Detroit is Different

“We come from the same family, we got the same blood running through our veins, but my path got to be this just by virtue of who my parents were and your path is this by virtue of who your parents are.” That line captures the depth of this powerful Detroit is Different conversation with John Conyers III, as he reflects on his book My Father's House: An Ode to America's Longest-Serving Black Congressman, the legacy of his father John Conyers Jr., and his own path into public service through his campaign for Michigan's Third District State Senate seat. This episode is rooted in Detroit, family, and truth, as Conyers III shares stories from Black Bottom, the West Side, and the neighborhoods that shaped his political vision. He offers more than memories—he gives listeners a clear understanding of how legacy, race, opportunity, and access all shape the lives of Black Detroiters. “I didn't grow up how y'all think John Conyers III would grow up,” he explains, opening a conversation about class, identity, and what it means to carry a historic name while building your own purpose. This interview connects the past and future by showing how Black political legacy can still inspire community power, deeper equity, and a stronger vision for Detroit's next generation. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“I remembered that I wanted to be a teacher” is the kind of line that grabs you because Mama Nozibele's (Susan Kelsey-Brewton) story is not just about a career, it is about a calling. In this rich Detroit is Different conversation, the Michigan Department of Education's 2025 Regional Teacher of the Year for Detroit (Region 10) reflects on roots in Black Bottom, growing up on Detroit's east side, learning through sports, family, and neighborhood life, and building a path from Head Start to the transformative space of Aisha Shule under the love and leadership of Mama Imani Humphrey. With warmth and wisdom, she shares how education, athletics, and culture shaped her belief that “we can do multiple things,” and how teachers can pull gifts out of young people with intention and care. The episode also opens another side of her artistry through her love for crochet, showing how creativity and teaching are stitched together in Black community life. This is a conversation about the past that raised us and the future we still must build—one where children are seen, culture is centered, and community remains the classroom. Connect with her at Crochet with Nozibele: crochetwithnozibele@gmail.com. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“His story had to be told” is the kind of line that stops you in your tracks, and in this powerful Detroit is Different conversation, Shushanna Shakur brings that truth to life with love, clarity, and revolutionary purpose. As the sister of the legendary Chokwe Lumumba, author of Memories of My Revolutionary Brother: Chokwe Lumumba, and Founder and Director of Heritage Youth Program, Shushanna reflects on the pain of losing her brother, the urgency of preserving his story, and the responsibility of telling it from the view of someone who had “a front row seat in his life.” She shares how, immediately after his passing, she knew “who better than me could tell the story,” grounding the interview in family, movement history, and the healing power of writing. This episode is more than remembrance—it is a lesson on grief, political legacy, and why our stories must be documented by the people who lived them. For Detroit, for Black freedom struggles, and for future generations building community, this conversation reminds us that memory is organizing, storytelling is protection, and legacy is a living responsibility. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“As you know, literacy rates in Detroit are low… we needed a third space,” Jerjuan Howard says, and that conviction powers this special on-location episode of Detroit is Different from inside the Howard Family Bookstore. Raised in this very community, Jerjuan takes listeners into a vision rooted in memory, mission, and neighborhood love as he shares how a boarded-up building at 13803 Puritan Ave became a living dream through patience, craftsmanship, and collective support. “When I came home from college… I knew I wanted to invest back into Puritan,” he explains, connecting this bookstore to the same community-centered energy that has driven his work with Umoja Village and the Umoja Debate League. More than a place to buy books, this emerging space is being shaped as an essential Black Detroit third space for coffee, tea, poetry, youth discovery, local authors, and everyday connection. With stories of legacy, literacy, ownership, and the power of neighbors building with their own hands, this conversation captures both the past and future of community on Puritan—just weeks before the grand opening on April 25, 2026 at 11 a.m. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“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. Follow, like, share, and subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Sticher. Comment, suggest and connect with the podcast by emailing info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“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. Follow, like, share, and subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Sticher. Comment, suggest and connect with the podcast by emailing info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“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. Follow, like, share, and subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Sticher. Comment, suggest and connect with the podcast by emailing info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“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. Follow, like, share, and subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Sticher. Comment, suggest and connect with the podcast by emailing info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“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. Follow, like, share, and subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Sticher. Comment, suggest and connect with the podcast by emailing info@detroitisdifferent.com 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. Follow, like, share, and subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Sticher. Comment, suggest and connect with the podcast by emailing info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“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. Follow, like, share, and subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Sticher. Comment, suggest and connect with the podcast by emailing info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“‘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. Follow, like, share, and subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Sticher. Comment, suggest and connect with the podcast by emailing info@detroitisdifferent.com 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. Follow, like, share, and subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Sticher. Comment, suggest and connect with the podcast by emailing info@detroitisdifferent.com 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“Women are the backbones of family, of community,” Theresa Landrum ( of the Original United Citizens of Southwest Detroit) declares in a Detroit is Different conversation that moves with power, memory, and urgency. In this episode, Landrum traces how her family came from Tennessee into the “triple cities” of Ecorse, River Rouge, and Southwest Detroit, where Black families built businesses, bought homes on land contract, raised gardens, and created what she calls “our own Harlem Renaissance.” She lifts up a world where “we were our own mecca,” rich with doctors, teachers, churches, artists, and everyday people making life together under the pressure of redlining and racism. But this story is also a warning and a call to action. Landrum makes plain that “Jim Crow never ended, it just evolved,” and shows how pollution, industry, and disinvestment made environmental justice a life-or-death issue in Black Detroit. Her words, “the environmental justice movement was born off the backs and the work… of Black women,” frame this interview as both history lesson and organizing guide. This episode matters because it connects Legacy Black Culture to the future: protecting Black community means protecting Black air, Black land, Black health, and Black survival. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“You are a Black Panther. You're a Malcolm X. Do something.” That charge from Edythe Ford, Executive Director of MACC Development, sets the tone for a powerful Detroit is Different conversation rooted in memory, movement, and the living responsibility of Black legacy. In this rich interview, Ford traces her family's journey from Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee—“the place that the Ku Klux Klan started”—to Detroit, sharing how her ancestors carried courage, skill, and strategy north during the Great Migration. She reflects on family Bibles as legal records, barber surgeons as early Black professionals, and the importance of protecting stories before they are lost: “History will have you think your family wasn't great.” From surviving racist violence and childhood civil rights protests to building community on Detroit's east side today, Ford makes clear that Black history is not distant—it is personal, present, and unfinished. This episode is a masterclass on preserving family truth, affirming dignity, and understanding why Black history matters to both the past and future of Detroit. It's a conversation about inheritance, responsibility, and why legacy must be documented, defended, and lived. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“I'm your publicist, not your therapist.” Publicist and brand strategist Pam Perry pulls up to the Detroit is Different studio and drops gems that hit like a drumline—because, as she reminds us, before “content creation,” our people were already “getting the word out” through bells, drums, and community signal. From Coney Gardens roots and Hamtramck church connections to Cass Tech, the RenCen, Wayne State, and the Detroit Free Press, Pam maps Detroit as a training ground for messaging, hustle, and legacy. She breaks down the marketing suite—“public relations, publicity, advertising, promotions”—and why every creator, church, business, author, and speaker needs strategy, not vibes. Pam talks Great Migration family history, the power of Black press—“we have to create our own narrative, our own media”—and the discipline of charging for skilled work: “You got to invest time or money, it ain't for free.” She explains spotting the “it factor,” preparing clients for national stages, and leveraging PR as “a traffic builder” with systems like email lists and owned platforms. In an era where “you don't know what's real,” Pam's blueprint connects Detroit's past signal-makers to the future of Legacy Black culture. And her advice: “Get a mentor…have longevity.” 