Detroit Action
Detroit Action
Detroit Action is a grassroots community-based organization building power for Black and Brown working class and low-income Detroiters throughout the metro region.
Years of disinvestment, systemic racism, and the pandemic have taken a devastating toll on Black, brown, and immigrant communities in Detroit, while also inflicting harm on low-income families across the state. Detroit has become a focal point for the housing and financial crisis that continues to affect the most vulnerable residents. With Detroit Action, we saw an opportunity to support low-income and working class communities of color in their fight for economic and housing justice.
PRESS & EARNED MEDIA
In order to create a “Detroit For All”, where all residents have the freedom to thrive, we pitched and places stories that:
Amplified direct community action events to demand compensation for overtaxed, long-time homeowners and rent control for struggling families.
Exposed Detroit City Council’s decision to use American rescue relief dollars to fund police surveillance that would directly harm Black and brown communities.
Pushed back on multi-billion dollar corporations attempting to suppress the Black vote in Michigan.
ADVOCACY, RESEARCH, & WRITING
To motivate elected officials to take action on fundamental housing rights and discontinue funding for police surveillance, we researched, wrote, and secured earned media on:
Detroit City Council unanimously approved 'Right to Counsel' for renters facing eviction, a historic win for tenants and housing advocates.
An opinion article by Council members who allied with Detroit Action and opposed using relief funding for more police surveillance.
An opinion article by Executive Director Branden Snyder on passing an equitable budget that puts working class Black and brown families first.
RESULTS
The city of Detroit finally included $4 million in the budget for an over assessment program to address the overtaxation of residents.
A letter to the editor by an impacted Detroit Action member demanding Detroit Mayor and the City Council defend low-income families by passing Right-to-Counsel.
Detroit Action mobilized election defenders to keep poll workers and minority voters safe from intimidation. The Defend Black Voters Coalition, which Detroit Action had a stake in, defeated the Jim Crow-era bill with the success of Proposition 2.
A profile on Detroit Action’s Executive Director Branden Snyder on youth voter involvement.