Features Overview

What will Detroit look like in the future? The question is being answered daily as the city functions in the popular imagination as a kind of blank canvas. Cheap property entices real estate speculators from around the world to invest. Artists are coming from all corners of the country viewing the city as a creative playground. Billionaires are re-sculpting downtown as a spot for tourism. Binding these activities is a predominant view of the city as functionally nearly empty—in need of revitalization. Yet, beyond the conventional players in urban growth and development others are pushing for a different future. Local activist group Detroit Eviction Defense (DED), is answering the question, saying in effect, “we live here, there is no Detroit without us.” Told in graphic novel form these are stories of everyday people fighting back, organizing with others, going into the streets, and winning their homes back. The book is written by me Jeffrey Wilson and illustrated by Bambi Kramer.