The Trailblazing Life of MSU’s First African American Faculty Member
David W.D. Dickson’s trailblazing career, spanning more than 40 years and five academic institutions, began at Michigan State University in the Department of English in 1948 when he became the university’s first African American faculty member and, a few years later, the first to be awarded MSU’s Distinguished Faculty Award. He also went on to become the first African American to lead a college or university in the state of New Jersey. However, the trajectory of his academic accomplishments first began in his childhood home.
Dr. David W.D. Dickson
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In a unanimous vote Monday night, the Lansing City Council approved a resolution to censure 1st Ward Councilmember Brandon Betz and remove him from his committee assignments.
The resolution also calls for Betz to resign.
Councilmember Carol Wood questioned Betz’s ability to lead.
“We know that we do not have the ability to remove him from office. But this is egregious enough that we think he should resign, she said.
Betz did not attend the meeting, but it was Wood who brought to attention an email Betz sent the council apologizing for his behavior. What concerned me was this happened Tuesday night, and it took him till Sunday to realize he had done something wrong, that he owed us an apology, Wood explained.
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Michael Lynn Jr. has been a vocal critic of Lansing Mayor Andy Schor for what he said is a lack of effort in addressing community and police relations.
Following a Facebook post in which city councilmember Brandon Betz supported the mayor’s address, Lynn publicly questioned Betz. According to Lynn, this sparked a text message interaction in which Betz harassed and disparaged him.
“He can t be trusted, like nothing that he says can be trusted. And that s the only thing we have for accountability when it comes to elected officials is that we can trust what they say they are doing, Lynn said.
Representative Cynthia A. Johnson was the test for the Michigan House Democrats to show that all that “Black Lives Matter, “Muted but Listening,” and “Protect Black Women” rhetoric from the summer wasn’t hollow. Unfortunately, and to me unsurprisingly, they failed it.
Last week, the President’s attorney Rudy Giuliani came to Lansing with the sole purpose to undermine the results of Michigan’s elections. His primary methodology was to denigrate Detroit by challenging the integrity of its people and cast falsehoods and clouds of conspiracy. Cynthia A. Johnson defended us and did her best to push back against a vicious federal administration bent on utilizing tropes to claim election fraud.