Launched in Detroit in 1987,[1]Witness has published 43 issues, twenty of them focused on topics of contemporary interest. The magazine is best known for showcasing work that defines its historical moment. Special issues have focused on political oppression, religion, the natural world, crime, aging, civil rights, love, ethnic America, and, most recently, exile. The issues "New Nature Writing," "The Sixties," "Sports in America," and "The Best of Witness, 1987 - 2004" eventually appeared as university press anthologies. In 2007, Witness moved from Oakland Community College to Black Mountain Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
