- [Narrator] Coming up on a "Destination Detroit"-themed episode of "One Detroit."

Detroit PBS and our partners in the "Destination Detroit" initiative talk about its importance over the coming year.

Plus, we'll tell you about an oral history project that's preserving the legacies of Detroit's women jazz artists.

Also ahead, we'll delve into the history and culture of Southeast Michigan's Arab American community.

It's all coming up next on "One Detroit" - [Narrator] From Delta faucets to Behr Paint, Masco Corporation is proud to deliver products that enhance the way consumers all over the world experience and enjoy their living spaces.

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- [Narrator] The DTE Foundation is a proud sponsor of Detroit PBS.

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(relaxing music) - [Narrator] Just ahead on "One Detroit," we're highlighting our initiative called "Destination Detroit," a collection of personal stories about the people who have shaped the rich history of Southeast Michigan.

We'll hear from some of the women who've played a major role in Detroit's jazz scene and we'll have a story about the Arab Americans who came here to build community and cultural pride.

But first up, how did you or your family come to Southeast Michigan?

We start with this question in our new series, "Destination Detroit."

This Detroit PBS project explores the rich family histories of those of us who came to the Detroit metro area in search of a better life.

Through interviews and family stories handed down over generations, we're creating a collection of oral histories that connect the past, present, and future.

With "Destination Detroit," we're kicking off our year-long contribution to 2026's America 250 celebration.

"One Detroit" contributor, Zoe Clark, interviewed local leaders about the project at this year's Mackinac Policy Conference.

- For those- (gentle music) And I wanna start with you.

- Okay.

- Tell us about "Destination Detroit" and just how the project and this partnership developed.

- It really kinda got kicked off from the Henry Louis "Great Migrations" documentary series.

- Yeah.

- And we thought, you know, "What better way to tell the story of Detroit and what better way to honor what is coming up as America 250, our 250th anniversary, than to tell Detroit story and the story of Southeast Michigan through the lens of all the people that came here all looking for a better life, all looking to, you know, move up that ladder."

Right?

And so we enlisted the aid of our friends from the Detroit Historical Museum, my former home- - Yep.

- Where my teams were located, and to Charles Wright to help us, you know, pull all these people.

This is an ambitious undertaking.

- Yeah.

- So we need partners, we need help.

- Yeah.

Elana, the Detroit Historical has long preserved, right, stories of the people who built Detroit.

As we think about Detroit as the destination for those still seeking the American dream, how does the museum's work help us understand the waves of migration that shape the city?

- Well, the Detroit Historical Society's mission is to tell Detroit stories and why they matter.

And, you know, core to that is how people came to be here at all through immigration and migration.

And those stories through oral histories are woven into the fabric of every single exhibit that we put together.

And our mission is also not to just tell some of the stories, but all of the stories of people from every background, which, you know, as you said, huge undertaking.

It doesn't matter where you came from.

If you're here in Detroit, you know, it was your hard work and your grit.

Everything that goes into telling the quintessential Detroit story that has become, you know, such a part of the fabric of what we are doing.

So, being part of this project, of course we are really honored and excited to participate every time we get to work with Ed.

We love that.

But this is who we are.

Like, we were born for this moment.

- Neil, I'm thinking a lot about how the story of Detroit is just simply inseparable from the story of Black migration, right?

And the generations of African Americans who helped shape the city.

How is the Wright Museum helping to preserve and elevate those stories?

- So, the Wright Museum, you know, founded now 60 years ago, right?

Really chases not just Detroit's history, but the history of African Americans in the United States, and that history is very much so rooted in Detroit.

So, if you look at the period from 1910 to 1930, at 1910, 6,000 people live in Detroit.

And 1930, 120,000 people.

Primarily, African Americans are living in the city of Detroit, along with several immigrants from other cultures as we know, right?

So the Wright Museum tries to take those stories and again, from a lived perspective, not just something you would read in a book or some analysis of the period, but really listens to people who actually work years in, not 1910, but, you know, who have lived in the city, worked in the city, and elevates those stories so that we have a complete perspective, I think, of what it meant to be in Detroit, to be from Detroit, and the impact that Detroit has had on the United States.

