- [Narrator] Coming up on "One Detroit," we'll hear from the cast of the play "Confederates" at Detroit Public Theater.

- Your enemies today.

- [Narrator] Plus, "One Detroit" contributor Nolan Finley reflects on how his family migrated to Detroit from the South.

Also ahead, jazz bassist Marian Hayden talks about being named this year's Kresge Eminent Artist, and we'll tell you about some of the events taking place this weekend and beyond.

It's all coming up next on "One Detroit."

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

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

Among the state's largest foundations committed to Michigan-focused giving, we support organizations that are doing exceptional work in our state.

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(upbeat electronic music) (upbeat electronic music continues) - [Narrator] Just ahead on "One Detroit," we'll continue our "Destination Detroit" project with the story of how contributor Nolan Finley's family came to the city.

Plus, we'll talk with the 2025 Kresge Eminent Artist, jazz bassist Marian Hayden, about her career and musical influences, and we'll give you some ideas on how you can spend this weekend in metro Detroit, but first up, Detroit Public Theater's production of "Confederates" runs through March 16th.

The play is by award-winning Detroit playwright Dominique Morisseau, and it focuses on two black women living in America 160 years apart.

The story jumps back and forth in time to show the impact of racism on both of their lives.

BridgeDetroit's Michael Walker teamed up with "One Detroit's" Chris Jordan for a closer look at the play and it's cast.

(upbeat electronic music) - [Sandra] This is comparative politics, Malik.

- Lincoln didn't sign the Emancipation Proclamation out of some bleeding-heart desire to end the institution of slavery, many of my resources back up that claim.

- I'm not denying that claim, I'm saying there are loopholes in your overall analysis of the so-called modern-day plantation in the workforce and it's parallel to slavery during the time of the Civil War.

- The themes of this play and the themes that we are seeing play out in real time, in real life, it feels like something that's within my reach and accessible in terms of being able to do something about it.

- This is some modern-day peculiar-institution-type (censored)!

- Malik.

- Excuse me.

- I am not one of these people, like, "Oh, not another slavery story," I'm not that person, I am one of those people that are like, "What else to the slavery story?"

Because, like, I'm not gonna believe that we were just sitting and suffering, and not agents of our own freedom.

- Hold me one of them muskets and see what I could do.

- Wait a minute, I told you, don't touch it.

(crickets chirping) (Malik groaning in pain) - Just wanna see how I feel!

Real mighty, like I could gather me a bunch of kin folk and walk right off the plantation.

(Malik laughing) - Dominique, how did you come up with the idea for "Confederates?"

Why have the time travel aspect?

- I wanna make sure that it's not just sitting in the moment of enslavement, that I juxtaposed it to the moment of now.

Ultimately, I decided to set it at two institutions, the peculiar institution of slavery and the educational institution of higher learning that has roots in the peculiar institution.

Let's not be subtle, let's be real in your face about it, and let's be really overt about what has and has not changed between the past and the present.

- And I'm just another tolerant negro professor that's absorbed in the system of institutional racism.

That's what you're saying in those distinctions.

- I always have this moment right before the opening where I think about what Sandra's experience is going to be throughout the show, or the scenes, or what her day in this institution is going to be like, it's almost a physical-ization of what often black women are dealing with in this country and in this world.

- You know, as being in a black woman's skin all my life, I know what kinda stuff comes at me in my real life, so I...

It's the same kinda stuff that's gonna come in my plays that center black women, and especially this kinda play that's kind...

It's quite radical, I think it's my most radical play.

It defies genre, so it's like, "Is this a comedy?

Is this a tragedy?

Is this...?"

"What is this?"

It's all and none.

- If we really wanna get real, let's get all the way real.

- What attracted you to be a part of "Confederates?"

- Knowing that they were doing a Dominique script.

That was enough for me, but then, when I read it, something innate just sort of opened up for me.

- There are people in our lives that when they ask, you say, "Yes," because you trust their integrity, you trust their mission, and Dominique is that person.

- Goldie, I couldn't have asked for a better director, especially because of her relationship with the play, and she knows it so well, she was around when it was being developed.

- She was extraordinary, she was absolutely extraordinary, she created a culture in the rehearsal room of support, of creativity, of play.

- I am a professor, so I had... We were having class, we were having lecture in our first week of rehearsal, and my cast is brilliant in the ways that they not only took the information that we came into the process with, but then, they did their own individual research, and they were coming back with ideas, and they were coming back with realities about these people.

It's a lot of real history that's in our process, and even though we don't name it on stage, it's the anchor for all that you see on stage.

