Blog

The COVID-19 pandemic has sent our world into a public health and economic tailspin. As of May, the national unemployment rate was at 13.3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In Michigan, it is a staggering 21.2% — worse than the Great Recession. The Washington Post reports that more than 100,000 businesses have closed permanently.

On June 23, 1963, over 125,000 people marched down Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan in the 'Walk to Freedom.' The march was the largest civil rights demonstration at the time highlighting the injustices African Americans faced across the country.

For Gerald Kariem, Juneteenth feels even more special in Detroit. So many successful Black Americans today are descendants of the millions of men and women who left the south for work in the north starting back in 1916 to build Ford cars.

Today, we take time to honor the memory of our lost brother, George Floyd. We will sit still, we will put down our tools and silence our phones for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. A full eight minutes and 46 seconds -- the agonizing amount of time that Mr. Floyd lay on the pavement begging for his life.