About the Authors

Steve Babson, Dave Riddle, and David Elsila

Steve Babson, Dave Riddle and David Elsila have been friends and fellow activists in Detroit’s labor and social movements for more than 30 years. All three live on Detroit’s east side, with Riddle and Babson living on the same block north of Mack Avenue and Elsila living across the street in Grosse Pointe Park. Dave Riddle began researching and writing The Color of Law a decade ago, joined by Elsila and Babson as the work progressed, with Steve taking the role of lead writer in 2005.

Steve Babson is a labor educator and union activist living in Detroit for the last 32 years with his wife, Nancy Brigham. He received his doctorate in U.S. History in 1989 from Wayne State University, where he also worked as an instructor in the Labor Studies Center from 1985 to 2006.  Steve has published six books, including Working Detroit: The Making of a Union Town and Lean Work: Empowerment and Exploitation in the Global Auto Industry. He is currently newsletter editor for Local 6075, AAUP/AFT, representing faculty and academic staff at Wayne State.

Dave Riddle is a former truck driver and Teamster member living in Detroit for the last 42 years. He is also a past hunting partner of Ernie Goodman. Dave earned his doctorate in US History in 1998 from Wayne State University, where he wrote his thesis on “The Rise of ‘Reagan Democrats’ in Warren, Michigan, 1964-1984.”  His daughter Katie is a high school senior and budding journalist.

David Elsila has been a labor journalist and activist most of his adult life, first for the American Federation of Teachers, where he edited The American Teacher, and subsequently for the United Auto Workers, where he served as editor of Solidarity magazine from 1976 to 1998. A graduate of Eastern Michigan University, David helped found Detroit Labor History Tours in the 1980s with Steve Babson, Ron Alpern and John Revitte. He is also the producer of the jazz opera Forgotten: The Murder at the Ford Rouge Plant, set in 1930s Detroit. He and wife Katie have raised three children, Michael, Kari, and Jamie, and have recently become proud (and active) grandparents.