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“Everything is political—fashion is political,” says Rachel Lutz, owner of the Peacock Room, and this conversation makes you feel that truth in your bones. Rachel takes us from working retail at Nordstrom alongside women who “retired after decades at Jacobson's and Hudson's,” to realizing modern shopping got too same-same—“you walk into a department store and things just all look the same.” She shares why the Peacock Room exists as an antidote: “I wanted to give other people something better than what I had experienced,” especially after growing up with messages that her body was “wrong.” We dig into Detroit business legacy—Rachel is a “fourth generation Detroit business owner”—and how history lives in the spaces we build today, from the Fisher Building's grandeur to the hard stories of exclusion. She breaks down why she resists tech-for-tech's-sake—“technology is not always the answer”—and why the Peacock Room centers human connection, pricing across the spectrum, and a luxury feeling for everybody. It's a masterclass in women-led entrepreneurship, Detroit retail “bleed out,” and how the past can guide a more inclusive business 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. Follow, like, share, and subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Sticher. Comment, suggest and connect with the podcast by emailing info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“When I'm ask Detroit? Why? My question is—why not?” Diallo Smith, President & CEO of Life Remodeled, pulls up to Detroit is Different with a love letter to the city that raised him and a blueprint for what comes next. He traces three generations of Detroit roots—from Louisville to “Conant Gardens” to Arkansas sharecroppers who “escaped” Jim Crow to find a future. But Diallo refuses the escape narrative: “I didn't escape from anything… I was nurtured through good, bad, and indifferent,” held by barbershops, beauty salons, neighbors, and accountability—the everyday infrastructure of Legacy Black Culture. From Wilberforce dreams (with Tech CEOs on his dorm room wall) to corporate Houston, he breaks down how “your habits define your future,” why ownership must include “distribution channels,” and why Detroit neighborhoods are the region's smartest investment. He explains Life Remodeled's “with—not to, not for” approach to engage communities, the power of warm welcomes (“how you get treated when you walk in the door”), and why Detroit can be first — this time in showing the world how a majority-Black city revitalizes with dignity. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“Before I leave this earth, I want to tell you about all the greater things I've done with others. That is the legacy I want to leave.” That's Dr. Yusef “Bunchy” Shakur laying it plain—legacy isn't a title, it's a collective practice. In this in-studio conversation, Bunchy and Khary move through the full arc: from “a self-proclaimed predator” and “street aholic” in Zone 8 to a transformed leader who says, “I've broken that myth” that you can't return home and build. He talks trailblazing—Urban Network to Mama Akua House—while naming the discipline of humility (“I literally do the work”) and the politics of authenticity in spaces that want you to “play the game.” As the first Black and first formerly incarcerated Executive Director in the Michigan Roundtable's history, he lays out a vision to “build community power, dismantle stigmas” and shift from “like-minded” to “value people.” This episode connects Detroit's past—elders, Panthers, block wisdom—to our future: a model of Legacy Black Culture that survives by organizing, not performing, and by building together what we couldn't get alone. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“Lord, please don't let 'em take my smile.” Actor Lou Beatty Jr. steps into Detroit is Different with a life that reads like a Detroit map and a history syllabus—North End porches, Oakland Avenue storefronts, and the labor that rebuilt churches and neighborhoods after white flight. He traces his family's Great Migration from Union, South Carolina—“the automobile industry… afforded these people… a way to make the dollar”—to a Detroit where Black artisans raised steel, laid brick, and even helped build C.L. Franklin's church: “We hung the steel girders, created altars.” Lou remembers a city alive with sound—“I used to see Smokey walking down the street”—and a worldview sharpened at St. Emma Military Academy and in radio ad sales where he learned, “In business, you want all the money coming at you.” Then Hollywood: “He signed me on Thursday… I was on national TV two weeks later,” but Lou keeps it grounded: “All jobs are honorable… I got to take care of my family.” This episode ties past to future—craft, community, and cultural memory—showing how Legacy Black Detroit survives by turning skill into sovereignty and story into a blueprint. And he reminds us: “Learn it from the bottom up—don't skip steps.” 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“The one thing I would tell the younger generation is to never stop learning.” In this special Detroit is Different x I Am a Genius collaboration, host Candace Cox-Wimberly (She's a Genius / I Am a Genius) sits with Brandon Young, CEO and co-founder of Safety Ops Specialists, for a conversation that feels like Detroit porch wisdom with a business plan attached. From “Linwood… the stumping grounds” to “east side, also downtown,” Brandon maps how Legacy Black Detroit raises builders—wearing “suits since I was two years old,” shaped by the Nation of Islam, Aisha Shule, and the discipline of being “unapologetically me.” He breaks down entrepreneurship as “getting your time back,” but keeps it real: “It doesn't start off the gate… you need to… build… a well-oiled machine.” The interview hits deep when Brandon shares how grief became fuel after losing his brother to COVID: “That pain pushed you forward,” leading him to create “between 50 and 60 jobs” and watch people go from “sleeping in their car” to “now I got a house.” He ties mentorship to survival—“closed mouth don't get fed”—and ends with Detroit prophecy: “our work ethic is second to none.” This episode connects our past discipline to a future of entrepreneurship, wellness, and community-owned opportunity. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com Find out more at https://detroit-is-different.pinecast.co

