The Detroit Youth Choir has had an inspiring rise from the city of Detroit to some of the largest stages in the entertainment industry. Yet that hasn’t taken away from the mission of the organization: youth development. 

The young performers have lit up stages from America’s Got Talent to Carnegie Hall.

The Color Purple, a novel by Alice Walker, has been adapted for the screen and live performances.

The tale spans 40 years of life for Celie, a Black woman living in the south, beginning in the early 1900’s. After her abusive father marries her off to Mister, Albert Johnson, life does not improve. Celie finds love and connection where she can, including with supporting character Shug Avery. Throughout the novel, it’s Celie’s goal to find her sister.

The Color Purple performed by Detroit Youth Choir has four shows with two casts. They’re performing at The Hawk Theatre in Farmington Hills. Performances are set for June 26- 28.

Jala Jackson is director of theater production for Detroit Youth Choir. DJ Whitfield is a recent graduate of Taylor Preparatory Academy. He’s playing the lead role of Mister. Sydney Thomas will be a Junior at Novi Highschool. She is playing the lead role of Shug Avery.

They joined The Metro to chat more about the upcoming performances and why The Color Purple was chosen.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

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This weekend is filled with events for film enthusiasts, and The Senate Theater is offering a way to start the summer off. 

The theater is launching its “Hot, Sweaty and Weird” summer film series of B-movies to keep audiences engaged this summer.

The series is launching with a Pride-themed event on Saturday, June 27 at 5 p.m. The screening will also feature the documentary “The Cockettes” and John Waters’ “Multiple Maniacs.” 

Larry Bohannan (Sister Gichi Gichi Yaya, or Larry the “T-Shirt” guy) and Elena Theresa (Sister Este Lauder, Harder, Faster) joined the show to discuss the series and the history of Motor City Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a leading order of Queer nuns. 

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

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In 1973, the Gay Radio Collective began producing Gayly Speaking through WDET. The Lesbian Radio Collective collaborated with them to shape episodes that resonated with the queer Detroit audience for a decade.

“They were not afraid to tackle broad topics in the community,” said Dr. Tim Retzloff, returning to WDET after celebrating the 40th anniversary of Gayly Speaking on the Craig Fahle Show in 2013. Now he teaches history and queer studies at Michigan State University.

Isabel Clare Paul is a freelance illustrator who graduated from the College for Creative Studies. She illustrated a comic book called “Come Out! In Detroit” with Dr. Retzloff in 2022. It was in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Michigan Pride.

Dr. Retzloff joins The Metro to discuss the leadership and impact of Gayly Speaking in Detroit. He and Clare Paul also spoke about “Come Out! In Detroit” and referred to it as a love letter to the first Pride of Michigan.

“I remember we were focusing a lot on color, because so many of the pictures we had were black or white,” Paul said. “I wanted to get across the historical time period of the 70s.”

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The Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage honors America’s 250th with, Culture of, by, and for the People. The institution will hit the road, using cultural programming to tell the story America.

The Concert of Colors Neighborhood Series is a part of that plan. Its hosting an event called “All Humans Are Created Equal” at Mercado Plaza in Mexicantown on June 27. It kicks off the Concert of Colors Neighborhood Series reframing the phrase “We Hold These Truths”.

La Santa Cecilia, a Grammy-winning band, brings the cosmic barrio to Detroit. They will perform classics and music from their newest album, “Los Años.” 

Betto Arcos will serve as a moderator after their performance. Arcos is a radio journalist, writer, curator, and music promoter from Los Angeles. He’s watched La Santa Cecilia grow from an LA barrio to the Grammy’s.

Betto says La Santa Cecilia has crafted their own sound. “They started to create their own songs, their own original sound that was a mixture of all the things they grew up listening to in their homes, with their parents.”

Raymond Lozano is the executive director of the Mexicantown Community Development Corporation, who is co-sponsoring the event. Ray and Betto joined The Metro to talk more about the event and Latino diaspora.

