Georgakas, Dan, 1938-

Kenneth V. and Sheila M. Cockrel Papers

drice — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:50:59 -0400

Kenneth Vern Cockrel was born November 5, 1938 and raised in Detroit. He earned a B.A. in political science and his J.D from Wayne State University. Ken Cockrel also became active in politics while at Wayne. While working at the Detroit News to pay his way through school, he met Mike Hamlin and John Watson, and together they formed the League of Revolutionary Black Workers as an umbrella organization uniting local Revolutionary Union Movements, such as the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (DRUM), and related support groups. In 1971, Cockrel and Motor City Labor League defectors formed the Labor Defense Coalition, which was instrumental in forcing the dismantling of STRESS, a notorious Detroit Police unit. At the same time, Cockrel helped found the law firm, Philo, Maki, Ravitz, Pitts, Moore, Cockrel & Robb. Over the next ten years, he and his colleagues earned reputations as crusaders for working and poor people by winning a number of high-profile lawsuits —cases such as New Bethel, James Johnson, Hayward Brown and Madeline Fletcher. In 1977, Cockrel was elected to a seat on the Detroit City Council as an "independent socialist". Those who had worked on his election campaign regrouped as the Detroit Alliance for a Rational Economy (DARE), and charged themselves with researching various issues Cockrel would face as a councilman such as tax abatement, public health, and attempts to create an independent, mass political force to work for strong community control of basic urban institutions. Disillusioned at his inability to use his Council position to improve conditions in the city, however, he decided not to run for re-election in 1981. He returned to the practice of law, ultimately rejoining his friend and former colleague, Justin Ravitz, at Sommers, Schwartz, Silver & Schwartz in 1988.

Sheila Ann Murphy Cockrel is the daughter of the founders of the Detroit Catholic Worker movement, Louis and Justine L'Esperance Murphy. From 1966-1968 she worked as staff secretary for the West Central Organization. In the late sixties and early seventies, as a founder of the Ad-Hoc Action Group, the Motor City Labor League and the Labor Defense Coalition, Cockrel honed her organizing skills in demonstrations and rallies against police brutality, absentee landlords and jail conditions, as well as petition campaigns such as the one to abolish STRESS. At the same time, she helped initiate and maintain a series of city-wide mass educational programs known first as the Control, Conflict & Change Book club, and then, as the From the Ground Up Bookclub. Perhaps the best tests of Murphy's organizing and administrative skills came in 1972 when she successfully managed Justin Ravitz's campaign for Detroit Recorder's Court judge, and again, in 1977 with her stewardship of the Kenneth Cockrel campaign and his Council staff. Longtime political allies, Sheila Murphy and Kenneth Cockrel married in 1978. In 1993 Sheila Cockrel ran successfully for the Detroit City Council and served on that body until 2009.

Detroit Revolutionary Movements Records

drice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 09:39:59 -0500

The Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement was formed in May, 1968 at the Chrysler
Dodge Main Plant in Hamtramck, Michigan. Among those active in its founding
were General Baker, Mike Hamlin, John Watson, Ron March, Luke S. Tripp, Jr.,
Kenneth Cockrel, John Williams and Charles J. Wooten.

The collection has multiple parts. Part one primarily covers the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (DRUM) and the League of Revolutionary Black Workers (LRBW). Part two primarily covers the Communist Labor Party.

Subjects include: Detroit Revolutionary Union Movements (DRUM); ELRUM; League of Revolutionary Black Workers; black power; plant safety; Motor City Labor League; CLP; DRUM

Available on microfilm and digital copy. Please access our ArchivesSpace resource record (Finding Aid View) for direct access to digital files. Detroit Revolutionary Movements Records

Dan Georgakas Papers

abarker — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:50:15 -0400

An author of poetry and non-fiction, Dan Georgakas’ publications include the book: Detroit: I Do Mind Dying: A Study in Urban Revolution. Mr. Georgakas’ papers represent research collected for Detroit: I Do Mind Dying, documenting the activities of Detroit African American radical groups in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Frederick W. Thompson Papers

drice — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:44:31 -0400

A Canadian, Frederick Thompson came to the U.S. and became a member of the Industrial Workers of the World in 1922. He traveled throughout the country organizing for the IWW, served as General Secretary-General, edited "The Industrial Worker," and wrote two histories on the organization. His papers reflect his involvement with the IWW and his interest in preserving its history; his ties to Socialism; his effort to become a U.S. citizen; and IWW legal struggles of the 1950s and 1960s.

General Gordon Baker, Jr.: A Detroit Revolutionary to the Core

ljones — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 16:45:45 -0400

There is a select group of people who place the needs of others above their own, do so against formidable forces and at great risk to their own welfare and well-being. They take these risks never knowing exactly how they will fare, but recognizing that their convictions demand that they cannot do otherwise. General Gordon Baker, Jr., a Detroit revolutionary, was among this select group of people. On May 24, 2014, a packed audience at Dearborn, Michigan’s UAW Local 600 memorialized his life that ended six days before. It was there that attendees gave tribute to a man whose impact did not pass with his death. read more »