What does abolition look like as a creative practice? Ruth Wilson Gilmore reminds us that “abolition is about presence… it is building life-affirming institutions.” In this light, frameworks of defunding the police and getting rid of prisons can explain only a part of the abolitionist process. Abolition sees prisons in hierarchies, punitiveness, and opportunism that...Read More
At our celebration in August, we brought together over 160 partners, neighbors, supporters, and friends. We marked five years of DJC’s fight for freedom and raised nearly $20,000 to fuel our work. The room was filled with inspiration and an abundance of hope that we, together, can transform Detroit into a Just City!Read More
By now, word has spread about the false arrest of Porcha Woodruff, a Black woman who was accused of carjacking at eight months pregnant in Detroit. Woodruff was the victim of faulty facial recognition technology that misidentified her and a Detroit Police Department that refused to back down when it had so obviously mistaken her...Read More
DJC’s Metro Detroit Restorative Justice Network (MDRJN) held its first restorative justice community circle keeping training this spring, reaching 14 participants, ages 18-70, who represent neighborhoods all over Detroit.Read More
The Detroit Justice Center mourns the loss of Rev. Joann Watson, who was a civil rights icon and former city council member in Detroit. Watson was the first woman to serve as executive director of the Detroit branch of the NAACP. In recent years, we had the pleasure to connect with her through the Coalition...Read More
The Detroit Justice Center opposes how the Detroit city budget is being used. We’ve seen community members call for community-based violence intervention and sustainable funding for initiatives that benefit them, and time after time we’ve seen money funneled into the law enforcement surveillance apparatus. As long as we keep reinforcing the apparatus of incarceration, we...Read More
The Detroit Justice Center (DJC) team celebrates the courageous vision, work, and legacy of our Founding Executive Director, Amanda Alexander, as she steps down on July 1. Amanda has helped us all dream bigger.Read More
Our Founding Executive Director, Amanda Alexander, will be stepping down from her role on July 1st. After an 18 month transition process, we are thrilled to introduce you to Nancy A. Parker and Felicia Thomas, DJC’s new Co-Executive Directors!Read More
Nancy Parker delivers an op-ed that reveals the negligence from city council members as they violated the Community Input Over Government Surveillance (“CIOGS”) Ordinance in the process of approving the purchase of expanding ShotSpotter technology in Detroit. Upon this discovery, the Stop ShotSpotter Detroit Coalition filed a lawsuit against the City for its failure to...Read More
