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Preface to The Kerner Report: 50 Years Later

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The “Preface to The Kerner Report: 50 Years Later” was produced as a part of the publication: The Kerner Report: 50 Years Later. This publication was released by the 2018 Humanity in Action Detroit Fellowship program.

  • 2018 Humanity in Action Fellows in Detroit at Rivera Court in the Detroit Institute of Arts
  • 2018 Humanity in Action Fellows in Detroit at Ella Fitzgerald Park with Caitlin Murphy.
  • Mural at the Eastern Market (“The Definite List of Everything That Will Keep You Safe as a Black Woman Being in America”)
  • 2018 Humanity in Action Fellows in Detroit with Marsha Music and Heather Lord
  • 2018 Humanity in Action Fellows in Detroit at Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.

We are 22 Fellows from nine countries, seven U.S. states, eight Michigan cities, including three Fellows from Detroit. All of us have come to Detroit to learn about the history and resilience of the city and its people. We all share a keen interest in human rights yet do not always agree on how they should be realized.

For the past four weeks, we have been welcomed into the culture and uniqueness of the city of Detroit. Through the Fellowship, we had the opportunity to hear and analyze the diverse narratives shared with us. In this report, we use our limited time and knowledge to revisit the Kerner Report fifty years after its publication.

We are deeply grateful to the Detroiters who have shaped our learning over the last four weeks. In consideration of the extensive legacy of activism in Detroit, we recognize that knowledge about solutions to the issues we describe already exists in communities.
We hope you find that our analysis is an insightful interpretation of issues present in the city and that it contributes to the uplift of the people of Detroit.

We enthusiastically welcome community feedback, and though no Detroiter owes this labor, we believe in being held accountable for our report.

It is with deep humility and deeper appreciation that we offer our words. Thank you.