The Metro: She rebuilt her block when Highland Park couldn’t. Now she wants to run the city
When DTE repossessed about 1,400 Highland Park streetlights in 2011, residents filled the gap. On Avalon Street, that was Shamayim “Mama Shu” Harris. Now she’s on the November ballot for mayor — and facing a question the city has lived with for a generation: what can neighbors fix, and what needs a government?
Shamayim "Mama Shu" Harris in the WDET studio on Aug. 12, 2026. Harris, who founded Avalon Village in Highland Park, faces incumbent Mayor Glenda McDonald in the Nov. 3 general election.
In 2011, Highland Park couldn’t pay its electric bill. So DTE took the streetlights off the poles, about 1,400 of them.
When the lights left, residents put some back. On Avalon Street, that was Shamayim Harris. She’d bought a house there for $3,000. It was months after a hit-and-run driver killed her 2-year-old son.
She kept building. A park in his name. A garden. A house where kids do homework.
The block became Avalon Village. She became a CNN Hero and a USA Today Woman of the Year. But in Highland Park, she’s Mama Shu.
She’s held office here before, but never the one that runs the city. Last week, she asked her neighbors to change that. She finished second, enough to put her on the November ballot, against incumbent Glenda McDonald.
Mama Shu joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to answer a question Highland Park has been living with for a generation: What can neighbors fix, and what needs a government?
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have thoughts? Email the show at metro@wdet.org.
Support the podcasts you love.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
