Let the Future Begin

LET THE FUTURE BEGIN is the autobiography of Dennis W. Archer, born in Detroit, who rose from humble beginnings in the small town of Cassopolis, Michigan, to become a celebrated attorney, a Michigan Supreme Court Justice, a two-term Mayor of Detroit, and the first person of color to serve as President of the 400,000-member American Bar Association.    

Thanks to education, hard work, impeccable integrity, and family values, Dennis Archer has blazed a trail of diversity and inclusion in the legal profession while laying a rock-solid foundation to transform Detroit into the comeback city of the millennium. He achieved this with the support of his wife Trudy, their sons, Dennis Jr. and Vincent, relatives, friends, and colleagues.

This inspiring book shares how he did it, and provides a blueprint for how to emulate his success and commitment to helping others.

Dennis W. Archer earned his Bachelor of Science and Education degree at Western Michigan University and shortly after graduating, began his career teaching learning disabled students at Bunche Elementary School. While teaching, he began working on his law degree at Detroit School of Law and later, practiced as a trial lawyer and taught as an associate professor at the Detroit College of Law. He was also an adjunct professor at Wayne State University Law School. In 1986 he was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court and stepped down in 1990 to focus on helping the city of Detroit.

Among his many accomplishments, he was the first person of color to become president of the 400,000-member American Bar Association, as well as the State Bar of Michigan, which once banned African Americans from joining. After stepping down, he went back to work in private practice and shortly after, began working on his mayoral campaign. In 1993, Archer succeeded Coleman Young to become Detroit’s 59th mayor. After his two terms as mayor, Archer returned to the practice of law at one of Detroit’s most prestigious law firms, Dickinson Wright.

Dennis Archer and his wife, Judge Trudy DunCombe Archer, have two sons, Dennis W. Archer, Jr. and Vincent DunCombe Archer.