41 Questions You Can Answer Yourself

We’re not telling you what to think. We’re asking you to look.

Every question below can be answered with a public records search. We already did the searches. The answers — with sources — are on this site.

But you don’t have to believe us. Go check.

The Money

1. Who funded Roland Martin’s “School Choice Is the Black Choice” tour?

Look at The 74’s disclosure page. Look at the Walton Family Foundation’s published grant reports. Follow the money from Bentonville, Arkansas to your child’s school.

(Verify: The 74 disclosures, Walton grants)

2. The Walton Family Foundation paid $4.3 million to MAPSA — the Michigan charter school lobby. How much did MAPSA spend fighting charter school regulation?

MAPSA is the organization that lobbies Lansing to prevent oversight of Michigan’s charter schools. The same foundation funding the schools funds the lobby that prevents their regulation.

(Verify: Walton grant reports, MAPSA website)

3. What percentage of MacDowell Preparatory Academy’s revenue goes to Purpose Group LLC? Who owns Purpose Group LLC?

72.67%. Brian Banks. One man. One LLC. $4.9 million per year in public education funds. Look at the school’s own transparency reporting page. Look at the Michigan LARA entity records.

(Verify: MacDowell transparency page, Michigan LARA)

The Credentials

4. How many of MacDowell Prep’s 14 instructional staff are properly credentialed to teach in Michigan?

Two. Search the Michigan Online Educator Certification System (MOECS). Type in the names from the school’s own staff directory. Count how many come back valid.

(Verify: MOECS database)

5. Brian Banks has a J.D. and a Ph.D. How many criminal convictions does he have?

Nine. Six felony. Three misdemeanor. Search Wayne County Circuit Court records and Michigan OTIS. This is not disputed — it is public record.

(Verify: Wayne County Circuit Court, Michigan OTIS)

6. The Pahara Institute made Brian Banks a fellow. What does Pahara’s application page say about selecting “values-driven leaders”?

Read pahara.org. Read their stated criteria. Then read Banks’ criminal record. Ask yourself: who nominated him?

(Verify: Pahara Institute, Pahara Cohort 52)

The Connections

7. The co-founder of The 74 — the news outlet covering charter schools — also holds what position at the Walton Family Foundation?

Romy Drucker. Co-founder and founding CEO of The 74. Director of K-12 Education at the Walton Family Foundation. The same person. The outlet that covers charter schools was co-founded by the person who directs the foundation that funds them.

(Verify: Romy Drucker LinkedIn, Walton staff page, The 74 team page)

8. What do the phone numbers 517-374-9167 and 517-374-9100 have in common?

The first is MAPSA’s listed phone number. The second was registered to Save Detroit Jobs, a political action committee. Both route through Dykema Gossett’s Lansing switchboard. Call them.

(Verify: MAPSA website, FEC filings, Dykema Gossett Lansing office: 517-374-9100)

9. Who is the treasurer of Save Detroit Jobs? Where does she work?

Renae Moore. Senior Compliance Specialist at Dykema Gossett PLLC. She also files the Dykema Federal PAC. She was named in the Attorney General’s criminal affidavit against Lee Chatfield. She stamps 80+ political accounts across both parties.

(Verify: FEC filings, Senate LD-2 filings, Renae Moore LinkedIn)

10. A Section 527 organization called “Advance Detroit” is registered at Dykema Gossett’s Lansing office. How much did it pay NAACP Detroit for Freedom Fund Dinner tickets?

$1,500. April 2012. The law firm that built Michigan’s charter school legal infrastructure bought seats at the dinner that honored its narrative spokesman.

(Verify: ProPublica 527 Explorer)

The Board

11. Who chairs the board of Purpose Charter Academy — Brian Banks’ newest school?

Judge Cylenthia LaToye Miller. Wayne County 3rd Circuit Court. The judge who chairs the school board also sits on the court that hears cases from the same neighborhoods the school serves.

(Verify: Purpose Charter Academy Board)

12. The Vice Chair of Purpose Charter’s board works for which state agency?

Lamar Moreland. Assistant Attorney General, State of Michigan. The AG’s office — the office that could investigate Banks — has its own employee on Banks’ school board.

