The Ann Arbor Independent Editorial Team 2257 posts 224 comments

by Sherri Linden Returning to the Ethiopian city of her childhood, a first-time filmmaker creates an immersive portrait of the land and its people. When Jessica Beshir was a teen, her family fled the political unrest in Ethiopia for…

by Todd Heywood, Michigan Advance The normalization of antisemitism is continuing a “very, very troubling” upward trend in Michigan, despite a year of health restrictions and social distancing that often meant less human…

by Jenn McKee, Pulp The Goldilocks Principle, though not regularly cited in reference to storytelling, can nonetheless be maddening for those who build narratives. For how does a writer determine, in each scene, what’s too much…

by Martha Stult, Pulp In addition to the April 28 reading for National Poetry Month, other upcoming virtual events include a reading with poet Carolyne Wright on Wednesday, May 26, at 7 pm; author Kelly Fordon of Detroit will read…

by Ari Leveaux Art is good when it springs from necessity. This kind of origin is the guarantee of its value; there is no other ––Neal Cassidy In the middle of the night, partway through a cross-country drive, I unfolded myself from…

by Susan Demas, Michigan Advance There’s an unfortunate stereotype that conservatives just aren’t very creative, probably because they’re always yammering that the National Endowment for the Arts is a boondoggle and museums would make…

by Tara Richards and Justin Nix Domestic violence rose globally in 2020 – so much so that doctors have called it “a pandemic within a pandemic.” The National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice, a team of national…

by Patricia Lesko On April 19, 2021, in a move that the Ann Arbor City Attorney Stephen Postema called "unprecedented," Jeff Hayner (D-Ward 1) was stripped of his seats on seven boards and commissions, including the Parks Advisory…

Updated: CM Ali Ramlawi (D-Ward 5) issued a statement in which he withdrew his support for the actions of the Mayor, CMs Grand and Eyer. “The truth always arrive too late, because it walks slower than lies. Truth crawls at a snail's…

by Patricia Lesko When I ran for office against John Hieftje in 2010, a man named Phil Volk, then a leading member of Ann Arbor's gay community, published an opinion piece in which he said I was an "embarrassment to the gay community."…