Essie Mae Henderson lived heroic life:
DETROIT BLACK PANTHER PARTY
PARALEGAL FIGHTER V. INJUSTICE @ WOMEN’S HURON VALLEY PRISON
FOUNDING MEMBER DETROIT PEOPLES’ CRIME LAB TASK FORCE
HAD DEEP LOVE FOR HER PEOPLE: GRANDSON JOHNNY HENDERSON & VICTIMS OF MASS INCARCERATION
GLOBAL CONDOLENCES COMING IN
Essie Mae Henderson Obituary Jul 13, 2026 – James H Cole Home For Funerals
By Diane Bukowski, editor of Voice of Detroit
July 23, 2026
Detroit– I was working with Essie Mae Henderson just before her passing, to help free her grandson Johnny Henderson from an unjust life term in the Michigan Department of Corrections. We were arranging to meet so we could go over his paperwork, and work with VOD’s paralegal to draft a motion for a new trial, as well as on a story in Voice of Detroit.
Johnny Henderson
But before we could, Johnny’s sister Yvette Henderson called to tell me that Ms. Henderson had just passed July 13, 2026. I promised Yvette we would continue Essie’s work for Johnny. During our conversations, Yvette told me there were condolences coming in from across the world. She talked about Essie’s deep love for her people, and the work she was doing ever since she came home from her own prison term on behalf of many other victims of mass incarceration.
I spoke with Marilyn Jordan, co-chair of the Detroit People’s Crime Lab Task Force, who told me more about Essie’s history with the Black Panther Party, her incarceration and other information about her struggles for her own freedom and that of her people still held in the bowels of the criminal injustice system.
Detroit People’s Crime Lab Task Force Rally at Federal Building June 28. 2011, coordinators Marilyn Jordan (l), Roberto Guzman (r)
She told me Essie worked with the Crime Lab Task Force’s paralegal Robert Guzman on cases of those still in prison despite the shutdown of the Detroit Crime Lab in 2008 due to a review that showed rampant errors by police officers and others working there. Founding members of the Task Force from inside the walls were Johnny Henderson, Kelly Nobles, Darryl Dulin-Bey, Michael Harris, and Larry Porter.
Essie herself told me about her experiences in Women’s Huron Valley prison, serving a sentence of 25-50 years. She said she and others at the prison fought rampant injustices there. She said this was when she became a certified paralegal to assist the women.
Related:
WOMEN AT HURON VALLEY PRISON WIN FED. COURT RULING BLASTING HORRIFIC CONDITIONS, DENYING MDOC IMMUNITY | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city’s independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought
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VOD’s editors and reporters, most of whom live on fixed incomes or are incarcerated, are not paid for their work. In addition to quarterly web hosting charge. other expenses include P.O. box fee of $226.00/yr., costs including utility and internet bills, costs for research including court records and internet fees, office supplies, gas, etc.
Please DONATE TO VOD at:
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or by Zelle to Diane Bukowski at 313-825-6126
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