(Verify: Purpose Charter Academy Board)

13. The Secretary of Purpose Charter’s board holds which elected office?

Latisha Johnson. Detroit City Council. The council oversees DPSCD, which authorized Banks’ charter.

(Verify: Purpose Charter Academy Board)

14. The Treasurer of Purpose Charter’s board is Devin Hutchings, founder of DH Strategies. Who are his other clients?

Look it up. Then look at who they overlap with on this site.

(Verify: Michigan LARA, Purpose Charter Academy Board)

The Tour

15. Roland Martin’s “School Choice Is the Black Choice” tour visited Memphis, Indianapolis, Little Rock, Ft. Lauderdale, Dallas, Houston, Charlotte, and Birmingham. Which major charter school city did it skip?

Detroit. The city where Brian Banks extracts $4.9 million per year. The city with the highest concentration of charter schools in Michigan. The city where the money lands.

Why?

(Verify: BlackPressUSA event listings, The 74 event pages)

16. At the Lansing NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner on October 11, 2026, Roland Martin was the keynote speaker. Did he mention MacDowell Preparatory Academy? Did he mention 3% math proficiency?

Ask anyone who was there.

The Pattern

17. One foundation funds the news outlet, the fellowship, the lobby, and the tour. Is that journalism or infrastructure?

The Walton Family Foundation funds The 74 (news), Pahara (fellowships), MAPSA (lobby), and the “School Choice Is the Black Choice” tour (narrative). When the same source funds the coverage, the credentials, the advocacy, and the marketing — what do you call that?

(Verify: Walton grant reports — all four recipients listed)

18. How many of the 33 people in this network were funded, credentialed, appointed, or connected through a single foundation based in Bentonville, Arkansas?

Count them. We did. The graph is at detroit.primals.eco.

(Verify: Institutional Capture Graph — 129 nodes, 214 edges)

19. If 96% of the universe is made of matter and energy we can’t detect — how much of your child’s education funding have you traced to its source?

We traced it. From Walmart’s hometown to your child’s classroom. Every dollar. Every grant report. Every filing.

The Book

20. Brian Banks wrote a book called “It Had 2 Happen: The Agony of Success.” On the cover, he calls himself “Brian Banks J.D.” Has he ever been admitted to any bar?

Search the State Bar of Michigan. Zero results. He has never been licensed to practice law anywhere. But “J.D.” is on the book, on the school websites, on LinkedIn, and on his Walden University Ph.D. dissertation cover page.

A book is a party admission under the Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE 801(d)(2)(A)). He published his own confession.

(Verify: State Bar of Michigan, Amazon ISBN 978-1-7357540-3-1)

21. In the acknowledgments section of that same book, Banks names his mentor. Who is she? What does she do for a living?

Judge Cylenthia LaToye Miller. Wayne County 3rd Circuit Court. She is also the Board Chair of Purpose Charter Academy — Banks’ newest school.

In 2012, when Banks ran for state office under fraudulent legal credentials, Miller said publicly: “This is exactly the kind of person we want people to be, when they have made these mistakes. He’s a poster child for what you want people to do.”

She is a cum laude graduate of MSU Law. She knew what “J.D.” means. She knew he didn’t have one.

(Verify: Banks book, keepjudgemiller.com, PCA Board)

The Family

22. Who is OD Banks? What federal case is he associated with?

OD Banks is Brian Banks’ biological father. Search PACER for case 2:05-cr-80955 in the Eastern District of Michigan.

That’s the Black Mafia Family case — one of the largest federal drug conspiracy prosecutions in American history.

(Verify: PACER — Case 2:05-cr-80955, E.D. Mich.)

23. Who is Tonesa Welch? How is she related to Brian Banks?

Tonesa Welch is Brian Banks’ aunt — through OD Banks. She wrote a book about her role in BMF. BET+ made a movie about her: “First Lady of BMF,” directed by Vivica A. Fox.

She also wrote a book about the operation. So did Brian Banks. Both are party admissions. Neither contains meaningful acceptance of responsibility. Both return to profiting from the activities they describe.

(Verify: Amazon — “The Real BMF: The Tonesa Welch Story,” PACER — BMF case)

The Treasurer

24. Joseph Holland Jr. is the Treasurer of Purpose Foundation and the Treasurer of Brian Banks’ political action committee. How many personal bankruptcies has he filed?

