Despite celebrity endorsements from Beyoncé and Kevin Hart, the founder of Ellis Island Tea is determined not to forget her hometown. “I got my resilience straight from the city of Detroit,” Nailah Ellis-Brown says. “There are no handouts. There aren't many resources, and you really have to figure things out on your own."
Detroit is flexing this week, with the Detroit Month of Design heading into its final week and DLECTRICITY lighting up the past weekend. Check out some of the highlights with Model D photographer Valaurian Waller.
The Detroit Youth Choir will soon start filming a behind-the-scenes reality series, “Choir”, with Blumhouse, Imagine, and Disney+ that will chronicle their journey. It's just one of the ways the group, which includes over 150 young members, hopes to raise awareness, and funds, for what they do.
Chevelle Brown wants to share her love of chess with others, and not just because it's fun. "I recognized the benefits of chess for myself and wanted it for my son, and later his friends,” she says. Now, the Detroit entrepreneur runs I Teach Chess, and is helping students develop critical thinking skills through the strategic game.
Meet Enid Parham, aka Chef Sunflower, who is renowned for her cannabis-infused culinary delights. She talks to Model D about her craft, and how the industry is linked to issues of social equity and criminal justice reform.
When the four "Sojourner Truth Girls" met in one of Detroit’s most controversial housing projects, little did they know the bonds they formed would have to endure racial segregation, riots, and the somewhat violent evolution of the washing machine.
A ribbon-cutting at the new Marygrove Early Education Center celebrated the opening of the $50 million dollar center, which will comprise educational opportunities from prenatal to Pre-K, K-12, to post-secondary graduate, as well as wrap-around services and community engagement programs. At full capacity, the school will serve roughly 1,000 Detroit children and their families, primarily living in the surrounding Livernois-McNichols neighborhoods.
“The music community is vital to who we are as a city,” says Nique Love Rhodes, co-founder of D.Cipher. It's one of the reasons the organization is hosting a free street festival that will raise funds for Detroit music projects.
After a delay because of flooding, an interactive math exhibition will open this month at the Michigan Science Center, designed to help fill a gap in student's knowledge after disrupted learning during COVID-19. “We felt that this effect, now known as the COVID slide, could derail thousands of students, particularly those that were already performing below grade level," says Dr. Christian Greer, president and CEO of MiSci. "We were determined to do something about it."
Esteemed sculptor and Detroit native Austen Brantley is showing a solo exhibition at the Norwest Gallery of Art called "Behind the Mask" which deals with the duality of being African American. By using ceramic sculptures of African antiques, human figures, and masks juxtaposing each other, the exhibition explores the lost cultural identity and rediscovery of heritage many African Americans experience.
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