- Well, and Neil, as we look to the celebration of 250, I'm curious about then, how do we make sure that Black Detroiters remain at the central part of the conversation about the city and our national identity?

- Right.

What's interesting about what's happening in our politics in particular right now is that the lawyers of African Americans are really animated in the present moment.

The role that we have played in securing voting rights, in securing citizenship, you know, rooted in African American civil rights movements, right?

And so, as we look at what's happening today, we can trace those history back to African American, primarily African American women, frankly, who really, first and foremost, secured citizenship for what was then males.

Like, they weren't even included, but they worked very hard to get citizenship.

You then come to the Fifteenth Amendment where race is outlawed.

Still, women are not yet at the table, right?

And so it's not until the ERA amendment, again, women are preferred, Detroiters who really push those amendments through.

And so really, we say that African American history is really American history, right?

- American history.

- It's really the roots of American democracy.

- Yeah.

Elana, as Detroit continues to evolve, how does the historical museum strike a balance between honoring the city's past migrations and then really adapting to new communities who are now helping to shape its future?

- Right.

Well, people think of museums oftentimes, Zoe, as sort of dusty places where you tell only stories of the past.

- Right.

- What people don't get is that every day, we are collecting stories of history as it's being made today, right?

By Detroiters from all backgrounds who came here for whatever reason.

And so, you know, contemporary collecting, that's what we are doing, to ensure that 100 years from now, people will be able to come to the museums and read stories about us, about, you know, the history that we made during this time.

- Is there one story or narrative that has really stood out for you so far as you have listened to these stories so far?

- You know, the thing is, it's like when you tell stories about, like, immigration and migration and people going somewhere, you know, it seems like there there is a lot of struggle there.

They're coming from places that maybe weren't so welcoming, but the common thread is they came to Detroit for a better life.

- Right.

- And that's what we should remember about Detroit and Southeast Michigan, is people came here to improve themselves, to improve their situation.

So, that's what made Detroit.

- [Narrator] Of course, Detroit's history includes a rich music legacy.

Over the years, the city's jazz culture created a thriving ecosystem of clubs, community, and groundbreaking talent.

Oral historian Veronica Johnson partnered with the Detroit Sound Conservancy to help chronicle the stories of the women whose voices helped shape that legacy.

(bright music) ♪ Forever exciting melodies - [Narrator] Jazz in Detroit is more than music.

It's a living archive of resilience, rhythm, and roots.

For generations, the city has been a magnet for jazz musicians.

Now, Veronica Johnson is documenting stories of women who shaped Detroit's jazz scene and beyond, voices often left out of the spotlight.

She's interviewing the musicians and sharing their stories.

- What sparked your interest in jazz?

- Well, actually, my interest in jazz goes back to college.

That just became like, just really, I guess, enamored with the music itself.

The history of it, you know, the culture, you know, just how important this music is to the foundation of Black American music.

- What inspired you to take a closer look at the women in jazz and to collect their oral histories?

- I started doing all this research and then I realized like, "Wow, who's covering the current female Detroit musicians that are all here kinda carrying on this lineage?"

So that's kinda what really inspired me to wanna dig deeper and tell their stories.

- [Narrator] Those stories are part of the growing oral history collection in Detroit Sound Conservancy's digital archives.

- [Pamela] It was at Cuyahoga Community College where I really started getting into jazz and playing jazz because they had a program there.

But it wasn't until I moved to Detroit where I started really establishing myself.

- [Narrator] So far, dozens of jazz musicians have participated in the project.

- I basically interview everybody from Straight Ahead, the great female jazz group from Detroit.

Did great drummer, Gayelynn McKinney, Alina Morr, piano player.

I've interviewed a lot of vocalists like Naima Shamborguer or Ursula Walker, Kate Patterson.

Taslimah Bey, great ragtime pianist.

So, that's just a few, but there's plenty of people I've interviewed so far.

- [Marion] So my father would make sure that I had a chance to hear music.

He took me out to hear the Thad Jones, Mel Lewis Big Band.

That was fantastic.

We went to the Light Guard Armory on Eight Mile Road and heard them.

