Issue 28 Fall

2025

Megan Douglass Editorial – Definitely Not Written by ChatGPT: Staying Grounded In The Cloud

I love the Gen Z saying ”touch grass.” It’s an undeniable rejection of the ways in which time spent online, in virtual spaces, indoors, isolated, doom-scrolling, and trolling is making… Read More

Join the Movement, Change the Narrative, Protect Independent, Community-Led Art, Literature, Journalism, and Education!

Hadley Pritchard: ShotSpotter Is Not The Solution: Detroit Needs Community Investment, Not Corporate Control

The Detroit Police Department’s (DPD) contract for ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection surveillance system, is up for renewal in July 2026. This contract was supported by DPD and the Board of… Read More

Community Win! Citizens’ Right to Community Input Over Government Surveillance Affirmed in Appeals Court Victory

Creative non-fiction by Michelle Martinez: I got “ADDD” AKA “AI Don’t Do the Damn Dishes”

Driving around Detroit, I got another goddamn flat, and I was fine enough to get it to my mom's, but I could hear the thunk thunk thunk, and it wasn't… Read More

Dr. Chanel Beebe: All Eyes On Us

Conspiracy theories once confined to the original woke, now manifesting through our phones... Technology turned traitor at the hands of those who pay for it the most... Our babies’ most… Read More

Rev. Lucious Conway: Keeping the Gate: Why I Won’t Trade Freedom for a False Sense of Safety

I didn’t just hear about AI facial recognition on the news — I acted on it. After a string of auto break-ins in my gated townhouse parking lot, I went… Read More

Annika Tutzer: How can we make A.I work for the benefit of humanity?

“Circuits of Care” What if we taught machines to care— not just to sort, compute, compare, but to sit beside a quiet bed, to smooth the pillow near your head,… Read More

One Single Rose®: Flykus /fly-koos/

Prompt: AI Artificial intelligence won’t make emotional decisions. ©2025 Flyku for YOU… By One Single Rose® Prompt: Tech Old school foundations crumble when new school upgrades can’t stand on business…… Read More

James Perkinson: Can AI Be Embraced As Kin?

A recent conversation with an activist friend unfolded around a frequently voiced conviction: “AI is here to stay, so we have to deal with it.” And the exchange then wrestled… Read More

John Telford: The 13th Hour – A Disquieting Quatrain

Xenophobic, ethnocentric, racist, classist kinds Of misanthropically myopic, microscopic minds Mask beneath intolerance a frightful face of fear That's… Read More

N.A. Laster: Back To Sticks

I wish we could gather the guns and the steel, The bombs that we build and the pain that we feel, Toss it all out in the depths of the… Read More

Dain Evans: AI Is Coming For Jobs, And We Need Systems Change To Survive It

"Watch this," I said, pulling up my audio recording app. We were in my friend's kitchen, voices echoing off the tile floor and granite countertops. The sounds of boiling water… Read More

Kevin L. Knowles: Sally Phone

Sally’s parents had mobile devices to do their business daily. Mommy and daddy were always busy and this drove Sally crazy. I want you to come and play with me… Read More

Victoria Camille and Minister Eric Blount: You Watch Us, We Watch You: Detroit’s Pending Police Video Release Ordinance

Surveillance is everywhere…greenlight cameras, facial recognition, license plate readers, video doorbells, personal security cameras, and every smart device equipped with cameras and/or microphones. Whether at home or in public, someone… Read More

Jocie Osika: What Technology Can’t Do: Community in Craft

Social media like MySpace and Facebook connect us more than ever, so it has been bitterly confusing to discover that this connection may not be elastic, drawing us together, but… Read More

Photo Essay By Valerie Jean Blakely: 2nd Annual WSU Student Walk Out for Palestine

On October 7, in Detroit, more than 50 students and community members walked out of their classrooms and workplaces in protest of two relentless years of genocide in Gaza. Organized… Read More

Lauren Fardig-Diop: Curfews Won’t Keep Our Kids Safe

The City of Detroit’s new "teen summer safety violence prevention program” intends to hold teens and their parents accountable for young people being out late by enforcing curfews and fines. … Read More

Community. Leadership. Revolution: Sparking Change in Superior Township

Growing up in the Ypsilanti/Ann Arbor area, both Justin Harper and Jamall Bufford, the co-founders of Community, Revolution, Leadership (CLR) Academy, have long recognized the need for more youth-focused community… Read More

Josmine Evans: Sweet Potatoes and Peanuts – A Harvest of Resilience

Editor's Note: This is recipe #3 in a 4-part series of recipes graciously shared from the community-inspired kitchen of Josmine Evans, founder of the Detroit-based Indigo Culinary Co. These offerings… Read More

Stop the Data Center: No Data Centers Nowhere-Fighting The Data Center Death Cult In Ypsilanti and Beyond

A Deluge of Data Centers At this time on the world clock, it's imperative to fight fascism with everything we've got. In 2025, that means, in large part, fighting data… Read More

Kailee Hanson Poem: Sick

All my life corporations have fought tooth and nail for my attention. A tooth before I lost mine. A nail as I bit them, staring at a screen. Before I… Read More

Jesse Deerinwater: SMNRs, climate, AI data centers and US imperialism

"I tell you, friends, this is serious stuff." When you imagine the future, what do you see? What are you experiencing? What kind of freedom do you have? What kind… Read More

