You should know the names of these 9 activists from Michigan

Michigan has long been a hotbed for activism, from suffragists to abolitionists and LGBTQ+ advocates. Check out these nine powerful names you need to know.

Michigan has a long history of activism, with its people never shying away from using their voices for good. Just take the summer of 1967 as a perfect example. This time period saw Detroit citizens speaking up en masse over serious and systemic issues such as police brutality, and according to PBS, younger folks from the time who grew up to be adults who still use their voices for change today say younger generations have grown too complacent. One man even said that his generation should’ve never stopped fighting. “We should’ve had this taken care of a long time ago. I promise you, I promise you, we gon’ make this better. All of these people out here today, we gon’ make this better,” “Baba” Baxter Jones said at a rally in Motor City in June 2020. The gathering was part of a series of movements nationwide in response to the heartbreaking killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn. in late May that year.

More recently, environmental activists have adopted new tactics to battle Michigan polluters, but these are only two examples of the real, serious work being done in the Great Lakes State. Now more than ever, it’s important to understand not only who laid the groundwork for us today but also who’s on the front lines fighting today. As such, we’ve gathered nine activists from Michigan, ranging from suffragists to LGBTQ+ activists and more, who you really need to know about if we’re all going to make a better tomorrow—together.

1. Lily Tomlin

Known for voicing Ms. Frizzle on “The Magic School Bus” and her standout performance on Netflix’s “Grace and Frankie,” on which she stars opposite fellow activist Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin is the definition of celebrity done right. The rich and famous hold a lot of sway, and Detroit-born Tomlin has put her money and power where her mouth is all throughout her career. She’s fought tirelessly for many causes, including LGBTQ+ rights, environmental protections, women’s rights, and general humanitarian needs. 

One recent example of her outspoken nature is her work with Fire Drill Fridays (FDF), an organization helmed by her co-star, Fonda, that aims to raise awareness of climate dangers and unite people in support of the planet we all share. Pictured below is Tomlin at an FDF protest in Washington, D.C. in 2019.

Tomlin’s activism goes back decades, and it’s even seen her land in handcuffs—and a jail cell, though only a single time (unlike Fonda, who’s become more familiar with police cars). “I learned a lot in the slammer,” Tomlin said on a January 2020 episode of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (via USA Today). Arrested or not, Tomlin has never stopped fighting for humans and Earth alike, making her one of Michigan’s brightest stars. 

Actor Lily Tomlin donning a dark coat at a Fire Drill Fridays event in Washington, D.C. in 2019. (Ted Eytan/
CC BY-SA 2.0)

2. Jerry DeGrieck

Less is known about Jerry DeGrieck compared to “9 to 5” actor Lily Tomlin, but DeGrieck has left his mark on Michigan’s history nonetheless. DeGrieck attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in the early 1970s, and he knew that political change was needed. “I grew up in Grosse Pointe Woods outside of Detroit in the 1950s and ’60s. It was in all white, all Christian suburb … so it was a very narrow community, to say the least,” DeGrieck said in a January 2024 interview with the Ann Arbor District Library. 

DeGrieck ran for a seat on the Ann Arbor City Council with his friend and fellow activist Nancy Wechsler. Interestingly, he ran as a representative of the Human Rights Party, not the Democrat Party, and while many assumed his attempt would be futile, as so many third-party runs are, DeGrieck was successful and landed himself a spot on the council. Wechsler was successful, too. “It was totally exhilarating. Complete surprise that we won two seats. We were the youngest council members ever elected in Ann Arbor and probably elsewhere too,” DeGrieck added to the Ann Arbor District Library. 

He served from 1972 to 1974, but he didn’t make history until the year after his tight win, when he publicly came out as gay. This made him the first openly gay elected official not only in the Great Lakes State but also nationwide. (For context, the widely beloved and recognized Harvey Milk wouldn’t become California’s first openly gay elected official until 1977.)

The rest, as they say, has been history. DeGrieck has continued fighting for equality for all over the years, though he never forayed back into political offices after leaving the Ann Arbor City Council in ‘74. Today, he lives in Seattle, where he works as a public health manager.

