For centuries, black people have endured the brutal violence of racism and shouldered the burden of leading the fight against it. This fight includes fixing our criminal legal system, which is racist at its core, and anything but fair. The nation falls far short of a real “criminal justice” system.

Incarceration rates are proof of this. Though black people comprised just 14 percent of the state’s population in 2014, they made up 54 percent of the prison population. Our state lawmakers add, on average each year, about 40 new ways a person can be charged with a crime. This includes relying on lengthy sentences yet failing to address the complicated causes that are also rooted in racism, such as access to education, housing and job opportunities. As a result, Michigan suffers one of the longest averages for time served in the United States.

The data is chilling but the cost is all too human. Countless black families have loved ones locked behind bars. Black parents and their children that have been ripped apart. They are casualties of a destructive system. We can only end this issue with an unflinching attack on high incarceration rates as well as the racism that drives it. This is the aim of the ACLU’s Campaign for Smart Justice.

During Black History Month, we celebrate those who have used the injustice in their own lives to fuel their resolve and empower others. The people, past and present, who have led the fight to end racism in all facets. From life in prison to community leadership. From jails to judges. From substance abuse to sentencing reform.

Michigan needs comprehensive criminal justice reform and it will only happen because of the leadership and work of the communities most impacted.

Chokwe Lumumba

Chokwe Lumumba, born Edwin Taliaferro, was a trailblazing civil rights lawyer that fought for America’s poorest and most vulnerable, from Michigan to Mississippi.

Born in the public housing projects of Detroit’s West Side in the 1940s, he witnessed police brutality and racism from educators, neighbors and law enforcement. This propelled his activism at a young age, fighting against black discrimination and taking on white power structures through college.

At Wayne State Law School, he fought to change the school’s discriminatory grading system that initially resulted in 75% of black students in his class receiving failing grades. His victory resulted in honors for his classmates.

During his legal career, Lumumba drew on his experiences to take on racist institutions. As a staff attorney with the Detroit Public Defender’s Office, Lumumba provided free counsel to indigent clients during their criminal cases. They included Geronimo Pratt, a Black Panther who spent 27 years wrongfully imprisoned, as well as Assata Shakur and the late Tupac Shakur.

One of Lumumba’s most memorable cases was the defense one of the “Pontiac Sixteen,” who faced murder charges and a possible death sentence following a prison protest against unsanitary prison conditions and guard brutality.

In the late 80s, Lumumba moved to Jackson, Mississippi. He was integral in combating racism in Jackson’s public schools and curbing gang violence. He was elected to the City Council in 2009 and as Mayor in 2013, which his where he served until his death in 2014.

“When it comes to the discussion of oppression in America, we've been experiencing the worst of it for a long time. What's exciting to me is the prospect of going from worst to first in a forward-moving transformation which is going to take groups of dispossessed black folks here and others and make us controllers of our own destiny.”

In the face of daunting odds, Chokwe Lumumba's resilience and empathy provides a template for criminal justice advocates today.

Cora Mae Brown 

At eight-years-old, Cora Mae Brown moved from Alabama to Detroit and grew to lead political movements for equity and criminal justice reform. In 1952, Brown became the first woman, and first black woman, to be elected to a state Senate, serving in Michigan.

A lifelong social justice advocate, Brown experienced racial discrimination as an elementary school student in Detroit. In 1931, she graduated from Cass Tech High School and then attended Fisk University in Nashville. There as a college student, when a young black man accused of rape in Tennessee was lynched in 1933, Brown became very involved in a demonstration and political movements on campus. Later in 1956, the Detroit Free Press noted that Brown’s involvement in that demonstration launched her life’s work against injustice and inhumanity.

After graduating from Fisk University with a degree in social work, Brown returned to Detroit as a social worker, including with the Women’s Division of the Police Department. Later she became a policewoman for the Detroit Police Department from 1941 to 1946.

Preparing legal cases at work inspired Brown to study law. And in 1948, Brown earned a law degree from Wayne State University, then explored running for public office. Four years later, Brown became the first black woman elected to the Michigan Senate. Throughout her two terms, Brown was a pioneer in civil rights. She supported legislation for fair housing and equal employment.

When she ran for Congress and lost in 1956, Brown was appointed Special Associate General Counsel of the U.S. Post Office one year later. Thereafter, she served as executive director of the President’s Committee on Government Contracts, which was formed to ensure that private firms contracting with the government complied with fair employment practices.

