Spring

2023

We’ve Always Been All We Need: Mutual Aid As Radical Co-Conspiratorship Throughout History

There is something irresistible about being a part of spaces aimed at overthrowing systems which pit human beings against one another. From passionate debates in community centers over strategic visions… Read More

Riverwise Turns 5!

Fly

fly for Detroit u Fly so fly back fly black to industrial complexes feeding on soul food lick fingers till they drip poems till they raise souls unfinished rebuke anyone… Read More

Legacies of Mutual Aid in the Rising Tide

In June 2021, tens of thousands of homes were flooded as massive and unprecedented rainfall in Detroit met inadequate and disinvested water and energy infrastructure. The highways filled to the… Read More

Nexus (Mackinac Bridge)

“Nexus” Original Photograph by William T. Langford IV What they don't tell you about bridge-building is that it’s all about the rivets. You see, the industrial strength braided steel cables and iron bar-reinforced… Read More

The Language of Waters Speaks to Us All

I believe that art is a universal language. It is a form of communication that every individual can understand, no matter their origin, no matter the language that rolls off… Read More

An Understory – for St Peters

beneath the high altar, where icons watch, flicker in candleflame, direct below, and precisely so, a kitchen stovetop flames for decades, bringing to boil a rotation of hearty soups (confess… Read More

Existence Over Living

Poverty stirs me awake. I press to the window for a ray of sun to hit my upturned face. I see the cool waters of Spring bubbling up through the… Read More

Will Michigan become a Sanctuary State for Reproductive Freedom?

On June 24th, 2022, the United States Supreme Court ruled against constitutional protections for the right to receive an abortion. For one this ruling has massive implications for bodily autonomy… Read More

Stewardship as Ownership

Participants in action at the Build a Chair = Reframe a House workshop, Detroit Reuse Collective. Editor’s Note: Note: A previous version of the essay was published in Log 54 Centering… Read More

Compassion, Solidarity, Care: Detroit-Area Youth Respond to the Pandemic

“Oh my god I can’t believe my teacher just . . .” “Y’all see this tweet from the superintendent?” “When’s winter break start?” “They just changed up my schedule and… Read More

1954 / 2022

“Separate and unequal” Has an evil sequel: The devilish creation Of racial segregation Is abject subjugation And clear discrimination. So found ‘Brown Versus Board of Education.’ True reconciliation And total… Read More

Ready, Set, Listen!

Dr. Martin Reinhardt is president of the Michigan Indian Education Council, lead singer, and songwriter for the band Waawiyayaa (The Circle). He is a tenured professor of Native American Studies… Read More

Cold Turkey

Photo by Laura BaileyBrandon taken on the North Country Trail in Wilderness State Park (Carp Lake MI) A retrospective of the author’s last six years, retiring from community activism in… Read More

Mutual Aid In Michigan

Photo by Laura Bailey Brandon Community Support Networks & Services Alternatives for Girls: alternativesforgirls.org Back Alley Bikes: backalleybikes.org Black To the Land Coalition: On FB @ BlackToTheLandCoalition Church of the… Read More

Waawiyaatanong: From The Ashes, She Rises

Hadassah GreenSky is a Anishinaabe (LTBB Odawa) artist and multi-instrumentalist living in Detroit, Michigan. She is a graphic designer and painter, as well as a bead worker, dancer, seamstress, and… Read More

Climate Change Won’t Wait! Neither Should We! The Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition Demands Community Led Action for a Healthy and Just Future.

Since it’s founding in 2011, The Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition (MEJC) has worked tirelessly to put the needs of community members over those of corporations and front and center in… Read More

Building Pipelines For Peace: Pandemic Perspectives

Over the past two years, the chasm in our society between the “haves” and the “have nots” has grown to glaringly obscene levels. We’ve lost numerous members of our family,… Read More

Self-Care Isn’t Selfish: Implementing Well-Being Practices in Your Organization Benefits The Organization, The Movement, and Recognizes Our Humanity.

After surviving cancer, managing depression, and what feels like a perpetual string of life challenges I currently live my life in a perpetual state of self-reflection, self-awareness, and self-improvement. That… Read More

TURDS AND TURNIPS (A Story-Poem)

A man consistently and intentionally leaves turds in your hands. Day after day, week after week after month after year. The turds stink and stain. They attract flies. Because you… Read More

Walk into the Womb Womxn House Detroit

Womb Artist Jessica DeMuro Graves and Laura Earle“…Where we commune with our first true understandings of self and connection.” Antepasados Artist Rosa Maria Zamarron “…Learning to cook from my… Read More

Editorial

There is a reason that the most inspiring movements, works of art, songs, books, speeches, and actions often feel as though they belong to the future. And it isn’t because… Read More

‘She Safe, We Safe’: A New Focal Point For Black Liberation

‘She Safe, We Safe’: A New Focal Point For Black Liberation by Atinusewakaraiye "Tinu" Roland In the midst of a global pandemic that has forced myself and many others across… Read More

Riverwise Editorial

There is a reason that the most inspiring movements, works of art, songs, books, speeches, and actions often feel as though they belong to the future. And it isn’t because… Read More

The Power of Dr. Walter Rodney & His Children Books: Kofi Baadu Out of Africa and Lakshmi Out of India

Dr. Walter Rodney (National Security Archives) Background Dr. Walter Anthony Rodney, born March 23, 1942, in Georgetown, Guyana (South America) was an extraordinary human being. His achievements and impact defy… Read More

Art Official

I do not live in this small town I live in the great expanding void of the universe the holiday of day one the elusive home of nothing that is… Read More

Creative expression in the Garden: Detroit Month Of Design

In the late summer, the FoxCreek Artscape hosted Freedom Growers and the College of Creative Studies as part of Detroit Month of Design. The four-week series celebrated family, harvests, and… Read More

Increasing Access: Sustainably & Locally Grown in Detroit

Caption: GROWN IN DETROIT GROWER, DETRA IVERSON OF LOVE N LABOR BOTANICALS FARM It begins with the growers When her herbs and vegetables are at their best, you can find… Read More

Creating Connections: A Totem Pole Journey for the Protection of Sacred Spaces

The House of Tears Carvers and their totem pole stopped in Mackinaw City in late July. It was their last stop en route to their final destination, the U.S. capital. … Read More