3. Clara Bryant Ford

Hailing from Greenfield Township, Clara Bryant Ford was truly ahead of her time. Known commonly as Mrs. Henry Ford due to being married to the automotive tycoon himself, Clara was often left in her husband’s shadow. However, she was hell-bent on making not only a name for herself but also strides for women everywhere, leaving a passionate legacy that still inspires people today.

Clara was a tried-and-true suffragist who worked on boards and with organizations like the Michigan League of Women Voters and the Dearborn branch of the Equal Suffrage League of Wayne County, where she was the vice chair (via Michigan Women Forward). 

Years before the suffrage movement crescendoed, Clara had made a name for herself with her charity projects, which included uplifting liberal arts colleges and orphanages. She also created opportunities for women to support themselves in the early 1900s by allowing them to sell their handmade wares at her Roadside Market. According to Edison and Ford Winter Estates, Clara even aided new mothers who lacked familial or other outside support by offering the Women’s Hospital of Detroit the chance to use her farm as additional space for these moms to stay.

Overall, Clara was one of the kindest souls Michigan had seen up to that point, and we could all stand to be a little more like her every day. 

A digitized photo of Clara Bryant Ford from the early 1900s shows the activist in a black-and-white dress with a pearl necklace. (Library of Congress)

4. Victoria Burton-Harris

Women like Clara Bryant Ford lit sparks that we need to light into bigger flames today, and one of the folks leading the way is Victoria Burton-Harris. Hailing from Flint but now living and working in Ann Arbor, Burton-Harris is an activist through and through. She studied at Wayne State University Law School, and she’s been spreading the good word about putting energy, time, and money back into the public since. “Advocate for ending mass incarceration and investing in people, not prisons,” the bio on her X, formerly known as Twitter, account reads. 

What this means, according to a 2022 profile on Burton-Harris published in Washtenaw County Legal News, is really honing in on the people impacted by mass incarceration and systemic issues, as they have an ultra-keen sense of the problems at hand yet are always ignored in conversations about solutions and what the future should look like. Without fully listening to their perspective, they keep receiving the short end of the stick, which is why Burton-Harris is fighting for them, whether it’s moving people to act or digging her own heels in and aiding people who need consistent housing. Her ultimate advice? “We only get one chance at life. Find your light, and live in it—unapologetically, boldly, and proudly,” as she told Washtenaw County Legal News.

5. Ron J. Suresha

A Detroit native like Lily Tomlin, Ron J. Suresha is a longtime activist for LGBTQ+ rights and awareness. Suresha identified as gay for many years but came out as bisexual later in life, and he reaches people through not only spoken word but also his books, of which he’s written many and which have spawned him many award nominations and wins. For example, he’s been nominated for the Lambda Literary Award multiple times for books like “Bisexual Perspectives on the Life and Work of Alfred C. Kinsey,” and he’s won the Rainbow Book Award for “Fur: The Love of Hair.” 

As you can likely tell, Suresha’s work is centered on queerness—and, often, the bear subculture, which typically describes a thicker gay man with ample body hair (akin to the animal). Through his writing and activism career, he’s not only helped people understand the LGBTQ+ community better but also broken down some of the fatphobia within the community itself.  

6. Frances W. Titus

The 1800s were full of change, and Michigan’s Frances W. Titus played a big role in it. While Titus wasn’t originally from Michigan—rather, she hailed from Charlotte, Vermont—she settled down in Battle Creek after spending time in New York, and it was there that she turned lemons into lemonade. Titus became a bespoke abolitionist and suffragist, and in Battle Creek, she worked to open a school in City Hall to give formerly enslaved individuals the education that had been wrongfully withheld from them. 

Titus was inspired by Sojourner Truth, whom she was lucky to call a friend. In fact, Truth’s biography was edited by Titus, and the two kept in touch for years, including while Titus took up teaching a few times a week. When not teaching, she worked to co-found the Michigan Suffrage Association, which helped make strides in attaining the right to vote for women (though that right sadly didn’t come to fruition until 1920, 26 years after Titus’ death). Titus was able to make her way onto committees—state and nationwide alike—that focused on suffrage, making her a key reason the movement propelled forward as we now know it did.

