Case Study 1 – “We Deserve a Say, too”

A Valerie Jean Blakely photo Photo Description: A few of the amazing youth leaders from the ECN Youth group after a Riverwise Writing Workshop held at the ECN. Pictured from… Read More

Case study 2 – Knowing what keeps us safe: A report on the Green Lights Black Future’s Community Safety Survey

Photography by Rebecca Smith Graphic Images Designed by Lauren Williams. Knowing what keeps us safe: A report on the Green Light Black Futures Community Safety Survey Since Project Green Light… Read More

Case Study 3 – One Detroiter Looks Back: The Long Struggle for Cleaner Air

Photography by kim d. hunter Work to shut down the Detroit trash incinerator- at one point, the largest in the world- began even before the monstrosity was built. Three decades,… Read More

Case study 4 – Detroit’s Right to Counsel Victory Shows the Power of the People

Photographer is Adrienne D. Warren, Mrktg Consultant & Publicist People in the photo are Rea Maci, Bonsitu Kitaba, Tonya Myers Phillips, Mary Sheffield, Chinelo Onuigbo, Banke Llori, and Evan Villeneuve… Read More

(Re)membering Home – Demolition in Detroit as Dismemberment

By Erin Stanley Alive I learned that my place is alive despite the messaging that land is property, and the world is a machine, Learned it was suffering before… Read More

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