Stephen Henderson sits down with NBL CEO Ken Harris and DBCC President Danielle Benson to talk about the mission of Detroit United Front, as well as the need for education, training and capital resources.
Stephen Henderson
Stephen Henderson is an award-winning journalist, author, and broadcaster whose work is rooted in Detroit and shaped by a deep commitment to public-interest reporting and civic life. A native Detroiter, he is the founder of BridgeDetroit, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering the city through sustained engagement with residents and their primary concerns. Over nearly three decades, he has focused on the forces that shape cities and communities—urban policy, government accountability, education, race, and economic inequality—with an emphasis on how public decisions affect everyday lives.
His work bridges print, television and radio, and it brings together data, history, and lived experience, helping audiences understand not just what is happening, but why it matters and what comes next.
He is the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary and has received more than two dozen national honors for his writing and editing, including recognition as Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists. His career has spanned some of the country’s leading news organizations, including the Chicago Tribune, where he helped build one of the nation’s earliest digital news platforms; the Knight Ridder Washington Bureau, where he covered the U.S. Supreme Court; and The Baltimore Sun, where his editorials contributed to clemency for a death row prisoner.
In Detroit, Henderson spent more than a decade at the Detroit Free Press, where he became the first African American to lead the editorial page and the paper’s first Black Pulitzer Prize winner. He is also the host of American Black Journal on Detroit Public Television and the founder of The Tuxedo Project, a literary arts and community initiative based in the home where he was born.
Henderson is the co-author of The Civility Book (Wayne State University Press, 2025), a reflection on disagreement, democratic culture, and the importance of sustaining civic dialogue. A frequent moderator, speaker, and convener, his work continues to focus on strengthening public conversation and helping communities navigate disagreement, change, and the challenges of democracy.
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American Black Journal – Celebrating Black Female Trailblazers for Women’s History Month
For Women’s History Month, “American Black Journal” celebrates two African American women trailblazers, Michigan Court of Appeals Judge, the Hon. Cynthia Stephens and the late author and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, whose accomplishments have paved the way for future generations of African Americans.
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One Detroit – Russia-Ukraine Conflict, Detroit Rewards TV, Grocery Worker Shortage, Belle Isle Aquarium
One Detroit’s Bill Kubota talks with two local Ukrainian American attorneys, Natalia Kujan Gentry and Danylo Terlecky, to learn about their efforts to tell the real stories of the Ukraine-Russia conflict overseas, and their battle to fight back against the misinformation being spread online.
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American Black Journal – Reparations: What Is Owed to Black Americans?
On “American Black Journal” this week, host Stephen Henderson revisits a portion of the show’s latest virtual town hall, hosted in conjunction with BridgeDetroit, centered around reparations and what is owed to Black Americans.
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One Detroit – MSP Racial Disparity, Whitmer’s $74 Billion Budget, Kresge Eminent Artist Olayami Dabls
One Detroit Contributor Stephen Henderson examines the results of an independent study from the Michigan State University School of Criminal Justice showing African Americans were stopped by Michigan State Police troopers at disproportionately high rates in 2020.
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American Black Journal – The Black Church in Detroit One-Year Anniversary Special
American Black Journal celebrates The Black Church in Detroit’s one-year anniversary in collaboration with the Ecumenical Theological Seminary and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History with a special hour-long episode.
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One Detroit – The State of Immigration in Michigan
As tensions have risen in Afghanistan over the last several months, more than a thousand Afghan refugees are expected to seek shelter in parts of Michigan including the state’s west side, Lansing and Ypsilanti as more Afghanistan families evacuate their Middle Eastern homes to begin new lives.
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American Black Journal – Horace Sheffield Jr.’s Archives, Olayami Dabls, Tylonn Sawyer
In celebration of Black History Month, host Stephen Henderson explores the legacy of of Horace Sheffield, Jr., a trailblazer in the African American labor union movement.
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One Detroit – Fiddler on the Roof, Charles H. Wright, Velvet Peanut Butter & Aaron Lewys
One Detroit’s Arts & Culture team sat down with key members from the upcoming performance to find out what audiences can expect and hear how the message of “Fiddler on the Roof,” continues to apply today.
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One Detroit – Critical Race Theory, Michigan Childcare, Workplace DEI, Bill Bonds
One Detroit contributor and American Black Journal host Stephen Henderson checks in with marketing consultant Mark S. Lee, president of The Lee Group, MI LLC, on where diversity, equity and inclusion are in the workplace.