When you first look at a piece by Freddy Diaz, also known as Southwest Freddy, you’ll notice the soft, warm color palettes that form realistic and youthful looking scenes. If you look closer, you’ll see that the artist – better known in his circles as SW Freddy – pays homage to his Hispanic heritage with hints of hip-hop culture, a melting pot of cultures blending into picturesque murals. 

Each year during Cinco de Mayo in Detroit, dozens of lowrider and motorcycle owners bring their rides out on a Sunday afternoon to have them blessed by a Catholic priest prior to the day's parade and other festivities.

Now in its 22nd year, Southwest's annual tradition began as a way for neighborhood youth to gather their lowriders together without judgment. A priest sprinkles the hood of each car with holy water before it becomes a full-on car show, where hundreds gather to gawk before joining the parade.

There are few places in Detroit that sell replicas of knight’s armor, no less made in a brass to look like solid gold. There’s one of these uniforms in the window at Nice Price on Vernor Highway in Southwest Detroit, and it beckons you to stop in.

Residents in and around Corktown and Hubbard Farms have a litany of requests, from anti-gentrification measures to bird conservation, for Ford Motor Company as the automaker plans to add employees to Michigan Central Station in the coming years.

In our recurring video series "Spokes People," we take a look at how Freedom House, an organization founded to house individuals seeking asylum in America, and the International Institute, a decades-old institution that helps immigrants find their footing in Metro Detroit, work together to help asylum seekers from Africa. 

You could say these dessert makers are on a roll.

Now that forecasts are hitting the D with 84  (and well above that on some days), there’s no better way to beat the heat than a cool serving of ice cream. But it doesn’t have to come in a cone or a cup.