A Detroit nonprofit’s annual summer celebration was in jeopardy after 400 pairs of shoes were stolen from its warehouse. Thanks to the community, Hoopfest was able to move forward.

Day three of NW Goldberg Cares’ Hoopfest started with a 3-on-3 basketball tournament at Curtis Jones Park.

“I love Hoopfest. I like seeing the happy people, and some people don’t have this every day, and I’m glad that they can have it, at least this summer and all the other summers,” Detroit resident Addison Washington, 9, said.

The event is something the children in the neighborhood have been looking forward to for the past four years.

“I like that I get to come here with my friends and my family, and that I get new shoes every year,” Avery Ponders of Detroit said.

From the entertainment on the basketball court to the barbershop pop-up, everything is free.

“I think, for so long, this community hasn’t had someone to give back and just show them love and appreciation for free. Enjoy yourself, eat, get something to eat, drink, everything, enjoy the festivities. I think it’s much needed for the community,” Devon Larkin, a parent, said.

More than a week ago, the nonprofit made headlines after 400 pairs of name-brand custom sneakers intended for a giveaway were stolen.

“It just was sad, man, to know that they do so much for the community and they give back so much. Why would you come take something that is going to the children?” Larkin said.

Thanks to donations from the community and sponsors, the organization secured the amount needed to reach its goal of handing out 1,000 pairs of shoes.

“That was the number we had set in mind, and we’re going to hit that number. We’re so thankful to the Detroit community. We were able to secure enough shoes to still continue this event and that’s what we’re most proud of,” Brandon Daniels, treasurer for NW Goldberg Cares, said.

Whether it’s on the basketball court or off, students can start the school year feeling ready and confident.

“I am looking forward to a new pair of shoes. It’s going to be really great and I’m super excited,” Washington said.

• Former Detroit and Wayne County health director Abdul El-Sayed faces U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham, in the Democratic primary for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate race.
• U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York came to Detroit on their first stop on a statewide tour rallying El-Sayed supporters.
• El-Sayed and his backers described the upcoming primary as a referendum on corporate influence in American politics.

In their first stop on a statewide swing through battleground Michigan ahead of the state’s Aug. 4 primary, two of the nation’s leading progressives fired up a crowd at the Detroit Opera House to elect former Detroit and Wayne County health director Abdul El-Sayed in his Democratic primary against centrist U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham.

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, described swings in election outcomes in Michigan as reflective of a political failure to address the needs of the working class.

“But when the stakes are so high, when more people than ever are living so close to the bone, eventually we have to ask ourselves is the answer to our problems to turn to the same playbook over and over again?” she asked at the July 18 rally. “No,” she said with those from the crowd joining her. Ocasio-Cortez never named Stevens, but implicitly criticized her as a status quo candidate. Michigan’s U.S. Senate race is the only contested Democratic primary for a seat in the chamber in which she has made an endorsement.

The race has become a nationally watched litmus test for the strength of competing ideological factions within the Democratic Party.

But U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, began his speech by saying the contest represents more than that. “It is about democracy versus oligarchy, and we are on the side of democracy,” he said. When Sanders mentioned Stevens, the crowd booed, but the senator waved them off, describing the election as a contest not just between two candidates. “This is an election between Abdul and the billionaire class,” he said.

“Democracy is not about billionaires buying an election in Michigan or anywhere else,” Sanders said as he wrapped up his speech, which comes after recent campaign finance reports that indicate Stevens has benefitted from groups with unclear funding sources.

El-Sayed followed Sanders and took the stage to thunderous chants of “Abdul.” During his speech, he did a call and repeat with the crowd on his signature campaign pledge, promising, “Money out of politics. Money in your pocket. Medicare for All.”

El-Sayed talked about his desire to pursue public health as a way to tackle health disparities and excoriated public health management under President Donald Trump’s administration. “Can’t even eat the lettuce,” he said, a reference to the explosive diarrhea caused by cyclosporiasis.

El-Sayed recalled the day he learned U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, would not seek re-election, leaving an open race for his seat. “And I told myself maybe it’s time to go and get a U.S. senator who actually wants to fight,” El-Sayed said. “We got an opportunity in this race to fight for what we need and deserve.” He boasted that he hasn’t taken “a dime of corporate money” in his campaign, which he described as a response to an affordability crisis he said Americans face. To tackle those challenges, he called for a wealth tax on billionaires, banning corporate stock buybacks and targeting corporate monopolies.

He echoed an oft-repeated line connecting U.S. military support Israel as an impediment to tackling domestic issues. “I want my tax dollars in Michigan,” he said.

He cast his campaign as part of a national tradition of Americans coming together across divides to achieve progress. “In this country, we don’t ignore a sordid past, we assure a better future. But this country doesn’t correct on its own,” he said.

The primary has put on display divides within the Democratic Party.

El-Sayed supports guaranteed public health care for all while Stevens wants to see Affordable Care Act subsidies restored and backs a public health care option. El-Sayed has railed against the pro-Israel lobby while Stevens has backing from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. El-Sayed boasts support from the left flank of the Democratic Party while Stevens touts endorsements from more moderate Democrats.

Ahead of the El-Sayed rally in Detroit, Stevens touted her endorsement from the Congressional Black Caucus and highlighted policy priorities aimed at lifting up Black communities.   

More: Outraised by El-Sayed, Stevens relies heavily on murky, outside support

UAW President Shawn Fain echoed other speakers in describing the current political moment as an inflection point for demonstrating the power of the working class. “And the only reason we’re in the position we’re in in America right now is because too many Democrats can’t decide who the (expletive) they want to stand with,” he said, prompting huge applause in the crowd and bringing many to their feet. The UAW has endorsed El-Sayed in the primary.

While the evening seemed to cast the upcoming primary as a kind of referendum on the Democratic Party, Ocasio-Cortez said it’s not.

“I mean I think that primary elections aren’t referendums the party. They are referendums on that community,” she told reporters after the rally.

Stevens and her backers have argued that she is the more electable candidate in November who has the best chance to defeat Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake who has Trump’s endorsement.