D. Etta Wilcoxon

D. Etta Wilcoxon was born in Brundidge, Alabama. She earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Detroit in 1978 and 1980, respectively, and a J.D. from the Cumberland School of Law in 1986. Wilcoxon's career experience includes working as a newspaper publisher, a magistrate for the City of Birmingham, a television anchor, and an educator. She was a public school teacher and a college professor at the University of Detroit Law School, Alabama State University, and Wayne County Community College.[1][2]

Wilcoxon has been affiliated with the following organizations:[2]

Coalition of Labor Union Women

American Federation of Teachers

Friends of the Rouge

Green Party of Michigan

SCLS, National Action Network (NAN)

The Elks

Keep the Vote No Takeover

Rainbow Push

Disabled Veterans Commander club

St. Jude

Michigan Democratic Party

Underground Railroad Families

D. Etta Wilcoxon did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

D. Etta Wilcoxon did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Video for [the profile publisher]

Video submitted to BallotpediaReleased July 9, 2021

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Having spent more than 40 years of my life fighting on behalf of Detroiters and realizing that the residents are not being adequately represented, I decided, with a great deal of urging from others, that Detroiters Need a voice. Being dubbed "The People's Advocate", is a designation that I wear as a badge of honor. I am responsible for fighting to open 36th District Court for the "People's Access". The Court now allows cellular phones, computers, tablets and writing instruments into the Court. I sued the Illitches and the Pistons for taking money from the School Aid Fund to build Olympia Stadium as opposed to educating Detroit's children who cannot read at 3rd grade level. I exposed the Poverty Property Exemption to needy homeowners in Wayne County and I won 2 voter access cases on behalf of Detroiters. I am battle tested for the Office of Mayor.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Elimination of the Water Drainage Fee.Repayment of Detroiters for the overpayment of property taxes to the tune of nearly a billon dollars.Drastically reduce crime/job creation and retention.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Preservation: Restoration of homes as opposed to "blight removal". Free and accessible recreation. Acquisition of grants for the needy. No water shutoffs.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

My father, his father and my maternal grandmother. They were good and decent people. Neither of them had an agenda other than to make and leave the world a better place. Wisdom oozed from them like a mighty river. Anyone who had the privilege of knowing them, was truly privileged.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Integrity, professionalism, credentials, compassion and a sustained history of unpaid service.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Integrity, professionalism, credentials, compassion and a sustained history of unpaid service.

What legacy would you like to leave?

That I stood on the side of right, whether popular or not. That I had real compassion for my fellowman. That i earned my rightful place in society. That spirituality is acceptable and accepting.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

At 6 years old, I met Mr. Segregationist; George C. Wallace. He and I stared each other down. We were to shake hands. He never extended his hand to shake mine and I never extended my hand to shake his.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Newspapers.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Never big on fiction.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

I was here.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Understanding why it is so incredibly difficult for sooo many people to be equitable, inclusive and appreciative of differences.

A mayor is a leader in his or her city. What does that mean to you?

It contemplates a comprehension of the fact that a city is not a business and cannot be run as such. The stakeholders of a city require city services and it is the job of the mayor to ensure that those services are provided. I firmly believe that when President Kennedy uttered those famous word: "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your county", he set marching orders in place for generations to come. He uttered them in the life time of my childhood and he spoke to my soul---a sense of service was created. As an adult, I do believe that were he alive and asked to expound on this sentiment, he would say that it is government's job to create the environment that sustains the ability of man to grow and give back as a productive member of society. I believe in this pursuit with every fiber of my being.

Mayors have many responsibilities, which vary from city to city. Which of those do you personally consider the most important in your city?

The responsibility to create a good quality of life for residents is the most important responsibility of any mayor. Jobs, water access, charity when it is needed and the compassion to understand a need coupled with the compassion to understand that the average man does not want a hand out but he appreciates and strives on a hand up. The environment should be protected. Equality and justice must live and breathe through us. A mayor is merely a vessel through which quality of life issues are to be measured.

If the mayor in your city is not a member of the city council and oversees the day-to-day administration of the city government, what do you believe is the ideal relationship between the mayor and city council?

The ideal relationship between the mayor and city council is one premised on the fact that our democracy demands a separation of powers. This separation contemplates an atmosphere of mutual respect. When the mayor and the council accept that their roles are very different but their overall goal of ensuring that services are provided for the overall good of the community which is designed for communal opportunity and growth, the two bodies can and will work well together.

What do you love most about your city?

Her people. They have sooo much heart and soul and they are just good and decent people.

What do you perceive to be your city's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Restructuring her finances. The City of Detroit was dragged through the largest and most complicated bankruptcy in American history. So many of her assets were taken from her. She must have a mayor who understands that it is her responsibility to right this financial ship.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between your city and the state government?

The ideal relationship between the city and the state, is also one premised on the fact that our democracy demands a separation of entities. This separation contemplates an atmosphere of mutual respect. When the state and the city accept that their roles are very different but their overall goal of ensuring that services are provided for the overall good of the state which is designed for communal opportunity and growth, the two entities can and will work well together.

