- [Will] Just ahead on One Detroit, what does President Biden's student loan forgiveness plan mean for Michigan borrowers?

We'll examine the pros and cons.

Also ahead, Federal and State lawmakers strengthen their commitment to foster unity in the Black and Jewish communities.

Plus, September is Detroit month of design.

We'll hear about efforts to establish the city as a global creative capital.

And it's also Hispanic heritage month.

We'll introduce you to a dance troupe that is representing Mexican tradition and culture.

It's all coming up next on One Detroit.

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Support for this program is provided by, The Cynthia & Edsel Ford Fund for Journalism at Detroit Public TV.

The Kresge Foundation.

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- [Will] Just ahead on this week's One Detroit, the congressional black Jewish caucus promotes unity between the African American and Jewish communities based on their shared histories.

We'll hear how the group is bringing people together to promote social justice and civil rights.

Also coming up, Design Core Detroit is holding its annual Design month of design celebration to draw attention to the city's past, present and future design talent.

We'll get the details from the group's Co-executive Director.

In recognition of Hispanic heritage month, we'll show you how a Southwest Detroit dance troupe is keeping the longtime Mexican tradition of folkloric dancing alive.

But first up we're examining President Joe Biden's announcement that student loan debt of up to $10,000 will be forgiven for millions of Americans.

The plan was met with a mix of reactions.

While many borrowers applaud the action, some feel the amount should be higher.

However, others are concerned about how the debt cancellation will affect the us economy.

Reporter Isabel Lohman has been covering the story for Bridge Michigan.

I spoke with her about the impact of the student loan forgiveness plan here in Michigan.

- We're here to talk about a recent article you wrote that appeared in BridgeDetroit, that was talking about the recent action on the federal student loans from the Biden administration.

So first things first, what is the plan?

What's it called?

Who's eligible.

- Sure.

So there's a couple different components of the plan.

The thing you've probably heard the most about is the student loan forgiveness program.

That would mean that some student loan borrowers, depending on their income could get up to $10,000 of their federal student loans forgiven.

And for students who had Pell Grants during college, they could get up to 20,000 of their student loans forgiven, but there's other components of the plan too.

There's a continued pause on collection of student loans.

So if you have a student loan, you can be making payments on it right now, but you don't have to in many cases.

And that is true through the end of December and you don't have to pay interest on it right now.

And then there's also a plan that the Biden administration is putting forward to change some aspects of the income driven repayment policy.

So if this plan were to work, essentially people who are in an income driven repayment program, which is where your income helps determine how much you pay per month, there's some changes to that.

That could make it easier for folks to pay back their loans and then also give them some relief when it comes to the interest that is often the concern for folks.

- What was the catalyst for this to be instituted?

- Sure.

So President Biden back when he was on the campaign trail, this was one of the things he campaigned on, was to have some sort of student loan forgiveness program.

And it's something that has been talked about in progressive circles for quite a while.

There are people that wanted him to forgive a lot more than 10,000.

And of course there are people who wanted him to forgive absolutely no money.

But some of the main reasons arguing for this type of loan forgiveness is that there are many people in this country who have student loan debt, but don't have the degree.

So they don't have the higher wage earnings that typically come with a degree, but they have the burden of debt.

And so people argue that that puts them in a place where they cannot economically make sound decisions that they're further and further behind.

Another argument is that families and students and anyone who's borrowed money in the last couple of years with student loans, they have really enjoyed this period where they do not have to make student loan payments.

And so there's an argument to be made that by forgiving some of these loans, you are helping these people get ahead and that they will ultimately stimulate the local economy, the state economy and the national economy.

- What is the effect of this debt here in Michigan?

How much debt do people in Michigan have and how is this going to impact Michiganders?

- Sure.

So the education data initiative estimates that they're about 1.4 million student loan borrowers in Michigan with the collective debt of about $51 billion.

So it's quite a large chunk of money.

When you look at that, of course there is variance, right?

Some folks owe only a couple thousand dollars, some owe way more.

When you look at the state borrowers within that group, about 16% of those folks owe less than $5,000, while about 21.6% of people owe between 20,000 to 40,000 dollars.

- When it comes to eligibility, who's in, who's out.

What are the figures around that?

- Sure.

So it's based on your income.

So if you make up to $125,000 a year, or if you're a household that makes under $250,000 a year, you're eligible for up to $10,000 of loan cancellation.

If you received Pell Grants, that number goes up to $20,000 a year.

It's important to note, this is up to you, so hypothetically let's say I'm a borrower, I make within the income level, but I only owe $8,000.

The government is not gonna say, "Okay, here's $8,000 forgiven and here's a $2,000 cheque."