“Trump is not the disease of our politics—he's just the worst symptom,” Abdul El-Sayed tells Detroit is Different, and from that line he builds a whole Michigan-rooted case for why progressives can't just run against villains—they've got to run for people. In this deep, story-rich conversation, Abdul traces his Detroit foundation from an Egyptian father who “literally studied into existence the life I got to live” to a multiracial Michigan family that forced him to “explain myself to people my whole life,” and he connects that lived truth to organizing: the courage to face the bully, because “once you let them take your lunch money once you're never going to eat lunch.” He breaks down public health as moral politics—“15 hours or 15 minutes” can mean a ten-year life expectancy gap—and calls out a system where CEOs get rich “while denying healthcare to people who they know need it.” From rebuilding Detroit's health department (glasses vans outside schools) to refusing corporate money, Abdul lays out a liberal, progressive, activist spirit that echoes Michigan's long tradition of labor, civil rights, and community-led power: “It's not enough to say what you're against—you got to say what you're for.” 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com

“You don't get a blueprint in Detroit—you just have to be good and consistent.” Spoken word artist, poet, experience creator, and filmmaker Natasha T. Miller joins Detroit is Different for a deeply grounded conversation on what artistry means when it's rooted in family, responsibility, and legacy Black culture. With humor and honesty, she reflects on being “300 cousins deep,” tracing her lineage back to Highland Park and a 14-bedroom family home that survived without lights or water—proof that Detroit creativity has always been born from endurance. T. Miller opens up about grief, raising her nephew after the loss of her brother, and how those life shifts reshaped her art: “It wasn't a burden—it was what I was supposed to be doing.” She challenges the myth of the starving artist, insisting that sustainability is part of integrity: “If you're making a decision to be a professional poet, you need to make money in that decision.” From the explosive era of Detroit's spoken-word movement to her current work archiving grief, parenting, and memory through film and performance, this episode connects past and future. It's a testament to Detroit's experimental spirit—where art feeds community, accountability fuels creativity, and legacy is something you actively build. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com

“I wanted a red brick house in Detroit. That's all I wanted.” In this Detroit is Different studio sit-down, Misha Stallworth West—Senior Program Officer at the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation—traces a five-generation arc from Selma to Detroit and family full of community organizers. She remembers a “stoic” grandfather, and a grandmother Alma Stallworth nicknamed “the Rep,” whose fierce love for children helped shape the Northwest Activity Center, Beaubien Junior High, and the Black Caucus Foundation of Michigan's drug, tobacco, and violence prevention work. Misha explains how growing up in meetings made her “a well-trained introvert,” and why she's “never asked herself if I'm allowed to speak in any space—ever.” From Grant Park Chicago IL on election night of Barack Obama, to part of Detroit's first school board after emergency management, she connects Legacy Black Detroit's political education to today's care economy. Her current focus is caregivers of older adults: “every time you go get a box for my auntie house, I'm talking about you,” and “you can't pour from an empty cup.” This episode is a blueprint for how Detroit's past-built institutions can power our next future. and how we honor elders. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com

“My life will be better if everybody else's life gets better”—that's the heartbeat of this Detroit is Different conversation with musician and lifelong activist Bill Meyer, where jazz isn't just sound, it's a human-rights practice. Bill takes us from his family's Depression-era move from Canada to Detroit, to learning piano out of pure little-brother defiance—“the only way I could stop him was if I went and sat on the piano bench”—and into the moment he first saw racism up close as a child and knew something was deeply wrong. He breaks down how he didn't understand “the politics” of jazz until college, when Vietnam-era organizing radicalized him, and he started naming the truth: “Jazz is black music,” and too often “the black people created it…and the white people made all the money.” From producing a 1987 Detroit tribute to Paul Robeson to building a 24-year jam-session institution at Bert's, Bill calls community-building “a political project”—using music to cross lines, support Black business, and push peace and justice. This episode connects past movements to future ones with a simple charge: “Music is love…bring people together.” 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com

