Street court exemplifies Street Democracy’s approach to functional sentencing, which envisions a legal system that coaches people to success rather than punishing them.

Eight new initiatives have been selected to receive funding from the 2023 Engage Detroit Workshops grant program. This is the second year of the program to promote the development of innovative projects that forge connections between U-M and the Detroit community.

Paul J. Draus, professor of sociology at UM-Dearborn, was named the new director of the University of Michigan’s Detroit Center. He will focus on building community engagement, boosting research initiatives, and fortifying the university’s relationship with the Detroit metropolitan area.

Among 5,600 single-family rental properties in Detroit where a tenant was approved for at least one rent relief payment between June 2021 and February 2022, 15% of landlords moved to evict tenants within six months of the last recorded CERA approval date. At least $8.2 million in CERA funds was spent at these properties.

“That Black agrarian history that has been supplanted in Detroit and physical amount of territory available, and the unapologetic politics around self-determination and Black power, have created beautiful storm of sorts where these things intersect where Black food sovereignty is a real possibility.”

~ Shakara Tyler

Join U-M at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum where a special exhibit was created in a collaboration between researchers from the University of Michigan and the museum. 

“Having partnerships like this allows more people to be involved in environmental work without feeling like you need to be a scientist and have the training. You can have your life experience and have partners who can help you with the data and the research and the connections.”
~ Raquel Garcia, executive director of Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision

It has been a topic that many Black parents in the United States have discussed with their children in recent decades—staying safe from harm or being killed by law enforcement. But in recent months, the conversation now extends to Black youths being killed in regular situations by white citizens, said Alford Young Jr., a University of Michigan sociologist who has conducted research on African Americans.

The 2023 State of the Strait Report calls for “urgency” in cleaning up toxic sediment on the bottom of the Detroit River. Remediation is needed on the Detroit side but not on the Canadian side, according to the report.