- Down to who these character archetypes could be, who they were based on... People...

Historical figures that have, like, similar circumstances.

- I want freedom by my own deliverance, I don't want no blood on my hands.

- I really was interested in how slavery is portrayed, and why I was so adverse to watching movies and plays about slavery.

Why don't I want to go to the theater to see a "slave play?"

So that was kinda, like, my research, or like, what rubbed me the wrong way about those, and what makes this story for me different?

What's different about this play is that Sara is on her journey to freedom, she gonna get free.

- Hear, O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today.

- Whitney and Rebecca, did you guys bring your personal experiences as a black woman to your roles?

- Yeah.

(people laughing) Yeah, it was there, it was there.

I...

So thank goodness that I'm not in Whitney's shoes 'cause for me, I'm like, "I don't know what it's like to be a slave," I don't have to have, like, this impression of what I have to be, I can just be a black woman in these circumstances versus, like, I look over in 2018 and I'm like, "That is so close to my reality, I don't want none of that," 'cause I went to a undergraduate program and a master's program, I spent a lot of time at institutions as one of the only black women, or there were three of us and we were all pitted up against each other, and I still have, like... (indistinct) About that, so I would just, like, watch y'all from a distance and be like, "Thank goodness I am in the 1800s, thank goodness, thank goodness, thank goodness."

- This play looks at two different kind of violences, macro-aggression and microaggression.

So in the past, there is a macro-aggression of, like, somebody's gonna burn a cross on your lawn, they gonna grab you and hang you by a tree, that's a macro-aggression, it moves fast and it's overt, and in the present, there are 100 little microaggressions, like death by a thousand cuts, you know?

- You think, as a black woman professor, I have it easier than black men, is that's your implication?

- The demographic of my professors is a fact.

- The message lands in such a direct way that leaves you questioning what your participation is in the institution, but not only that though, they gonna laugh.

- [Rebecca] They gonna have a good time.

- [Whitney] They are going to laugh, there is... We talk about some really deeply-felt things and some serious subject matters thematically, but there is so much levity at the same time.

- You're gonna take away something unless your ears are not here, your eyes are not here, your body is not here, you're gonna leave with something, I know you will.

- We, in this process, the process is freeing.

When you are doing a play about liberation, my goal is for us all to be liberated in process, and so, the commitment is not to the applause or the laughs, the commitment is to the transformation.

(audience applauding) - [Nolan] Yeah, that's the house.

- [Narrator] Turning now to our "Destination Detroit" project.

For the coming year, we're documenting stories of the Great Migration and how many families arrived in the city.

"One Detroit" contributor Nolan Finley, editorial page editor of the Detroit News, sat down with senior producer Bill Kubota to talk about his family's migration from Kentucky to the North.

(upbeat electronic music) - I'm just going through here looking for the ones.

There's my mom and my sister, and that is on Belle Isle.

- [Bill] We all got a story, right?

Tell me about yours.

- Well, my family was part of the Great Migration from the South, and it was not just African-Americans who came north, it was white people too, poor farmers and what have you, World War II vets who came up here looking for opportunity, and my dad was in that latter group.

You know, he went into the Marines in 1944, was in combat, when the war ended in 1945, he stayed in Japan for two or three years in peacetime duty, and when he went back to his home in Southern Kentucky, you know, he was raised on a tobacco farm there, and he wanted to stay, he wanted to stay there, so he tried his hand as a farmer, he tried running a little store, he tried running a sawmill, he tried any number of things, and then finally, you know, he just decided his opportunity was elsewhere, and he came up here first, and he and my mom married, and they were back and forth over the first five, six years, they'd be here a while and, you know, there'd be some kind of downturn, he'd lose his job, he'd go home and, you know, work there for a while.

That's my third birthday.

I was born during one of their return stays in Kentucky, but, you know, it took a while for him to take hold here and get settled.

He first lived in Detroit when he was here by himself, and he drove street cars, worked for Chrysler a little while, I remember him telling a story when he first came up here, walking down Woodward Avenue, and he said every bar along Woodward Avenue had a folding table out front with recruiters from the auto companies just signing people up as they came in and out of the bars, I mean, it was that kind of a boon time.

Eventually, he settled in for his longest stretch, and until he passed away at a chemical plant in Ferndale, he worked there for 25, 30 years.

These are my uncles.

This is in Kentucky with my uncles and aunts.

My parents combined had 15 brothers and sisters, and all but four of them came north to different places, most of 'em went to Indiana, we came to Detroit just because my mother had a cousin who was here and had said, "Oh, there's all kinds of opportunity here," and so, they came up here and settled initially in Detroit, then in Garden City.