The state of Michigan, in my estimation, took the City of Detroit through an ill conceived bankruptcy. The City was operating in the black. She suffered financially but so did the vast majority of cites and states across the country. The housing crisis of 2008/9 devastated tax bases the likes of which our country had not seen since the Great Depression. The City of Detroit deserved a partner in the State of Michigan to see her through this crisis. She did not get one.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between your city and the federal government?

The ideal relationship between the city and the federal government, again, is one premised on the fact that our democracy demands a separation of entities. The federal powers are designed to ensure that we, as a country, present the appearance of a unified front for the international community and when there is a need presented by one of our states. We as a country, in these kinds of situations are to appear united, to act as one. States and cities, as creatures of states, on the other hand are responsible for understanding the politics of their people and their responsibility to those politics. Here, individualism is to be expected and appreciated. This separation contemplates an atmosphere of mutual respect. When a city/state presents a particular need, the federal government is duty bound to assess and address. When federal taxes are paid, they are paid with an anticipation that a part of those taxes will flow back to the state/city entity. Thinking people understand that this is the basic concept. Politics play a major role in determining how federal monies are distributed to states and their cities. Consequently, cities need mayors who understand that it is their job to understand the political landscape and be able to professionally navigate it to the benefit of cities. When the city and the federal government accept that their roles are very different but their overall goal of ensuring that services are provided for the overall good of the country which is designed, again, for communal opportunity and growth, the two/three bodies can and will work well together.

Tell us your favorite joke.

I am terrible with remembering and telling jokes.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the mayor's office and law enforcement?

Law enforcement is an executive department; mayoral department. Its chief is often hired by or with a great deal of input from the mayor. As a former City Magistrate, I have years of experience working with law enforcement. As a decades long professional, I know that most people, including police officers, are good and decent people. As a democracy, I know that a mayor is to understand that her role as the leader of her City, is to ensure, pursuant to oath that the laws of the federal and state constitutions and the city charter are upheld. This means that as American citizens, there is a right to address one's government, to peacefully protest, to not be subjected to unreasonable searches and seizures and to enforce the remaining rights of our representative form of government in a fair and equitable manner.

I have, pre pandemic, attended many Board of Police Commissioners' meetings and gone on the public record, decrying the budget allocation and the use of mass surveillance in the City of Detroit. Police budgets should be increased and decreased based on analytic data. In what is now dubbed, America's most violent city, the mayor must understand that it is her job to reduce Crime. The City of Detroit must undergo a major crime reduction undertaking. We must respect police. We must hold them to account. We must attach our force to the concept and utilization of Community Policing. We must train our police officers in the arts of de-escalation, minor mental assessments & human decency. Our officers must be paid more. Currently, the City of Detroit is top heavy relative to income inequality. Our force must be more closely aligned with Mayor's Office.

Video for [the profile publisher]

Video submitted to BallotpediaReleased September 6, 2020

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I have always been a passionate fighter for "The Underdog", including:

Personal Access to the Ballot. Thrown off the ballot by Detroit City Clerk, I won restoral in 3rd Circuit Court and again in a 3-0 published Opinion in the Michigan Court of Appeals. As to General Access to the Ballot, we worked to successfully restore Congressman John Conyers to the ballot through the United States Federal Bench. Public Dollars should be used for Public Education, so I sued the Pistons and Illitch Holdings over Detroit's elected officials' approval of School Aid Money being used to build Olympia Stadium. As to Access to the Courts, I sued 36th District Court over its "Prohibited Items List": ink pens, cellular phones, computer tablets, laptops and pencils, arguing that "We the People" were being denied access to our Courts by way of the Court's implementation of its Prohibited Items List policy. Effective May, 2020, per Michigan Supreme Court Order, Court attendees can take these items into Michigan Courts. Teaching "Special Needs" students, in the then Highland Park Public School District, I taught them to stand on their feet and recite their Multiplication Tables, one through twelve, in less than two (2) months' time.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Good Paying Local Jobs. Jobs must pay a living wage. Americans must not work to be poor. Jobs must be local so that families are able to spend quality time together-not be burnt out because of drive time to and from work. Federal dollars must come back to and be enhanced in the 13th so that local officials can invest them in job creation and retention. Public Education supported by Public Dollars. "We the People" pay taxes to support Public Education. Those dollars must be used to support public education to the exclusion of business development and subsidies. Public dollars must be earmarked for public, not private and charter education. Health Care that is Accessible and Compassionate. Transportation must not be a barrier to obtaining or maintaining quality health care. Health care must be made affordable for all and Americans must be able to keep their private health care providers. The American medical profession must engage its patients in preventative care. The profession must care enough to engage its patients so that they become healthier and are able to live a better quality of life.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Federal dollars coming back to and being increased in the District. The U.S. Representative for the 13th Congressional District must fight for the return of more federal dollars to the District AND the Representative must fight to increase the flow of federal dollars into the District . The Representative must be in constant communication with its local leaders AND constituents to determine what their needs are and set out to fulfill them.

