Black Bottom Archives celebrates 10th year with exhibit

Happy Tuesday and welcome back to Culture Canvas!

As the Michigan Department of Transportation continues its work on the I-375 redesign project, discussions on reparative justice have transpired to address how the freeway erased majority-Black neighborhoods like Black Bottom and Paradise Valley in the 1960s. The Kresge Foundation started a “Reparative Roundtable” last year, where a group of 20 stakeholders collect feedback from residents, including descendants of those who were historically displaced. 

One of the groups participating in the roundtable is Black Bottom Archives (BBA), an organization dedicated to protecting, preserving and amplifying Black Detroit stories. BBA is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with an exhibit at the Detroit Historical Museum, which kicked off Feb. 8. Titled, “10 Years Back, 10 Years Forward,” the display shows the organization’s evolution, from a Tumblr page to a growing community archive. Guests can check out zines, oral histories, podcasts, photos and interactive displays in the exhibit, which runs until the end of September. Museum hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $10 for adults and $6 for children. 

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I talked to Lex Draper Garcia, BBA’s co-executive director of community engagement and programs about the exhibit, how she got started with the organization and what BBA is up to for the rest of the year. 

BridgeDetroit: How did Black Bottom Archives get connected with the Detroit Historical Museum? 

Draper Garcia: The historical museum has been a collaborator and partner with BBA for some years now. Last year we did a storytelling salon, which is where we gathered a group of Black Bottom residents to talk about its history. And at that time, we talked about the possibility of having a pop-up exhibit in their community gallery space.

BridgeDetroit: What kind of things can people expect to see in the exhibit? 

Draper Garcia: We have links to listen to oral histories on our website, we have some examples of our Tumblr page where folks are able to look at our beginnings. We have a display of the first renderings of our Black Bottom Street View exhibit that is currently in Lansing and then a lot of photos showing the course of our work. 

BridgeDetroit: What attracted you to join BBA? 

Draper Garcia: It is an opportunity for me to merge a lot of the things that I love in one. I am a fourth-generation Detroiter; I love storytelling. I’m not a storyteller or an archivist by education or trade necessarily. I am a person who is my family documenter and responsible for making sure that my family has all of the pictures that they want in every event, even though they say they don’t want to take them. And so, I’m the person that holds our family memories and stories. To do that for an organization that uplifts Black Detroit stories is an opportunity to do all the things that I love.

BridgeDetroit: Do you have a personal connection to Black Bottom? Did you have any family members who lived there? 

Draper Garcia: I don’t have any family members that lived in Black Bottom. I think that for me, it’s important to uplift our Black Detroit neighborhoods because the things that affected and caused Black Bottom’s demise like gentrification, are things that are still happening today. And so, in order for us to prevent another Black Detroit neighborhood from being torn down and erased, we must preserve their story and uplift other neighborhoods and educate people in order to be able to become storytellers in our community. 

BridgeDetroit: When you’re out and about in the community talking to residents, do they know a lot about Black Bottom? 

Draper Garcia: There are some folks that have a general base level knowledge and then there are folks that don’t have any information or understanding of what happened. That’s actually how Black Bottom Archives came to be: there was a young group of Black Detroiters who hadn’t heard about what happened and they decided to take some action to make sure that they did some community organizing. It started off as a very grassroots community organizing way of informing the community of what happened in Black Bottom. It was a Tumblr page, there was a book club, there was a Black business directory, there was a zine. There have been a lot of community collaborators. 

BridgeDetroit: Has BBA talked to MDOT lately about honoring Black Bottom’s legacy with this I-375 redesign project? 

Draper Garcia:  We’ve been in communication at the I-375 meetings and with the planning teams and things, trying to identify what the community wants. There have been talks about land that is available and the best way to utilize that land. One of the things that I feel really strongly about is making sure that the people who were impacted have their voices heard. 

BridgeDetroit: What’s in store for BBA in 2025 and beyond? 

Draper Garcia: We have our Black Bottom Street View exhibit, which is at the Michigan History Center in Lansing. That’s up until the end of the year as well, until Nov. 30. We’re going to have another exhibit at the (Detroit) historical museum in a larger space come October 2025, and then we’re also launching our Preserving Black Legacy Fellowship, which will be providing an opportunity for five to seven intergenerational Black Detroiters to be able to get some skill building and training developments to present a project on a Black Detroit neighborhood. We’re also offering our community oral history and archiving workshop on Thursday (at Detroit Food Commons). 

BridgeDetroit: What’s one thing you hope people take from the exhibit? 

Draper Garcia: I hope that they’re able to be reflective on how it’s not just like me and (BBA Director) Marcia Black). We’re not the only two people that are moving this work, it takes the community. Black Bottom Archives is able to be what we are today because of the people in the community that believe in us and take our names into rooms they were not in and to refer us to opportunities. People are protective of the seniors in their life, the elders in their life and for them to be able to trust us with their memories…we’re only able to be as impactful as we are because the community really believes in the work that we’re doing.

As always, have a great week, Detroiters! 

Cheers, 

Micah

What’s Going on in the D?

• The main branch of Detroit Public Library is hosting a Princess Tiana Winter Ball 4 p.m. Wednesday. Children can dress up as their favorite princess or prince, dine on Creole cuisine and dance to great music from New Orleans. Princess Tiana from the Disney movie “The Princess and the Frog” will be at the library to take pictures and all kids can receive a crown to wear and take home while supplies last. 
• The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History is hosting a gallery talk 6 p.m. Thursday for its exhibit, “Gems from The Wright Museum.” The show celebrates the cherished heirlooms, family traditions and powerful stories passed down through generations of Black Detroiters. Assistant Exhibit Designer Korzell Coe and Manager of Youth and Family Programming Jonathan Jones will lead the discussion, sharing insights into the curation process and the stories behind the artifacts. The event is free with museum admission, which is $15. 
• Detroit Book City is hosting its 9th Annual African American Family Book Expo 12-5 p.m. Saturday at the Ernest T. Ford Field House in Highland Park. Award-winning author and historian Frank Zaaqan Jordan will give a talk at 2 p.m. and guests will also be able to meet more than 30 indie authors. Admission is free. 
• While known for being a summer festival, nonprofit Concert of Colors is hosting its first Caribbean Winter Fest 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Redford Theatre. Reggae artist Duane Stephenson is the headliner at the free event. 
• The Detroit Institute of Arts is getting in on hosting an annual Detroit tradition–Hair Wars. The hair show, which takes place 12-4 p.m. Sunday, will showcase innovative hair creations from stylists in a drop-in style demonstration. Throughout the day, the stylists will work with various models to create works of art from hair. The event is free for residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.