Community activists, residents and political leaders gathered at Macomb Community College South Campus in Warren Saturday morning to discuss how they can help each other and how voters can be better engaged — particularly in municipal and school board elections. The...
Kelly Dillaha
Legislation expanding gun restrictions for domestic abusers clears Michigan House
Kelly Dillaha, Michigan director of the women’s advocacy organization Red, Wine & Blue, called passage of the bills a “huge victory” for survivors of domestic violence. “As a child, I lived through the traumatic experience of domestic violence with a gun,” she...
Survivors of domestic violence push for gun reform laws in Michigan
A key part of End Gun Violence Michigan’s intentions is to try and disarm all convicted domestic abusers and make domestic violence victims and communities all over Michigan safer. The goal of the Sept. 14 memorial service was to support new legislation that would...
What are local schools doing for student safety?
The list is long, as are our memories, of youths who have been victims of school shootings. And as the public cries for a solution become deafening, it is left to school districts and law enforcement to fortify schools with what amounts to bandaids as prevention as...
Stateside Podcast: The parents on the other side of the phone
On the night of the shooting at Michigan State University, students faced four hours of a shelter-in-place order. During that time many students were in communication with their parents; texting and calling them. On the other end of the phone, parents had to manage...
After Oxford, gun violence advocates felt helpless. But there’s hope for change in Michigan now.
Kelly Dillaha, the mother of twins who attend MSU and were barricaded in their room just off campus during the mass shooting, said the school could not have done anything differently to prevent Monday’s violence. What would make a difference, she said, is gun reform....
‘We all ran for our lives’: MSU students describe mass shooting as a never-ending nightmare
Michigan State University students are angry. Yes, they are traumatized; yes, they are overwhelmed with grief and sadness. They know they will need mental health support in the coming days, weeks, months, and years. But, right now, in the wake of three students being...
MSU mom, anti-gun violence advocate calls for solutions after campus shooting
A Michigan State University mother and anti-gun violence advocate says Monday’s deadly shooting on campus reinforces her efforts to achieve sensible gun control. Kelly Dillaha’s phone was flooded Monday night with messages from concerned friends asking about her twin...
Michigan State Mom, Activist Hopes Shooting Will Lead To Gun Reform
Kelly Dillaha and her husband, Scott, were watching television in their Birmingham home Monday evening when their phones started blowing up with texts asking if their twin sons, Aidan and Brandon Johnson-Hill, students at Michigan State University, were OK. They...
Good News Alert: Democrats Might Actually Flip the Michigan Legislature
When Michigan voters go to the polls, they’ll also be deciding whether to enshrine abortion rights in the Michigan Constitution, or to let stand a 1931 law that would essentially ban abortion in the state. Kelly Dillaha, Michigan Program Director for the grassroots...
Recent Posts
Do This: Call Your Senators About the SAVE Act
America may have a history of voter suppression, but that doesn’t mean we have to let it continue! It’s up to us to use our voices to speak out against restrictive voter laws and voter suppression tactics, and we have the opportunity to do that right now. Earlier this...
Okay But Why Is Social Security at Risk?
Social Security has been around for nearly a hundred years, and has been life-saving for many Americans. It provides retirement benefits to elderly Americans, unemployment benefits when people lose their jobs, and provides aid to families and people with disabilities. Those are all good things, right? So why would anyone want to get rid of it?
Okay, But Why Are Eggs Still So Expensive?
Have you been wondering why eggs – and pretty much everything else – is so expensive lately? Us too. So we decided to dig into it. It turns out, it’s not all due to the avian flu. And at the same time that prices are at an all time high, the government is cutting funding to critical programs that help families put food on the table.
Okay, But Why Should We Support Ukraine?
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Now, three years later, the war continues and there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight. One of Trump’s campaign promises was that he would end the war, but what does that mean exactly? And who will benefit? What would be the best outcome for Ukrainians and for democracy?
Okay, But Why Are There So Many New Voting Laws?
We’ve all been seeing voting rights in the news a lot lately, with things like the SAVE Act. States have passed nearly 100 restrictive voting laws in the last 10 years. And just this year, President Trump signed an executive order that he claimed to be about protecting the integrity of our elections. “Election integrity” sounds like a good thing, but what happens when we read the fine print? What are these laws really about?