Many high profile athletes, entertainers and business persons call the big “D” home.
(Dallas is the little “d”). After all, we have 3 professional sports teams, and a global footprint as a result of the auto industry, our universities and out international border. So who are the people in the “D” who are the top movers and shakers? And the winners are…. (Drum roll please). –linda d. bernard J.D., LL.M.
Aretha Franklin. “Re-Re” is “simply the best…better than all the rest.” Her phenomenal musical talent notwithstanding, it is her extraordinary intellect and character that tell it all. Did you know that as a young lady barely out of her teens, she would volunteer and go down south and sing in segregated venues to raise bail bond money to obtain the release of Dr. King and Rev. Jackson from jail? She’s a Freedom Fighter and “Soul Sister # 1”!
Sherman Eaton. For more than 20 years, Sherman has been Detroit’s own Gordon Parks, complete with beret
and signature glasses. The founder and publisher of Native Detroiter Magazine also teaches school for DPS. Through his photography, he makes Detroiters feel special by bringing our parties and celebrations to life in Detroit’s first and only glossy magazine targeted for the African American community.
Hon. Cylenthia Miller. The current President of the Association of Black Judges of Michigan is the hardest working woman on the bench. She is the only jurist in the state’s history to serve as president of the Michigan Women Lawyers Association; the Wolverine Bar Association and as Chairwoman of the Women Lawyers Division of the National Bar Association. You Go girl!
Hon. Robert E. Young Jr. A republican and conservative, the Chief Judge of the MI Supreme Court has “Got the Power.” The highest ranking Black elected official in the state, “Junior” can now demonstrate his “connectedness” to his father’s values, (Dr. Robert Young Sr., a civil rights pioneer), as he leads the court and sets the stage for increased justice for people of color.
Dave Bing. Detroit’s mayor and CEO is one of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Basketball 
Players of all time, and has a platinum leather jacket to prove it. Only three other Michiganders are in this most elite of clubs: Magic, Isaiah, and George “Ice Man” Gervin. Need I say more?
Don Barden. There is only one blue eyed “Don” in Detroit and America, and that’s “our” Donald. A multi-state mogul in casinos and cable, he is a strong “brother”. Don pays more taxes to the city (millions each year), than any other person in the city and has for many years. By doing so, he personally reduces the deficit. He could move to the burbs and be a richer man, but he has a heart felt and life long commitment to the “D”, and we to him.
Toya Hankins. A beautiful woman who recently adopted my creed, “that blonds have more fun”, is the woman in front of and leading the charge for Detroit’s most talented and successful male artist in years, KEM, as in Kemistry. Toya does it all — artist development, management etc. She is a songwriter’s inspiration and because she’s smart, salvation in the tough music business.
Hiram Jackson. The CEO of Real Times Media Group, he is a champion of the Black Press and heads a publishing empire in Memphis, Pittsburg, Los Angeles, Chicago, and DC. He has proved that the power of the pen is mightier than the sword and that a picture is worth a thousand words, with his newest publication reflecting pictorials and bios on The Most Influential Blacks in 26 urban cities, including Detroit.
Judge Craig Strong. Detroit’s own celebrity judge and recent SAG member as a result of his appearance on Detroit 1-8-7, says no list would be complete without referencing his “Shining Star”. Amen.
