Amir Locke was shot to death by police early Wednesday morning. He was sleeping on a couch in his cousin’s small apartment in St. Paul when the SWAT team came in shouting. They were looking for someone else. Amir Locke was 22. He is another young black man who will be buried by his parents.

Michigan is facing unprecedented attacks on basic democratic processes. Right wing forces are launching new attempts to undermine public education, public health, and voting rights. These latest attacks are coming in the guise of direct democracy, using well-financed petition drives to bypass a vote of the people and the veto of the governor.

This week Puerto Rico emerged from the largest governmental bankruptcy in history. The restructuring of $120 billion in debt and pension obligations overshadowed the excruciating Detroit experience of $18 billion. Beginning as the Detroit bankruptcy was drawing to a conclusion, much of what the people of Puerto Rico faced had been refined and developed in Detroit.

The Republican Party has not believed in democracy for a very long time. The Democratic Party, in spite of its rhetoric, has not provided much defense. Elite politicians have never been the driving force for expanding democratic ideals. They have been forced into it by mass mobilizations that challenged their power and profits.

Almost everyone agrees we are at a dangerous moment. One year after an armed mob stormed the capitol, the future of democracy is in question. A recent CBS News/YouGov poll found that 66% of Americans believe “democracy is threatened.”