Why Natasha T. Miller keeps Accountability for her Ideas

“You don’t get a blueprint in Detroit—you just have to be good and consistent.” Spoken word artist, poet, experience creator, and filmmaker Natasha T. Miller joins Detroit is Different for a deeply grounded conversation on what artistry means when it’s rooted in family, responsibility, and legacy Black culture. With humor and honesty, she reflects on being “300 cousins deep,” tracing her lineage back to Highland Park and a 14-bedroom family home that survived without lights or water—proof that Detroit creativity has always been born from endurance. T. Miller opens up about grief, raising her nephew after the loss of her brother, and how those life shifts reshaped her art: “It wasn’t a burden—it was what I was supposed to be doing.” She challenges the myth of the starving artist, insisting that sustainability is part of integrity: “If you’re making a decision to be a professional poet, you need to make money in that decision.” From the explosive era of Detroit’s spoken-word movement to her current work archiving grief, parenting, and memory through film and performance, this episode connects past and future. It’s a testament to Detroit’s experimental spirit—where art feeds community, accountability fuels creativity, and legacy is something you actively build.