Skip to main content

Detroit is Different

  • Latest episode: “Detroit Homecoming 2026: A City in Motion, A Legacy of Connection, A Future of Possibility”
  • Latest episode: “Who Really Benefits from the Renaissance Center Deal? Teron Haynes is Fighting for Detroiters to”
  • Latest episode: “Why Local Elections Matter More Sheila Cockrel on Power Politics and the People of Detroit”

  • Latest episode: “Detroit Homecoming 2026: A City in Motion, A Legacy of Connection, A Future of Possibility”
  • Latest episode: “Who Really Benefits from the Renaissance Center Deal? Teron Haynes is Fighting for Detroiters to”
  • Latest episode: “Why Local Elections Matter More Sheila Cockrel on Power Politics and the People of Detroit”

“I wanted a red brick house in Detroit. That’s all I wanted.” In this Detroit is Different studio sit-down, Misha Stallworth West—Senior Program Officer at the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation—traces a five-generation arc from Selma to Detroit and family full of community organizers. She remembers a “stoic” grandfather, and a grandmother Alma Stallworth nicknamed “the Rep,” whose fierce love for children helped shape the Northwest Activity Center, Beaubien Junior High, and the Black Caucus Foundation of Michigan’s drug, tobacco, and violence prevention work. Misha explains how growing up in meetings made her “a well-trained introvert,” and why she’s “never asked herself if I’m allowed to speak in any space—ever.” From Grant Park Chicago IL on election night of Barack Obama, to part of Detroit’s first school board after emergency management, she connects Legacy Black Detroit’s political education to today’s care economy. Her current focus is caregivers of older adults: “every time you go get a box for my auntie house, I’m talking about you,” and “you can’t pour from an empty cup.” This episode is a blueprint for how Detroit’s past-built institutions can power our next future. and how we honor elders.