Who are we?
Kelly Lea with daughters: Left - Mazey Lea, Right - Mackenzie Lea

What is middle class?

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Americans often categorize themselves as “middle class,” even those in the top 5 percent of all earners, according to the Pew Research Center. But who’s really considered middle class? About half of American adults lived in middle-income households in 2014, according to a recent Pew Research analysis. As recent as 2014, that could be anywhere between $24,000 and $73,000 for a single person and $42,000 and $126,000 for a family of three. While the household income needed to be considered part of the middle class has increased, the number of people who meet that standard has decreased.

Diversity Issues
Hmong American Pa Vang and sibling.

What it’s like to be a young Hmong in America?

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The Hmong are one of the most recent Asian immigrant groups to come to the United States. Although there are Hmong people living in Thailand, Vietnam and China, nearly all of the Hmong who settled in the U.S. are from Laos. Hmong and other immigrants were assisted by the passage of the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975 in their efforts to relocate after the Vietnam War. Data from the 2010 census shows that the U.S. Hmong population rose from 45,443 in 2000 to 66,181 in 2010, an increase of 46 percent. U.S. Census data estimates that there are more than 250,000 Hmong living in the United States with more than 5,000 living in Michigan.

News
Black Lives Matter activist Jalen Ewing of Olivet College in Michigan.

5 years into #BlackLivesMatter, advocates say challenges remain

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It’s already been five years since the death of Trayvon Martin, whose killing helped ignite the Black Lives Matter movement. Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old black male from Sanford, Florida, was shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. Zimmerman claimed self-defense and was acquitted of a second-degree murder charge. What started as a hashtag has drawn national and worldwide attention to African-American rights. According to a 2016 Pew Research Center survey, general awareness of Black Lives Matter is common among black and white U.S. adults, but attitudes about the movement vary greatly.