Summer
2021
It’s Election Time… What Kind of City Do We Want?
Riverwise has partnered with Khary Frazier’s Detroit Is Different to bring you this special issue on our citywide elections. We are deeply grateful to Khary for the enormous amount of… Read More
A Heart for the City. Show Up, Speak Up!
Khary Frazier Interviews Krystal Crittendon Khary Frazier: Thank you so much. We're trying to get information out for this local election season. But can you tell us a little about… Read More
We remember these ancestors… When City Council Members Fought for the People
Let’s remember their names. Erma Henderson (1917-2009) Mel Ravitz (1924-2010) Maryann Mahaffey (1925-2006) Ken Cockrel, Senior (1938-1989) What does a caring, committed, activist local electoral leadership look like? What can… Read More
Why are there so many write-in candidates?
Circumstances caused by the pandemic created unique challenges that resulted in some candidates having their petitions rejected. As a result, the August 2021 local primary election has 31 write-in candidates… Read More
If I Was Mayor Of My City
Photo by Marc Klockow If I was mayor of my city I would I would take care of my city Make sure everybody good right They ain't tryna make it… Read More
The Larsosa family’s going to help make it all Krystal clear!
Khary Wae Frazier, founder of Detroit Is Different podcast, interviewed mayoral candidate Jasahn M. Larsosa and Detroit City Council candidate Krystal Larsosa. The married couple discussed their Southern roots, their… Read More
From campus racial equity activism to the Mayor’s Office
Maya Jones calls young leaders to step up to Detroit city politics (Detroit mayoral candidate Maya Jones’s story from an interview with Khary Frazier, June 30, 2021. Riverwise ed.) I… Read More
Anthony Adams lays out his mayoral plans
Interview with Khary Frazier Detroit Is Different KF: Can you share your background and relationship to Detroit? AA: I moved to Detroit in 1981. At that time I [had just] graduated… Read More
Let’s Reimagine together
Let's swim in 9ft deep Let's watch the pain away Let's be honest Let's be authentic Let's be fierce Let's not be afraid to hide Breaking glass ceilings Knocking shit… Read More
Detroit Youth Reflect on Police Violence
An insightful, sensitive conversation about the crisis In the last two years, children in this country have lived through two profoundly destabilizing social upheavals. Through the media and in their… Read More
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib Rare Commitment to Advocacy for People’s Rights
Photo by Valerie Jean Can I Get a Witness? Testimony on the Commitment of Rashida Tlaib By Sara Habbo The Detroit and Michigan Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG)… Read More
Communities of Interest: Why Your Voice Is Essential in the Michigan Districting Process
What is Gerrymandering? Many of us are familiar with the term “gerrymandering.” We often hear it used in conjunction with the notion that our elected officials are doing something not… Read More
An urgent call to secure medical care for trans youth
Photo courtesy of Getty Images Horrific anti-transgender bills are being pushed all over the nation that call for a ban on lifesaving medication for trans youth and jail time for… Read More
Generational Memory, Healing, and the Power of Ancestry
Relentless Bodies is a Detroit-based creative disability and healing justice collective. The collective currently consists of Owólabi Aboyade (Will See), a New Afrikan writer and cultural organizer, Taraneh Fazeli, an… Read More
Shirley Woodson
IMAGE: Shirley Woodson Photo Credit: Patrick Barber. I know Shirley Woodson as one of the matriarchs of art and culture in Detroit. She is a pillar -- as a former… Read More
THE RHYTHM OF DETROIT IS THE RHYTHM OF THE LINE
IMAGE: Background Art: Detroit Industry Murals by Diego Rivera, 1932-1933, Detroit Institute of Arts. If you want to think about Detroit You have to think about the line That is,… Read More
Let’s Cultivate Detroit’s Own Assets
Image: Valerie Jean When we talk about the health of Detroit, whether it’s thriving or struggling, we’re usually talking about its physical health—how many buses are running, which schools are… Read More
Lynching and Crucifixion A Holy Week Meditation
IMAGE: Standing next to a handmade crucifix, Bill Wylie-Kellerman reads the meditation in front of Detroit Police Headquarters. Photo credit: Three Lyons Creative Each Holy Week for 47 years, the… Read More
Detroit Will Breathe & National Lawyers Guild Win Major Victories in BLM Movement
IMAGE: Nakia Wallace restrained in a chokehold by Detroit police at Detroit Will Breathe Protest. Photo by Adam Dewey. We are celebrating that since the writing of the following article… Read More
Dazzling Cultural Swag MASKS MADE IN DETROIT
Diop was founded in Detroit in 2018, just in time to provide beautiful facemasks to help us get through the pandemic. Diop produces reusable, cotton, washable facemasks, including sizes for… Read More