He was really very, very good about making sure I had a chance hear musicians when they came into town.

And then, little by little, as I started to do a little bit more playing of, you know, Wendell and Marcus would actually, you know, hire me for gigs when I was really quite young.

And so those were my opportunities to really hone my craft and really fall in love with the music in a really big way.

- You partnered with the Detroit Sound Conservancy on this oral history project.

How did the collaboration come together?

- So, I've always been connected to Detroit Sound Conservancy in some form of fashion.

So, when I started my world history project, like, several years ago, I did start off kind of going with Detroit Sound Conservancy.

So now, we're working to, like I said, archive and digitize these oral histories for the world to see.

- [Narrator] The public will be able to listen to them at detroitsound.org.

- [Veronica] What made you want to kinda like, you know, stay in Detroit and kind of build roots as a musician versus, like, going out?

- [Taslimah] I think it was the support that I got from the musicians in Detroit.

The way that they surrounded me.

Like, especially like when I had my son, they surrounded me, supported me, surrounded me with love.

And when I had hard times, they were right there.

They weren't, like, snippy and gossiping and judging and going on with that.

They were just like, "We love you, we support you.

How can we help?"

- Mm-hmm.

- And I was just amazed at that.

- Right.

- [Narrator] Partnering with Johnson on the oral histories is just one way the Detroit Sound Conservancy is helping preserve music history.

Michelle Mama Jahra McKinney, Director of Collections explains, - Well, we do it especially through place keeping, so an example would be us rehabilitating The Blue Bird Inn.

We do it through actual archiving and preserving, which we are taking in the collections of musicians and people who create around the music, and we make them accessible and digitize them or whatever we have to do so that people from years later can come and see, "Wow, this is great!"

"This happened in Detroit?"

"This person did that?"

And also, we create educational resources and collaborations.

- Oh.

- So that's especially gonna show up when we get into The Blue Bird Inn.

- Tell us a little bit about The Blue Bird Inn.

- Well, The Blue Bird Inn is an iconic, historic jazz club and it's just a little neighborhood bar, and that place became a haven.

Because at that time, it was a lot of segregation in the city of Detroit and there were places where Black folks could go and Black folks could not go.

And it was a place where you could have Sunday brunch, and you could see your neighbors and you could feel safe and you could be your Black self.

(Michelle laughs) - Unapologetically.

- Unapologetic, yes.

- Without fear.

- Without fear.

- [Narrator] For generations, Detroit has drawn artists from all over, some just passing through, but many staying for good.

The city is also home to the world's largest free jazz festival, the Detroit Jazz Festival, drawing hundreds of thousands of attendees each year.

♪ To you - [Pamela] I like the jazz scene in Detroit.

It's a Detroit thing, I think, where people just uplift each other and whatever you need, you know, they'll show you the way ♪ It's for you to get up ♪ And show the world ♪ What we have in store - How did women shape the jazz culture in Detroit?

- They had a great impact on it.

And, you know, that kinda stuff that you can hear that's toe tapping and you can sing along with it and remember the melody and be humming it to yourself, that was made more possible by women singing in jazz.

To me, the storytelling, ♪ All of me ♪ Why not take all of me?

♪ Can't you see I'm no good without you?

♪ - When we think about that Detroit sound, what is it about the sound of Detroit that makes it so unique?

- It still comes out of community.

Actually, not even community, familyhood.

That's what, to me, is what makes the communication and the mentorship and the passing things down that Detroit musicians do, is it has extended worldwide.

And so, not only is it a sound, it's a feeling.

It's a feeling of connectedness in a familyhood.

And somehow, that's embodied in the music.

(lively jazz music) That Detroit sound that was in the really basic music that was there, created by the jazz musicians, the improvisation, the African rhythms that are embedded in it.

All of that context is still going on, and created that Detroit sound between the love that is in that music.

It's pure love.

- What made Detroit a destination for jazz?

Or was jazz the destination for the people?

- Detroit is a destination for musicians.

It always has been because of the music that they brought as they migrated north.

But at the same time, it's all also about the connections, like, of a Marcus Belgrave.