Five. In nine years. Search PACER — Eastern District of Michigan.

BK3 (09-46072): Dismissed by Judge Steven Rhodes for “lack of good faith.” BK4 (14-46410): Dismissed because he never filed a single document — pure automatic stay abuse. BK5 (14-51632): $117,149 in unsecured debt discharged — three months after BK4.

This is the man who controls the money for an organization receiving $4.9 million in public education funds.

(Verify: PACER — E.D. Mich bankruptcy, search “Williams, Joseph Antione” or “Joseph Holland”)

25. In his 2009 bankruptcy, Holland disclosed a property at 21456 Newcastle Road held jointly with Banks. In his 2014 bankruptcy, did he disclose it?

No. He checked “None” under Real Property. Swore under penalty of perjury he owned no real estate. The deed (QCD #2007402847) was never reversed. He still owned it.

The court discharged $110,305 without knowing he owned joint property with a convicted felon.

That’s 18 U.S.C. § 152(1) — concealment of assets in bankruptcy. And 18 U.S.C. § 152(3) — false oath.

(Verify: PACER — Compare 09-46072 Schedule A vs. 14-51632 Schedule A. Wayne County ROD — QCD #2007402847)

26. What was Holland’s MDOC discharge status?

“WITHOUT IMPROVEMENT.” That’s what the Michigan Department of Corrections wrote when they released him. Search MDOC OTIS, prisoner #443789.

This is the man who serves as Secretary AND Treasurer of Purpose Foundation — both financial oversight positions — for a school receiving millions in public funds.

(Verify: MDOC OTIS — #443789)

The Judge

27. Judge Miller carried a loaded, unregistered .380 handgun through DTW airport security in June 2024. Who was her defense attorney?

Todd Perkins. The same attorney who represents Brian Banks.

She told police she got the gun “from her brother” in Ohio. The man was later determined to be not a relative. The Judicial Tenure Commission dismissed the case “with an admonition.”

(Verify: WXYZ Ross Jones coverage, JTC)

28. In December 2025, Judge Miller dismissed charges against a man accused of killing a 9-month-old infant. What did the prosecutor say?

Prosecutor Worthy called the dismissal “outrageous” and said Miller showed “bias throughout the trial” and should have recused.

This is the judge who chairs the board of Purpose Charter Academy.

(Verify: WXYZ coverage, Wayne County 3rd Circuit records)

29. Judge Miller and Brian Banks both taught Criminal Justice at Baker College Allen Park. She is a cum laude MSU Law graduate. He is a convicted felon who has never been admitted to any bar. She watched him teach criminal justice under fraudulent credentials — and said nothing?

Ask Baker College. Ask MSU Law.

(Verify: Baker College, MSU Law alumni records, Miller LinkedIn — “Adjunct Aug 2012 – Jun 2020”)

The Assistant Attorney General

30. Lamar Moreland is an Assistant Attorney General. The AG’s office previously charged Brian Banks with three felonies. Moreland now sits on the board of Banks’ school. Is the Attorney General aware?

The AG’s office charged Banks in 2016. Three felonies. He got one day. Now one of that same office’s attorneys governs his newest school.

(Verify: Purpose Charter Academy Board, Wayne County 3rd Circuit — Banks 2016 case)

31. Moreland is running for judge in the 32A District Court. What city does that court serve? Where does Brian Banks live?

32A District Court serves Harper Woods and Grosse Pointe Woods. Brian Banks lives at 1968 Severn Road, Grosse Pointe Woods.

If Moreland wins, Banks’ own school board member will be the judge in Banks’ home jurisdiction.

(Verify: MI SOS candidate filings, LARA entity records — Banks address)

The Membrane

The next questions are different. They don’t require a database. They don’t require PACER or ICHAT or MOECS.

They require you to look at your own life.

Roland Martin says he speaks for the Black community. If that’s true — if he is the voice and Brian Banks is the educator and Judge Miller is the protector and Wendell Anthony is the leader and Alice Thompson is the advocate — then “the Black community,” as defined by these 33 people, is fully comfortable with the exploitation documented on this site.

But you’re not comfortable with it. Are you?