“You don't know that you live in a Black city until you leave.” Aaron Foley pulls up to Detroit Is Different with that truth and four generations of Detroit in his pocket—from Conant Gardens to the North End—unpacking how Legacy Black culture was built through homes, institutions, and the Black press. He paints his great-aunt Joyce's house as “JoAnn Fabrics full of patterns and clothes,” a creative HQ where couture fashion shows happened in the living room, and laughs at family lore: “I kicked that man out of my dressing room,” his grandmother's story after mistaking Lou Rawls for an intruder. From Pershing to Northern, Four Tops doo-wop to Smokey “out in these streets,” Foley shows how Detroit genius was neighborhood-deep. Then he brings it to the Michigan Chronicle, where he grew up watching the paper “come to life,” learning why “papers like The Chronicle…were very important in documenting our stories.” Now back at the Chronicle himself, he's focused on “what kind of stories…you can only read this in The Chronicle,” writing pieces meant to “stand the test of time” and seed the next wave of Black journalists. This episode is a love letter to our past—and a blueprint for 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. Follow, like, share, and subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Sticher. Comment, suggest and connect with the podcast by emailing info@detroitisdifferent.com

“It's for the community. It's about the community. It is community centered”—and Bryce Huffman brings that energy from the first minute, taking us from deep family roots (“Granddad… from Alabama by way of The Bahamas”) to the neighborhoods that raised him—Conant Gardens, Anderson Memorial, Bagley/University District—where “thank God because this is my city” isn't just a line, it's a life stance. In a conversation packed with Detroit geography, humor, and hard truth, Bryce breaks down how growing up across the city (and seeing the suburbs up close) shaped his lens on journalism, power, and Legacy Black culture—our churches, our hustles, our street-corner wisdom, and the stories outsiders miss. He opens up about the moment Ferguson flipped his purpose—“I can use these skills… to force people to talk about things that matter”—and how that throughline led him home to Bridge Detroit. Looking ahead, Bryce lays out a 2026 vision rooted in “civic accountability,” including Bridge's Porchside series in District 5, where residents invite journalists into the neighborhood to talk solutions—because the future of Detroit depends on people knowing “what can you do about it?” 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com

"We really have exactly 100 years in Detroit,” Arthur Chapman says, and that one line sets the whole episode on fire—because this isn't just jewelry, it's Legacy Black Detroit economics. Arthur walks us from Yazoo City, Mississippi to Black Bottom, where family relationships became the real infrastructure, and where his grandfather “Daddy E” (Eli Chapman) stayed in motion as a serial entrepreneur—record store, bowling alley, whatever it took—before a bus driver's tool of the trade opened the door: pocket watches. When the DSR/DDOT watch vendor retired, Eli didn't hesitate: “I'll give you X amount of dollars for your inventory and for your contract with DDoT,” and a work relationship turned into a supply chain, then into rings, diamonds, and Detroit success. Arthur also names the barriers—“There were no jewelers willing to sell to him”—and the breakthrough moment when a supplier finally said, “As long as your money is green, I'll do business with you.” We hear how safety, community, and partnership mattered—“you are your security”—and why returning home for Arthur was the future: Detroit is the culture that raises the next generation, because the goal isn't just survival, it's to “go a thousand years. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com

There's this interesting thing with time where the past collapses within the present.” Triniti Watson—Curator-in-Residence at the Boggs Center for Nurturing Community Leadership and visionary lead of The Critical Mix—pulls up with Detroit roots deep as the Great Migration and a mission to make “lost histories… more visible.” From her grandma's West Side St. Mary's Street house—Jeopardy on the big block TV, journals, photo albums, and “these are your people” images—Triniti traces how Black women become the “OG archivist,” holding our stories when institutions and trauma leave gaps. She breaks down how COVID-era stillness pushed her to say, “I cannot allow an institution to define who I am,” and why memory work is freedom work. Then she invites Detroit into the Boggs Center's 30-year legacy with First Fridays (1–4 PM), where community safety history meets Detroit's sonic future: DJs create mixes responding to texts from the exhibit, so visitors feel “the textures of liberation” while learning the names, movements, and traditions that built us. The series launches Friday, February 6, 2026 for Black Histories/Black Futures Month—pull up, bring friend, and follow @boggscenter for updates. Free, intergenerational, and Detroit as ever—Legacy Black culture remembered on purpose, and remixed for what's 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. Follow, like, share, and subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Sticher. Comment, suggest and connect with the podcast by emailing info@detroitisdifferent.com

