“Land is wealth,” and in Detroit that truth hits different. In this powerful Detroit is Different conversation, Attorney Anthony Adams joins Khary Frazier to break down what home ownership really means in Detroit today—not just living in a house, but having “legal title to the property,” clear paperwork, and the protection to hold on to what our families worked for. Adams explains how Detroit went from a city rooted in Black homeownership to one facing what he calls an “economic tsunami,” where overassessment, foreclosure, land contracts, and fraudulent deeds have put generations of Detroiters at risk. He makes deed fraud plain: “someone who has no claim of interest in a property gets possession of a property and transfers it to someone else,” often leaving families shocked to learn a home has been stolen on paper. This episode is essential listening for anybody buying, inheriting, protecting, or fighting for a house in Detroit, as Adams lays out why title work matters, why “you can’t get title from someone who’s never owned it,” and what families must do right now to defend their legacy. From elders in nursing homes to homes passed down without clear deeds, this is a deep, practical, and urgent conversation about wealth, vigilance, and community survival. The past taught Detroit that homeownership builds stability; this episode shows how protecting it shapes our future.
Attorney Anthony Adams practices at Marine Adams Law PC, marineadamslawpc.com, (313) 961-5535.
Detroit is Different is a podcast hosted by Khary Frazier covering people adding to the culture of an American Classic city. Visit www.detroitisdifferent.com to hear, see and experience more of what makes Detroit different.
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“Our job now is to help people unlearn the stuff that is not serving them, help them tap into the remembrance of the (inspirational) things that lie within our DNA.” Dr. Rose Moten’s story is one of bloom—of growing through responsibility, grief, faith, and purpose into a life devoted to healing others. In this powerful Detroit Is Different conversation, Dr. Rose—clinical psychologist, author, speaker, life-transformation specialist, and founder of Life in Full Bloom—reflects on the roots that shaped her, from her family’s deep foundation of love, education, and community to the life-changing experience of helping care for her father as a teenager after his health declined. What began as a daughter’s need to understand “what happened to my father’s brain” became a lifelong calling to explore the relationship between the mind, the brain, trauma, emotion, and wellness. She shares how those early experiences shaped not only her path into psychology, but her broader approach to healing—one that honors presence, emotional awareness, trauma release, and the possibility of transformation at every stage of life. This episode is a meditation on what it means to bloom through hardship, to turn pain into purpose, and to help others come back to themselves with compassion, clarity, and care.
Detroit is Different is a podcast hosted by Khary Frazier covering people adding to the culture of an American Classic city. Visit www.detroitisdifferent.com to hear, see and experience more of what makes Detroit different.
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“Once I saw that, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to be on radio.” That spark carries this rich Detroit is Different conversation with Gerald McBride author of the new book God and the DJ. Gerald McBride is a legendary radio DJ, voice-over master, and filmmaker, whose story stretches from the soul team reporter days of 1970s Detroit radio to becoming one of the city’s most recognizable voices. Gerald takes listeners inside a living archive of Black Detroit sound, sharing how watching Donnie Simpson work the board with a grease pencil and razor blade made radio feel like magic, and how hearing his own family name on air made the dream real. He reflects on a time when Detroit radio was deeply tied to community, when DJs had personality, creative freedom, and real relationships with listeners. From memories of Martha Jean “The Queen” and the power of WJLB to stories of being live with Roger Troutman of Zapp and building beloved R\&B artists battles, this episode is joy, history, and cultural testimony. Gerald’s journey also points forward through film, including his work telling the story of Black teenagers playing hockey—proof that Black Detroit creativity keeps evolving, teaching, and inspiring future generations.
Detroit is Different is a podcast hosted by Khary Frazier covering people adding to the culture of an American Classic city. Visit www.detroitisdifferent.com to hear, see and experience more of what makes Detroit different.