A social worker, lawyer and politician, Cora Mae Brown was diligent, battling injustice in each community she served.

In response to her election in 1952, Brown told the Detroit News: “These women voters have awakened and they expect their views to be properly represented. Women have always been able to bring sound and humane reasoning into everyday life. I believe they are the hope of the country.”

Erma Henderson 

Erma Henderson was the first black woman elected to serve on the Detroit City Council. Henderson’s lifelong commitment to stand up for justice, in her own words, is “also a call to young people – all young people – to reach higher than you ever imagined yourself to achieve.”

Throughout her life, Henderson was dedicated to achieving racial equality. In the 1950s, Henderson worked to ensure black people were allowed into hotels and restaurants.

At the beginning of her career in politics, Henderson led Detroit Common Council campaigns for Rev. Charles Hill in 1945, then for William Patrick in 1957—Patrick was elected and became the first black City Councilman since the 1800s. Then, a year after the 1967 civil disturbance, Henderson became Executive Director of the Equal Justice Council, and collected data to evaluate how the judicial system treated black people.

In 1972, Henderson won her own seat on the Detroit City Council and became the first black City Councilwoman. In her role, Henderson lobbied for equal rights, targeting discriminatory loan and insurance practices called redlining, in which minority recipients were given less favorable rates, terms and conditions. Three years later, she organized the Michigan Statewide Coalition Against Redlining, which led to comprehensive state legislation that outlawed the practice.

In 1977, fellow members elected Henderson President of the Detroit City Council. She served 12 years in that role. In 1978, the Detroit News named Henderson a notable “Michiganian of the Year.”

“When I ran for Detroit City Council in 1972, opponents tried to tell me who I was and why I would not win. They said that I was poor, that I was African American, and that I was a woman. I replied to them that, ‘I may be poor, and I am African American, and I am a woman, and I am going to win this election.’ So think carefully about who you say you are.” – Erma Henderson

Richard Griffin

Richard Griffin leads through his actions, but through his words as the ACLU of Michigan’s Smart Justice Field Organizer in Grand Rapids. In his role, Richard is dedicated to ending mass incarceration in this country, starting with Michigan, first by recognizing that this carceral state is an extension of slavery.

Smart Justice is an ACLU of Michigan campaign that is working to cut the state prison population in half and end racial disparities in our criminal justice system. It’s campaign goals that require the grit and dedication of a person like Richard’s to achieve. And it’s a transformation in the system that Richard believes in and demonstrated himself, as he changed his entire outlook on life. A man who served time in Michigan’s corrections system, Richard was hired to take on this campaign because he is a leader.

Richard made a conscientious effort to make opportunity when there were none as an inmate of 23 years in Michigan, and decided to dedicate his life to improving the lives of others. When he was released, Richard came full circle: he reentered the Kent County community he grew up in with intent. Richard spoke his passion to transform the criminal justice system into reality.

Building coalitions and an army of campaign volunteers to follow his passion to reform the criminal justice system, Richard is an inspiration to those around him. To see Richard in action, from training volunteers to engaging the public, is to witness the power that will correct our corrupted system.

Richard’s favorite quote may best describe his life: "No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell." Or in Richard’s own words: "To grow spiritually and emotionally, we will go to some rough places along the way because our greatest success is tied to our worst experience."

The children impacted by the Flint water crisis have a safe place to turn for a free neurodevelopmental evaluation to understand the impact of the water crisis upon them. Lead can only be detected through a blood test in the first 20 to 30 days of exposure. This means a neurodevelopmental evaluation is necessary to determine where a child may be struggling, as well as to determine their strengths. 

The attorneys for the schoolchildren of Flint, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan, the Education Law Center, and the International Law Firm White and Case created a valuable evaluation resource and established the Neurodevelopmental Center of Excellence (NCE) for the families of Flint, by working together with the Flint Community Schools, the Genesee Intermediate School District, and the Michigan Department of Education.  Neurodevelopmental evaluations often cost more than $3,000; however, our legal settlement with the state secured $4 million in funding from the state to cover the upstart cost, making these NCE evaluations free to the community, as it is sustained through Medicaid funding. 