You're just gonna get up to the amount that you owe.

- What have you heard from the opposition when it comes to this debt relief?

- There's a couple different points that they bring up.

One is the idea that this is an unfair way of going about it.

So some folks would say higher edu is too expensive as it is, but this is just a bandaid on the issue.

This isn't gonna solve how much college costs.

It's not gonna solve the idea that people are still taking student loans debt, so that's one argument.

Another argument is from folks who maybe didn't go to college or paid their way through college, or for whatever reason don't have loans themselves.

And they will argue that they are paying for someone else's education.

So they will say that's not fair.

- What was some of the reaction to the debt that's being forgiven from one of the college students that you spoke with?

Somebody who's currently still in college.

- I talked to someone who has about $5,000 in student loan debt, and she's expecting to have that fully forgiven.

She thinks that's great, but she doesn't think it's gonna ultimately solve everything.

I talked to another student who's expecting to get some student loan relief, but she's also expecting to still have student loans at the end of the day, even with this forgiveness.

So I think there's a sense of optimism and a sense of, wow, this has never happened before, and this is historic and let's be thankful for that.

But there's also that, like I said, broader conversation about how do we pay for college moving forward?

- Are we gonna be in a much better position because of this loan forgiveness?

Or are we going to kind of be in the same position with just a slightly smaller loan balance or principal balance for the people who still owe money.

- I think it's a both and situation that I think the devils are in the details, right?

So people know this number, people know that they could get up to in some cases, $20,000 of loan forgiveness, but they need to be able to know how to access that forgiveness.

They need to access the form that the federal government is expected to release in October.

And we need to see how this plays out, right?

It's one thing to think, "Okay, I'm gonna have some relief."

It's another thing to see that in your credit score, in your pocket, in you know, your monthly budget.

So all of those things I are left to seen.

I think there's also, like you said, a broader question of how do we make this work for everyone and how do out what mean for Michigan practically.

But this isn't gonna solve the fact that there are still plenty of Michigan, there are plenty of Americans that are gonna have a lot of debt on their hands.

- We know (indistinct).

- Unity between black and Jewish communities was the theme of a press conference hosted by US representative, Brenda Lawrence, co-founder of the Congressional Black-Jewish Caucus.

The Michigan Congresswoman was joined by members of the state Senate.

They talked about their commitment to bring people together by promoting civil rights, equality, and anti hate.

- We know that if we don't know our history, we are in danger of repeating it.

Our history is that there was a time when the Jewish community was not allowed to teach at universities.

The historical black ecologists and universities opened their doors.

There was a time when we were struggling with Jim Crow and hateful crimes of discrimination in this country.

The Jewish community stood side by side and stepped into the courts and represented us in the legal battles that we had.

Blood was shed for our civil rights in this country.

And it was Jewish blood and black blood.

- Senator Hollier and I endured this attack at our state capital on April 30th, 2020, where symbols of racism and symbols of antisemitism were flown side by side.

And we have an opportunity now to create a bond with these two communities and our shared history of oppression and discrimination to work together towards solutions.

- I think it's really important that we recognize that we are not creating some relationship that did not exist, right?

You cannot separate the black community and the Jewish community in Detroit, in any way, shape or form.

And so when people say, "Why are you together?"

It's because we are.

Because when you look out at the way the city of Detroit has changed.

If you took out the members of the Jewish community who have invested in the growth of the city of Detroit, Detroit would be fundamentally different community.

It would not be the city that we look out into today.

And as we look forward and we talk about the movements that we go into and the spaces that we exist and we operate in, they are movements that operate with us together.

- [Will] Congresswoman Lawrence's black and Jewish unity event took place at the Zekelman Holocaust center in Farmington Hills.

A new PBS documentary series from Ken Burns titled The US And The Holocaust examines the Holocaust, antisemitism and racism.

It airs here on Detroit public TV on September 18th, 19th, and 20th at 8:00 PM.

The 12th annual Detroit month of design takes place throughout September at locations all around the city.

The festival was created by the nonprofit design Core Detroit and features more than 80 events celebrating all facets of design.

There will be workshops, exhibitions, and installations, talks, and tours.

- What are some of the events.

- When Detroit arts and culture hosts Satori Shakoor, spoke with design core Detroit's Kiana Wenzell about the organization's mission.

- Well, hello there, Kiana Wenzell.

- Hi.

So nice to be here.

- So who is Design Core Detroit?

- Design Core Detroit is a nonprofit economic development organization housed within the college for creative studies.

And our mission is to establish Detroit as a globally valued and recognized creative capital.

- And how did you get started 12 years ago?

- 12 Years ago, Design Core was founded by the college for creative studies and business leaders from Michigan.