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“My heart bleeds for Detroit” is how Dr. Demarra West opens this rich Detroit is Different conversation, and that one line sets the tone for an episode rooted in healing, belonging, and Black community care. Therapist, author, leadership expert, and founder of Be Well Beautiful People, Dr. West reflects on how spending more time in Detroit has deepened her connection to the culture, the people, and the lifestyle that speaks to her spirit. She shares why Detroit holds unique power as a place where “we can amplify wellbeing for Detroiters” and why being in community is not extra, but essential medicine. In this powerful exchange, she breaks down the difference between treatment and true wellness, reminding us that “the healthcare system is really about treating disease,” while real wellbeing calls us back to mind, body, spirit, joy, rest, and relationships. She also gives listeners a glimpse into the upcoming Hearth Summit, a gathering helping place Detroit on the map as a leader in culturally rooted wellness. This episode connects the ancestral wisdom of our past with the urgent healing work of our future.
Detroit is Different is a podcast hosted by Khary Frazier covering people adding to the culture of an American Classic city. Visit www.detroitisdifferent.com to hear, see and experience more of what makes Detroit different.
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Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co
“The right time is right now” sets the tone for this powerful Detroit is Different conversation with Portia Roberson, CEO of Focus: HOPE, as she breaks down leadership, legacy, and what it means to serve Detroit with purpose. From her years as a Detroit attorney learning to “really practice law” in Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, to working on Barack Obama’s historic 2008 campaign, to now guiding one of Detroit’s most iconic institutions, Portia shares a journey rooted in Black political possibility, organizational discipline, and community care. She reflects on Focus: HOPE’s origin after the 1967 rebellion, its role as an advocacy organization, and why she believes in returning to the core mission because “all money’s not good money.” This interview connects the past and future of Legacy Black Detroit through stories of partnership, food justice, early childhood education, workforce development, and multigenerational responsibility. Portia also offers deep insight into Black leadership, Detroit’s legal culture, the emotional meaning of Obama’s rise, and the ongoing work of building institutions that truly help families. This is a rich conversation about strategy, service, and sustaining community through change.
Detroit is Different is a podcast hosted by Khary Frazier covering people adding to the culture of an American Classic city. Visit www.detroitisdifferent.com to hear, see and experience more of what makes Detroit different.
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“Everybody was moving to the north for jobs,” Beverly Smith says, and in that one line she opens a powerful story of migration, Black ambition, and building something lasting in Detroit. In this Detroit is Different conversation, the founder and CEO of Detroit Smart Pages reflects on arriving in Detroit from Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1968, just after the rebellion, with her husband and young child, chasing opportunity and a bigger life. What unfolds is a rich journey through entrepreneurship, from early business ownership with Black Pages roots, to photography, to becoming a longtime publisher uplifting Black business, neighborhood stories, and Detroit’s living legacy. Smith’s voice carries the wisdom of someone “of the community, in the community,” and her reflections on mentors like David Rambeau and Ron Scott connect her personal path to a wider tradition of Black media, activism, and cultural documentation. This episode matters because it shows how Black Detroit has always created its own platforms, archives, and celebrations of “legends, luminaries and legacy.” Beverly Smith’s story is about more than publishing—it is about how community storytelling preserves the past while giving future generations a roadmap for self-determination, visibility, and pride.
Detroit is Different is a podcast hosted by Khary Frazier covering people adding to the culture of an American Classic city. Visit www.detroitisdifferent.com to hear, see and experience more of what makes Detroit different.
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“Housing is a human need, and policy has to meet people there.” Haley Stevens says in this Detroit is Different conversation, and that line sets the tone for an interview grounded in family legacy, public service, and a belief that community is built through organizing. Stevens reflects on her family’s deep ties to Detroit—from her grandfather coming for Ford work, to her father’s stories of Comstock Street, to her mother’s pride in working in the Fisher Building—and explains how a blue-collar, union-connected, small business-oriented upbringing shaped her understanding of people power. She shares how witnessing the labor movement, thinking deeply about racial justice as a young person, and later working on Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign helped frame politics not as performance, but as bringing people together around real needs. The discussion also looks forward, as Stevens connects Michigan’s housing challenges to public policy pathways that can expand access, protect working families, and create more opportunity for residents. This is a rich conversation about Detroit’s past, Michigan’s future, and why organizing still matters.