“Politics taught me and prepared me for a world that is more political than politics.” Wayne County Commissioner (District 2) and 13th Congressional District Democratic Party Chair Jonathan Kinloch joins Detroit is Different for a Detroit-rooted, world-spanning conversation that starts at Second & Myrtle—“you know you're Detroit when you remember” it was once Myrtle, now MLK—and reaches back to South Carolina and New Jersey family migrations. Kinloch breaks down how elders like Erma Henderson wrapped their arms around a young volunteer, handing him the City Charter and saying, “I want you to read that and… explain it to me,” then sending him to police, planning, and historic commission meetings to learn how power really moves. From Northwestern's Motown pipeline—meeting Esther Gordy Edwards—to giving artists civic honors, Kinloch reveals the thread between culture and governance: legacy is built when we protect the block, the schools, and the ballot. He names Reagan-era disinvestment, party infrastructure fights, and why “this bipartisan thing is… bull crap” when working families need results. This episode ties past and future Black Detroit: migration, mentorship, music, and the mandate to organize precinct by precinct so our people steer what's next. Tap in for stories, strategy, and Detroit love. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com

“Detroit is different… it's all because of the melanin that we're getting from the sun.” In this Detroit is Different conversation, Brother Chungalia—an original member of the US Organization founded by Dr. Maulana Karenga, creator of Kwanzaa, and among the first to celebrate it—takes us from post-riot Los Angeles to the deep roots of Black Detroit. He calls his move here “inevitable,” recalling LA's Congress building politics—“Jesse Jackson had an office there”—and the discipline of a movement that spoke Swahili daily. He stitches together Conant Gardens, Paradise Valley, and the Blue Bird Inn with a moment of Black memory so wild it feels like spirit work: “She remembered me… from 1959 and spotted me in 1974,” leading to “the only time I cried tears of joy.” From there, he flips elder testimony into future blueprint—“What's the most important thing in your whole life?… breathing”—and warns that “technology is killing humanity,” pushing him to claim, “I'd rather be known… as a humanitarian,” even while rooted in Black nationalism. This episode is a bridge between the past that made Detroit's African-centered movement possible and the future our children deserve—where the Nguza Saba isn't nostalgia, it's a survival manual for Legacy Black culture today. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com

“We can't just walk up in people's neighborhoods and not come the right way—it's not going to end well for you.” In this Detroit is Different conversation, Marlin Williams—Founder of Intentional Technology and the force behind Sisters Code—shows why tech decisions are really decisions about people, power, and legacy. From Alabama roots to growing up on Commonwealth and Six Mile/Outer Drive, Marlin traces how Legacy Black Culture travels: migration, church, cousins, and the “nice to be nice” relationship code. She remembers entrepreneurship before the label—Amway, pots-and-pans parties my parents held—and says the real lesson was making folks feel “like they're the only person in the room.” Then she takes us into Cass Tech, FAMU freedom, Wayne State, and Compuware's 13-week programming gauntlet—“seven languages in 13 weeks”—that launched her into building systems behind banking and auto. Marlin reflects on helping move Compuware downtown with community-minded intent, and how Sisters Code was born onstage when she saw people “getting left out.” Today, her mission is simple: be intentional—“make sure your work gets all you need”—so our organizations save time, money, and protect our peace for the future. Detroit's past built it; our choices build tomorrow. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com

“You can be aware without being exposed.” That's the kind of Detroit-grown wisdom Andre Ebron drops in this powerful studio conversation—equal parts laughter, truth-telling, and strategy for building environments where Black people can breathe and become. Andre traces his roots from Marion, Alabama through the Great Migration, the Boblo childhood memories, and landing in Detroit in 2004—“June 2004… I was there” at the Pistons championship rally—before pouring 21 years into youth, schools, nonprofits, and equity work. He breaks down why “poverty provides infrastructure for disaster,” and why mentorship can't be performative: “Children don't need another failed relationship in their life.” You'll hear stories from classrooms where he refused to be the “heavy,” choosing restoration instead—“before you challenge, express concern and care”—and a reminder that legacy is built in choices: “If you have a chance to exit, exit because your life is worth it.” This episode connects Detroit's past—migration, blocks, schools, survival—to our future: liberation-minded leadership that protects our kids, honors our elders, and grows Legacy Black Culture into a more intentional tomorrow. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com