Yeah, that's that house in Garden City.

There was a bus line called the Brooks Bus Line, and it would run from Detroit to... Down 23 in Eastern Kentucky, and then, it would run from Detroit to Paducah in the West, and, you know, these people from Kentucky go back and forth getting to jobs, coming home on the weekends, my county, Cumberland County in Southern Kentucky, had 17,000 people in it before the war, after the war, it had 7,000, that many people left to go mostly north, you know?

- [Bill] You'd go back and forth, probably still do, and you never really cut ties there.

- Our family didn't, I mean, they went home, my parents went home, every opportunity.

We were sort of schooled in the idea that that was our home, you know, and they always dreamed that they would go back, and of course, my mother did for a little while, you know, before she died, but my dad died, never got the chance.

When my mother had to go to work, the kids...

There were three of us then, we stayed down there, lived with my grandparents, and aunt and uncle, and when I was old enough, I went every summer and worked on my uncle's tobacco farm because his sons had been drafted into the Vietnam War, and so, you know, I was sent to help.

(laughs) - [Bill] Maybe there's something you take great offense with, what you'd hear... (indistinct) - Oh, yeah.

You know, everybody's gotta have somebody they look down on, right?

You know, and so, it's... And it's why I think people from that part of the country, whether it was Kentucky, or Tennessee, or Arkansas, or wherever, West Virginia, they sort of stuck together, when we came up here, we found a community of other migrants from the South, from... And mostly from that part of the South, and they all went to the same church, became our social group, and it was, you know, folks looking from support from other people who understood their story and their journey.

We've been here, branches of my family, since the country started, I mean, I had ancestors on the Mayflower, but in Kentucky, we'd been in our part of Kentucky for 200 years, you know, and I can go now and see, and visit the graves of my great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents within a five, 10-mile radius, you know, we pretty much stayed close to home until, you know, this Great Migration occurred, so... And they were all, for the most part, poor, farmers, dirt farmers, tobacco farmers, subsistence living, I mean, they struggled to stay where they were.

- [Narrator] 100 years ago, the pioneers pushed west, but here in these mountains, some of them stayed to farm the fertile land, to live well by ax, and gun, and plow.

Now, the land is no longer safe.

- That's my mother as a teenager.

You know, these are... That's probably in the '40s, sometime.

Late '40s.

My grandparents, my dad's parents, and their chickens.

I think for a lot of folks, no matter where they came from, you know, you think you don't forget where your home was, you know, you don't forget the things that shaped you and the people who shaped you, and it's easy for us to look at people from other cultures, other countries, what have you, and say, "Why are they still hanging on to those old traditions and those old ways?"

And, you know, it's...

There's a comfort in that, and it's a connection, it's important because for most people, there's that element, you know, you come from somewhere else, somewhere down the line, and, you know, it's important to remember that.

It's not easy leaving a home, and I often think about the people who came here from other places knowing they'd never get to go back, we went back, you know, every weekend for a while, and it was a grueling trip, but many of these people coming over here, and they never know if they're gonna see their families again or their homeland again, or the... You know, the people they'd love, and they're starting absolutely from scratch, and I think we should try to think about and understand how hard that would be, to put ourselves in that position.

(upbeat bass music) - [Narrator] March is Women's History Month, and this year's Kresge Eminent Artist has made history as the youngest recipient of the prestigious honor.

Award-winning bassist, educator and mentor Marian Hayden is the third jazz musician to be selected for the annual $100,000 gift from the Kresge Foundation.

"One Detroit" contributor Stephen Henderson of American Black Journal spoke with Hayden about her musical journey.

(upbeat electronic music) - Now, this is considered our area's greatest arts honor, is that how you feel?

- I totally feel that way, it's like a... Getting a big giant hug from my community that I love, I just love this community, it's my passion, it's my muse, I carry the banner of Detroit wherever I go, so yes, it feels great.

- This is an award that recognizes everything that you've done, the span of your career, so let's talk about that career and kind of how you got into music, into the bass, which I think I've told you before, I was a tuba player in college, I have a double bass at home and plunk around on it, it is one of my favorite instruments, so talk about how you got to this point.

- Well, I have to say, one of the wonderful things about growing up in Detroit has... Well, first of all, I should give complete credit to my parents Marian Ford-Hayden-Thomas, she ended up getting remarried after my father passed, and Herbert E. Hayden, and our little house that we grew up in and the wonderful neighborhood of Russell Woods on Fullerton Street, and they were just wonderful parents, they never put any restrictions on me as a young woman, as a girl, as to what girls could do, my mother was a chemist, so she knew no boundaries of that sort, so... Well, I just started taking cello lessons when I was about nine in our great public... Detroit public-school music education programs... - [Stephen] How important was that?

