As head of
He once called former Detroit
And he thinks Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder does not have the interests of Black people at heart.
But these days,
"We've got six-foot-high grass all cross the city," Shabazz says. "We've got 10, 12, 15, feet-high weeds, we have illegal dump sites...[people] are breaking into everybody's houses. Thieves who steal copper and aluminum when you leave the house — now they don't care now and steal when you're in the house."
Which is why he's endorsing white candidate Mike Duggan, for mayor.
"He's the first white guy who really wasn't afraid of me, so I dug that," he told us by phone recently.
Duggan, who most recently served as CEO of the Detroit Medical Center, is pretty close to a lock at this point.
He took 46% of the vote in last week's messy primary that saw him forced to run as a write-in. Wayne County Sheriff and former Detroit Chief of Police Benny Napoleon, the runner-up, got 30%.
Which is fairly remarkable given that, if elected, Duggan would be Detroit's first white mayor since 1973. Napoleon is black.
Shabazz says he first encountered Duggan in the late '90s during the aforementioned fight for a black-owned casino.
As then-deputy Wayne County executive, Duggan supported the effort.
Thought it fell through, Shabazz came away impressed with Duggan's composure.
"He reminds me of myself in many ways...taking charge, 'go get 'em,' being very ballsy, intelligent, well-read, misunderstood by a lot of people," Shabazz says.
But some see Duggan as an outsider representing the interests of the elite. A judge kicked him off the official primary ballot for failing to meet residency requirements, and he's received about 80% of his financial support from groups outside the city (Napoleon's level of non-local support is about the same).
Shabazz says the criticisms are spurious.
"I don't see him as outsider," he says, noting Duggan's office was in the city. "He was born in Detroit, he went to school in detroit, he graduated high school here."
And he sees Duggan's corporate experience as an asset.
"We want somebody who's connected to business and can help create a better climate here for businesses to operate."
What about Napoleon, against whom Duggan faces in November?
"I have nothing bad to say about Sheriff Napoleon," Shabazz says. "I think that he's a good man. As a matter of fact I believe he's a damn good man. But once again, our situation in Detroit, which is 82.7% African American...We don't have the luxury of going with 'the best Black.' "
The list of issues Duggan will have to address is nearly endless, Shabazz acknowledges.
But he says he has two immediate items on his wish list: convincing companies to hire convicted felons — and convincing Snyder to withdraw emergency manager Kevyn Orr, whose installation Shabazz calls fascism.
He also admits he wouldn't mind getting named to Duggan's kitchen cabinet — and he's willing to offer a more expansive vision of his grievances to get there.
"They're running roughshod over us, they're trampling over our rights — Black people, Latinos, working class whites, poor whites, unions, they're turning back the clock."