You didn’t know. That’s the point. You are inside a membrane. These people — this ring of names — they surround you. They define what information reaches you. The NAACP dinners, the speaking tours, the “School Choice Is the Black Choice” branding, the 710,000 followers, the 30 million views per month. That’s the wall. It filters what you see.

From outside the membrane, the extraction is visible. The court records, the bankruptcy filings, the credential fraud, the family connections — they are all public. They have been public for years. But from inside the membrane, all you see is the narrative: transformation, redemption, empowerment, community, purpose.

The questions below punch holes in the membrane. Not from the outside — you don’t need our databases for these. From the inside. From where you already are.

32. Can your child do math?

Not “is your child’s school rated well.” Not “does the brochure say college prep.” Can your child — the one who comes home to you every day — actually do math at grade level?

If the answer is no, you already know everything in this book. You just didn’t know why.

(No database needed. Ask your child what 7 × 8 is.)

33. Have you ever met your child’s superintendent?

Not a photo at an event. Not a name on a letterhead. Have you met the person who controls $4.9 million of public money allocated to educate your child? Do they know your child’s name? Do they know yours?

34. Has anyone from your child’s school ever asked you what you want?

Not a survey. Not a form. Has a human being at the institution that receives public funds to educate your child ever sat down and asked you — as a parent, as a person — what you need? What your child needs? What isn’t working?

If the answer is no: who speaks for you?

35. Do you know where your school’s money goes?

Every charter school in Michigan is required to post a transparency report. Have you seen yours? Do you know what percentage goes to instruction versus management fees? Do you know who owns the management company?

At MacDowell Prep, 72.67% goes to Purpose Group LLC. Purpose Group LLC is owned by the superintendent. One man. One company.

(Verify: Your school’s transparency page. It’s required by law.)

36. When Roland Martin came to your city, what did he say about your school?

He toured 10 cities. He said “School Choice Is the Black Choice.” But did he say the name of your child’s school? Did he say what your child scored on the M-STEP? Did he ask any parent in the audience what their experience has been?

Or did he speak about you without speaking to you?

37. If someone told you your child’s teacher wasn’t certified, would you want to know?

Two of fourteen. That’s the ratio at MacDowell Prep. Two certified teachers out of fourteen instructional staff. The database is public — MOECS, anyone can search it.

But you didn’t search it. Why would you? You trusted the school. You trusted the system. You trusted the name on the door and the credential after the name.

The credential is fake.

38. When the NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner honored Roland Martin, were you at the table?

10,000 people. The largest sit-down dinner in America. Tickets cost money. Tables cost more. Advance Detroit — a political organization registered at Dykema’s Lansing office — paid $1,500 for tickets.

Who sat at those tables? Was it you? Was it your neighbor?

Or was it the same 33 people who already knew each other’s names?

39. If your child’s school is failing, and the people who say they speak for you funded the school, credentialed the superintendent, protected the judge, and lobbied against regulation — who are they speaking for?

Not you.

They are speaking for the pipeline. From Bentonville to Detroit. From Walmart to the schoolhouse door. From a foundation’s grant report to your child’s empty worksheet.

You are not the community they serve. You are the community they describe. There is a difference.

The Final Questions

40. Do you know who speaks for your community? Did you choose them?

Not “do you recognize the name.” Did you — specifically you, the person reading this — choose Roland Martin to speak for you? Did you choose Alice Thompson to chair your education committee? Did you choose Wendell Anthony to lead your NAACP branch for 30 years?

Or were they already there when you arrived — part of the architecture, like the walls?

Walls can be doors. But only if someone points out that they’re not load-bearing.

41. If every claim on this site is wrong — why is it all sourced to records these organizations published themselves?

Every grant from Walton’s own reports. Every conviction from court records. Every board member from the school’s own website. Every credential from Michigan’s own database. Every bankruptcy from PACER. Every book from Amazon. Every board page from the school’s own URL.

If we’re wrong, show us where. The evidence is public. The methodology is open. The site has no cookies, no tracking, no advertising, and no paywall.

And if we’re right — then the membrane just got a hole in it.

Look through it.

detroit.primals.eco

129 nodes. 214 edges. 238 epitopes. 44 documents. Every claim cited. Every source linked. Every commit timestamped. No cookies. No tracking. No author.

The emperor has no clothes. The membrane has a hole. You’re already looking through it.