- [Will] Coming up on "One Detroit", we've teamed up with BridgeDetroit for a report on the preservation of the Inkster home where Malcolm X once lived.

Plus we'll talk about Malcolm's connection to the Detroit area.

Also ahead, Detroit Future City CEO Anika Goss talks about achieving equity and employment.

Plus PBS Kids debuts a groundbreaking children series featuring a main character with autism.

Also coming up we'll see how a local nonprofit uses creative arts therapy to bring out the talents of individuals with special needs.

- [Speaker] Because we do play a big role... - [Will] And we'll check out what's happening around town this weekend and beyond.

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

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(bright music) - [Will] Just ahead on "One Detroit" a "Future of Work" interview about efforts to ensure all Detroiters have equitable access to quality jobs in the state.

Plus PBS Kids launches an animated series about a raccoon who's on the autism spectrum.

Also, we'll tell you about an organization that helps people with disabilities discover their creative talents.

And we'll run down some of the events taking place this weekend and beyond in Metro Detroit.

But first up, we've partnered with BridgeDetroit for a story about the Malcolm X Inkster Home Historical Preservation project.

The nonprofit organization Project We Hope Dream & Believe is leading the restoration of the home where the Nation of Islam minister and civil rights activist lived with his brother Wilfred.

BridgeDetroit's Micah Walker toured the house, which is slated to open as a museum next year.

Here's her report.

(bright music) - This house on Williams Street in Inkster, long sat vacant.

Once home to civil rights leader Malcolm X, it has a storied history.

Now the restoration led by the nonprofit Project We Hope Dream & Believe is almost finished.

Why was it important for you and your team to acquire a Malcolm X House and stop it from being demolished?

- It's a part of history.

When you look back and you see Malcolm and the things that Malcolm stood for.

And not just that but to know that he was born in Omaha, Nebraska, but majority of his family life is here in the state of Michigan.

- [Micah] Malcolm X lived in the house in Inkster from 1952 to 1953.

Saving it took persistence.

- Yeah, it was on the demolition list for years, took off the list.

It took us four different mayors just to get the house from the city which thankful for.

But yeah, it was just something that the city just let it sit, you know, and let it rot and we just didn't wanna see that happen no more to this city, let alone to this home and Malcolm's legacy.

- How did the house look when you all began working on it?

- The house was stripped out, there had been a fire in here, there was some roof damage and the front wall of the house was deteriorated, structurally unsound because of the weather.

So I had to first of all make the house stable, redo the roof, and then start the renovations on the inside.

We put all new heating/cooling system in, all new plumbing, all new electrical.

- [Micah] The multi-year transformation took the home back in time.

- We had to turn the house back into the 1950s timeframe when he lived here.

We actually had to pull the windows out and we gotta go back to the old steel crank windows.

So everything in the house has to go back to what it looked like in the 1950s and a lot of people didn't realize that.

We put out a thing on Facebook and everybody started calling.

We went to Ann Arbor, we got like the black and white TV that actually still works to today.

But we have couches, we have furniture so it was a blessing that people still held on to all of this stuff where we can actually furnish the house with.

- [Micah] Helping with the preservation is Tareq Ramadan the nonprofits project manager.

He's also a Wayne State University anthropology professor and got the college community involved.

- I pitched the idea of having Wayne State's Department of Anthropology come to the home and begin excavations at the house.

And so we did our first round in July of 2022 and we got volunteers, we got students, we got faculty, and we all began to engage in archeological excavations of the property surrounding the house.

And we did another round of excavations the following year in October of 2023.

Part of that's because I felt that Wayne State's Anthropology Department and its archeology team was well suited.

And also the fact that Malcolm X gave a speech at Wayne State University in 1963, I felt that this was kind of a full circle moment.

- Are you learning things you never knew about Malcolm X?

- In terms of learning new things, you know, of course.

We've been able to interview people, former neighbors of Malcolm, people who knew him, people who used to see him, you know, when he lived at the house in '52 and in '53.

And so all of that information that we've sort of accumulated has been really helpful in providing us with a more robust picture of what Malcolm's life was like.

Especially given that the time he spent Inkster is one of the most understudied aspects of his life.

- [Micah] During a tour of the house Sims shows the area Malcolm X and his brother Wilfred shared.

