Politics / Press & broadcasting
Kenneth Cockrel Jr.
born 1965 · journalist, city council president, interim mayor of Detroit
Son of radical lawyer Ken Cockrel Sr., former Free Press writer and council president who served as Detroit's interim mayor after Kwame Kilpatrick resigned (2008–2009).
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 60- Birth name
- Kenneth Vern Cockrel Jr.
- Also known as
- Ken Cockrel Jr.
- Detroit years
- 1965–
- Field
- Politics, Press & broadcasting
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Kenneth Cockrel Jr. is the son of Kenneth Cockrel Sr., the Marxist lawyer and city councilman who became a legend of Detroit's radical left, and of schoolteacher Carol Cockrel. He graduated from St. Florian High School in Hamtramck and, cum laude, from Wayne State University, then wrote for the Detroit Free Press. After serving as a Wayne County commissioner, he became in 1997 the youngest person ever elected to the Detroit City Council, rose to president pro tem in 2001 and president in 2005, and was seen by business leaders as a moderate consensus-builder. When Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in the text-message scandal and resigned in September 2008, Cockrel became interim mayor, steering the city as the auto industry collapsed. He lost the May 2009 special election to Dave Bing by 52 to 48 percent, returned to the council presidency and left the council in 2013.
Highlights
- Interim mayor of Detroit, September 2008 – May 2009
- Youngest person elected to the Detroit City Council (1997)
- Detroit City Council president, 2005–2008 and 2009
- Former Detroit Free Press journalist
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1997–2013
The Spirit of Detroit
Seat of the City Council and the mayor's office, where he served as councilman, council president and interim mayor.
Studied here · 1980s
Wayne State University
He graduated cum laude from Wayne State.