He was just coming through Detroit with Ray Charles and he said, "Ooh, I love this city!"

Yeah, and people taking him under their wing and talking to him.

And he left Detroit and he came back, and he said, "I can't leave this place."

He didn't wanna leave.

- What is it that you hope that people walk away with after hearing some of these stories?

- Well, I just really want to, you know, people to realize how, like, you know, their work ethic, their resiliency of these women, you know.

Like, again, a lot of the women I've interviewed, some in their 70s, 80s, still performing.

So it just goes to show how much they love music and I just want people to realize, like, that obviously, women have as much of an influence and impact on Detroit jazz as the male counterparts.

So I just want people to see the breadth and depth of these women and what they've done and what they've accomplished throughout their years.

(energetic jazz music) (audience applauds and cheers) - [Narrator] The Detroit area has long been a destination for Arab Americans seeking new opportunities.

"One Detroit" producer, Sarah Zientarski, visited the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn to learn more about the history and legacy of the local Arab American community from the curator of education, David Serio (bright music) - At the Arab American National Museum, we focus on different time periods of Arab immigration to the US, dating back to the 1880s.

And the reason a lot of folks initially came to the metro Detroit area was really because of jobs.

Money and economics really drives everything.

A lot of the early immigrants that came to the US were mostly Lebanese and Syrian, mostly Christians and mostly men, although not exclusively.

You do have some folks coming from, like, Egypt and Yemen and Morocco and many other places.

One of the big reasons is, a lot of missionaries from the US were going over to this part of the world and they were interacting with these Christians and they were saying, "Hey, fellow Christians, why don't you guys come to the US where..." You know, really selling the American dream of money growing on trees, and that was kind that direct connection, which is why you see larger Christian populations, because they were kind of enticed or sold on that.

The reason that a lot of folks immigrated specifically to Dearborn was the automotive industry.

Like, following wherever Ford would open up a factory.

And so you have folks that would settle in Highland Park.

And then when he would open up another factory in River Rouge or in Dearborn, the community would kind of pick up and go there.

And so, really, it just the kind of the same story of the automotive factory opening up in Dearborn and people staying.

Ford actually sent people to recruit the Arab and Arab American community to work in the auto industry.

Henry Ford actually sent people to some of these countries like Yemen, Lebanon.

And these workers from Ford would knock on these doors and say, "Hey, guys, why don't you come to America?

"You know, again, here are these selling points.

We can get you a great-paying job.

You can make a lot of money."

These Arab immigrants kind of dove in and became a part of American society and contributed massively to, again, the economic force in this region, setting up restaurants and shops.

What's interesting too is if you look at like the history of Dearborn in the '50s, '60s, '70s kind of around that time, the city was not as economically robust as it is today.

And then Arab folks started coming in and buying up some of the shops and opening up more restaurants and more stores and clothing stores, and that really revitalized Dearborn to what it is today.

The neighborhood here, I think, was very comforting for a lot of Arab immigrants.

You know, you go where you know people, right?

And this is, again, a story that a lot of other communities can relate to definitely, but you go where you know people, you go where you have family, right?

So if I have the choice to go somewhere, I'm gonna go where I already have a community that's set up, where I know family members, friends.

Or even if I don't know anybody, I can still feel the comfort of home by shopping at all the Arabic stores, going to Arabic restaurants, suites, religious institutions, and even people that just speak Arabic can be very, very comforting.

So that's why Dearborn has continued to grow as this, like, vibrant Arab American community.

I love when people reference Dearborn as, like, the spot to go.

For me, it creates a lot of pride.

There's all these stereotypes that exist, but when people are coming to our city, coming to the Arab American National Museum, engaging with the restaurant scene, the coffee scene has exploded in the best possible way, it makes me feel really proud that, like, our community is able to offer something that's connected to our culture and heritage, but then also share those gifts with the rest of our community.

So, our family came from Lebanon to Michigan in the 1910s.

We came in the first time period of immigration and we came directly to Michigan.

And one of the reasons we came here is because we had family already in the area.

My great-grandfather came over and settled right in Michigan.

He was actually looking for his mother who had left, like, years ahead of time.

And eventually, they were able to be reunited.

