“I think my non-traditional journey through academia through life is all a result of God’s bigger purpose for my life.” Dr. Madeline Walker Miller’s story moves through family, faith, environmental justice, entrepreneurship, and a Detroit legacy she now feels responsible for carrying forward. Raised in Palmer Woods near Seven Mile and Woodward, with roots stretching through her father’s Detroit family to West Point Georgia and her mother’s North Nashville upbringing, Walker Miller grew up watching her parents build businesses while Oak Grove AME grounded her in community. At Spelman College, environmental science became real while working alongside Black elders who knew “their water tasted funny and that their air was thick.” That people-centered lens followed her through research on textile waste, the launch of NextTiles during COVID, and doctoral study at the University of Michigan examining energy justice and public housing, including the Villages at Parkside. Her journey also comes full circle through Walker Miller Energy Services, where she now works alongside her mother and sees legacy differently: “It would really trouble me if after watching both of my parents work so hard to build what they have I didn’t get involved in some kind of way.” This conversation asks what happens when education comes home to serve people—and what one generation owes the work built by the generation before it.

“We have been locked away from our history all these years.” Olayami Dabls’ journey into Detroit history begins long before the African Bead Museum became a landmark at Grand River and West Grand Boulevard. Arriving in Detroit in the 1960s, Dabls settled on 12th Street, worked at Grace Hospital, witnessed the 1967 Rebellion, and was arrested while simply trying to understand what was happening around him. Then came Vietnam, where a young Vietnamese boy challenged him: “This is not your war. You got a war back home.” That encounter helped turn Dabls toward books, African history, education at Northern High School and Highland Park Community College, and eventually 15 years of work with Detroit’s African American Museum. His search for knowledge became a search for cultural memory. In 1994, two strands of African beads opened another door, teaching him that beads carried histories, identities, protection, energy, and meanings far beyond decoration. That understanding grew into Dabls African Bead Museum and the monumental Iron Teaching Rocks How to Rust installation. “The best way you can control a person is to keep them ignorant,” Dabls says, making this conversation more than one man’s biography. It is a lesson about who defines knowledge, what Black Detroit chooses to preserve, and why Dabls believes “value is determined by what do you have that your ancestors used.” Listen to hear how one Detroiter turned displacement, war, study, art, and African consciousness into a living institution asking future generations to remember who they were before somebody else told them.

In this special edition of Detroit is Different, Khary Frazier sits down with Marshalle Favors to celebrate the 7th Annual Detroit Black Film Festival and explore the power of Black filmmakers telling our stories through our own cultural lens. Taking place September 23–27, 2026, the festival returns with the theme “Sincerely Detroit,” showcasing 89 films from around the world, including 16 films from Detroit. Marshalle shares how the festival is more than screenings—it is a space for filmmakers, actors, producers, writers, and audiences to build relationships, study the craft, and create new opportunities. Khary and Marshalle discuss what it means to truly watch film, from understanding music and performance to recognizing how directors establish a world and intentionally shape a story. They also explore why authentic Detroit filmmaking matters, especially when neighborhoods, language, people, and experiences are represented by storytellers who understand the culture firsthand. Marshalle highlights growing opportunities for women in filmmaking and encourages aspiring creatives to enter the industry through volunteering, production work, networking, and learning on set. With screenings, panels, the Filmmaker’s Lounge, Taste of Black Spirits, awards, and afterglows across Detroit, the Detroit Black Film Festival offers five days of Black storytelling, creativity, community, connection, collaboration, discovery, and cultural celebration.

“If we don’t care about us who will” Lazar Favors asks, placing the mission behind Taste of Black Spirits Detroit Amplify 2026 in plain language: Black ownership means more when Black communities intentionally build the relationships, distribution, knowledge, and buying power to sustain it. In this special edition of Detroit is Different, Lazar joins Khary Frazier to reflect on a journey that grew from five or six bottles on a podcast table into 500 products, 17 Taste of Black Spirits editions across five cities, and a movement connecting Black-owned brands, retailers, restaurants, and consumers. “If you own something Black you should sell something Black,” Lazar says, explaining why access matters as much as ownership. The conversation explores his growing palate, the complicated regulations governing spirits, Detroit brands, Black distribution, and why quality must drive the movement alongside cultural commitment. That work comes alive September 25 at Belle Isle Casino with the Liquid Forum from 11AM–3PM and Grand Tasting Exhibition from 4PM–8PM, featuring industry leaders, mixologists, entrepreneurs, and 200-plus spirit brands. This conversation connects yesterday’s exclusion to today’s ownership opportunities while asking what intentional Black economic ecosystems can build for tomorrow.