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

Cass Corridor Commons: Sanctuary For Changemakers

Sacred Sites The Cass Corridor Commons: Sanctuary for Changemakers The aging grey edifice at the corner of Cass and Forest has sheltered visionary activists and artists for nearly two centuries.… Read More

Fire Cider As Resistance: For Immunity and the Community

Fire Cider As Resistance: For Immunity and the Community By Lottie Spady ‘Fire cider’ is the name given to an apple cider vinegar-based, spicy-sweet tonic that helps decongest a stuffy… Read More

Detroiters Fighting Back Against Housing Insecurity

Detroiters Fight Back Against Housing Insecurity By Dominic Sweeney Detroit Action member Donna Price has been organizing throughout this year to conduct a listening campaign around shelter conditions and affordable… Read More

From Silos To Sustenance: Claiming the Harvest of Memory and Migration

From Silos To Sustenance: Claiming the Harvest of Memory and Migration By Megan Douglass What does it mean to build sustainable coalitions? Thinking about this question is one of… Read More

Brightmoor Youth Work To Democratize Water Distribution

Brightmoor Youth Work To Democratize Water Distribution article by Eric T. Campbell photo by Keviyan Richardson Now that temperatures are dropping below the freezing mark, the youth builders have… Read More

On the Cusp of Transformation

Riverwise Winter 2020 Editorial On The Cusp of Transformation As the new year arrived we may have watched the ball drop, the calendar flip, the clock count down,… Read More

North End Festival Lends Itself To Collective Healing

North End Festival Lends Itself To Collective Healing Interview with Jamii Tata By Eric T. Campbell The 'North End Urban Expressions Art Festival: The Healing' is more than just a… Read More

Uprooting Legacy of Racism In Dearborn

Uprooting Legacy of Racism in Dearborn By Denguhlanga Julia Kapilango Dearborn is often thought of as a community unwelcoming to African Americans. The legacy of Mayor Orville Hubbard lingers. Hubbard… Read More

‘Work For Me DTE’ Campaign Demands Accountability

‘Work For Me DTE’ Campaign Demands Accountability By Michelle Martinez DTE Energy bills arrive every month. For many Detroiters they come with a feeling of dread. Our homes are old,… Read More

The Well-Formed Practice of Negus Vu

Developing Leadership from Within: The Well-Formed Practice of Negus Vu By Johnny Ricks If you want to have a sit down with Negus Vu, chances are you’ll have to do… Read More

Pam McGhee’s Winding Path To Community

Pam McGhee's Winding Path to Community Riverwise Interview by Eric T. Campbell While city officials clamor over how much to concede to corporate interests and private real-estate poachers scavenge for… Read More

We Shall Return, For It Is Our Birthright

We Shall Return, For It Is Our Birthright By Imani Ma’At AnkhmenRa Amen If your ancestors were enslaved, it is your birthright to make that voyage to their native lands.… Read More

Riverwise Summer/Fall 2019 Editorial: Healing As We Build

Riverwise Summer/Fall 2019 Editorial Healing As We Build How do we heal? Throughout Detroit neighborhoods and gatherings people frequently ask this question. This question acknowledges the pain we carry.… Read More

What Does the Earth Have To Teach Us?

What Does the Earth Have To Teach Us? By Sanaa Green Being taught by the earth, for some in Western, modern cultures, is an oxymoron based on the premise that… Read More