Inspired/prompted by mass government firings, the beginnings of mass deportation efforts, and several other controversial moves by the Trump Administration, the first No Kings Day brought out more than five million protestors, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, one of the event’s organizers. Since then, the Trump Administration has taken more controversial actions to enact its agenda, such as sending National Guard troops into Los Angeles, the nation’s capital, and Chicago, and striking Venezuelan boats, which President Trump alleged were carrying drugs toward the United States. This time around, the events garnered approximately seven million people nationwide, according to the organizers, including several thousand who attended the rally in Traverse City

Sixty-five percent of women across Kenya have no access to period pads, according to Amref Health Africa. And so, on Oct. 11, sporting matching red backpacks, more than 70 collective NMC staff, students, and faculty walked four miles around Boardman Lake, raising approximately $7,000 in funds to provide women and girls in Kenya with menstrual pads through PadMad. Access to safe pads is critical in keeping Kenyan girls in school, which will lead them to greater opportunities without risking their vaginal health or prostituting themselves. The walk shows them that there are people across the world in their corner fighting for them, to encourage them to keep fighting for themselves.

I’ve long been fascinated by protest music. Art has always been our way of keeping tabs on the heartbeat of society, and that’s especially true with music. Songs like “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye and “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival capture the anti-war movement of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Going back even further, “Which Side Are You On?” archives the labor struggles of coal miners in the 1930s. After nearly 90 years, that song is still covered and performed by artists like Tom Morello, Willi Carlisle, and Dropkick Murphys. These songs resonate with people and drive them to political action; I wanted to know why.

On Oct. 13, the Traverse City District Library and the Dennos Museum at Northwestern Michigan College hosted their annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day community event. Families with young children visited the museum for a story and a dance presentation.

Liz Celeste, the Curator of Education and Exhibitions at the Dennos, has helped put on the event since she started working at the museum three years ago.

“My superpower,” Madhvi Dalal told a group of students on the International Affairs Forum Student Leadership Team (STL) on Oct. 10, “is just to try–to have the courage to try.”
The group of students fell silent for a moment, taking in the quiet confidence behind her words. Dalal wasn’t there to lecture about entrepreneurship or charity; she was there to talk about courage–the kind that led her from a pharmacy in Wales to the classrooms of Kenya, where a conversation about health education sparked a grassroots movement called PadMad.

On Nov. 4, two candidates for mayor of Traverse City and five candidates for the city commission will see if they successfully won over the community. The two mayoral candidates trying for a 2-year term are Amy Shamroe, the incumbent mayor, and Tim Werner, who is currently a member of the city commission. The five candidates for the three available seats on the city commission are Lance Boehmer, the leader of an automotive software company who serves on BATA’s Board of Directors; Kenneth Funk, who serves as a Traverse City firefighter; Mary Mills, a former office administrator who previously served on Traverse City’s Master Plan Leadership Team; Laura Ness, who serves as Chair of the City of Traverse City and Garfield Township Recreational Authority; and Peter Schous, who serves on Empire’s Planning Commission.

With the July 26 Walmart stabbing making national headlines, questions about public safety may naturally occur in the heads of Traverse City residents, who are used to a relatively quiet city in terms of violent crime. In July, 42-year-old Bradford James Gille entered the Traverse City Walmart and left at gunpoint after stabbing 11 other shoppers. He was held on a $1 million bond and was charged with 11 counts of assault and terrorism after pleading not guilty. Though many of the victims sustained potentially fatal wounds, all 11 survived the egregious act of violence.