“‘We said pledges about remembering our ancestors… loving Black (at Aisha Shule)” In this episode, Dr. Tierra Bills—Assistant Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Public Policy at UCLA—returns home through memory, tracing her family's East Side roots and the African-centered foundation of Aisha Shule, where “as the daughter of one of the Walimu… I had to set the tone.” She honors Mama Easter's “big presence” and the rituals that taught students their history “did not start with slavery,” then shows how that cultural grounding carried her from FAMU to UC Berkeley and into transportation engineering. Bills breaks down “mobility as a system,” asking not just how we travel, but “how easy can I get to my desired destinations?” and what happens when data, scooters, robots, and roadwork reshape daily life. From 696 detours to the I-375/Black Bottom rebuild, she insists engineers must measure real community impacts: “80% of the businesses will be shut down,” “your travel time has ballooned,” and “those who are bearing the worst impacts are those who are also most vulnerable.” It's a Detroit legacy lesson—culture as preparation, and policy as repair—and an invitation to show up at public meetings. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com

“Wake up people, we stay asleep”—and from that call, this Detroit is Different conversation with Kevin Tolbert, 12th Congressional District Democratic Party Chair, moves like a family reunion and a strategy session. Four generations deep—Kentucky, Tennessee, Black Bottom, then East Side to West Side—Tolbert maps how Legacy Black Detroit culture gets made through migration, work, and neighborhood bonds. He shares a laugh and love of how his parents and older siblings discovered his intellect at an early age, then turns serious about Bates Academy and Dr. Gibson's lesson: “Excuses are tools of the incompetent.” From there the talk widens to labor power and city politics—how unions built an American & Detroit' Black middle class, why government contracts “make millionaires,” and why Coleman A. Young mattered because he changed the power dynamics. Tolbert connects the past to today's fights over media narratives, water, data, and corporate greed, warning that when people stop learning history, they repeat it. It's a Detroit story about family, discipline, and organizing—why our legacy is a toolkit, and why the future depends on whether we wake up. He honors the skill, talent, and brilliance of Black Detroit and insists, “we're made of something different”— and at our best when faith and collective action are at our center. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com

“Worthiness. We all want to feel worthy… but just who we are being validates us.” That's the energy Lanasia Angelina brings to the Detroit is Different studio—fresh out of the church service, East-side rooted (48205, Black Bottom lineage, Gratiot-Gunston memories), and ready to shake the room with her new book 'Stop Playing Small: How to Go From Stuck to Unstoppable.' From sleeping under pews at Perfecting CHurch as a child during choir rehearsal to blue-collar lessons (“my dad worked for Chrysler… my mom was a phlebotomist”), Lanasia breaks down how Detroit survival can harden us—and how healing can free us. She talks sisterhood, moving schools, and the kind of grit where you learn quick, then flips it into compassion and perspective about what we all carry as children carry. Her Pretty Girl Campaign years (serving 2,000+ girls) taught integrity: “I wanted to really hold that integrity so that I was really walking what I was talking.” In a city shaped by displacement, faith, and hustle, she names the trap of chasing titles and things—“they're looking for something outside of themselves when it's all within”—and offers a blueprint for Legacy: disrupt what shrinks you, rebuild your inner authority, and pass that power forward. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com

“Government power is derived from the consent of the governed—and can you consent if you're not informed?” BridgeDetroit's Malachi Barrett joins Detroit is Different for a candid, funny, and urgent conversation about the broken information environment shaping American politics. A military kid who was “always the new kid,” Malachi maps his route from Battle Creek to Lansing's “blue blood” Capitol pipelines to Detroit in 2022, choosing to cover City Council so residents don't have to sit through (at times) “eight hours” of government jargon to understand what's really being decided. He warns we've “slipped into this collective psychosis,” where outrage beats reporting, “news influencers” outrun qualifications, and AI threatens any shared set of facts. Yet he calls the work “patriotic,” pushing back on the idea that journalists are “enemies of the people,” because accountability is how a city protects itself—especially in a battleground state where local choices echo nationally. From canvassing neighborhoods Malachi and Khary land on a simple ethic: “with great power comes great responsibility.” Detroit is Different, he says: the stakes are personal—and that's the point. In a city remaking itself, that clarity links Detroit's past, present fights, and future votes. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com

