Detroit pastors endorsed Mike Duggan for governor. I have 1 question.

On the morning of April 28, several respected Black clergy in our city stood beside Mayor Mike Duggan in support of his campaign as an independent candidate for governor. Two weeks earlier, at the Detroit Free Press' Breakfast Club forum, the mayor, when asked why he left the Democratic Party, said that the party “left him.”

As someone who has spent decades fighting within the Democratic Party to secure justice, equity, and opportunity for Black communities, I must ask my beloved friends in the ministry: Are you sure the Democratic Party left you, too?

This isn’t an attack — it’s an invitation to reflect. The Democratic Party — flawed though it may be — has long been a vehicle for our people’s progress. Through the party, we fought for and won civil rights, voting rights, affirmative action, fair housing and access to education and health care. It gave us a voice at the table of power, even when others tried to keep us off the guest list entirely.

Many of the preachers now standing with an independent candidate played a critical role in achieving those victories. I respect that history, but I also recognize the risk of forgetting it.

Reform the party, don't leave it

Duggan and his family have undeniably benefited from the Democratic Party. His son even held a leadership role in Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign. So it is worth asking: What does it mean when we support a candidate who now turns away from the very party that helped him — and helped us — build pathways to leadership?

This isn’t about loyalty to a party line. It’s about accountability to the people who are still fighting for basic access to jobs, credit, quality schools and affordable housing. What message are we sending to the young organizers, single parents, seniors and entrepreneurs who still believe the Democratic Party is their best shot at the American Dream?

To be clear: No one speaks for all Black people. Not me. Not any pastor. But I will not stay silent as the narrative shifts. The Democratic Party hasn’t abandoned Black Detroit. Many of us are still here — reforming it, challenging it and pushing it to deliver on its promises. That’s real power: staying in the room, not walking out of it.

Let’s not confuse frustration with abandonment. Let’s not allow a moment to undo a movement.

To my friends in the cloth: You’ve always preached redemption. Let’s extend that same principle to the party that helped open the doors we now walk through.

Keith D. Williams is Chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus and Publisher of the Detroiter Speaks, an independent Black news voice for truth, equity, and purpose.

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