, with the conjunction of Mars, Uranus, and the North Node in Taurus at 7:53pm. This transit will be felt as a shock on a global scale,  with lasting murmurings – but there are so flourishes of nice vibes from venus…

The Cosmic Storm of 2022

The Cosmic Storm of 2022

SoulGalaxyGirl

“My mind misgives some consequence yet hanging in the stars”   – Romeo (Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet) The astrological event that we’ve been eyeing all year with foreboding has begun and will continue to unfold over the next two weeks. With the planets moving like…

Nice Things: Why We Can’t Have Them

Nice Things: Why We Can’t Have Them

Brian Geiringer

Well well well… Looks like local conservatives are attempting to throw a stick in the spokes of progress yet again. A few weeks ago, housing advocates in the city celebrated a historic victory. Two landmark affordable housing developments got the green light by city council:…

Citizens, Developers, and Council Reach Two Historic Deals: Tremendous Victory for Community Benefits

Citizens, Developers, and Council Reach Two Historic Deals: Tremendous Victory for Community Benefits

Brian Geiringer

EDIT: This article has been updated after the two Community Benefits Agreements discussed were approved by Ypsilanti City Council during the meeting of 6/21/22. The last few paragraphs did not appear in the original article. The title has also been changed; the original title was…

Free H.H.! Prosecutorial Persecution and Pitfalls

Free H.H.! Prosecutorial Persecution and Pitfalls

Published in Collaboration with Black Ink, By FRIENDS OF H.H.

We can all take a deep breath, avert our gaze, and rest easy. Washtenaw County now has a progressive prosecutor—Eli Savit, whose platform claims that (1) coercive plea bargaining, (2) over-prosecution, (3) prolonged pre-trial detentions, (4) aggressive prosecution of drug possession charges, and (5) racial…

Ypsilanti Township Election—Will the People Speak?

Ypsilanti Township Election—Will the People Speak?

Desiraé Simmons

Ypsilanti Township is currently holding an election that will end on August 3, 2021. There are 4 millages on the ballot: Fire protection, prevention, rescue services, and equipment reserves, which is expected to generate an estimated revenue of $4,625,417.00 in the first year. Police protection,…

City Council: Going Into the Red for More Police

City Council: Going Into the Red for More Police

Brian Geiringer

This article has embedded timestamped video links from Ypsilanti City Council meetings on May 18 and June 1. In a move that surprised even some councilmembers during the Ypsilanti City Council meeting on May 18 of this year, four of the seven members of council…

Little Boys, Little Bikes, Big Guns, Big Budgets

Little Boys, Little Bikes, Big Guns, Big Budgets

J.B. Miller

ON MAY 18, YPSILANTI CITY COUNCIL VOTED TO GO OVER BUDGET AND HIRE 3 ARMED YPD OFFICERS AND 1 YPD RECORDS CLERK. THE VOTE WAS SPLIT 4-3, WITH THOSE OPPOSED EXPRESSING CONCERNS ABOUT ADDING TO THE BUDGET DEFICIT AND LACK OF TIME FOR PUBLIC INPUT, INCLUDING…

To Know Again

To Know Again

Jeff Clark

ON MAY 18, YPSILANTI CITY COUNCIL VOTED TO GO OVER BUDGET AND HIRE 3 ARMED YPD OFFICERS AND 1 YPD RECORDS CLERK. THE VOTE WAS SPLIT 4-3, WITH THOSE OPPOSED EXPRESSING CONCERNS ABOUT ADDING TO THE BUDGET DEFICIT AND LACK OF TIME FOR PUBLIC INPUT, INCLUDING…

Does More Police Equal Security?

Does More Police Equal Security?

H. H. Gonzalez

>Published in Collaboration with Black Ink< ON MAY 18, YPSILANTI CITY COUNCIL VOTED TO GO OVER BUDGET AND HIRE 3 ARMED YPD OFFICERS AND 1 YPD RECORDS CLERK. THE VOTE WAS SPLIT 4-3, WITH THOSE OPPOSED EXPRESSING CONCERNS ABOUT ADDING TO THE BUDGET DEFICIT AND LACK…

More Police Is Not The Answer

More Police Is Not The Answer

Marcina Cole

“Taxpayers are paying the police officers to kill us, bottom line.”

Update from the EMU Student Body Vice President

Update from the EMU Student Body Vice President

Colton Ray

Hello everyone! My name is Colton Ray, and I was elected to the position of EMU Student Body Vice President for our Student Government on October 5th, 2020. Since then, Student Body President Luis Romero and I have been tasked with fitting a normally three-month-long…

Graffiti is not sanctified Mam

Graffiti is not sanctified Mam

Christopher Ellis

“This is pathetic” coming from carriage mom, litter discarded serta cardboard beautyrest Implementations decorate the arrival and visitations. Bland pomp middleclass tidyness as laundry static sheet personified. Art is pathos a beer can beside a concrete wall left behind a picasso teeterer alley inside gallery…

Op Ed: VOTE YES on City of Ypsi Proposals A & B

Op Ed: VOTE YES on City of Ypsi Proposals A & B

Amber Fellows

If you’ve reviewed your ballot ahead of voting you may have noticed two charter amendment proposals for the City of Ypsilanti. Currently, the Mayor has the sole power to nominate residents to city boards and commissions. Proposals A and B asks voters if nomination power…

Understanding the Ward 1 Race: What Happens When a Mayor in Ypsilanti Resigns?

Understanding the Ward 1 Race: What Happens When a Mayor in Ypsilanti Resigns?

Amber Fellows

Filling of Vacancies.        Mayor. Vacancies occurring in the office of Mayor shall be filled by the Mayor Pro Tem until the next general election and vacancies occurring in the office of Mayor Pro Tem shall be filled for the balance of the unexpired term…

Keeping Tabs: PPP Loans to Ypsi-Area Businesses

Keeping Tabs: PPP Loans to Ypsi-Area Businesses

Heidi Jugenitz

On July 6, the federal government released the names of organizations that have received forgivable loans of at least $150,000 through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The PPP was created by Congress as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to…

Let’s Have a Ball This Fall if that’s All There Is

Let’s Have a Ball This Fall if that’s All There Is

SoulGalaxyGirl

The last time Jupiter and Pluto had a rendezvous it was around the turn of the Century, and we got the Spanish Flu. This year they met up in March and April during the first global wave of Covid-19. Again in late June (resurgence), and…it…