Red Packets
Background Art: During the Chinese New Year celebration, there is a tradition of offering gifts — especially to the children — in brightly decorated red envelopes that convey best wishes… Read More
Punjabi Culture Empowers Farmers’ Protests in India
IMAGE: Parchaváyn (Shadows) by Navjeet Kaur. Watercolor, coffee, charcoal, hair, and thread on paper. - 2016. India is in the midst of the largest protest in human history during a global… Read More
Significant Changes Amidst Setbacks and Trauma
As summer approaches, we are reaching out tentatively to one another, slowly finding ways to re-establish connection with family, friends, and community. Marked by incalculable losses and sorrow through the… Read More
Realizing A People’s Plan In 2021
Despite a year of grievous health crises and economic challenges, we end 2020 affirming the work that is being done to advance the relationships with one another and to promote… Read More
READING LIST AND NOTES TOWARDS ENDING POLICE VIOLENCE
A call to read, study and debate What does abolition mean? Why is it better than reform? What class do the police (and the military) serve and protect, both inside… Read More
Dr. Naomi Long Madgett Poet Laureate of the City of Detroit 1923 – 2020
Born in Norfolk, VA in 1923, Dr. Naomi Long Madgett was an active member of the Detroit community from 1946. In her early teaching career, she was a curriculum innovator… Read More
A LOVE LETTER TO OUR LEGAL COMMUNITY: A CALL TO ACTION AFTER THE 2020 ELECTIONS
Dear Legal Community, This summer, we saw the largest mobilization of protest in U.S. history. Across the country, communities rose up in love and rage, for Breonna Taylor, George Floyd,… Read More
Letter of Hope From Movement Elders to Young Activists
Letter of Hope Learnings from lived experiences From Movement Elders to Young Activists November 2020 The National Council of Elders was organized in 2011 to bring together leaders of the… Read More
Testimony of Paul Jackson People’s Tribunal on the Execution of Hakim Littleton
Detroit October 25, 2020 Sponsored by the Coalition for Police Transparency and Accountability On Sunday, October 25, the Coalition for Police Transparency and Accountability held a People’s Tribunal at which… Read More
A Block Club In the Making
Piper Carter has embarked on a journey, building community one step at a time. Located near west Chicago Blvd. and Schaefer, Carter and a few neighborhood allies are reconstituting the… Read More
Apocalyptic and Revolutionary Education
Today’s youth face fearsome challenges in what our society calls “mental health,” some as a result of having suffered childhood traumas, but many others simply from the stress of trying… Read More
(Re)membering Home – Demolition in Detroit as Dismemberment
By Erin Stanley Alive I learned that my place is alive despite the messaging that land is property, and the world is a machine, Learned it was suffering before… Read More
Youth Activists Check in on Neighbors:
Staying Connected During COVID-19 By Riverwise Editorial Team The EMEAC (East Michigan Environmental Action Council) Youth Street Team recently demonstrated the power of direct organizing. They spent ten consecutive Sundays… Read More
Message to Detroit Freedom Fighters: Commemorating the 1963 Protest of the Police Murder of Cynthia Scott
First, we wish to give a warm thanks to all of you courageous souls, especially the youth, for standing up to oppose the systemic… Read More
Green Chairs Not Green Lights: Keeping Perspective During Covid-19
In 2019, Detroit Community Technology Project (DCTP) partnered with coalition members, the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership (Boggs Center), Green Light Black Futures Coalition, Feedom… Read More
Beyond Reform: The Detroiters’ Bill of Rights
A strong community-based coalition brought together by Detroit City Council President Pro Tempore Mary Sheffield and Council member Raquel Castañeda-Lopez introduced a Detroiters’ Bill of Rights that outlines basic values… Read More
Police “Reform:” A Totally Obsolete Illusion
In this article, I present excerpts from a historic presentation by the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality (DCAPB) to the Detroit City Council. This November 30, 1998 statement of the… Read More
Police “Reform:” A Totally Obsolete Illusion
Police “Reform:” A Totally Obsolete Illusion In this article, I present excerpts from a historic presentation by the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality (DCAPB) to the Detroit City Council. This… Read More
Beyond Policing To Community Peacekeeping
Riverwise 2020 Summer Special Issue Editorial Beyond Policing To Community Peacekeeping Throughout this extended season of crises and mourning, activists nationwide have intensified our thinking about dismantling unjust systems. In… Read More
We Need Federal Funds, Not Federal Agents!
