Category: Commentary
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Commentary: How COVID has changed us, and what it means for East Village Magazine
By Paul Rozycki It’s been two years. March 10, 2020. That was the day when Michigan saw its first two COVID cases. Ironically, it was also an election day, and the beginning of the widespread shutdown of much public activity in the state. Within days, colleges and K-12 schools were closed to in-person learning. Bars,…
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Profile: “What if he had opened his eyes?” Kelsey Ronan on grief, healing, breaking a curse in “Chevy in the Hole”
By Jan Worth-Nelson Twelve years ago, Kelsey Ronan found her longtime partner Bryan dead of a heroin overdose in their Flint apartment. Out of what she describes as an onslaught of grief, anger, loss, and finally, a hard-won, unsentimental hope, the novel Chevy in the Hole was born. For Ronan, the book emerged from one…
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American democracy is facing serious threats. Let’s make sure it survives.
By Paul Rozycki “The ship of democracy, which has weathered all storms, may sink through the mutiny of those on board.” –Grover Cleveland “While democracy in the long run is the most stable form of government, in the short run, it is among the most fragile”. –Madeleine Albright Democracy isn’t easy. It’s not easy to…
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Guest Commentary: Thanks for the early Christmas gift – air pollutants and toxins
By Ted Zahrfeld Thank you for the early Christmas “gift,” Governor, Michigan “EGLE” Director, Genesee Township Zoning, and Ajax CEO, of allowing a polluting asphalt plant in our poorest Flint neighborhood. This “gift” will bring and keep on giving air pollutants, toxins, and odors to the surrounding low-income predominately Black community as it operates in…
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Opinion: A new offense – water settlement objections denied by federal judge
By Rev. Deborah D Conrad A new offense has insulted Flint this week, in the form of a court ruling — this time from District Judge Judith Levy. At issue was the Flint Water Settlement, the financial compensation for the residents of this city of 90,000 poisoned by state action in 2014, finally acknowledged in…
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Commentary: Looking back and looking ahead — Will 2022 be better than 2021?
By Paul Rozycki Looking back This past year was supposed to be the year when we put the COVID pandemic, the 2020 election, and the turmoil in the Flint city council behind us. So far only one of those three things might be true, and even that remains to be seen. The Jan. 6 insurrection…
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Commentary: “We all have to do better” when it comes to Flint and Genesee County government
By Paul Rozycki Last Monday, the new members of the Flint City Council were sworn in at City Hall, with much ceremony and celebration. Family, friends, and supporters attended and congratulated the new council members on their election victories, and their new positions. Later that evening the new council was expected to meet and choose…
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Incumbents Galloway, Fields, and Griggs defeated; Flint City Council to have six new members
By Paul Rozycki Flint voters turned out in low numbers but made some big changes as they elected their new city council, defeating three incumbents, and electing three new members in wards where incumbents were not running again. The turnout for Genesee County was just under 13 percent of the registered voters, but the turnout…
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Village Life: Memories burned into Washington School’s demise: “This one hurts the most”
By Gary Fisher She was nearly half a century old by the time I showed up. Creaky wooden windows, stifling forced heat, so thick you could taste it, zero air conditioning, lead paint everywhere, and asbestos-covered pipes. The ancient bathrooms with the old radiators (an especially egregious artifice when some miscreant relieved himself on it),…
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Commentary: Secure MI Vote petition won’t secure your vote — or democracy
By Paul Rozycki A few years ago I was asked to give a presentation on the right to vote to a large number of prospective election workers at City Hall. As I looked out over the audience, I realized that almost none of those present could have voted when this nation began. The great majority…
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