Directed by Stephen Lighthill • Documentary • 1980 • 55 minutes
In the 1970s and early 1980s Detroit was the setting for an unusual development in U.S. urban politics, as voters elected two socialists to citywide office. TAKING BACK DETROIT examines these people and their organization against the backdrop of a city in extreme economic crisis.
The film profiles City Council member Ken Cockrel and Recorders Court Judge Justin Ravitz. They discuss the challenges they face, and the vision they bring to their work.
Cockrel and Ravitz and their political organization, DARE, opposed the accepted agenda for Detroit - tax abatements for industry, federal money for developers, cuts in city services, abandonment of older neighborhoods. They emphasize that the city could be made to serve its residents first - though not surprisingly the film shows that promoting this idea was no simple task.
Up Next in Black Lives
-
Young, Black and Gifted: Diversity at...
Directed by Virginie Plaut, Youcef Khemane • Documentary • 2025 • 58 minutes
At age 20, Guillaume Diop risked his career to sign a manifesto against racism at the Paris Opera. But just three years later, he was named a Danseur Étoile — a star dancer — in the Paris Opera Ballet, one of the world’...
-
The Year We Thought About Love
Directed by Ellen Brodsky • Documentary • 2015 • 68 minutes
The Year We Thought About Love goes behind the scenes of the oldest queer youth theater in America. In a twist on the common image of LGBTQ youth as victims, the film reveals the troupe members as artists and activists, celebrating the ...
-
With Peter Bradley
Directed by Alex Rappoport • Documentary • With Peter Bradley • 2024 • 86 minutes
When filmmaker Alex Rappoport met then-79-year-old abstract artist Peter Bradley in early 2020, Bradley hadn't sold many paintings or had a major show in over four decades - yet he still painted every day in a ship...
