John Conyers III discusses his father’s legacy, his book, and his own political ambitions

Like many millennials, 35-year-old John Conyers III is sitting inside a local coworking space responding to text messages and scrolling through his calendar. But Conyers III isn’t the average millennial; this legacy Detroiter is currently running for State Senate, which means the next six months is going to be full of interviews, events, and engagements. 

Before he was an aspiring politician, though, Conyers III was simply the son of Congressman John Conyers, Jr. and former Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers. He graduated from Detroit’s Renaissance High School and matriculated to Morehouse College in Atlanta. And while he may be the son of esteemed politicians, Conyers III is quick to point out that his upbringing was a bit less privileged than the surface may suggest. 

“Frankly, I grew up around hustlers,” he said. “My mama’s family is from the same era of hood that Jay-Z is rapping about, that Blade Icewood, and Street Lord Juan are rapping about. That’s my family.” 

Conyers III recounts a childhood full of dualities. On one hand there were regular trips with his father to Washington D.C., interactions with Bill Clinton, and he spoke on how a recently deceased Jesse Jackson was like a Godfather to him. On the other hand, there were days at his grandmother’s house on West Chicago and Wyoming where he witnessed a neighborhood dragged down by crime and blight. The contrast grounded and awakened him. At an early age he understood Detroit’s economic disparities.

“I understood things weren’t the same for everybody,” he says. “People forget, my mom went to prison. I’m a child of an incarcerated parent[…]I am not trying to blame my mother for any hardships in my life. I’m simply saying that it is a part of my lived experience and I can speak to what so many young Detroiters go through because that is also my story,” he says. 

Penning His Father’s Legacy

Last May, Conyers III combined his own experiences along with those of his parents and penned the book, My Father’s House: An Ode to America’s Longest-Serving Black Congressman – A Son’s Memoir of Civil Rights and Political Legacy in Detroit and Washington (Amistad/Harper Collins). The book is more of a love letter to his father than a biography. Conyers III takes readers behind the scenes of his father as a legislator, a dad, and a mentor. Conyers III curates his father’s career with both reverence and maturity. He reminds readers that sometimes fatherhood had to take a backseat to being champion of equality and even found himself admiring his father’s dedication to community in different ways.

“He was always ahead of the curve, always had the pulse on where things were going and what issues to be on the right side of. It was a tremendous learning experience just to learn about my family and learn about him and really just also explore my politics as a person and where he and I differ,” said Conyers III.

John Conyers, Jr. resigned from office in 2017 amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Conyers III acknowledges his motivation for writing the book was to authenticate who his father was and wasn’t.

“What I did not want to happen was for white media to be able to create a narrative around who my father was as a politician, as a person, as an organizer, or any of those things,” said Conyers III. “That was the reason for writing the book.”

On October 27, 2019, at the age of 90, John Conyers, Jr. passed away. His funeral was held at Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple, and was attended by former U.S. president Bill Clinton, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and various members of the U.S. Congress along with a host of other notable Detroiters. 

Creating a New Political Legacy

Throughout his life, Conyers III has embraced the challenge of being the son of one of Black America’s most iconic congressmen, and now, he is ready to make his presence known.

In 2018, Conyers III made his first foray into politics as he unsuccessfully tried to get his name added to the 13th Congressional District ballot as an independent. Despite public rumors, Conyers III denies that his father nudged him to run for office. 

“My dad didn’t make me think about myself through his lens…He never pressured me to run for office,” he says.

Like his father, Conyers III has some issues within the African American community he wants to see addressed, along with ideas to grow Detroit’s economy. He’s against rent hikes and wants to see more conversations about protecting black women. 

“Not enough people talk about protecting black women,” said Conyers III.

His sentiments towards Black women being victims of violence is warranted. A 2024 NBC News article cited that Black women are six times more likely to be killed than white women and a The National Black Women’s Justice instuite published an article in 2023 stating that nearly 1 in 5 Black women are survivors of rape, and 41% of Black women experience sexual coercion and other forms of unwanted sexual contact.

“I just think that speaking up on behalf of black women, on behalf of young black girls is important to me,” Conyers III says.

In regards to changes he would like to see on a state level, Conyers III believes implementing a mass transit system will elevate Michigan’s economy and grow the population. 

“If we want wages to grow and we want our economy to grow, we have to attract people here[…] So the only thing we can do to attract talent is build the things that the best talent wants to have,” he says. “I’m sure the follow-up conversation is, ‘how do you protect against gentrification?’ We can talk about all those things, but at the end of the day, if you want Detroit to maximize its potential, you have to have mass transit.”

Debates around implementing a mass transit system in Metro Detroit have existed for years. In January SEMCOG published a report that 12 percent of the region’s households depend on public transportation. Conyers believes not only will a new transit system be a draw, but it will also create jobs for skilled laborers, computer technicians, and logistics experts for years to come, but throughout all issues and solutions Conyers III is looking to address, he has one clear message about his step into this new direction: “I care about politics,” said Conyers III. “The pursuit of elected office is not for elected office sake – I care about the issues.”