Word: cockrel
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Much of Cockrel's attention shifted to various social-justice causes, particularly the fight against police brutality. That's how she met Ken Cockrel Sr., an African-American attorney whom she eventually married. In the early 1970s, the couple supported the efforts of Detroit's first black mayor, Coleman Young, to integrate the city's police force. That led to the appointment of Detroit's first black police chief and, eventually, the suspension of a unit known for harassing young black men. Cockrel helped her husband win a city-council seat, and he was viewed as a leading potential successor...
...Cockrel quickly became known as one of the council's most astute political observers and best-prepared members. She regularly sparred with a fellow city councilmember, Monica Conyers - wife of Democratic Congressman John Conyers Jr. - who recently pleaded guilty to bribery charges. She's also had her differences with the current city-council president - Ken Cockrel Jr., her own stepson. He recently called her walkout from the city council's chambers during the strip-club debate "the height of irresponsibility" and said it "shows a high level of disrespect for the people that put elected officials in office." (See TIME...
...Cockrel says race and ethnicity did not factor into her decision to leave Detroit's city council. Ultimately, she says, residents will elect "people they believe are authentically going to represent their interests - and get their lights on." But race remains an unavoidable theme in this region's narrative. Some blacks have called Cockrel a racist, despite her background, while whites have questioned her racial authenticity. During a dinner at a downtown Cuban restaurant recently, a white suburbanite told her, "You're one of my black friends." Cockrel wasn't amused...
...sizable middle class - of any hue - which is difficult given the sorry state of schools, public security and business. The situation is so dire, the state of Michigan may seize control of Detroit in the coming months. "With the kind of challenges the city is going to face," Cockrel says, "I can make a better contribution not at that table but from another place...
...Officially, Cockrel says she will teach public policy at Wayne State University. But many political observers expect her to be a formidable candidate for the congressional seat currently held by Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, a Democrat and the former mayor's mother. Kilpatrick is vulnerable, observers say, mainly because of her son's persistent legal problems. Still, if Cockrel decides to run for the 13th congressional district seat, she will face an uphill battle: the district was gerrymandered mainly to ensure an African-American majority...