Stephen Lighthill's one-hour documentary focuses on three socialist revolutionaries currently holding positions of responsibility in Detroit, working within the system toward major social reforms in the city. Justin Charles Ravitz is the only self-admitted Communist judge in the U.S. Despite his unorthodox courtroom (in which he refuses to openly display the American flag, and requests that spectators rise for the jury, not the judge), he has won respect from all parts of the political spectrum for the quality of justice administered in his courtroom. Kenneth Cockrel, a Detroit City Councilman, is one of the founders of the Detroit Alliance for Rational Economy (DARE), believed to be the only significant Socialist organization in a major American city. Sheila Murphy is one of the leaders of the Motor City Labor League and a board member of DARE. In interviews, the three reformers discuss their political beliefs and how their radical policies can be incorporated into the existing system of government to help better the living conditions for the poor.
DARE, whose membership is half black and half white, is, according to the film, an outgrowth of Detroit's highly politicized black working class, raised on the union struggles of the 30s and 40s. Taking Back Detroit presents a brief history of this socialist movement in Detroit, explores current economic problems confronting the city, and examines DARE's citywide drive to divert public funds earmarked to help rebuild the downtown area (a project symbolized in the film by the ultra-modern Renaissance Center, a new downtown of luxury apartments and offices) to neighborhoods for use in the construction of subsidized public housing.