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When people don’t feel welcomed in a space, they create their own. In 1984, a third space came to life on 7 Mile and Woodward, that was Club Heaven. Decades later, the legacy of the community continues to thrive.

This month, in celebration of Pride, The Love Building is hosting a LOVE@Nite session called “A Place Called Heaven.” 

The gathering will center Black queer life through storytelling, music, and community connections, and a look back at more than 30 years of history.

The Metro spoke with Chris “Inpaq” Sutton, director of the film “Heaven In Detroit” and broadcast studio manager for LGBT Detroit, alongside Kwaku Osei-Bonsu, project manager at the LOVE Building. 

They talked about the impact of Detroit’s Black queer community, explored the need for safe physical spaces, and how their partnerships honors those who live their truths.

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Iron Chef Detroit is an annual fundraiser that supports Cass Community Social Services. It returns for a third year at Eastern Market in Shed 5 There will be a contest where two Detroit chefs, Chef John Vermiglio and Chef Andy Hollyday, race against time for their dish to win the favor of the follow judges:

– Mamba Hamissi (Baobab Fare Chef)
– Anthony Lombardo (SheWolf and Medusa Chef)
– Jessica Care Moore (Detroit Poet Laureate, Author, Director, and Activist)

Carlos Parisi is the owner of Aunt Nee’s, an editorial contributor to Hour Detroit, as well as a TV and podcast host.

He will be hosting the event beside Jon Kung, a Chinese American chef, podcast host, content creator, and author of “Kung Food: Chinese American Recipes from a Third Culture Kitchen.”

They joined The Metro to talk about their love for food  and the importance of culinary arts leading up to the event.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

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Over 150 Michigan performers entered NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert this year. Only 10 of them will be eligible to appear in Sounds Like Detroit. It’s a local musical showcase that’ll take place at Batch Brewing Company on August 13.

Before the concert starts, Detroiters have the chance to select the top five musicians who go on to headline the show based on their entry videos. 

The top 10 are below:

– IIAJIDE
– Michelle Held
– Aisha Ellis
– KTCHN
– Jubilee Jackson
– Checker
– Vaughn Black
– Rose St. Germaine
– Mild Pulp
– Laurie Love

Jeff Milo is the host of MI Local on WDET. He also is the coordinator and main host of Sounds Like Detroit. He joined The Metro to talk more about the chosen finalists and how they are shaping the local sound.

For more information, go to WDET.org/TinyDesk and cast a ballot before June 19.

– Hayley Gavigan contributed to this piece.

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The city of Detroit is connected to larger cultural movements throughout its history. Yet, most people don’t realize the first free national public art museum has its roots in Detroit. 

Charles Lang Freer wasn’t born in the city, but moved here for opportunity and economic growth. He turned his Ferry street home into a living gallery, collecting thousands of American, Asian and Middle Eastern art works. 

He arrived in Detroit in 1880, when the city was on the brink of a cultural boom. The Detroit Institute of Arts opened in 1885. Pewabic Pottery opened in 1903. The Scarab Club began in 1907. The College for Creative Studies traces its roots to 1906 as the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts.

Following the success of his railroad car business, Freer retired at the age of 47. He became a student of art, collecting, traveling and amassing an impressive collection. The collection went on to form the country’s first national museum and Asian art museum in Washington DC. 

Dr. Chase F. Robinson is the director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art.  He and his team worked closely with the Freer House in Detroit to curate a new exhibition in honor of the nation’s 250th anniversary. He tells The Metro more about the history behind the Freer House.

A Museum in the Making will be on display June 27 through August 8 at the National Museum of Asian Art in the Freer Gallery of Art. 

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Women-led organizations marched on Washington to be heard during their historic efforts to achieve social, political and economic equality. Yet, not all women were included in the conversation. Many of the early women’s suffrage groups excluded Black women and women of color.

Discrimination in the movement led to the formation of Black-led organizations like the Detroit Association of Women’s Clubs (DAWC).

Founded in 1921 at Ferry and Brush at the height of the women’s suffrage movement, the DAWC made it their mission to fight for their own version of equality—one that included both gender and racial parity.

