Dozens of Ferndale residents began congregating around the stage of the Rust Belt Market at 2:30 on Saturday afternoon as other shopper milled about, unaware of the spectacle they were about to witness.
Suddenly those in the know whipped out copies of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse 5 and began to read in-sync the first couple of pages. Others watched and then picked up free copies of the book themselves.
Oakland County Clerk and former Michigan State Representative Lisa Brown also spoke at the event, discussing the recent wave of anti-women legislation in Michigan, including HB5711 which put severe limitations on abortion clinics. She explained how no women had been allowed to testify at the committee hearing where the bill was discussed, and how she was banned from speaking for a day because she used the word “vagina” when talking about it.
Among many duties he handled as director of grants and special projects for the Michigan AIDS Coalition, Ryan was also the AmeriCorps City Supervisor. He was instrumental in bringing two exclusive national fundraising events held annually in Detroit: Dining Out for Life (April), and DIFFA’s (Design Industry Foundation Fighting AIDS) Dining by Design (September).