Today on Stateside, an all-male, Michigan-based Christian religious order, called the Servants of the Word comes come under additional scrutiny. Its members pledge to a celibate life of service. Now, some have been accused or convicted of sexually assaulting girls and young women.
We talked to Lindsey Smith, a Newsroom Editor for Michigan Public, about new court filings about a supervising brother in the order who's facing criminal charges in Northern Ireland.
Then we turn to a community under the threat of aggressive immigrant detention and deportation techniques. Pontiac is one of several cities where residents are organizing to help their neighbors. A group of Pontiac residents has banded together to create Community Aid for Empowerment (CAFE). We heard from founder Elida Reyes and organizer Alexis Huyck on their methods for supporting and protecting their community.
Plus, a new book re-defining and re-discovering Mid-Michigan. A group of Michiganders, starting with a core team in Flint, took it upon themselves to study and write about their region from the ground up. Recalling how the Works Progress Administration employed regional writers to write travel guides in the 1940s, the editors revive the tradition. The resulting book lavishes love on iconic towns to untold natural spaces, and also on all the people who’ve lived here.
The book is called Exploring Mid Michigan: A Guide to Flint, Saginaw Valley and the Thumb. We talked to Co-editor Mary Jo Kietzman and contributor Bob Campbell about the book.
GUESTS ON TODAY’S SHOW:
- Lindsey Smith, Newsroom Editor for Michigan Public
- Elida Reyes, founder of Community Aid for Empowerment (CAFE)
- Alexis Huyck, organizer with CAFE and teacher
- Mary Jo Kietzman, professor of English at the University of Michigan-Flint. Co-editor of Exploring Mid Michigan: A Guide to Flint, Saginaw Valley and the Thumb
- Bob Campbell, Author of the novel Motown Man