Photo by Adam Dewey Notes From The Movement We Need Federal Funds, Not Federal Agents! by Monica Isaac Before attending a mass demonstration at the ATF building on July 29th… Read More
Enduring Connections Sustain Us Through Crisis
Enduring Connections Sustain Us Through Crisis by Megan Douglass There is an old Swahili proverb that has stuck with me ever since I first read it… Read More
Great Lakes Activists Continue Fight Against DTE Nuclear Reactor
Great Lakes Activists Continue Fight Against DTE Nuclear Reactor by Jesse Deer In Water Siyo, tohitsu? Hello, how are you? A common greeting amongst my peoples in Northeast Oklahoma, The… Read More
Fighting Racist Surveillance in Detroit
Fighting Racist Surveillance in Detroit Flashing green lights let you know you’re being watched by Bill Wylie-Kellermann Reprinted with permission from Sojourners, March 2020, (800) 714-7474, www.sojo.net. WE GATHERED THIS fall… Read More
Spring 2020 Riverwise Editorial/A Matter Of Survival
Photo Credit: Keviyan Richardson Spring 2020, Riverwise Editorial A Matter of Survival The brutal murder of George Floyd has propelled thousands of people into the streets demanding a radical shift… Read More
Sustained Protest: The Beginnings of System-Change
Photo by Keviyan Richardson The daily protest demonstrations against police brutality in Detroit have been relatively peaceful. Yet, until yesterday, police response has been extremely antagonistic. Nearly 150 protesters were… Read More
Disconnect Goes Even Further Than Water Shutoffs
Photos by Valerie Jean Disconnect Goes Even Further Than Water Shutoffs by Eric T. Campbell (interview with Reverend Roslyn Bouier recorded on April 16, 2020) The shelter-in-place order mandated by… Read More
Riverwise Podcast: Self-Determination With Reverend Joan Ross
In the third installment of the Riverwise Podcast, Eric and Amas talk with Reverend Joan Ross from the North End Woodward Community Coalition, WNUC community radio, and… Read More
During and After COVID-19 Crisis: Detroiters Continue Struggle Against Water Shutoffs
Photo credit: Valerie Jean Like most people in the world right now, the Riverwise family is grappling with the new paradigm that the covid-19 pandemic has brought to us, so… Read More
Thinking For Ourselves: Water Games
Thinking for ourselves By Shea Howell Water Games April 5, 2020 Mayor Duggan assured the city that he has restored water to everyone who has been shut off at… Read More
A Home Birth Story On a Detroit Urban Farm: Olori OKO
"It is this sweetness that has become so bitter in their mouths." A Home Birth Story On A Detroit Urban Farm: Olori Oko By Atieno Nyar Kasagam I was… Read More
Rethinking Government Assistance: Steps To Keeping Your EBT
RETHINKING GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE: STEPS TO KEEP YOUR EBT By Denguhlanga Julia Kapilango It’s an oft-repeated narrative that says, many of the problems in our Black communities are due to… Read More
Cass Corridor Commons: Sanctuary For Changemakers
Sacred Sites The Cass Corridor Commons: Sanctuary for Changemakers The aging grey edifice at the corner of Cass and Forest has sheltered visionary activists and artists for nearly two centuries.… Read More
Fire Cider As Resistance: For Immunity and the Community
Fire Cider As Resistance: For Immunity and the Community By Lottie Spady ‘Fire cider’ is the name given to an apple cider vinegar-based, spicy-sweet tonic that helps decongest a stuffy… Read More
Detroiters Fighting Back Against Housing Insecurity
Detroiters Fight Back Against Housing Insecurity By Dominic Sweeney Detroit Action member Donna Price has been organizing throughout this year to conduct a listening campaign around shelter conditions and affordable… Read More
From Silos To Sustenance: Claiming the Harvest of Memory and Migration
From Silos To Sustenance: Claiming the Harvest of Memory and Migration By Megan Douglass What does it mean to build sustainable coalitions? Thinking about this question is one of… Read More
Brightmoor Youth Work To Democratize Water Distribution
Brightmoor Youth Work To Democratize Water Distribution article by Eric T. Campbell photo by Keviyan Richardson Now that temperatures are dropping below the freezing mark, the youth builders have… Read More
On the Cusp of Transformation
Riverwise Winter 2020 Editorial On The Cusp of Transformation As the new year arrived we may have watched the ball drop, the calendar flip, the clock count down,… Read More
North End Festival Lends Itself To Collective Healing
North End Festival Lends Itself To Collective Healing Interview with Jamii Tata By Eric T. Campbell The 'North End Urban Expressions Art Festival: The Healing' is more than just a… Read More
