Michael Collins

The underpants bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, is a curious terrorist.  He became disillusioned with his privileged life as the son of a bank chairman and member of the Nigerian elite, it would seem.  Rather than pursuing his studies in London, he retreated to Yemen to learn the ways of al Qaeda inspired terrorism.

Farouk was so indiscreet that his father reported him to the U.S. Embassy as a potential terrorist in November.   A month later, he managed to get on a jumbo jet headed for Detroit to complete a terror mission.   Despite his training in engineering at the prestigious London School of Economics, Farouk failed in his mission.  He couldn't  mix his explosives to achieve the desired effect.  He apparently forgot to detonate the explosive device in mid flight, waiting until just before landing in Detroit to start his task.  He retrieved and set off the chemicals to create the explosion in full view of passengers.

What kind of terrorist is this?  He doesn't know when, how or where to conduct his criminal enterprise.

Is this the best al Qaeda can do?

Is this the justification to for a media manufactured scare-a-thon about the danger Farouk poses to our "freedoms?"

The NAACP's Detroit chapter held a symbolic funeral for the N-word yesterday.  Participants in the mock funeral, including chapter president Reverend Wendell Anthony, Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, and Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick marched through downtown Detroit in an attempt to "put [the word] to rest."

Organizers of the funeral stated that the goal of the funeral was to raise awareness among communities about the use of destructive and hurtful language of all kinds.  As Derek Blackman of the Detroit Fellowship Church said, "It's about self-respect. We need to throw all of this language in the garbage can -- all of this racist, sexist and misogynistic language."

At 91, Grace Lee Boggs still regularly travels the country for speaking engagements, providing guidance to activists and organizers on her experience with social justice movements and her vision for the future.  All this is done in addition to her usual commitments as an activist in Detroit, running the Boggs Center and participating in labor, civil rights and people of color movements in the city.

On Friday, May 4th, I once again had the chance to hear Grace Lee Boggs speak in New York City.  Although I have heard her speak several times in the past, this time the theme of Grace’s speech was Martin and Malcolm—the connections, common threads, and shared lessons we can take from these two visionaries.  The event took place at the Brecht Forum in Greenwich Village, as community members packed into the space to hear her words.

Back in September of last year, a Hmong youth, Chonburi Xiong, was shot and killed by police in the city of Warren, Michigan.  Reminiscent of the murder of Sean Bell in December, but receiving much less coverage, Xiong was killed when officers fired 27 shots into his body.  The immediate question is of course, police brutality?  Xiong had earlier fired a gun into the air (this is why the police were called), and according to police reports pointed a loaded gun at the officers.  Whether or not this was a case of police brutality, the community response is inspiring because action was initiated by the Hmong youth of Warren.  The Detroit Asian Youth Project (D.A.Y. Project) is a youth-led organization created as a response to the lack of safe spaces for young Asians and Asian-Americans in the metro-Detroit area.  Having had the privilege of volunteering with D.A.Y. Project myself, I can say that the young people and adult coordinators of the group are truly remarkable.  The D.A.Y. Project recently organized a vigil and rally in Xiong's memory, and continues to work against the racism, police brutality, and inadequate opportunity that the community faces in metro Detroit.

 There is very little money, very little resources for most communities in Detroit, particularly for people who have the experience of being refugees or the descendents of refugees.  But the youth of Detroit continue to refuse to accept apathy.