Summer

2026

Editorial by Megan Douglass: Still Waters Run Deep: Cultivating Collective Conscious & Conscience

Movement. This is a word that gets bandied about regularly. It is also one that isn’t always so clear and carries many meanings. Meditation. This is a word that we… Read More

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Valerie Jean: April 2026 – The People’s Potluck

In the fall of 2025, the federal government came to a halt, unable to reach an agreement on a national budget. By October, word spread across the US that, beginning… Read More

Baba Wayne Curtis Edited by Kristian Davis Bailey: Artist Statement -“Driven by the Movement”

I don’t like explaining my work. I like to leave it up to people to decide.I like to joke that their interpretation is usually better than mine. If I have… Read More

Raina Rising: Movement Meditations

Writer. Birthworker. Abọriṣa Abolitionist. Mother. All of my identities are grounded in birth, transformation, and new ways of being. In my youth, I considered myself an activist. As a younger… Read More

Hoda Z. M. Amer: Dreams Of

In 2017, artist Barbara Fox (BF) designed a coin for the state of New Jersey, celebrating immigrant families as they enter through Ellis Island in pursuit of the American Dream.… Read More

Mary Kamal Gagnon: White Grief

Mural by Mary Gagnon located at the Artist Village in Brightmore, MI. I grew up in East Dearborn, the daughter of Arab immigrants, learning early that my body was always… Read More

Julia Cuneo: A Movement Family

My earliest memory is of a red metal wagon, a little rusty, covered in “No Scab Papers” bumper stickers. My childhood best friend and I remember holding hands from atop… Read More

Owólabi Aboyade: Dear Young Detroit: “a foundation ain’t the answer”

I’m writing this to you because you love Detroit; you build communities of care and survival here. I love talking about writing and art with you. We’ve known each other… 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