“Aneb and I met in 1974 when I was incarcerated in prison,” Matthew D. Jones Jr., LMSW, ACSW tells Detroit is Different—and from that first line, this episode becomes a masterclass in how Legacy Black Detroit culture survives, adapts, and teaches. Jones walks us from Black Bottom (“Chene & Gratiot”) to Forest & Van Dyke, where “seniors… looked out for the kids” and community love was “the normal process for black folks at the time.” He doesn't dodge the hard truths: the “Big Four” police harassment, the anger it produced, and the 1966 case that changed his life—plus the haunting image of a military tank rolling through Detroit during the 1967 rebellion. But the heart of this interview is transformation: “the only way I was going to get out… was education,” reading thousands of books, earning degrees inside, and being guided by elders like Dr. Gloria "Mama Aneb” House. When a freedom fighter challenges him—“violence is not going to save us… use your mind”—Jones turns pain into purpose, and his memoir Fire in My Belly becomes a roadmap for our past and a strategy for 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. Follow, like, share, and subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Sticher. Comment, suggest and connect with the podcast by emailing info@detroitisdifferent.com

“Creating safe spaces has always been important to me,” says Kayana Sessoms—and that truth runs like a healing current through this Detroit is Different conversation with the founder of Hitha Healing House, a sacred space born from legacy, loss, and love. Kayana traces her roots through Mississippi, Arkansas, and Detroit's west side, grounding her story in three generations of Black migration, creativity, and care. From being a “JoAnn Fabrics kid” turning her childhood home into a museum of imagination, to becoming a teenage peer mentor holding space for families in crisis, Kayana shares how affirmation, artistry, and community shaped her calling. She reflects on learning early that healing requires ritual—“ground yourself,” “protect your energy,” “listen in silence”—and how Eastern practices, mind management, and ancestral wisdom became tools for survival and service. Her journey stretches from Detroit to Sierra Leone, Atlanta to Osborne High School, always circling back to access, equity, and Black maternal wellness. The founding of Hitha Healing House after the loss of her father and the birth of her son becomes a powerful meditation on legacy Black culture—how we carry the past, heal in the present, and build futures rooted in care. This episode is a masterclass in why healing is culture, and why Detroit has always known how to do it. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com

“Sometimes you don't know what you had until it's gone—and then you realize it was community.” In this powerful Detroit is Different conversation, Johnny Cannon of Joe Louis Southern Kitchen takes us on a journey that weaves food, family, faith, and legacy into one rich Detroit story. Born and raised on the east side, five generations deep, Johnny reflects on roots stretching from Tuscaloosa and Greensboro to Black Bottom and Paradise Valley, reminding us that “food and culture go hand in hand.” From stumbling into the restaurant business as a dishwasher to building beloved spaces like New Center Eatery, Sweet Magnolias, and now stewarding the global legacy of Joe Louis, Johnny shares how Detroit grit and divine order shaped his path. He speaks candidly about meeting Joe Louis Jr. “over Brussels sprouts and a beer,” and realizing that preserving Joe Louis' story wasn't just business—it was cultural responsibility. Through memories of elders banging pots in the streets, seniors gathered around radios, and customers learning history from photos on the restaurant walls, this episode connects the past joy of Black celebration to the future of Black ownership, storytelling, and pride. This is an episode about how legacy lives on the plate, in the neighborhood, and in the choices we make to honor our people. 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com

“Long before Black people mattered in America, they mattered in Detroit.” That line alone sets the tone for this powerful Detroit is Different conversation with Joe Louis Barrow II, founder of Joe Louis Southern Kitchen and son of the Brown Bomber himself. In this episode, Barrow reflects on Detroit as sacred ground for Black legacy—where the Great Migration, Black Bottom, industrial labor, women's liberation, and quiet acts of resistance all converged to shape Black America's past and future. He shares how Detroit didn't just celebrate Joe Louis the fighter, but protected and preserved Joe Louis the man, keeping his legacy alive seventy years after he left the ring. Barrow speaks candidly about entrepreneurship as community responsibility, reminding us that his father “was never seeking attention—he wanted people to see themselves in him.” From boxing to business, from activism done quietly to food done with love, this conversation traces how legacy isn't about nostalgia—it's about modeling possibility. Joe Louis Southern Kitchen becomes more than a restaurant; it's a living porch, a gathering place where generations sit together, taste memory, and pass down values. This episode connects Detroit's history of dignity, labor, and Black excellence to a future rooted in community, patience, and hope—because as Barrow reminds us, “Change is not possible without hope.” 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 info@detroitisdifferent.com