And in order to have Detroit be globally valued and recognized as a creative capital, we have to make sure that we're supporting our design driven businesses.

And so we do coaching for design driven businesses emerging too established.

We also have the festival as one of our strategies to telling Detroit's design story locally, nationally, and globally.

And Design Core is also the steward of Detroit's UNESCO city of design designation.

In 2015, Detroit was designated by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization as the first and only city of design in the United States of America.

- What makes it the chosen city for design, for this effort?

- Sure.

You know, Detroit has the highest concentration of industrial designers nationally.

We have a high concentration of colleges and universities dedicated to teaching and training the next generation of designers.

We have a large collection of research development institutions.

When you think about the GM research center of 3M world pool, we have a high concentration of museums and cultural institutions designated there and Detroit designers, the alumni of Detroit designers going to work either nationally or internationally around the world.

We're not just the automotive capital.

When you think about furniture, the college for creative studies (indistinct) Brooklyn and the in share, this iconic chair coming out of Detroit.

So the question of why is easy, but the question of what's next?

- That's what I was gonna ask you the vision.

- (Indistinct) Is a hard question.

So once we got received the designation in 2015, Design Core spent over a year and a half, engaging over 1000 stakeholders.

And so what we said, "Well, what does this designation mean for us?"

And we spent that one year talking to so many people doing case studies, a focus on inclusive design.

- Yeah.

- Is what came out of that.

So how do we work more with community, business and government and change how we design and who gets to design to have a future that's more beautiful, more sustainable and more equitable.

- And you have a whole month dedicated to design, right?

- Yeah.

So Design Core, you know, we produce the Detroit month of design, which is an annual multidisciplinary festival that occurs September 1st through to 30th.

And this year is our 12th anniversary.

- Oh, congratulations.

- Yeah.

Thank you.

So we're gonna have 80 events in 30 days, ranging from exhibitions, installations, talks, tours, and workshops occurring throughout the city of Detroit.

- So what are some of the events taking place during the month of September?

- Yes.

So we are starting the month off with a kickoff party at spotlight Detroit.

There is sneaker house also occurring, presented by Foot Locker.

Gucci Changemakers is presenting building a lasting impact at the museum of contemporary arts.

We're hosting a design jam as well, where interdisciplinary teens get to create outdoor apparel for the limb loss community.

There is craft in the digital age at the Ford house.

So for the first time ever technologically produced products next to traditionally handmade products, there's the black footwear forum.

We also have matter design and the Biggers, Sanford Biggers, and then two MIT designers are doing an exhibition at Waserman projects.

There's the Hawkins family legacy.

That's near Marygrove, just honoring the Hawkins family and their apparel line that they started at home base.

There is the untold stories of black landscape architects at the University of Detroit Mercy.

At Michael Ford, the Hip-hop Architect is hosting an exhibition at Marks Mota.

So that's just a few of the events going on.

- Can you say a word about Eastern Market After Dark?

- Easter Market After Dark this year is occurring on Thursday, September 15th, from 6:00 PM until 11:00 PM.

And essentially the outdoor open air market turns into a nighttime design district.

So it's amazing, it's the largest event of the festival.

Our theme for this year is United by design, focusing on connectedness and togetherness, you know, can go faster alone, but farther together.

And I think that Eastern Market After Dark is a real example of that.

For some of these businesses, this event is their largest sales day outside of like Christmas and Thanksgiving, you know.

Servy chic is also hosting an event during Eastern Market After Dark.

So it's really beautiful to see all of the sheds, with activity and then all of the businesses participating.

- I'm definitely gonna be there.

- Okay.

I can't wait to see you there.

- Definitely gonna be there.

- [Will] September 15th marks the start of Hispanic heritage month.

It's a time to recognize the rich culture history and contributions of the nation's Latino community.

A group in Southwest Detroit is bringing awareness to Mexican traditions, including a unique style of dance.

One Detroit contributor Daijah Moss has the story from Ballet Folklorico de Detroit.

- [Instructor] Hey, (speaking in foreign language).

- Our mission is to emphasize or to bring to Southwest Detroit and Michigan in our community, an awareness of the Mexican Folkloric culture, like the Mexican dancing and its traditions.

(foreign language song playing) - You know, Folklorico is alive in Mexico.

It's not over here.

And so one of our missions, right?

Our students predominantly have Mexican heritage you know, they're Americans, where they have Mexican heritage, and we wanna give them a sense of pride in their culture, you know.

They can't experience it here.

They have to go to Mexico to experience it, you know.

So we kind of try to bring it here so that way they can be like, "Oh, this is what it's like you know, to be over there."

To be over there and to experience all of this stuff.

