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

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

Protect The Waters Shut Down Line 5

Protect the Waters Shut Down Line 5 Dear water, Thank you for all the things that you do. I just wanted to say thank you! Your freshwater and saltwater components… Read More

Building Pipelines For Peace: Water Protectors Come Together To Demand The Shut Down of Line 3

In late summer, I had the honor of traveling to Anishinaabe land (so-called “Northern Minnesota”) to support the indigenous-lead resistance against the Line 3 pipeline being non-consensually built on native… Read More

Benton Harbor Water Struggle

Folks from Flint, Highland Park, and Detroit arrived in Benton Harbor on July 10, 2021, to support because we know what the Benton Harbor community is going through all too… Read More

Learning As We Grow: Turning Disappointments into Moments For Healing Reflection

This past August, when many Detroiters who had worked long and hard to help revise the City Charter learned that the passage of Proposal P had failed, they took to… Read More

Fall 2021 Editorial

In the TV series Game of Thrones, the saying “winter is coming” has become infamous as a potent reminder that change is on the horizon, and you must get prepared… Read More

Communities of Interest: Why Your Voice Is Essential in the Michigan Districting Process

What is Gerrymandering? Many of us are familiar with the term “gerrymandering.” We often hear it used in conjunction with the notion that our elected officials are doing something not… Read More

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib Rare Commitment to Advocacy for People’s Rights

Photo by Valerie Jean Can I Get a Witness? Testimony on the Commitment of Rashida Tlaib By Sara Habbo The Detroit and Michigan Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG)… Read More

Detroit Youth Reflect on Police Violence

An insightful, sensitive conversation about the crisis In the last two years, children in this country have lived through two profoundly destabilizing social upheavals. Through the media and in their… Read More

An urgent call to secure medical care for trans youth

Photo courtesy of Getty Images Horrific anti-transgender bills are being pushed all over the nation that call for a ban on lifesaving medication for trans youth and jail time for… Read More