During the school day, lunchtime is usually when children take a break from the books and give their brains a rest.

However, that’s not the case for dozens of students at Washington-Parks Academy in Redford Township.

“Not to brag or anything, but I think we’re pretty awesome because we all think,” said 12-year-old Serenity Harper of Wayne.

On the lunch tables in front of students like Harper, among their peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches and juice boxes, you’ll find chess boards.

“I like chess,” said 13-year-old Robert Lewis of Detroit. “I thought the stereotype of chess was most people don’t like it, but … no one really has a problem with it.”  [Keep reading...]

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Rochelle Riley: After tragic killing, writer pushes kids to live for peace

Shaka Senghor was on a bad road traveling fast when the knock came at his door.

At 18, he was selling drugs for a living and had been shot about a year earlier on a corner in Detroit’s Brightmoor neighborhood, so Senghor was carrying a gun when a friend came by with two strangers.

“I refused to sell them drugs,” Senghor recalled. “I got into an argument and told them to get off the block. We made threats back and forth … I shot several times and tragically caused his death.”

He tragically caused a death. That’s how Senghor describes it now. But in 1991, he killed a guy. Was charged with second-degree murder. Got sentenced to 17-40 years. A month after his 19th birthday. His girlfriend was three months pregnant.

Senghor is the kind of guy that used to be written off. But everybody gets second chances. His came eight years later in a letter from his son.  [Read more ...]

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[...] But Detroit has been down so long, any change would be up.  And “up” is why I’ve returned. Something’s happening in Michigan’s southeast corner. Call it a rising, a revival, a new dawn—there’s undeniable energy emanating from Detroit. America noticed it first at the 2011 Super Bowl. Chrysler debuted a TV commercial with rapper Eminem, star of the film 8 Mile (named after the road that serves as Detroit’s northern border). The ad crystallized the city’s spiky, muscular pride and won an Emmy, but Detroit was the real winner. [...]

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DESPITE recent news stories of a population exodus from Detroit, there are many reasons to make a pilgrimage to this struggling city right now — and not just because Eminem’s slick Super Bowl commercial showcased the inner strength of the Motor City. No video can portray the passion one finds on the streets of Detroit these days, where everyone from the doorman to the D.J. will tell you they believe in this city’s future. [...]