So we are trying to give them like, "Oh, have pride."

You know, especially in these days and times, it doesn't feel good a lot of times in the news and everything to be Hispanic.

- If you've ever gone to a Mexican folkloric performance that you'll see the girls wear, or the performers wear different costumes, like you know, one time they might have a big dress on, another time a small dress on.

That's because all the states of Mexico and regions within those states all have different styles of dance.

So, and with those different styles, sometimes there was an influence, an indigenous influence or a Spanish influence, and it's very serious.

The keeping those traditions alive and not changed.

So there's a whole culture behind it, like if you're doing this type, like right now we're learning Sinaloa in Sinaloa Mestizo and there's different posture, there's different ways to do the dresses, there's different ways, the steps, everything is unique to that.

(upbeat music) - The role that dance plays in Mexican culture is really free.

Right?

It's recreation because it's fun to dance.

Right?

Everybody goes, and they'd love to dance.

It's educational because you're preserving the traditions and the culture, right?

Because they can still, like if they weren't like making a concentrated effort to preserve it, right?

It could change, they could just change.

So it's educational.

And then the third thing is that it's good for your health.

(upbeat music) So anyone can join by Ballet Folklorico de Detroit.

Right?

One of the first things I ask people, especially if they're not Mexican, right?

They're like, "Oh, well, I'm not Mexican."

I was like, "Well, do you Mexican food?"

Right?

And most of the time, because Mexican food is so good, they say, "Yes, I love Mexican food."

And I'm like, "But you're not Mexican.

So why do you have to be Mexican to love Mexican dance?"

(upbeat music) - We've been part of the Ballet Folklorico de Detroit for six months.

I like being a student because there's like so many kids there, 'cause in our other dance group that we were in, there was not that much kids.

So I like being like, part of the group of kids that are in this group.

But most connects me to the Mexican culture is the movement because there's these different types of movements we play.

Like putting your skirt really high or like low, stuff like that.

(upbeat music) I've been a part of the dance group six years.

Before I joined the dance group, I did not know much about the dances and the culture.

What inspired me to join the dance group is watching my sister dance and how she was having fun.

I've been in the group seven years ago.

My favorite part of being part of it is getting to dance, getting to perform and getting to know new places.

- So we really want the crowd to feel like if they're watching us perform Sinaloa Mistezo, that they're in Sinaloa watching the performance from the people in Mexico during the dance.

So that's what I want.

I want to transport them to Mexico.

And so they can experience it.

And then they'll be an awe like, "Oh my God, I just went to Mexico, in these three minutes on stage."

When we're dancing on stage, we're really trying to keep these traditions alive.

And there's people here who haven't experienced it.

Who, even though they know Southwest Detroit has this vibrant Mexican culture, right?

They don't know it.

So when they come in, they see us, I really want to impact them.

Like, yes, Southwest Detroit, there's this culture that's alive here, right?

And that when they come in, they see us, they can really feel it, right?

When they go to one of our shows, they feel Southwest Detroit like, "Oh yeah, this is like why Southwest."

They always talk about Mexican town because it's there that we're there.

(audience cheering) - [Will] A new documentary airing on some Great lakes PBS stations takes a closer look at the environmental concerns involving harmful algal blooms in lake Erie.

The film explores the issues impossible solutions.

It's producer, David Ruck is a regular contributor to Great lakes now.

And you can see the documentary here on Detroit public television on Monday, September 12th at 9:00 PM.

- Lake Erie is the Canary in the coal mine for the Great lakes.

- The whole lake is green.

As far as the eye can see the water's green.

- It's scary what I see.

You sit on your boat for 20 minutes and your eyes will start to burn.

- What needs to happen is for there to be real accountability.

- [Reporter] September 12th at 9:00 PM.

- [Will] That will do it for this week's one Detroit.

Thanks for watching.

Make sure to come back for one Detroit arts and culture on Mondays at 7:30 PM.

Head to the one Detroit website for all the stories we're working on.

Follow us on social media and sign up for our weekly newsletter.

- [Narrator] From Delta Faucets to Behr Paint.

Masco corporation is proud to deliver products that enhance the way consumers all over the world, experience and enjoy their living spaces.

Masco, serving Michigan communities since 1929.

Support for this program is provided by, the Cynthia & Edsel Ford Fund for Journalism and Detroit Public TV.

The Kresge foundation.

- [Reporter] The DTE foundation is a proud sponsor of Detroit Public TV among the state's largest foundations, committed to Michigan focused giving.

We support organizations that are doing exceptional work in our state.

Visit DTEFoundation.com to learn more.

- [Narrator] Nissan Foundation and Viewers Like You.

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