So what happened to the DAWC, its founders, and its mission?

Every year, the National Trust for Historic Preservation compiles its list of the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in America. 

This year, in honor of our nation’s 250th anniversary, the organization is centering its selections around the theme of equality—protecting and preserving spaces that have advanced the idea that all people are created equal.

The DAWC earned a place on this year’s list. Executive Director Candace Calloway joins the show to share what the designation means, and why its essential to preserve this historic space.

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“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” 

Why does that framing always skip over what we survived? Or how we’re still holding it all together?

New research published in American Psychologist is asking exactly that.

The study out of Michigan State University, Affirming Racial and Gender Identity Supports Mental Health, found that for sexual and gender diverse people of color, affirming your identity, is a source of real psychological strength.

But the research also finds something more complicated. Growing through oppression, developing yourself through the experience of discrimination, builds resilience. 

And it also costs something. The researchers named that honestly. And that honesty is part of what makes this work different.

Dr. Aldo Barrita is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University. 

Dr. Joshua Parmenter is an assistant professor at Arizona State University and licensed psychologist specializing in the mental health of LGBTQ+ and marginalized BIPOC communities.

Both joined The Metro to talk more about the study and its results. 

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Detroit gave the world its sound. The world never gave Detroit its theaters back. Detroit has a pattern. It creates something extraordinary and the world takes it.

Techno was born here. In basements. By Black artists who poured everything into a sound that would eventually fill arenas in Berlin, London, and beyond. And somewhere along the way, the origin story got rewritten.

The same city that gave the world that music has spent decades without a downtown cinema. Over 300 theaters, gone. Big promises broken. The nearest commercial theater is still a 40-minute roundtrip from downtown.

Both of those stories come together at Campus Martius Park.

God Said Give ‘Em Drum Machines, the acclaimed documentary correcting the record on Detroit Techno’s Black origins, screens free. For everyone. 

The screening is hosted by Treuse Cinema, a boutique cinema concept working to bring film back to the heart of this city for good. And kickoff the Electric Roots Film Festival.

Jennifer Washington is the producer of God Said Give Em Drum Machines and the founder of the Electric Roots Film Festival. Kiara Williams is the founder of Treuse Cinema.

Both joined The Metro to talk more about the event and what this moment means for the city and techno. 

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The Howard Family Bookstore is a dream realized for Detroit native Jerjuan Howard. He created the non-profit aimed at supporting students with literacy and interpersonal communication skills as a part of his mission to better his community with the next generation at the center.

Howard is also the founder of the Umoja Debate League. In 2025, Jerjuan joined The Metro to talk about 7-2 Day, a yearly celebration his Puritan Ave. neighborhood. While chatting about the celebratory day, Jerjuan talked about his future plans for a bookstore. 

Fast forward a year, Howard Family Bookstore is open.

Howard currently acts as the city of Detroit’s director of Youth Affairs. Due to the position, he took a step back from the day to day operations. The management of the bookstore is handled by Jerjuan’s aunt, Jamie Howard. 

In this conversation, we listen in on a past conversation, learning about his goals. In the latter half, we hear from Jamie and learn more about the importance the shop holds in the community. Jamie says watching her nephew grow into the man he is today is no surprise.

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Some cities raise you. Detroit claims you. That’s true for so many who’ve called this city home. It starts early, with the way you walk, the way you talk or the particular pride you carry when you sport the city’s iconic symbols like the old English D on a hat or a Tigers jersey. 

Jeremy Xido knows this. He grew up in an unstable home. A family that lived nearby recognized his situation and took him in and raised him in his early years. Some years later, he and his biological family moved to a different part of town and he lost touch.

Xido is a white man who was embraced by a Black Detroit family. In his film “Sons of Detroit” he explores what happened to that family.

The film took Jeremy on a 10 year discovery, not just of self but of community, love and connection. It’s part love letter, part detective story in which Xido reckons with the love he has for the city he left behind.

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BasBlue is a community driven nonprofit rooted in Detroit. Its goal is to reimagine what opportunity can look like for women and nonbinary individuals. 

