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desiree ferguson fund

DJC’s founding Legal Director, Desiree Ferguson, is a brilliant movement lawyer, a committed mentor, and a local leader in the fight for abolition and justice. She spent three decades defending Detroiters from the harms of the carceral system before retiring (for the second time) in 2023.

DJC launched the Desiree Ferguson Fund to honor her life’s work and to deepen our capacity to recruit, mentor, and train the next generation of freedom fighters through our national internship program.

Desiree credits Mr. Porter, her first Black grade school teacher, for encouraging her to dedicate herself to the fight against systemic oppression plaguing Black and brown communities. Mr. Porter’s words still ring in her head: “Revolution means change, aren’t you ready for change?”

Over the years, this commitment would take many forms: as a champion in court for her clients with the State Appellate Defender Office; teaching at four local law schools; taking up leadership positions with the National Lawyers Guild and National Conference of Black Lawyers–recognized as the legal arm of the Black liberation struggle.

At DJC, Desiree established our internship program which has trained 40 rising activists and provided them with real-life experience working with our clients and community partners. Interns have confronted systemic injustices within the legal system while supporting our team in fighting tax foreclosure and gentrification, building community land trusts and worker cooperatives, fighting for bail reform, implementing restorative justice programs, and more.

“This internship has probably made the biggest impact on my law school career. I wanted to get a better understanding of the type of society I envision for the future and my role in contributing to its development. I feel confident that I am capable of promoting change and can do so in a loving environment while maintaining my mental health.”

— Ashley Moton

“After my summer internship at the Detroit Justice Center (DJC), I am convinced that Detroit’s residents are natural born revolutionaries. This summer, I got to see lawyers and activists who live in the community of Detroit work relentlessly for the city of Detroit.”

— Shirley Rivas

This summer helped to solidify my career goals. I had a strong inclination that I wanted to do movement lawyering work, and now I know that I do. Working with DJC has given me the courage to hope again, and has shown me that outside of law school people are doing really cool things!”

— MADDIE BELLOW

Despite significant interest in mentorship, political education, and leadership development, there remains no clearly defined pathway for aspiring movement lawyers. Your support of the Desiree Ferguson Fund helps build a pathway for students committed to racial justice, while honoring the contributions of one of Detroit’s iconic movement lawyers.