Detroit is Different is a podcast hosted by Khary Frazier covering people adding to the culture of an American Classic city. Visit www.detroitisdifferent.com to hear, see and experience more of what makes Detroit different.
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“‘You got to love your way through this’ is more than a quote in this Detroit is Different conversation with Terry Campbell—it’s the thread connecting a life built through Detroit legacy, Black migration, industry, policy, and purpose.” In this rich episode, Terry traces her family’s journey from Alabama, Florida, the West Indies, and Windsor into five generations of Detroit life, reflecting on Black Bottom, Northwest Detroit, Cass, Henry Ford, and the neighborhood values that shaped her. She shares how growing up in an engineering-minded household led to a career at General Motors, where years of building management and leadership skills in Flint factories and the GM Tech Center taught her how systems work, how communities are affected, and why “at some point, it wasn’t fun anymore” watching industry decline. That experience became a gateway to transformative public service—first helping lead Eastern Market, then stepping into U.S. Senate offices to advocate for urban agriculture, food justice, transit, infrastructure, and Detroit neighborhoods. With lines like “people are people” and “everybody’s got to do their piece where they fit in,” Terry offers a masterclass in Legacy Black Culture, civic responsibility, and how Detroit wisdom can shape the future.
Detroit is Different is a podcast hosted by Khary Frazier covering people adding to the culture of an American Classic city. Visit www.detroitisdifferent.com to hear, see and experience more of what makes Detroit different.
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Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co
“I was never raised to think that there was something that I couldn’t do.” That spirit lives all through this rich Detroit is Different conversation with Angela J. Sikes, Founder and Principal of Ruby Global Marketing Consultancy, and a proud daughter of Detroit whose journey stretches from Seven Mile and Cass Tech to FAMU, Georgetown, Under Armour, and some of the biggest brand strategy rooms in the country. Angela breaks down how a Black woman from a family rooted in HBCU legacy, education, music, and faith built a career at the intersection of “brand, creativity, culture and commerce,” while never losing the authenticity of home. In this episode, she reflects on Detroit roots, pop culture, data, storytelling, Boomerang, Black representation in marketing, mentorship, and why curiosity, courage, and critical thinking still matter in every room. Her story uplifts the preservation of Black history and family legacy while showing how Black cultural knowledge is not a side note, but a powerful asset that has shaped successful campaigns and opened doors for future generations. This is a powerful listen on precedent, purpose, and preserving Legacy Black Culture while building what comes next.
Detroit is Different is a podcast hosted by Khary Frazier covering people adding to the culture of an American Classic city. Visit www.detroitisdifferent.com to hear, see and experience more of what makes Detroit different.
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Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co
“Everybody needs that bridge.” In this Detroit is Different conversation, Njia Kai—Mama Njia of NKSK Events and Productions—pulls up with the kind of wisdom that only comes from building culture for decades. She celebrates the next wave of Detroit creators, saying she loves seeing “a continuum… the foundations aren’t totally forgotten,” and laughs at how our kids swear they’ll never be like us—until “what you nurtured… shows up in their lives later.” Khary and Mama Njia talk village economics in real time: pulling cables, finding last-minute food, and the “mutual support and reciprocation” that keeps Black Detroit experiences alive. With tenderness, she reflects on the loss of her daughter Indica and how community showed up—“this feels like home… this is how they used to do it”—drummers, chairs, food, altar, love. She drops game on legacy: teach the “root” so young people can innovate, balance “the intellect and the intuition,” and remember elders as “wisdom keepers… the baba tree.” From travel myths to mentoring, she reminds us: “All things are possible,” so stay curious, stay present, discern who’s “born to serve,” and keep building what comes next for Legacy Black Culture because Detroit’s future depends on memory turned into motion—together, always.
Detroit is Different is a podcast hosted by Khary Frazier covering people adding to the culture of an American Classic city. Visit www.detroitisdifferent.com to hear, see and experience more of what makes Detroit different.
Follow, like, share, and subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Sticher.
Comment, suggest and connect with the podcast by emailing [email protected]
Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co