A complete comprehension of the fact that "All Politics is LOCAL". International and national issues have their place. Effective politics advocate for "bread and butter" issues that enhance the quality of life for local residents.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Elected officials need to ascribe to the principles of honesty, transparency, accountability and accessibility, at a minimum.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I possess the qualities of honesty, transparency, accountability and accessibility. These qualities, without a doubt, will make me a successful officeholder.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to leave a legacy of a body of work which reflects me standing up for my convictions in and out of adversity. One of demonstrating strength. A coalition builder for the greater good.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first "Job" was that of caregiver for my baby sister; Stephanie who battled Muscular Dystrophy. Although I never considered my care for her as a "Job", it was constant and required precision. I was responsible for her feeding, bathing, medicating and developing and ensuring a good quality of life for her. Sometimes overwhelming, it always resulted in me giving and receiving unconditional love. Here, I came to know what untainted love was.

Stephanie died at age four (4). The first two (2) years of her life were filled with nothing but remarkable expectation. She appeared completely healthy and full of life. As her muscular dystrophy progressed, she became more and more dependent. Her dependence, however, provided the greatest canvass for expressions of love to be displayed.

For nearly two (2) years she constantly taught me what it meant to have compassion for human life. To cherish it and to finds ways to enhance it.

It is from the time that I spent so inseparable from Stephanie that I fully developed my compassion for my fellow man. Here, I gained a clear understanding that the "under-dog", no matter where he was found, deserved the strength, conviction and love that those of us who were able, could and should provide. An appreciation for the old adage that "But for the Grace of God, there would go I" was herein solidified.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Somebody Bigger Than You and I.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Understanding how man can be so incredibly inhumane and the tendency of some to take from others that which is clearly not theirs.

What process do you favor for redistricting?

I favor Independent Commissions whose members are chosen by voters

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

The U.S. House of Representatives is unique as an institution, in that only the House can impeach federal officials. In the event of a tie vote in the electoral college tally, the House "elects/selects" the president of the United States. Finally, although the House and the Senate chambers control the country's purse strings, only the House can initiate revenue bills.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

Previous experience in government or politics is only beneficial if the "public servant" utilizing said experience recognizes that he is a servant of the public and that government in our republic form of government is not a business and cannot be effectively run applying business principals. At its core, any person who possesses average intellect, a genuine desire to serve people and recognizes that no one person, including himself, can know everything about everything and is thus willing to delegate responsibilities to competent people and get out of their way, can effectively govern.

What do you perceive to be the United States' greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Re-commitment to the preservation of our republic form of democracy. Re-establishment of our nation as "the" respected Super power of the world. Re-claiming of the old adage left with us by President John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." Re-establish strong global trading partnerships.

If you are not a current representative, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

Judiciary

Ways and Means

Joint Select Committee on Solvency of the Multiemployer Pension Plans

Foreign Affairs

Education and Labor

I intend to serve the residents of the 13th Congressional District well, in hopes that they will return me to Washington a sufficient number of times so that I can effectively serve them on the aforereferenced Committees.

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

No, I do not believe that two years is the right term length for Representatives. Unfortunately, my observations reveal that Representatives spend a minimum of one year campaigning for a return to Washington. As a result, too many compromises are undertaken so that "The People's Business" is often left incomplete.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

I believe that term limits should be guided by voters at the ballot box. Furthermore, I believe that American elections should provide voters/the electorate with as much transparency as possible. This process needs to begin by prohibiting sitting clerks from tallying ballots in races that they run in

If you are not currently a member of your party’s leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives, would you be interested in joining the leadership? If so, in what role?

Our party does not currently have leadership in the House. A part of my mission will be to ascend to leadership. The leadership role will be dictated by the needs of "my constituents" at the time.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Congressmen John Lewis, John Conyers, Elijah Cummins and Lyndon B. Johnson as well as Congresswomen Barbara Rose Collins, Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters.

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

In my on-going efforts to promote my candidacy, I recently spoke with a political operative in the Downriver portion of the 13th Congressional District and she said relative to our August 4, 2020 primary: "Ms. Wilcoxon, we didn't want Brenda and we didn't want Rahsida, We didn't feel we had a choice. You are our choice. You must get the word of your candidacy out."

This was a particularly touching assessment as it reveals an appreciation for the body of work that I have amassed over the last four plus decades. This includes winning access to the ballot after winning two law suits against the sitting city clerk. Assisting Congressman John Conyers in having his name restored to the ballot. Suing two billionaire organizations over a City of Detroit provision which permitted them to use School Aid money to built a sport's arena as opposed to them being utilized for their intended purpose of educating our children. Moreover, I sued, in Michigan's second highest Court to ensure that our Courts provided the Access that they were intended to provide by permitting attendees to carry cellular telephones, writing instruments, computer tablets and lap tops into the Courthouses of our state.