Riverwise is a community-led/driven/created social justice magazine emerging from organizing, arts, culture & liberation work being done in Detroit and beyond.
There is no sugarcoating the Truth. These are tumultuous times. The more conversations I have the more I encounter an ever present uncertainty about the future, sadness about the state… Read More
A ceremonial scene; light a cigarette with an ashed finger to soothe the emotional anguish, indignant vestige. Inhale the lingering smoke; soft pedal into an aesthetic dimension; jive against… Read More
The Current State of Policing Today, May 25th, 2024 marks the four year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder and the largest uprising and social movement in the history of the… Read More
“As an ecology minister, one who situates the value of earthcare at the center of my ministerial calling, I believe that the protection of nature is a divine mandate, not… Read More
The fight for tax justice in Detroit affects every resident of the city. You are subject to tax injustices if: you pay property taxes or a water bill, or if… Read More
America founded through oppression Built its capital on Black Bodies Yet Pilgrims came in search of religious freedom But whose freedom Who decides what freedom means Who decides which religion… Read More
These works were created in response to poetic texts written by Habibah Sheikh, a nomadic performance artist originally from Lebanon, and curator of the exhibition Mitli Mitlak (Like Me, Like… Read More
On the last weekend this past May, the People’s Conference for Palestine: Our Struggle for Liberation was held at Huntington Place in Detroit. Convened by fifteen organizations, the conference drew… Read More
In a fitting coincidence of gospel nonviolence, Detroit Catholic Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, 94, crossed over to God in fullness on April 4, 2024, the anniversary of the assassination of Martin… Read More
Purveyors of violence Do not goad us into peace They distribute ammunition In biometric vending machines They coerce cult retribution Erode all sensibilities Oblivious to the Frankensteins Alchemized inside their… Read More
For thousands of years you were a sacred place to the Anisshanabee. A marshy peninsula hugged by the clear waters of a mighty river. An entry point for those passing… Read More
This is a collaborative article written by Myrtle Thompson-Curtis and her granddaughter, Aminah Thompson (18). In 2009 the Manistique Community Garden was started on the west side of Detroit. After… Read More
when you blame yourself for bills and bad actors that flood your living space on the regular, that seep through holes in your pocket as the robots of repossession block… Read More
What is theJOYproject? More than a community garden, though not exactly a farm; theJOYproject is more what we see to be a living archive of Afro-Atlantic agriculture and foodways. Now… Read More
Few Detroiters would be surprised to learn that water rates in the city have increased by 400% since the early 2000s. Although this statistic is staggering, Detroiters have been confronted… Read More
This past Memorial Day, Riverwise collaborated with the folks from The Talking Dolls Studio on the Eastside of Detroit to host a zine making event at their annual community art… Read More
On September 17, 2023, 75,000 concerned people converged on Times Square to demand President Biden declare a climate emergency and end any fossil fuels development and infrastructure projects. We must… Read More
I will not start by recounting the number of Palestinians Israel has murdered since October 7, nor emphasizing how many of them are women and children. I will not beckon… Read More
To many, the climate crisis is not given a thought. And to many, they do not realize that's where you’re caught amidst psychological warfare. A warfare that convinces us that is… Read More
Breathe…Do you feel it? Mother Earth left her soulful whispers in there. You take a deep breath in and feel it. You feel the crud of those who have to… Read More
I fell asleep sheltered by a willow tree that wept for the state of Detroit in 2023. I doze and woke, woke and dozed on a Belle Isle park bench… Read More
“Solvent” an exhibition by Halima Afi Cassells and Shanna Merola invokes the world between memory, history, collective storytelling, and liberation at the water’s edge. “Mama Lila” Cabbil - October 23rd,… Read More
I still find Lila’s hair pins underneath and between my car seats. I would pick her up at the big, red-trimmed house on Wildemere for meetings. She would always be… Read More
Artist Statement: These pieces are based on a camping trip I took to Iceland a few years ago. I couldn't believe how varied the landscape was - sometimes even within… Read More
"Nakba" is the Arabic word for catastrophe. It refers to the violent expulsion of over 700,000 Palestinians from their land on May 15, 1948. From May 26 - June 17th… Read More
By Malu Castro & Michelle Martinez, This paper was adapted from a talk given at Detroit’s 2023 Concert of Colors in 2023 and builds on ideas we are teaching at… Read More
Siyo, greetings and good day. Jesse Deer In Water here, organizer and speaker for Citizens’ Resistance At Fermi Two (CRAFT). CRAFT is an Indigenous-led, intergenerational, multi-racial, and cross-cultural grassroots organization… Read More
Hope was a young girl who lived in the land of Gladness. Hope's hair was made of sunshine; her freckles were bits of stardust. Hope's meals came from the Spring… Read More
Darkness. Scamper to the window, Swipe aside the dusty curtain. I am not the only one looking out into the night. I hold one of the sets of eyes straining… Read More
We are gone in ourselves. One second we try and avoid knocking down the spider’s web, only to walk right through it a minute later, unnoticed. We are cut like… Read More
Spring Issue 24
2024
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2023
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2023
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2023
Special Citizen Empowerment Issue
Fall 2022
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2022
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2022
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2021
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2019
Special Surveillance Issue
Fall 2019
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2019
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