Malika Shabazz, 21, found a poetry reading. DaMarlon Carter, 31, found
a jazz club. Others have found after-work get-togethers, open-mic
nights, yoga classes and community events.
Every week in their
e-mail boxes, progressive, professional African Americans in the metro
Detroit area are finding new ways to come together, thanks to a new
online community created by a newsletter called TheUrbanFlavor.
“A whole new side of Detroit opened up to me,” says Shabazz, a Wayne State student.
Online
since February, TheUrbanFlavor kicked off as a weekly listings service
giving the rundown on what's happening in the metro Detroit area, from
live music and dance-club events to poetry readings and
community-service opportunities.
On a recent Thursday,
offerings ranged from the more media covered — such as Harry Connick
Jr. and Branford Marsalis at the Max M. Fisher Theatre or Detroit
PUSH's annual fundraiser with the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the Detroit
Yacht Club — to an after work get-together at Vu or the weekly open-mic
night for poets-singers-musicians inside the Key Club at Magnolia in
Rivertown.
TheUrbanFlavor, explains editor Lori Robinson, was
the brainchild of founders Scott McZeal and Robbyn Ennis. “They wanted
to start their own business, and also knew that they themselves needed
a place to go to find out what to do in their leisure time,” she says.
“They came up with an idea for a good resource that would be really
useful to others, too.”
An instant hitMcZeal
and Ennis' plan was a right-time, right-idea thing. TheUrbanFlavor
caught on quickly, and within seven months had 15,000 subscribers.
Robinson is confident that those numbers will hit 25,000 by the first
of next year, when TheUrbanFlavor becomes a full-on Web site.
Robinson
— a Spelman grad, published author, former associate editor at Emerge
and newcomer to Detroit — oversees the content and the plans to expand
the Web content come 2006 to eight stories a week instead of just one,
“and that way we'll be able to cover more of the city.”
The
newsletter has already become something of a cult favorite, a must-read
for active black professionals and creative types looking to plan their
week ahead. “We get really positive feedback,” Robinson says. “People
really are finding it useful and valuable and really looking forward to
it.”
Robinson's weekly TheUrbanFlavor feature story serves to
highlight some positive, creative or cooperative event inside Detroit
proper or within the larger African-American community. A story on an
upcoming Millions More Movement event on Washington, D.C.'s National
Mall, in commemoration of 1995's Million Man March, was one recent
offering. She’s also interviewed Moore Black Press founder Jessica Care
Moore-Poole, a poet and Detroit native.
While taking a
proactive attitude on issues in the African-American cultural
community, TheUrbanFlavor strives to hit an objective, politically
neutral tone. “We want to be a helpful resource for people,” says
Robinson, “and empower them in an entertaining format.”
Spotlight on the cityUrbanFlavorites
come from a diverse range of backgrounds, and they are a tech-savvy
bunch in a much-coveted demographic. About 65 percent are female, and
more than half of all users fall into the 25- to 34-year-old age range.
Shabazz is one of them. “I received an e-mail from another list I'm on
about UrbanFlavor,” says Shabazz. “I checked out the Web site and have
been hooked ever since.” One event she found through TheUrbanFlavor was
the Moore-Poole evening at the University of Michigan's Flint campus,
which featured a reading by acclaimed poet and black-studies pioneer
Sonia Sanchez. “It was a wonderful event. If it weren't for
UrbanFlavor, I would have never known about it.”
Carter, an
architect and resident of the Martin Park area near University of
Detroit-Mercy, also finds UrbanFlavor to be an invaluable resource for
planning his weekends. A subscriber since its first issue, Carter says
that he found out about the new jazz club that opened at the Max M.
Fisher Music Center, the Music Box, thanks to TheUrbanFlavor, as well
as the launch party for Vu.
He also enjoys the weekly feature
stories, which, he says, “offer perspectives on real Detroiters who are
trying to build successful businesses and doing great things not on the
radar” of the standard media outlets.
“These people are
Detroit's life blood and key to the future. They are the exact young
professionals that 'bleed' out of the city to the suburbs, and I'm
proud that TheUrbanFlavor spotlights their achievements. I hope it
encourages them to stay,” he says.
TheUrbanFlavor plans to take
its mix of empowerment and culturally centered lifestyle content to
other cities, including Atlanta, Chicago and Washington.
Robinson
says she hopes that UrbanFlavor can have a positive impact on Detroit,
her adopted city. “There's such a rich history, and a lot of good stuff
is going on here,” she says.
Shabazz agrees, noting that we
live in “a city rich with culture, contrary to what the news might
say.” She says TheUrbanFlavor is “a gateway to events that showcase
Detroit's many talented citizens, as well those who come to visit. By
promoting Detroit events, UrbanFlavor is supporting the community,
which is something we all should do.”
To get TheUrbanFlavor, go to
www.theurbanflavor.com/
Seeking some “urban flavor” of your own? Check out these UrbanFlavor favorites:
• Clubs/Lounges/Coffee Spots: Club Icon, 1421 Times Square; Centaur, 2244 Park Ave; Beans & Bytes, 4200 Woodward
•
Restuarants: Detroit Breakfast House & Grill, 241 Woodward; New
Center Eatery, 3100 W. Grand Blvd.; Da Edoardo's Foxtown Grille, 2203
Woodward Ave.
• Fashion/Clothing: Moci Collections, 312 Michigan Ave.; Spirit in the Park, 635 Beaubien
All photographs copyright Dave Krieger