Season 7

“What about us?” Sherry Gay-Dagnogo asks, cutting straight to the bone as she joins Khary Frazier to chart how Detroit’s past battles shape tomorrow’s wins for Legacy Black Detroit. In a conversation braided with urgency and receipts, Sherry salutes community media—“Education is key and your platform provides that”—then lays out why she’s seeking Detroit’s…

“I went to grad school out of spite—to learn how to beat developers at their own game.” From that first thunderclap, author-organizer Ru Colvin takes us on a deeply Detroit journey that stretches from their grandmother’s migration from York, Alabama to the east side blocks of Jefferson Chalmers, where “we grew up around the water” and a school culture that…

“Schools are the very center of communities—close a school and in three years you’ll see what happens to the neighborhood.” From the first laugh about “getting lost in my own neighborhood” to hard truths about policy, Arlyssa Heard of 482Forward sits with Khary Frazier and maps a Detroit story stretching from Delray pulpits to Dexter & Fenkell porches and…

"Gratitude is the space where we humble ourselves to the blessing of life itself." From the jump, Mindful B Anthony sets the tone for a Detroit story rooted in legacy, resilience, and transformation. In this Detroit is Different conversation, he takes us on a journey from his family’s four-generation hold on Van Dyke and Mack—where his grandmother insisted…

“Nobody was the right person for the job … it just had to be me right now.” That’s how Jelani Stowers breaks down the whirlwind journey of taking ownership of Pages Bookshop in Rosedale Park, a cultural anchor in Detroit. In this conversation with Khary Frazier, Jelani traces his family’s roots—grandparents who migrated from Alabama and Virginia to Detroit…

"Poverty is a choice to allow that to go on in the city," says Denzell McCampbell, and that fire fuels this Detroit is Different conversation. In this episode, Khary Frazier sits down with McCampbell—four generations deep in Detroit, raised in a Persian neighborhood rooted in union jobs and Alabama migration stories—to unpack his run for City Council in…

"I don’t boycott temporarily—I just say, ‘I’m not rockin’ with you no more.’” That line from Earl “E-40” Stevens set the tone for one of the most electric Detroit is Different conversations yet — a masterclass in legacy, ownership, and staying power from a Bay Area legend whose hustle feels right at home in the Motor City. …

“Man, I was selling football cards out front of my mama’s house before I even knew what entrepreneurship was.” From hustling mixtapes and vintage football cards to building District 81, one of Detroit’s most iconic streetwear brands, Ty’s story is a testament to the grit and creativity that fuel Black Detroit’s legacy. …

“Jamaica taught me that Blackness didn’t need to be cleaned, civilized, or educated away.” With that declaration, scholar-activist Megan Douglass sits down with Khary Frazier for a Detroit is Different conversation that bridges continents, generations, and movements. …

“You speak life—I try to speak life every time I open my mouth,” says One Single Love Rose, and from there this episode blooms into a living archive of Legacy Black Detroit: four generations from Black Bottom to the East Side, Creole kitchens to jazz guitars, a mother born a “call bearer” whose veil marked prophetic gifts, and a daughter who learned in…