- So this room here is where Malcolm lived with, well Wilfred Jr.

So the story that I was told from Wilfred's daughter is that Wilfred was writing letters to Malcolm while he was in prison and telling him about the city of Inkster and he needs to come here when he get released.

- [Micah] He served time in Massachusetts for burglary from 1946 to 1952.

- Wilfred went to go pick up Malcolm when he got released and this is the room where Malcolm shared with Wilfred Jr. in the upstairs part.

I don't know if you'll be able to see it, but we did what was called the wall sign.

So if at any point in history that someone was to take down a piece of drywall here, you will see people's name engrave on the wall.

- [Micah] And there's a plan for future visitors to get a piece of history.

- In this room here, right where we're standing at, the house caught on fire.

So from when the fire department came, this was all the buckled up wood from the original floor.

So we had to find a guy who specializes in flooring and he had to make the wood that's here now back to the original.

Because everything, by being a historical house, it had to have like original wood pieces.

So when we open the house up, we're going to take this wood here and we're going to cut it into six inch pieces and we're going to have it stamped with the Malcolm X Project 4336 Williams Street.

And while, so it'll always be like while supplies last, you'll be able to have a piece of wood from the original floor of the house.

- What do you envision this space to be when it's completed?

- The house will be a museum and next to the house we have future plans to build a vo-tech center next door.

- [Micah] Next year's scheduled grand opening coincides with what would've been Malcolm X's 100th birthday.

- One thing that I love about Malcolm, is Malcolm said that if he could change, you know, anybody could change.

I think about all of the trouble that I got into growing up.

My life had did it like a total 360.

Your surroundings don't make you, you make your surroundings.

- Micah.

- American Black Journal host and "One Detroit" contributor, Stephen Henderson, sat down with BridgeDetroit reporter Micah Walker and Wayne State University professor Dr. Tareq Ramadan, who is the project manager for the Malcolm X house preservation.

They talked about Malcolm's life and legacy in the Detroit area.

(bright music) - Let's start with the idea of this house in Inkster.

Tell me why this is an important part of understanding who Malcolm was and understanding the work that he did over his lifetime.

- Malcolm's residence in Inkster in 1952 and 1953 represent, really, one of the most understudied parts of his life.

And it's incredibly significant, it's a pivotal sort of moment in his life, although it was a very sort of short run.

It's in Inkster that Malcolm essentially acquires formally the X to his name.

It is also where Malcolm joins the Nation of Islam officially when he is residing with his brother Wilfred Little who owned the house in Inkster at 4336 Williams Street.

And it's also where Malcolm begins his professional career with the Nation of Islam as an assistant minister.

So those are obviously incredibly important sort of milestones in his own personal and professional life.

And I think that's why the house in Inkster is, I think, of such profound significance when trying to examine, you know, Malcolm's life in its totality.

- Yeah, and so what kinds of things did he do while he was here in Detroit?

The kinds of outreach and the kinds of people he might have touched when he was here that, again, help us understand his work.

- Well, during the early part after his arrival, Malcolm was actually quite, quite ill and it was actually a quite turbulent time in his life, you know, trying to gain his footing.

He had just been released from prison after several years and in Massachusetts, and so he was really trying to establish himself, trying to, essentially, you know, acquire some sort of footing, some stability.

And so Wilfred invites him to his house to live with him and his family and that's sort of part of the agreement between him and the parole officers in Massachusetts.

And so they work out this sort of deal and he ends up living with his brother, and his brother takes him in and and cares for him.

And Wilfred is really Malcolm's best friend and helps facilitate his role within the Nation of Islam.

He sets up a meeting between him and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and from that point forward Malcolm begins to sort of make way into the Nation.

He begins to help garner recruits at the Detroit Temple Number One.

But Malcolm's sort of life doesn't just, his life in Detroit and Inkster doesn't really end there.

Malcolm continues to return to the city, he speaks at several instances at the Detroit Temple Number One.

He also comes back and gives speeches and talks and public presentations.

He did so, for example, at the Ford Auditorium, which is no longer standing, he also does so at the King Solomon Baptist Church, Wayne State University.

So Malcolm continues to return to Detroit, continues to engage in the community and continues to raise a profile of the Nation of Islam.