- Oh, the music at...

The public school music programs are so important, and I always want to...

I'm always on my little bandwagon, I'm always standing on my soapbox about continuing to support them for the young people that are in school now, and so, I was a little girl taking lessons in my school, took cello lessons at nine, and then, when I got tall enough to stand up to the bass, 'cause I've always wanted to play bass, I was about 12, I switched over to bass, and I had a lot of jazz in my household, care of my dad, who was a huge jazz fan and record collector, and kind of a closeted jazz pianist, he was really good, and just...

He was...

He exposed me to such great music, and then, he made what I consider to be just such a wonderful gesture for me, he took me to a summertime jazz camp called Metro Arts, which was right here on Selden Street in Detroit, and that's where I met the likes of Wendell Harrison, Marcus Belgrave, Harold McKinney, and so many of the great jazz musicians which... Who have become so influential for me and others, and these were the torch-bearers, the people that were really keeping the music alive at that time, which would been... Have been the, you know, early '70s, you know, and that's how I really... That's how I caught the jazz bug, and from then on, it was just...

It just... At some point, you hear something and you just know this is something that you have to hear in your ears forever, and that was what it was for me.

- Yeah, yeah.

So I always think of music as a form of expression, and that expression is really important.

(upbeat bass music) Talk about that expression, the things that you're saying and trying to communicate when you're playing.

- Well, one thing about...

Especially certainly at this point in my career, is I have a pretty big mental library of things, there's a lot of music that I've played in a lot of different genres, I've played...

I played the music of Argentinian tango, I played music from, you know, Puerto Rico and Cuban, I played...

I have played folk music, some classical music, pretty much all types of jazz and all the different spheres that we work in, and so, I'm a collector of themes and a collector of musical moments, and so, when I play, especially something like a solo piece, then basically, I am able to...

I try to weave those moments together and threads so that they can be interesting, I try to find things that are interesting from my mental collection, and it's very important, I think, especially as a... For a bass player, that we have a lot of experience because the bass is a very ubiquitous instrument in all ensembles.

- So much more versatile than anybody ever thinks it is.

(laughs) - It is, the bass is in so many different places, and so, I'm...

I have an opportunity to really be very broadly expressive in so many different ways, I mean, as I say, you know, rock... Indie, rock, all kinds of things, gospel, of course, you know, all the branches of black music, and so, I try to bring all those things to bear when I perform and try to... Just try to be broadly expressive, really tell... Really talk about the music that I'm playing in a way that is befitting of that particular... Any particular thing I'm doing.

- [Narrator] If you're looking for some entertainment this weekend, there are several plays, concerts and festivals taking place in metro Detroit.

Here's Cecilia Sharp from 90.9 WRCJ with today's "One Detroit Weekend."

- Hi, everyone, I'm Cecilia Sharp with 90.9 WRCJ, here with some fun arts and culture events for you to enjoy this weekend.

Let's start with the Tree Town Comedy Festival that runs through March 8th at Tree Town Comedy in Ann Arbor.

Over 30 comedians will share their acts throughout the week, so head on over to Ann Arbor for some shore laughter.

The Shamrock Tenors bring their first American tour to the Fox Theater March 8th, as they perform classic Irish songs like "Danny Boy," "Wild Rover," "The Parting Glass," and more with their five-part harmonies.

March 11th through the 23rd, Tony Award-winning best musical "Kimberly Akimbo" takes the stage at the Fisher Theatre.

The comedy follows the almost-16-year-old Kimberly who just moved to a new town with her family.

And the play "English" is having its run March 12th through April 6th at Tipping Point Theatre.

It's a heartfelt comedy based in an Iranian classroom for adult English learners that ask, will English only broaden or constrain their true expression?

As always, there's a lot more going on around the area, so stay tuned for a few more options.

Have a wonderful weekend.

(upbeat electronic music) (upbeat electronic music continues) - [Narrator] 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.

(upbeat electronic music) - [Narrator] From Delta faucets to Bear 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] DTE Foundation is a proud sponsor of Detroit PBS.

Among the state's largest foundations committed to Michigan-focused giving, we support organizations that are doing exceptional work in our state.

Learn more at dtefoundation.com.

- [Narrator] Nissan Foundation, and viewers like you.

(upbeat electronic music) (upbeat electronic music continues) (gentle piano music)