Uprooting Legacy of Racism In Dearborn
Uprooting Legacy of Racism in Dearborn By Denguhlanga Julia Kapilango Dearborn is often thought of as a community unwelcoming to African Americans. The legacy of Mayor Orville Hubbard lingers. Hubbard… Read More
‘Work For Me DTE’ Campaign Demands Accountability
‘Work For Me DTE’ Campaign Demands Accountability By Michelle Martinez DTE Energy bills arrive every month. For many Detroiters they come with a feeling of dread. Our homes are old,… Read More
The Well-Formed Practice of Negus Vu
Developing Leadership from Within: The Well-Formed Practice of Negus Vu By Johnny Ricks If you want to have a sit down with Negus Vu, chances are you’ll have to do… Read More
Pam McGhee’s Winding Path To Community
Pam McGhee's Winding Path to Community Riverwise Interview by Eric T. Campbell While city officials clamor over how much to concede to corporate interests and private real-estate poachers scavenge for… Read More
We Shall Return, For It Is Our Birthright
We Shall Return, For It Is Our Birthright By Imani Ma’At AnkhmenRa Amen If your ancestors were enslaved, it is your birthright to make that voyage to their native lands.… Read More
Riverwise Summer/Fall 2019 Editorial: Healing As We Build
Riverwise Summer/Fall 2019 Editorial Healing As We Build How do we heal? Throughout Detroit neighborhoods and gatherings people frequently ask this question. This question acknowledges the pain we carry.… Read More
What Does the Earth Have To Teach Us?
What Does the Earth Have To Teach Us? By Sanaa Green Being taught by the earth, for some in Western, modern cultures, is an oxymoron based on the premise that… Read More
Mama Lila Cabbil Tribute: Pushing Us Toward Deeper Thought, Still
I always knew Mama Lila Cabbil did a lot. There was rarely an anti-racism event, a water justice event, or a social justice event that I didn't see her… Read More
Nandi’s Knowledge Cafe Feels Like Home
In her own words: Nandi's Knowledge Cafe Feels Like Home Riverwise Interview It hits you as soon as you cross the threshold and peer into the latest iteration of Nandi's… Read More
Eastside Convergence Asks, Community Or Chaos?
photos by Barbara Stachowski The east side of Detroit is at a critical moment. Just before the holiday season General Motors announced the closing of the Poletown Plant. By late… Read More
Youth Arts Furthers Transformation of Heidelberg Project
In the interest of full disclosure and to facilitate a more objective reading of the following article, it should be noted that Keisa Davis is a Heidelberg Arts and Leadership… Read More
Why Black Bottom Matters: Black History Informing Black Futures
During Black History Month, Black people are reminded about the importance of history. It is a time of posts spotlighting the significant advancements of exceptional Black elders and ancestors, a… Read More
Strange Fruit Quilt: A Loving Ancestral Remembrance
The quilt, Strange Fruit, is named after a song by the late Billie Holiday, and it is dedicated to Ida Bell Wells-Barnett, an African American newspaper journalist and author… Read More
A Ceremony For Hearing Our Own Wisdom
For most of history, stories have been passed down from person to person, sharing tools, lessons, values, forewarnings and healing. I recently hosted a story and ceremony workshop, sponsored by… Read More
The Theft of Belle Isle
photos taken at Belle Isle by Kenneth Smith Every spring, access to Belle Isle is shut down. The most popular end of the island is closed to Detroiters for almost… Read More
A Call To Do-It-yourself Community Health
Reconnecting to Nature and the Land Saved My Life by Lottie Spady In 2014 I started my formal herbal education and healing journey. In many ways I had lost my… Read More
Lessons From the Poletown Plant
A revised version of this article was previously published in the February 9 edition of "The Detroit Socialist." Now that General Motors has announced its decision to close the Poletown… Read More
Water Affordability and the Green New Deal
The lessons of the last decade and a half fighting for a real Water Affordability Plan (WAP) in Detroit may shed some light on what’s ahead for the Green New… Read More
Riverwise Editorial: Giving Way To Transition
Winter is giving way to spring. As the seasons shift, there is new energy emerging in our neighborhoods. Critical questions are taking on a sense of urgency as people are… Read More
Land— Our Common Heritage and Trust
As we approach the end of the harvest season and a tumultuous year, let’s take a moment to look back and reflect. Sometimes in the midst of change, the most… Read More
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