It brings together mentorship, professional development, and community in one space, designed to spark growth and connection. In 2026, BasBlue celebrated five years in Detroit with more than 600 active members and counting.

BasBlue CEO Ellen Gilchrist stopped by The Metro to explain how spaces like BasBlue are helping close long-standing gaps in opportunity.

 

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There’s something special about the way nature creates its own art and it’s even more special how creativity can live, breathe, and grow right alongside those green spaces.

Visitors will get that experience as it comes to life at Palmer Park with Art and Music in the Trees. It’ll turn the old growth woods themselves into an open air gallery. The festival is a celebration of sustainability, community, and the power of art to transform how we connect with the world around us.

Mark Loeb is the president of Integrity Shows. He joined me to talk more about the Earth Day experience that is Art and Music in the Trees at Palmer Park. The event is on Saturday, April 25.

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Bookstock Michigan, one of the largest used book and media sales in the country is back.

Each year at Laurel Park Place in Livonia, thousands of volunteers help collect, sort, and organize hundreds of thousands of donated books and media items. The result is an affordable marketplace for readers of all ages.

But beyond the size of the sale, the collective effort behind it, from neighbors, to educators, and community members keeps the spirit of Bookstock alive.

Proceeds from sales go directly back into literacy and education programs across the region, helping expand access to reading materials and learning opportunities.

Honorary Bookstock chair Neal Rubin joins The Metro to share more about the annual event. 

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Young people have stories to tell. The Detroit Teen Truth Film Festival is a place for them to share those stories. It started in 2019 and has been growing ever since.

Teens from Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties create films that are just fifteen seconds long.

Watch the 2025 grand prize film from the 2025 Detroit Teen Truth Festival, directed by Johan Calderon.

Fifteen seconds to share a perspective. Fifteen seconds to express what matters to them. Each year, the festival chooses a theme. The teens help pick it, so it reflects what they care about most. The films are creative, honest, and often really powerful. This year’s is “My Mental Health, Myself.”

Finalists can win cash prizes and scholarships. But even more important, they get a chance to be heard. These films help communities see the world through young people’s eyes. It gives teens a voice and empowers them to share it.

In this conversation, we were joined by Y Arts Executive Director Margret Edwartowski and Y Arts Board member Nicolas Cucinella. We learned more about the importance of giving teens space to express their ideas.

The 2026 festival is Saturday April 25 at 2:00 p.m. at the Marlene Boll Theatre at the Boll Family YMCA.

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Food is more than what’s on your plate. It’s a direct reflection of identity, of history, it’s a reflection of access and or lack of justice. 

In communities across this country, where you live can shape what you eat, how you eat, and even how long you live. The truth is that our food systems are rooted in histories that include displacement, inequity, and harm.

Who’s responsibility is it to actively repair these systems, when we all collectively share this knowledge? 

The Joy Project is not only asking those questions, but working to create space for education, and community healing through food.

Founded by Detroit native Gabrielle Knox and Oakland California native Josmine Evans, The Joy Project wants to reconnect people with ancestral foodways and land practices. They aim to educate and spread joy through building historical and cultural relationships between Black, brown, and Indigenous communities and the soil.

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This summer, up to 200 Detroit high school students will have the chance to turn their creativity into a paycheck.

Through the Summer Arts Employment Training program, also known as SAET, young people ages 14 to 17 will receive hands-on arts training, while gaining real-world job experience. 

The program is led by Heritage Works in partnership with Detroit Excellence in Youth Arts (DEYA), along with Grow Detroit’s Young Talent and over 10 arts groups across the city.

Program leaders say the goal is simple: to create pathways to success. The program runs from late June through mid-August with funding support from the State of Michigan and Grow Detroit’s Young Talent.

Nafeesah Symonette is the co-founder and executive director of DEYA.  Alvin “AJ” Lockett is the founder of Que Blackout Youth Theater. Both joined The Metro’s Tia Graham to talk more about summer jobs and having a space for teens to learn and grow.

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