Mike Mosher: Art – Cornelius Phelps was beaten by Michigan State Police at a traffic stop

Neil #1, Neil #2, Neil #3. Brush & ink on Sweepstakes Rules. © Mike Mosher 2025 Saginaw community organizer/activist Cornelius Phelps was beaten by Michigan State Police at a traffic… Read More

Deborah Tien: The Golden Throne

"Technology is the answer... but what was the question?" -Cedric Price, 1966 Let us sing to the spirits of storytelling and give our thanks to our ancestors for sharing this… Read More

Alex B. Hill: Map: Path of Least Surveillance through Greater Downtown Detroit

Map: Path of Least Surveillance through Greater Downtown Detroit Originally published by Alex B. Hill on May 19, 2023, on DETROITography.com Ever since I saw the similarly named map of… Read More

Alana Scolari: The Brave Little Bot

One curious little robot unseen like a dot A metal grin plastered on his weird face Doesn’t feel like he has his own true place. He goes around to find… Read More

Megan Douglass: Rooted by Rebellion: A Reflection and Review of the memoir Hurt Baby Hurt by William Walter Scott III

Editor’s Note: This review is simultaneously appearing in the Fifth Estate, a Detroit-based, anarchist magazine now in its 60th year of publication. Its online archives contain a history of resistance… Read More

The Spirit of Mandela Coalition: NATIONAL MOBILIZATION AGAINST GENOCIDES

JULY 4TH, 2026 ATLANTA, GEORGIA Today's reading of the United States Declaration of Independence leaves little to celebrate. The forefathers of the USA called to dissolve the political bonds that… Read More

Rich Feldman: This Technological Moment: The Opportunities and Dangers for Today, Tomorrow, Ourselves and The Planet

“Our ultimate end must be the creation of the beloved community.” - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There are certain points in time throughout history when the qualitative changes taking place… Read More

Bryce Grubbs: Exploring Abolitionist Tech Futures with ALF Services

When we work to cultivate a collective vision for transforming the world, we must be careful not to fetishize imagination as somehow operating magically and independently from other powerful ingredients,… Read More

Stay Safe! Stay Ready! Stay Woke!

Migra Watch: Nosotros Nos Protegemos

Stop Arresting Kids, Start Listening to Them

After the tragic shooting at Oxford High School on November 30th, 2021, hundreds of schools across Michigan received copycat threats that caused them to cancel school, enter lockdown procedures for… Read More

Some call it Liberated Zones – Others: Peace Zones, Freedom Zones, Beloving Community and Healing – We call it HOME

For decades Detroiters have witnessed gentrification, displacement, marginalization, corporate and elite political control, and sale (stealing) of land. This is while simultaneously engaging in struggles to end water shut-offs while… Read More

Creating a Culture of Peace: Ukraine, Buffalo, Uvalde

We are offering this out of our deep concern for the future. We are appalled at the brutality of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the killing and uprooting of thousands, and… Read More

The Role of Wellness Practitioners in Revolution

“I share this with you because you are what’s possible”-Adela Nieves Martinez As an African, queer, and nonbinary Reiki practitioner and Master Teacher, I often reflect on how honored I… Read More

Building Bridges: My Experience Working in a shelter at the US/Mexico Border

Feb 12. I arrive at Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas, a place of hospitality and grace, offering sanctuary and practical support for people seeking refuge from violence, poverty, climate… Read More

Violence At The Border: Deathscapes and Defiance

With their most recent decision in Egbert v. Boule, the violence required to enforce borders has been expanded in yet another draconian ruling by the Supreme Court. The court has… Read More

Across borders real and imagined, Palestinians have to fight for the right to die — and live — in peace

Photo by P.A. Photo caption: On May 11, 2021, thousands of anti-occupation protestors gathered outside the Israeli Consulate General in Manhattan to decry Israel's bombing of Gaza and ethnic cleansing… Read More

a poem for Trans day of visibility

"what does trans visibility mean to me?" visible to whom? i must ask myself to cis eyes? society? The government? the medical complex? what it means to me is suspicion. … Read More

Nothing ends with the law. Let’s talk about life after “Roe.” An attorney, a clinic director, and an abortion doula talk about life after Roe.

Scan the QR code with your phone to listen or click HERE! Kelly Hayes is the host of Truthout’s podcast “Movement Memos” and a contributing writer at Truthout. Kelly’s written… Read More

What It Really Means to Be Pro-Life: The Absurdity of Abortion Legislation in the U.S.

Right now, we are waiting. Waiting to see how our bodily autonomy will be infringed upon AGAIN. It harkens back to the unspoken rule about black bodies in this country.… Read More

An Analysis Brief on Sections of Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa The Importance of Questions: A Revolutionary Pedagogy and Praxis for 2022 Detroit

It is important to remember that in the preface to How Europe Undeveloped Africa (HEUA), Dr. Walter Rodney, at age 30, begins by focusing the reader’s attention to the fact… Read More

CUPID

Of course, we cannot say that Kyle Rittenhouse is guilty. Because this is America. And he is presumed innocent until proven otherwise. But for what it’s worth, he is White.… Read More

Mass Incarceration in the U.S.A.

Coalition Calls for Federal investigation into Detroit Police Use of Excessive Force

The Coalition for Police Transparency and Accountability is calling for renewed federal oversight of the Detroit Police Department (DPD) based on a 25 percent rise in incidents of excessive force… Read More