The room wasn’t just filled — it was charged. On June 27, some of Southeast Michigan’s most visionary and accomplished Black men convened at Detroit's International Banquet and Conference Center, where the Michigan Chronicle’s 2025 Men of Excellence ceremony reminded residents of the city that greatness lives among us —working, building, and serving every single day. From the opening moment, it was clear this wasn’t a typical awards night. It was a homecoming. A declaration. A reminder that Black men in leadership—from union halls to hospitals, classrooms to

From high school co-op to corner office, Joi Harris’ story isn’t just one of mere corporate ascent—it’s one of Detroit legacy, Black excellence, and community-rooted leadership that has been decades in the making. On September 8, Harris will officially take the reins as president and CEO of DTE Energy, becoming the first woman to lead the Detroit-based energy giant. Her appointment marks a historic milestone not only for the company, but for a city built on grit, brilliance, and generations of Black leaders who have poured into

State Representative Donavan McKinney stood on Detroit’s northeast side as a child, witnessing firsthand the impact of housing insecurity, low wages, and inconsistent government support. His family moved more than a dozen times. His mother held multiple jobs to keep the lights on. That upbringing shaped how he approaches policy, accountability, and political service. Now, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders has endorsed McKinney for Congress in Michigan’s 13th District. The endorsement came just six weeks into McKinney’s campaign, making it the first public show of support in the race

Underneath the weight of inequity, Christine Coady Narayanan built a vessel that carried thousands of Michiganders toward ownership, dignity, and possibility. That vessel is Opportunity Resource Fund—a community-rooted institution that’s leveraged over $300 million to uplift people who’ve been told “no” by traditional lenders. This year marks 40 years of that work—and with it, a shift that echoes the heartbeat of Detroit’s legacy of reinvention. After more than three decades of leading the charge for capital justice, Narayanan is preparing to step down. In her place, a new

The weight of legacy doesn’t always show up in speeches or statues. Sometimes, it breathes through the pages of a son’s testimony—a man raised in the echoes of a movement, shaped by a house where history gathered on hardwood floors and change strategized at the kitchen table. "My Father’s House," penned by John Conyers III, is not just a recount of political milestones. It is a deeply personal ledger of love, absence, inheritance, and the complexity of growing up within the orbit of a civil rights legend. John

Joe Tate has officially entered the race for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat, becoming the first Black candidate to join the 2026 Democratic primary field. His announcement adds weight to a race already viewed as one of the most important for Democrats hoping to regain Senate control next year. Tate confirmed his candidacy on Sunday, May 12, stepping forward to run for the seat being vacated by Democratic Senator Gary Peters, who is not seeking re-election after two six-year terms. Tate, a native Detroiter, former Marine, and the

The 13th Congressional District has always been more than a collection of neighborhoods. It has been a living, breathing story of resilience, told through the voices of working families, elders on porches, young dreamers, and laborers whose sweat built this city. As a new election season rises over Detroit, two Black men stand ready to carry that story forward, offering visions shaped not by millionaire boardrooms, but by the real struggles that built this city’s soul. Donavan McKinney, a 32-year-old Democrat and current State Representative for Michigan’s 11th

The same neighborhood that once branded Yusef Bunchy Shakur a menace is now the place that calls him “doctor.” Because a community watched a man rebuild what disinvestment tried to erase. From the streets of Zone 8 to the seat of executive leadership, Dr. Shakur’s journey defies every statistic meant to define Black boys from Detroit. The Michigan Roundtable for Just Communities—founded during a time when folks wouldn’t even sit across a table with someone who didn’t worship like them—has named him its new executive director. For the