Overall, Titus is a bright ray of light in Michigan’s history, and her perseverance and kindness shouldn’t be forgotten.

7. Amariyanna Copeny

Amariyanna Copeny, often known as Mari Copeny, is a 17-year-old activist from Flint who made waves several times during the city’s water crisis, which lasted for about five years, which were pivotal years of Copeny’s upbringing. The young activist penned a letter to then-President Barack Obama at just 8 years old, which landed all eyes on her when he responded by actually showing up in Fling to check out the water problem for himself. This led to federal money flowing into Flint to help fix the problems with the city’s water, but she didn’t stop there. Copeny was able to get water filters into people’s hands thanks to her activism work, too. She’s even taken to the streets to participate in protests and rallies, as seen in the below photo that features the aptly nicknamed “Little Miss Flint” bringing people together to create a better tomorrow. 

According to her official website, Copeny has been responsible for over half a million dollars worth of school supplies going to children in need, so her activism doesn’t stop at the water crisis. She’s a humanitarian activist from dawn ‘til dusk, and her slogan is a reminder of the force that she and her peers are: “My generation will fix this mess of a government. Watch us.” Now, we can’t wait to see where her passion takes her.

8. Richard Frankensteen

Richard Frankensteen is another Motor City native on this list, and with this activist, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Most of Frankensteen’s life and career are tied to Detroit with few exceptions. Sure, he attended the University of Dayton in Ohio, but he returned home afterward and put his pedal to the metal to create change.

You see, Frankensteen was a different type of activist compared to the others on this list. He wasn’t a suffragist; he wasn’t fighting for climate action; he wasn’t urging politicians to guarantee LGBTQ+ rights. Instead, he was a labor union leader who fought tooth and nail to create safer working environments, especially where automotive industries were concerned. In fact, Frankensteen was accused of having connections to communism at one point in his career, which, as we know, usually only happened to folks with progressive agendas who were looking out for people. He must have been on to something!

Frankensteen’s work led him to the title of the Automotive Industrial Workers Association’s first president, but the organization didn’t last. Instead, it reached a deal with United Auto Workers (UAW) to band together, with the UAW still operating to this day. There, he became the labor union’s vice president and used his power to fight for change in the automotive industry. He even vied for the coveted position of Detroit mayor at one point, but he was ultimately beaten by sitting mayor Edward Jeffries, who held the title for eight years in the 1940s. Eventually, Frankensteen left the UAW behind him, but he remained true to his pro-union ideals nonetheless. 

Richard Frankensteen sitting at a desk and holding a pen in an old black-and-white photo.

9. Chasten Buttigieg

If Chasten Buttigieg’s name sounds familiar, it’s probably because he’s married to former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who many left-leaning folks want to run for president again one day. While his husband works in policy and government affairs, Chasten works in LGBTQ+ activism and advocacy, though he’s known to get his hands dirty, too. Notably, the Traverse City native aided the campaigning efforts for Pete’s 2020 run for president on the social media front.

That said, Chasten shines on his own, too, as is proven by his 2020 memoir, “I Have Something to Tell You,” and his forthcoming children’s book, “Papa’s Coming Home,” which is slated for a May 2025 release. Chasten’s an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, and part of how he connects with people is his brute honesty. In his memoir, Chasten opens up about familial issues related to his sexuality, as well as other heartbreaking experiences from his past, like sexual assault and homelessness. By being so raw, he’s able to connect with readers and show that we’re all human and deserve the same respect.

His efforts to create a better nation extend to aiding others heading into office, too. An October 2024 Instagram post shows Chasten campaigning for then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid, with the author writing, “Every corner of Michigan is needed in this election – that’s why I’m headed back to the U.P. this weekend. I hope you’ll join me and State Rep Jenn Hill this Friday in Marquette or knock some doors with us in Marquette and Houghton Saturday!” Ultimately, Chasten is a bright light, and we’re surely lucky to have him.

Chasten Buttigieg wearing a yellow shirt and holding a copy of his memoir, “I Have Something to Tell You.” (MyCatIsAChonk/CC BY-SA 4.0)

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.