And even after he leaves the Nation, he's still, he continues to come here and in order to advocate both black empowerment but also engaging with his audience regarding his sort of new political vision for African Americans, alongside trying to establish a broad sort of global network that seeks justice from oppression.

- Micah, tell us how it felt, I guess, to be in the house.

I mean being inside history that way, I think, makes impressions on all of us.

- So it was kind of a surreal moment.

I mean I got to see the bedroom that Malcolm and his brother once shared.

And going down to the living room to where Malcolm was probably reading the Quran and spending time with his family.

I live right next door in Dearborn and I never knew that Malcolm lived in Inkster until a few months ago, so it was just great to witness a piece of history and I was glad I was able to tell the story.

- Turning now to Detroit Future City's fifth annual Equity Forum, which will be streamed in part on the "One Detroit" PBS Facebook page on Thursday, November 21st at 7:00 PM as part of our "Future of Work" initiative.

The discussion focuses on ensuring African Americans and other minorities in Detroit get equitable access to quality jobs and careers in Michigan.

I spoke with Detroit Future City CEO Anika Goss about the importance of equity and employment.

(bright music) - For us at Detroit Future City, we are most concerned as to how inclusive the future of work actually is, in particular for black and brown Detroiters.

Most so because they are the furthest behind in education attainment as well as workforce achievement.

So we wanna make sure that as we are all, as Detroit and the region continues to grow and change, that everyone is included in that.

- If we get this right, how is that going to benefit the future for Detroit?

- Well, I mean, you can only imagine, right?

So 78% of Detroiters are of African descent or African American and then another 12% are either Latino or foreign born.

So imagine if we can close those equity gaps for that many Detroiters.

- Yeah.

Yeah, that's a lot.

- Right.

That means that more than half of Detroiters will be able to enter the new workforce, the new industry at a whole different economic level.

That could potentially change the economics for Detroit and the region.

- There is someone in a C-Suite somewhere, if there is someone starting a new business, how do they get involved?

Where do people go?

What kind of things can people do to be proactive in this?

- So I feel like the answers are already there.

I do feel like companies, institutions, systems have to really, the narrative that has to change is that Detroit, we can still change these industries, advance these industries with the current population.

If we change the narrative that we can only populate new industries and growth industries with people who are imported from outside of Detroit, to how do we make sure that our labor force are Detroiters right now?

That's a whole different way of thinking about what our labor force will look like in the future.

- PBS.

- PBS Kids has launched a groundbreaking animated series that features a main character who's on the autism spectrum.

The show is called "Carl the Collector" and it follows the antics of a warm-hearted raccoon with autism who loves collecting things.

The show is designed for children ages four through eight and the stories celebrate the different ways kids think and express themselves.

- I wanna help.

- [Will] You can see "Carl the Collector" on the PBS Kids channel at 11:00 AM every day, including weekends, or on the Detroit PBS main channel on weekdays at 8:30 AM.

There is a Metro Detroit organization that helps individuals with disabilities discover their creative abilities.

FAR Therapeutic Arts and Recreation is a nonprofit that promotes inclusivity and transforms lives through art, music and dance.

"One Detroit" contributor Deja Moss has the story on how the organization helps children and adults with special needs.

(bright music) (upbeat drum music) (people talking in background) - I love the history of FAR because we do play a big role in the community for people with disabilities.

But we were founded in 1951 by parents who wanted someplace for their adult children to socialize.

And over years those same parents advocated for the Special Needs Act in Michigan to allow kids with disabilities to go to public schools.

So we kind of closed up very, very briefly and then came back together because we quickly realized that the kids weren't still getting the services they needed.

So the board of directors came together and decided to really focus on creative arts and recreational services for people with disabilities.

We offer all different kinds of creative arts therapies under one roof.

We do music therapy, art therapy, dance movement therapy, and recreational services.

- At FAR I am a music therapist as well as the director of therapeutic staff.

So half of my week is providing music therapy with clients with a variety of disabilities, mostly with children and adolescents in a school setting.

And the other half of my job is an administrative role supporting new staff as they onboard and also providing clinical supervision to our therapy team.

Music therapy looks like a lot of fun.

We might be engaged in playing instruments and making up our own songs and working on just our own emotional and self-expression.

When you're engaging in music making all day with your clients, there's a vulnerability in that.

