Summer

2025

Megan Douglass: Editorial – Memory Fuels the Movement

There is a grounding exercise that I have loved ever since it was introduced to me at a National Council of Elders convening by Shea Howell, a revolutionary elder and… Read More

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Dr. Hoda Amer: Palestine in Chains

Palestine In Chains is an illustrated story of survival, bravery, pain, and resilience. In this drawing, a woman sits cross-legged on the floor. She cries tears of barbed wire, symbolic… Read More

Anjelica Jade: The Pulse of Eternal Knowledge: Memory and Mycelium

When considering memory in relation to nature, trees often come to mind. The rings inside each tree tell us exactly how long it provided the precious oxygen we need to… Read More

Leslie Cieplechowicz: A Conversation with Ramiro Alvarez, Communications Director of the Detroit Disability Power

“Honestly, straight up, the biggest problem people with disabilities face is that people do not care enough. People don’t even like the word disabled. We've been called everything in the… Read More

Dom Witten: Hair and Lineage

It’s been nine months since I’ve wanted to [ ]. I could’ve birthed a copy of myself but one night I saw my body unzip crown to heel. Thick… Read More

Fatou Sow: Art, Poetry, and Prose

Fatou Sow is a creative writer, poet, and professor with Senegalese and African American roots from Detroit, MI. Her work focuses on familial connection, self-reflection, and humanistic experiences shared across… Read More

Hank Kennedy: What’s in a Name? Stop honoring fascists and bigots in civic infrastructure.

“It used to be called Dondero.” “Yeah, I went to Dondero.” “Hey, remember Dondero?” Dondero. Dondero. Dondero. When I worked and shopped in Royal Oak, I heard that name a… Read More

Joanne Coutts: In Search of Solidarity: Reflections on a weekend of Search and Recovery in the Sonoran Desert

Introduction By April 2020, as the world grappled with the harsh reality that the COVID pandemic was not going to be over quickly and that not everyone who contracted the… Read More

Megan Douglass: Celebrating Our Roots, Cultivating Our Collective Consciousness: A Conversation with Elder Baba Simmons

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Katelyn Rivas: Ecology of Migration on Detroit River

Midnight passage over water. Blushing strawberry moon. A litany of stars reflecting the deep blue story curving into my Black body. I hope to see my mother on the other… Read More

Katelyn Rivas: The Longing of Migration

When I see the bodies of Gazan children pulled out from an ocean of rubble, I often think of the humpback whale who carried her lifeless calf on her head… Read More

Mary Gagnon: Everything That Hurts

Artwork by Mary Gagnon Acrylic on birch. 4 feet by 3.5 feet. It is called "Right of return" and it depicts two sisters who, after being displaced by war into… Read More

Josmine Evans: Sassafras – A Spring Tonic for Healing

Editors Note: This is recipe #2 in a series of recipes graciously offered from the community inspired kitchen of Josmine Evans, founder of the Detroit based Indigo Culinary Co. We… Read More

Making Room for Abolition

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Laura Bailey “LB” Brandon and Charles “Buddy” Smith: The Soul of Charles Buddy Smith

Part 1: The Migrating Memory of Music Article & Inquiries by Laura Bailey “LB” Brandon Music, Poetry, & Stories by Charles “Buddy” Smith A direct link to music history in… Read More

Mary Gagnon: The Art of Remembering: A Defiant Act of Resistance

References: Clarke, K., & Yellow Bird, M. (2020). Decolonizing pathways towards integrative healing in social work. Taylor & Francis Group. ProQuest Ebook Central. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/wayne/detail.action?docID=7245245 Decolonizing Pathways Towards Integrative Healing in Social… Read More

Russ Bellant: TALKING ODE TO A SNOWFLAKE

Today a beautiful snowflake flew through the sky and fell on the land that I call home. I tell it that its artful unmatched design is a gift of its… Read More

Nancy Poprafsky: UNSUITABLE

Very rarely did I see my grandpa wear a suit. He was a farmer. A farmer’s most important business was taking care of the land so he could take care… Read More

Triniti (iii): 26

"Pieces of Me" collage art by Trinity (iii) Teach me Inner technologies And circuit my mind back to Source Remind us of how we arrived dancing with light And that … Read More

Demetric Walls, aka DWallsCanTalk, aka Shabazz Shakur: Turning Pain into Pathways Through the Power of Music and M.O.T.I.V.E.

Every single person walking the earth is a music producer. It’s no coincidence that human body parts share the same name as music instruments (organs, eardrums, vocal chords, heartbeat). I… Read More

Tanya Martinez: Las Manos de Generaciones

In my piece, Las Manos de Generaciones, I aimed to express the importance of immigrant families in adapting and persevering. I was inspired by my own family and the millions… Read More

Community Win!

Community win! Congratulations, Detroit Disability Power! Read More

Tap In Times

Find your people! Read More

Katy Nightingale: Migration is an Act of Courage

Riverwise back cover Katy Nightingale (she/they) is a semi-nomadic woman of Western European immigrant descent who grew up in the Great Lakes region. On her travels she has learned from… Read More

YVAK: A Meditation on Modern Movement Organizing

Richelle Still (she/her) is a passionate young person dedicated to making a difference wherever she finds herself. As a recent graduate of the University of Miami, she is making her… 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