Read our FAQ about the ACLU settlement securing funding for free neurodevelopmental evaluations

The NCE will also have Navigators to assist families in their journey through obtaining an NCE evaluation and having the results shared with their school to determine if educational and behavioral support is needed at school. The remainder of the case continues to ensure that once a child’s needs are identified, the District with the support of the GISD and MDE responds to those needs by providing each child with an education that enables the child to one day live independently, seek further education, and get a job.  This is the intent of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act under which the Plaintiffs have sought relief, and will continue to pursue until the families in Flint have within the Flint Community Schools a quality education that is accessible to all.  All children can learn. 

The ACLU of Michigan continues to fight for the schoolchildren of Flint in court. Right now, there are resources available now for children impacted by lead poisoning. 

If your child, or a child you know, is affected by the lead poisoning in Flint, please consider using these resources:

Pre-enroll with the Flint Registry

• This is a registry of people in Flint exposed to lead poisoned water. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is leading the Flint Registry with coalition partners to connect impacted people and families with health, educational and other resources.

Register for a child's free assessment with the Genesee Health System's Neurodevelopmental Center for Excellence (NCE)

• ​This testing is part of the settlement the ACLU reached with the state to secure funding for in-depth health screening for children exposed to lead poisoning. This assessment will help determine the impact of lead on a child's learning abilities and health.
• Register a child for an assessment with the NCE by filling out and sending in 
  this referral form
  . 
• Read more background information on the referral process and NCE here.

Read about our ongoing lawsuit, advocating for Flint schoolchildren.

On the day that America pauses to honor the memory and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the ACLU of Michigan asks the federal government to investigate and eradicate racial discrimination and harassment in a Western Michigan school district. In a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the ACLU accuses Paw Paw Public Schools of maintaining an educational environment that discriminates against students and others on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity and national origin.

In Paw Paw, school officials have deferred Dr. King’s dream of a day when children of all races, colors and creeds will be able to join hands as sisters and brothers. The school district even brands its high school sports teams with the racial slur “Redskins.” In recent years demands by Native Americans and their supporters to abandon the offensive reference have been met with intense hostility. For example, after a school board meeting about the issue, one citizen said: “I was approached by a resident who was punched in the face because she was in favor of the change [of the ‘Redskins’ name] and made this public prior to the meeting.” When the ACLU of Michigan made its concerns known to the school district’s administrators, and also encouraged the school district to use the services of an ACLU-inspired coalition of non-profit service agencies to facilitate racial healing and reconciliation, there was no response.

The ACLU then used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a substantial number of school district records that betray the widespread racially toxic climate in the schools. One document alleges that students placed a swastika and a small Hitler figurine in the basket of another student’s model hot air balloon science project. In response to a complaint the teacher allegedly described the swastika as ‘artistic.’ One report states: ‘Tuesday coming back from lunch, [name deleted] pushed another student and called him the N word.’ Another report states: ‘…[name deleted] came to me yesterday and wanted to talk to me about how he was feeling after the election. Yesterday afternoon he told me he had been hearing racist remarks from other students such as ‘Trump’s in the house,’ ‘Go back to Mexico,’ ‘Go back to your country now and pick blueberries.’ Still another report states: ‘Use of a racial slur, directed at a classmate. Called him a ‘f---ing n***er.’

Because racial tension in Paw Paw is so thick, many victims of racial hostility and their allies have been intimidated into silence. There have nevertheless been efforts by a few persistent individuals and groups to at least rid the school district of its racist symbolism. When the Paw Paw school board responded to Native Americans and their allies by voting to retain the racial slur, it did so with the qualification that the offensive term would be used unless and until it caused the school district to lose tax dollars. The ACLU of Michigan’s OCR complaint asserts that the racially hostile educational environment in the school district violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Under that law, federal funds cannot be used to support entities that violate the statute by engaging in racial discrimination. Although an OCR finding of discrimination could result in the suspension of federal funding for the school district, the ACLU of Michigan has instead urged a “voluntary resolution agreement,” because efforts to fight bigotry are generally more successful when needed changes are not forced.

There may be those who believe that racial prejudices are too deeply entrenched to be dislodged by dialogue and education. They may also suggest waiting until the general evolution of racial attitudes makes voluntary racial reform more feasible. However, racial attitudes do not progressively evolve on their own. If left alone, they deteriorate into an ever more toxic cesspool of hatred. So, it is important to act. As Dr. King said so well in 1963: “Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children."

Read the ACLU Complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education.