And I've really come to appreciate my clients who show up and they're so authentic and they inspire me to just come as who I am that day and to embrace who I am as a person.

- Art therapy is basically a mixture of counseling and art and so it helps the clients.

And I usually, I don't say clients.

They're my friends, I say my friend, my bud, my buddy, but it helps the clients to take out any frustration through the art.

So I've learned that I'm not always the teacher 'cause I walk in as the art therapist and you think that you're the one, you know, giving the lesson, teaching the lesson, and a lot of times they teach you a lot of different things.

It's those little nuggets that we get on a day-to-day basis where you may have a child that's usually nonverbal and then you'll walk through the door and they're like, "Hey Miss Parina, how are you?"

And it just blows your mind and warms your heart at the same time.

So just those little nuggets that we get day to day where they just surprise you.

- What really makes FAR so unique is the fact that we provide creative arts therapy for people with disabilities of any age and any diagnosis.

And what's so unique about that is you can come as a child and you're always welcome here.

You're never gonna age out of our programs.

One of the clients, which there are many that bring me joy here at FAR, is Juan.

Juan has been a client here at FAR for over 20 years, which is so exciting, and I think he's pretty much done every therapy that we've offered.

(cymbals chiming) - We seek out therapists who are passionate and people who really care about their jobs and they really care about people and making a difference in someone's life.

I think FAR is a really incredible place for clinical staff to develop our skills and sharpen each other as clinicians because we have a really strong team.

My coworkers all come from different backgrounds and different work experiences and we can teach each other so much about how to be the best therapists that we can be.

- It is wonderful being with an organization with like-minded people that share the same vision for working with children as well as adults that I have.

And we understand what, you know, what we're dealing with on a day-to-day basis and we can actually communicate with each other when we're having issues ourselves as well.

- We really a few years ago decided that we really wanted to be more of a community center for families with people with disabilities so we started offering all different kinds of opportunities.

- Well, the way I hope FAR combats societal stereotypes is saying individuals with special needs as people because they are just that, just people, and you'd be surprised and amazed at what they can do.

And I think sometimes when people think of special needs, they think of what people can't do, what they can't do.

And I've worked with some exceptional individuals, some exceptional friends as I called them.

(drums beating) - [Will] There are a variety of activities taking place this weekend and beyond in Metro Detroit.

From holiday themed activities, to concerts and a classic movie, there's plenty to choose from.

Cecilia Sharp and Dave Wagner of 90.9 WRCJ have today's "One Detroit Weekend."

- Well, it's that time once again that we get to chat about what's coming up around Detroit this weekend.

Cecilia, why don't you start us off?

- Well, I've got a good event for you.

You know what is a furtastic event that happens every Thursday?

It's Tennis Ball Thursdays at Barkside Bar in Detroit.

Bring your pooch to the dog-friendly establishment and watch as dozens of tennis balls get tossed to the pets.

Don't worry, the bar provides rufferees to watch all the dogs while you enjoy your beverage.

Be sure to go to the website and register your furry friend before heading to the event.

- Oh, I don't think you can have a better Thursday than watching a bunch of dogs with a bunch of tennis balls.

Tomorrow, November 15th join Detroit Performs own Satori Shakoor as the Secret Society of Twisted Storytellers hosts "Best of Twisted Part One" at Marygrove Theater.

You'll hear some of the best stories to come out of the organization's events.

- [Cecelia] I love that organization.

Well it's that time of year again where the world becomes a little brighter with holiday lights, and Canterbury Village is kicking things off with their tree lighting November 15th.

- You know, I love a classic movie and Redford Theater does classic movies right.

Like tomorrow the theater is showing a Marx Brothers double feature with "Duck Soup" and "A Night at the Opera."

I encourage people to head to the theater for any of their movies.

It's like going back in time.

- [Cecelia] How cool.

And tomorrow through November 17th, "Under the Streetlamp" is at Orchestra Hall.

That's right, the same "Under the Streetlamp" you've seen right here on PBS.

- And you know there's even more than these events happening this weekend and beyond, so here are a few more to consider.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

(bright mellow music) - 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.

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Masco, serving Michigan communities since 1929.

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- [Announcer] 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.

- [Announcer] Nissan Foundation and viewers like you.