Spring Issue 24

2024

Creating Other Worlds: Abolition As A Portal To The Possible

Many of us are familiar with the idea of abolition from history lessons that link it with the fight to end chattel slavery in the United States. However, given this… Read More

A Call to Social Justice Movements & Organizations: Build collective safety AND fight the carceral state and state-sanctioned violence

More info here! https://www.muslimsforjustfutures.org/blog/acalltosocialjusticemovements Read More

What Happens When You Uproot a Cedar Tree?

what happens when you uproot a cedar tree? when the stories kept captive in its trunk lie dormant in the arab spring what happens when the roots have absorbed the… Read More

I don’t know your ocean, but I know our lakes

I don’t know your ocean, but I know our lakes. And I imagine the love I have for my lake is the same as you have for your ocean. I… Read More

Accountability and Transparency Now! How Detroiters Can Leverage Their Right to Civilian Oversight

The City of Detroit Charter, item #5 of the Declaration of Rights states “The City’s police forces are in all cases and at all times in strict subordination to the… Read More

There should be no exception to the promise

Slavery was supposed to have ended with the end of the Civil War and the creation and ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865. It was supposed to enshrine a… Read More

We demand freedom for all US-held Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War!

"It is extremely essential to support our political prisoners and prisoners of war. How else do we show our appreciation for their selfless labors and sacrifice on behalf of us… Read More

I Tried to Join the Police Force; It Was Toxic.

There is a famous quote by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which goes “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” It is one that… Read More

Confessions of a Former Cop

It’s a hard pill to swallow when you are used for bad, Trying to go against the grain but you get why people are mad. The boys in blue represent… Read More

A Police Department with a City

Illustration by Amanda Matyas Israel has been called “not a country with an army, but an army with a country.” The proliferation of military equipment, tactics and culture… Read More

Care: A Revolutionary Idea for Responding to Crises

Photo by lance hicks Late one night, Grey received a call from a nurse informing him that his sibling had been forcibly injected with an antipsychotic after an altercation with… Read More

Song for Weelaunee

As helicopters chopped the sky above our heads and tear gas drifted on the breeze, police blocked an entrance to the massive law enforcement training facility they’re determined to build… Read More

Defend ALL or Defund ALL! Tales from a 70 year old #BadAssGrandma

Ok, so I’m not your everyday elder white lady. People often question what led me to be so involved in movement work. They wonder at this fierce older white lady… Read More

Concerts at The Cut and Jazzin’ at the Vanity

“Live music is the beating heart of our city. People look forward to engaging with it. It intertwines itself seamlessly into every facet of our identity. Beyond good eats, our… Read More

RESTLESS DEFIANCE

Yes we are nervous about tomorrow, about the future. Yes we care, and we carry the load. Yes we are insistent on a better world because we know it exists. … Read More

A New Threat to Anishinaabe territory: Transition Mines and The Green(washed) Talon Mine

A new era of corporate extraction is upon us, this time with a deceptive “green” veil. In the midst of the climate crisis, mining companies are positioning themselves as beneficiaries… Read More

Goliath Brown

Never knew equality after being subjected to prejudices spent worldwide. Chocolate, mahogany, sienna, hazel or olive, my actions have always been typified by the darkness of my skin. Perceived as… Read More

Be A lover Coloring Page

Printable coloring page! Please print it, color it, share it, and tag Riverise! Konstance Patton Ke-nee-go-keshek is an Indigenous American Artist, Muralist, Designer, and Oral Historian working between Detroit, Michigan,… Read More

So Much Bad News

Sometimes, when you get so much bad news you struggle to sort through it. What should be prioritized, what’s the point? Do I choose to report on the lady whose… Read More

Reflections on Mutual Aid: Mother Earth’s Call to Action for Regeneration

Living cooperatively is no easy task. As humans, we are all one species but we all have distinct fingerprints. This duality between self and group based identities might lead one… Read More

Joy in Community Study

Border & Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism by Harsha Walia, H In gloomy and despairing times, we who work for liberation generate light and joy.… Read More

Boggs Center Study Circles to Deepen, Grow and Struggle

“The core of our philosophy is that all human beings are capable of change. And that our desire as humans is to be healthy, to be whole, to feel safe… Read More

Kiswahili Lessons

EDITORIAL: No Borders, No Bars: Abolition Is the Only Way Forward

There are borders all around us. From our declarations of membership in a particular nation, to our identifications with our particular states, cities, or neighborhoods, to our establishment of cliques… Read More

border crosser

my father's story is not singular. he is a border crosser, he crossed the border, the border crossed him. filled with hope that looked like a stormy night. waiting in… 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