Detroit Under Fire: Police Violence, Crime Politics, and the Struggle for Racial Justice in the Civil Rights Era

“Detroit Under Fire” is a multimedia digital exhibit that documents patterns and incidents of police brutality and misconduct, as well as 188 fatal shootings and other killings by law enforcement, in the city of Detroit during the era of the modern civil rights movement, from 1957-1973. The exhibit further chronicles the anti-police brutality struggle waged by civil rights and black power groups, and by many ordinary people, who demanded racial and social justice and sought accountability for systemic police violence.

This exhibit is the pilot project of the Policing and Social Justice HistoryLab, an affiliate of the Carceral State Project at the University of Michigan.

Editorial Team: Matthew Lassiter, Nicole Navarro, Gregory Parker

Project Team: Brendan Bernardo, Jesse Blumberg, Dominic Coschino, Casey Jong, Robert Joseph, John Kistler, Jack Mahon, Austyn Marks, Jamie Murray, Sahil Patel, Mahal Stevens, Kori Thomas, Hannah Thoms, Aidan Traynor, Allison Tuohy, Khadija Williams

Additional Researchers: Lily Johnston, Caroline Levine, Zev Miklethun, Maddie Turner