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

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