Letters to the Editor

Do the homework

Metro Times' Abandoned House of the Week feature has certainly been a controversial one, as you are no doubt well aware. But while intentions and motivations can be debated, sloppy researching cannot.

There is no secret as to the ownership of the house on Eleventh Street in Corktown recently featured ("Faded queen," Metro Times, Nov. 27-Dec. 3). There were a few ways the writer could have found out this information. A quick visit to the City of Detroit's Web site would have revealed this elusive data. Alternately, I would wager that if any neighbor had been asked the question, "who owns this house?" the mystery would have been solved. Finally, the needed information surely could have been procured from a visit to the Corktown Citizens District Council, open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

It is the writer's obvious remove from these structures that weekly appear in the Metro Times that lend the Abandoned House of the Week its salacious air. The writers of this feature need to get out of their car, ask some questions, and most of all, do their homework in order to stop appearing as callous as sideshow barkers. —Joan Okrzynski, Detroit

I love your weekly feature about the real estate in metro Detroit. As a commuter from Ferndale to Detroit, each day I drive down Woodward and feel disturbed about the streetscapes and hostile environment. I am hoping this will change as a result of awareness. Keep them coming! —Christina Parraghi, [email protected], Ferndale

I don't think that Spike Lee won an Oscar for 4 Little Girls, although he should have. As a friend on mine said, the only Oscar he will win will be when he is old and gray and it will be the lifetime achievement award. The Academy is determined that he not win one before that. —James Karagon,[email protected], Detroit

Editor’s note: 4 Little Girls was nominated for an Academy Award in 1998 for Best Documentary, Features, but did not win.

I respect Keith A. Owens, I respect your opinion and understand your argument in criticizing Harry Belafonte for his remarks regarding Colin Powell ("Free Your Mind," Metro Times, Nov. 20-26), but I will never forget the role Mr. Belafonte played in the crucial events of the civil rights movement. When Martin Luther King was being constantly harassed by lawsuits and constantly seeking money to continue his work, it was Harry Belafonte along with others who risked their careers raising money and speaking out for justice. Mr. Powell, by comparison, sought his own fortune in the military and has yet to put anything on the line to further the cause of equal rights. He is a beneficiary of the sacrifices made by others. He should remember that. —Steven Martin, [email protected], Detroit

The Lee Andrews article ("Judgment pay," Metro Times, Nov. 27-Dec 3) identifies a very important issue here in Oakland County. The issue is that justice seem only attainable if one is willing to accept injustice by way of pleading guilty to make life easier for the judges. It is about time that Oakland County residents and the State of Michigan stand up for the rights that each and every one of us have — rich or poor — innocent until proven guilty. —Frank Z. Martin, Southfield

I was both sickened and shocked after reading the story of the Creslaw family ("Buried secrets," Metro Times, Nov. 13-19). I can only wonder if this case would have been handled differently had Ricky Creslaw’s father not been a Detroit cop. How anyone could allow their own flesh and blood to be murdered and then brush it aside as if nothing had happened is beyond human comprehension.

I would like to once again thank Ann Mullen for once again bringing an injustice from out of the back room file cabinet and into the light of day. —Ed Klee, Warren Send comments to [email protected]