Former Detroit councilwoman and civil rights icon JoAnn Watson dies at 72

Former Detroit city councilwoman and celebrated civil rights activist JoAnn Watson has died.

Watson served on the Detroit City Council from 2003 through 2013. In her first run for office, she defeated presumed front-runner Gil Hill, a former Detroit police homicide chief who had become famous for his roles as Inspector Todd in three "Beverly Hills Cop" movies. Watson died Monday at Ascension St. John Hospital in Detroit, according to Swanson Funeral Home in Detroit. She was 72.

Watson will be remembered for devoting her life to promoting racial justice and for leading organizations that fought against racism. Her death, revealed Monday afternoon, is sure to bring accolades from metro Detroit's civil and human rights leaders, as well as Black leaders from across Michigan. Among the first to praise her was Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield, who, in a news release, called Watson a "one-of-a-kind freedom fighter who loved her people and the Lord."

Sheffield went on to say that she'd been honored recently to appoint Watson to Detroit's Reparations Task Force, "in honor of her life's work and dedication around the issue, (and that) further honoring her legacy, we launched the Task Force at her church. … " Watson had been serving as senior pastor of West Side Unity Church, according to the church's website.

Before entering politics, Watson began her journey by attending the University of Michigan, then launching her career in public service as the executive director of the YWCA in downtown Detroit, ultimately working in the organization's New York headquarters as a key executive, directing the YWCA's Office of Racial Justice, according to online biographies. Later, she drew praise as the first woman to serve as executive director of the NAACP's Detroit branch, which bills itself as the nation's largest and most active branch.

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In her first election to the Detroit City Council, Watson ran in a special election to fill the unexpired term of Councilwoman Brenda Scott, who died on Sept. 2, 2002. In that Watson opposed former Detroit homicide boss Gil Hill, she benefited from having another Hollywood name — comedian, author, actor and civil rights activist Dick Gregory — headline her first fundraiser, according to previous Free Press reports.

Watson would later be reelected and ultimately serve as City Council President Pro Tem. She sponsored numerous city ordinances, including a ban on smoking in public places and a "Water Affordability Plan" to aid low-income residents. In recent years, Watson was an associate professor at Wayne County Community College and an on-air personality for 910-AM Superstation/WFDF as the host of the show "Wake Up Detroit." Watson's voice was heard nationwide in August 2018 when, as the Rev. Dr. Watson, she gave a eulogy at the funeral of R&B superstar Aretha Franklin.

Current Detroit City Councilmember Coleman Young II got his start in politics when Watson hired him as an intern on her council staff more than two decades ago. She paid him out of her own pocket, Young said Monday afternoon, after learning of his mentor's death.

"We thought we were going to change the world," he recalled. Young said Watson's achievements will live on.

"I cannot see, minds cannot comprehend, ears cannot hear, mouths cannot speak of the wondrous things she has done for Detroit and for its citizens," he said, adding: "I'm heartbroken" but "legends live on in the city of Detroit."

Contact Bill Laytner: blaitner@freepress.com. Free Press Staff Writer Dana Afana contributed.