But yeah, they came right to Michigan and, like, fully immersed themselves into the community.

My family never ended up coming to Dearborn.

My family ended up going in Detroit, kind of on the east side of Detroit.

And that eventually kinda made their way north into, like, Macomb County.

And we found a bunch of other Lebanese Christians that were kind of in the Detroit area.

We kind of like meshed with them, I guess.

And so, we stayed more on the east side of Detroit.

My great-grandpa initially came to Michigan.

He found work as a gardener.

And back home in Lebanon, our family were kind of gardeners, farmers, and so that was something that he knew.

And even though he wasn't, like, fluent in English, it was a very easy thing 'cause he knew that from back home.

There were also some other Lebanese family members of mine who had their own, like, little markets out of their own home.

And so, like, generation to generation, this idea of, like, entrepreneurship and being within the community and providing services is very much a part of our family story.

My dad was a teacher for a little while and then also ended up being, you know, working for, like, just different companies and kind of like traveling salesman, if you will.

And then my mom ended up working, like, in the legal field.

My grandpa really kept up the tradition of you know, being proud of his Arab American roots just simply by, like, anytime we would have get-togethers as a family, we would have a lot of Arabic food.

There's a dish in Lebanese cuisine called kibbeh nayeh.

It's like a raw lamb dish.

And my grandfather would always, he would teach some of my male cousins how to make the kibbeh, 'cause it takes a lot of strength and work and all that.

And so I remember him, like, passing that recipe down to, like, all of my cousins.

When certain things happened, like 9/11 for example, when certain things happened, I received a lot of stereotypes and I didn't understand where they came from and I didn't understand why people were saying certain things.

My grandpa was like, "Let me tell you more about our history.

Let me tell you more about who we are as, you know, Arab Americans."

And he kind of undid a lot of the stereotypes that people were trying to stick on me and replaced it with pride.

And so that's really how I found my path into education and just finding myself at the Arab American National Museum because I think it's so, so important to educate the public, dispel stereotypes, and for a lot of Arab American kids, instill pride in them.

The museum also has a lot of really rich oral history collections.

- [Sarah] Hi, my name is Sarah Abuharaz and I'm currently a student at Hofstra University, and I'm going to be telling you the story of my parents' immigration to the United States.

- My favorite oral histories that we've collected is something as part of our digital scrapbook piece.

So it's an oral history, but it's overlaid with photos.

So, the idea is that people would scan their photos and then that family member would kind of narrate what they're seeing and their journey here.

My family did it actually.

My aunt did it.

She took a bunch of photos and was telling the story about how our family came to Dearborn and all that.

- [Antoinette] My grandfather, William R. George, immigrated to the USA in 1914 from Baalbek, Beqaa Valley in Lebanon.

The story goes, as he told it, he got his first job for knocking on the mayor of Detroit's office door and demanding a job in his broken English.

The mayor gave him a job, sweeping the streets of Detroit with a broom.

Of course, in those days, there weren't any cars.

It was a lot of horses, so there was plenty of work.

- Even though my experience is very different from somebody whose family immigrated five years ago, there's still that similarity, there's still that commonality.

And to be a part of that really beautiful tapestry is just a big honor.

It's really cool.

- [Narrator] For more about "Destination Detroit," visit detroitpbs.org/destinationdetro.

That'll do it for this week's "One Detroit."

Thanks for watching.

Head to the "One Detroit" website for all the stories we're working on.

Follow us on social media and sign up for our weekly newsletter.

- [Narrator] From Delta faucets to Behr Paint, Masco Corporation is proud to deliver products that enhance the way consumers all over the world experience and enjoy their living spaces.

Masco, serving Michigan communities since 1929.

- [Narrator] Support also provided by the Cynthia & Edsel Ford Fund for Journalism at Detroit PBS.

- [Narrator] The DTE Foundation is a proud sponsor of Detroit PBS.

Through our giving, we are committed to meeting the needs of the communities we serve statewide to help ensure a bright and thriving future for all.

Learn more at dtefoundation.com.

- [Narrator] Nissan Foundation and viewers like you.

(relaxing music) (gentle music)