Detroit Evening Report: Student encampment at WSU; Detroit People Mover Raid Train and more
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Pro-Palestinian protesters march along Wayne State University's campus in Detroit on May 23, 2024.
On the latest episode of the Detroit Evening Report, we cover the pro-Palestinian encampment on Wayne State University’s campus; the Detroit People Mover’s free, family-friendly DJ Raid Train and more.
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Student encampment at Wayne State
Students and faculty on Wayne State’s campus have joined dozens of other Pro-Palestinian groups around the country who have set up “liberated zones” or encampments on college campuses to push university officials to divest from Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
A group of about 200 pro-Palestinian protestors gathered in front of the university’s Welcome Center Thursday before marching down Warren Avenue onto Gullen Mall and back to the center of campus. Several protestors then set up tents between State Hall and the Undergraduate Library, as about a dozen police officers watched.
Miriam Hamad is a Palestinian American who is a WSU alumna. She says seeing these efforts at her alma mater gives her hope.
“We’re not going to give up. We’re not going to stop protesting. We’re not going to stop, you know, trying to get what we need for our people.”
The encampment and protest were organized by the WSU Students for Justice in Palestine. Protestors plan to stay until they are either removed by campus police or their demands are met.
Detroit People Mover DJ Raid Train
The Detroit People Mover is kicking off Movement weekend with its family-friendly Raid Train event — a free immersive music experience where different DJ’s are scheduled to play sets for a certain amount of time. The People Mover has live DJs scheduled running the raid every hour on Saturday at Bricktown Station, starting at 11 a.m. The free event will also be live on twitch at twitch.tv.
Soul Skate Detroit
Soul Skate Detroit is a weekend skate party event that attracts visitors from across the country for what they call “Soul on Wheels.” There is a lineup of DJs playing genres like soul, funk, disco and house. The event is a space to showcase music and skate culture. Soul Skate starts at 11:59 p.m. Friday and Saturday at The New Rink in Shelby Township; and 10:30 p.m. Sunday at Bonaventure Skating Center in Farmington Hills. Tickets can be found on the Soul Skate 2024 Eventbrite page with prices ranging from $22-$25 per night.
Detroit Rotary honors local youth
The Rotary Club of Detroit will honor young people serving the community at the organizations annual Youth Citizen Service Awards this weekend.
Club President Renee Yancy says she was impressed by the 33 award applicants this year.
“I get blown away by some of the things our young people are doing. It makes me not only proud, but almost feel safe, that there are young people who care about the next day or the next part, the person next to them or who care about climate; who care about, you know, the injustices of the world,” she said.”
Six high school seniors will receive the Youth Citizen Award with a cash prize of $2,500. One of them will receive an additional $3,000 as the Youth Citizen of the Year.
WDET’s Nargis Rahman and Amanda LeClaire contributed to this report.
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