Hey, Detroiters, welcome back to Culture Canvas!
This week, author Bridgett M. Davis is making her second appearance in my newsletter. I first interviewed the Detroit native last spring when she joined a Detroit Writing Room summer speaker series. Davis is known for writing the memoir, “The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers,” which tells the real-life story of her late mother Fannie, who ran an underground lottery business in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.
Davis just released her latest book, “Love, Rita: An American Story of Sisterhood, Joy, Loss, and Legacy.” The book explores Davis’ relationship with her older sister Rita and Rita’s battle with the autoimmune disease lupus.
Despite her diagnosis at age 20, Rita lived an exciting life. At 16, she attended the HBCU Fisk University and held jobs as a car test driver, an amateur belly dancer, and, later, a special education teacher.
In the face of family tragedy, the two sisters leaned on each other to heal and grew close until Rita’s life was cut short by lupus in 2000. She was 44. This led Davis to ask the question: “Why Rita?”
Davis will be in town this weekend to promote her new work. The Detroit Writing Room is hosting a book talk at 6 p.m. Saturday and signing with the author at 27th Letter Books. Journalist Kat Stafford, a global race and justice editor at Reuters and Coaching Detroit Forward Journalism Camp coach, will moderate the conversation. At 2 p.m. Sunday, Davis will speak at the main branch of the Detroit Public Library.
I talked to Davis about writing her sister’s story, what she learned from lupus research, and how Rita inspires her.
Editor’s note: This interview was lightly edited for length and clarity.
BridgeDetroit: After writing “The World According to Fannie Davis,” why did you decide that your sister’s story had to be told next?
I learned so much about the cultural context around my mom’s life, that got me thinking, “What’s the cultural context around Rita?” And if I can write about her, I can explore that question. I wanted an opportunity, a reason, to really explore who she was, who we were as sisters, but also the ways that systemic racism had impacted her life.
Davis: I wrote about my sister in “The World According to Fannie Davis,” because, to tell my mom’s story, I had to talk about the relationship that she had with all of us as her children, and she was very close to Rita. Rita was instrumental in her life. You learn about Rita in that book, but I realized that I wanted to devote an entire book to Rita when I began to think about the question of why her life was shortened by lupus.
As with most people, Black life is complex and filled with all kinds of highs and lows. That’s the nature of life. And sometimes with Black folks, we don’t always see that humanity played out in detail, and that was important to me.
Here was a woman who lived such a dynamic life, really modeled for me ways to live boldly and, yes, also suffered a chronic illness that compromised her life, but absolutely did not diminish her desires and her vision and her goals and what she meant to people. All those things can be true.
BridgeDetroit: How long did it take you to write the book and how did you decide which stories about Rita to include?
Davis: This was my fastest book. It took about two years. I did think a lot about how I told the story about my mom and I did a similar thing with Rita.
I thought about the stories that resonated with my life and stayed sharp despite time’s passage and I started there. I’m a big believer in interviewing others, so I talked to about 20 people she had known, whom she loved and who loved her and they helped me tell the story. Memoir is a kind of writing chorus, a communal approach so that it’s my voice, but all the other people who cared about her. That, to me, is the best way to get a richer portrait of someone.
BridgeDetroit: The prologue of the book starts with this story of you and Rita taking a trip to New York City in the late 70s shortly after your father passed away. Was that trip a turning point for you and Rita?
Davis: It was that moment when, for the first time in our lives, we were traveling together outside of our mother’s purview, just the two of us. Two sisters on the threshold of adulthood and we had so much expectation for that. It was the moment we were going to become good friends, and it didn’t happen that way. I wanted to say, ‘Here is the moment when we understood that we needed to be important to one another,’ and maybe that’s the moment we started trying to figure out how to be.
It was only after our older sister passed that we both understood how important our relationship was to one another. We were older by then, we were both in our 20s, and that is when we became close. We just looked at one another and said, “We can’t fight anymore. It’s just not worth it.”
The relationship was so natural, the closest that formed between us. With the loss of our older sister, we could just allow the bond to shine alongside the love that already existed.
BridgeDetroit: Since Rita had lupus, did you research on the illness while writing the book?
Davis: Absolutely. It’s incredible how you can live with someone suffering from something and not understanding it yourself. That was also important to me, to finally face a very hard thing, to look carefully and closely at what lupus is and what was her experience. Sometimes when you love someone, you can’t look at things. It’s too painful. But maturity, distance, and time helped me to be able to finally do that.
I didn’t understand that lupus tends to attack the body’s organs and that the brain is an organ because at the end of her (Rita’s) life, she was struggling with some cognitive issues. Also, what stunned me was to learn the statistic that one out of every 250 Black women will have lupus. So often it’s misdiagnosed, it’s maybe not diagnosed at all. That’s an incredible number and think about how many Black women didn’t know that that’s what they had until later.
Already, younger Black women with lupus have told me–they’ve seen early copies of the book– that it has helped them feel seen. I’m grateful for that because I’m talking about someone who died in 2000 but the story, and the issues, stay relevant.
BridgeDetroit: Was writing “Love, Rita” a healing process for you even though she’s been gone for 25 years?
Davis: It was such a hard book to write. I know that that’s why I delayed it. Interestingly, when I wrote “The World According to Fannie Davis,” Rita had already died, but I did not bring that up in the book. I made that first book about the years my mother was alive. I ended the book in ‘92 at my mom’s death and did not describe what came after. I wasn’t able to, I couldn’t. I just wasn’t ready. It’s been cathartic, but it’s been challenging to face my fears on the page. I will say, I’m grateful I could do it. I got this thing out of me that was weighing me down.
BridgeDetroit: How has Rita inspired you, back when she was alive and now?
Davis: Back then, I was just in awe of her because she went to college, and was the first in our family to do so. She went away to school at such a young age and got her degree. That was impressive to me. And then she went on and decided to do all these cool things.
She was like, “I think I would like to learn belly dancing.” And she did. Then she said, “We live in Detroit. I think the job I want to do for a while is to be a car test driver.” Then she was like, “I’m gonna go get an MBA.” She did. She was in this corporate job. You gotta understand, this was the early 80s, Black folks weren’t having these corporate jobs, it was still really rare. To think my sister was doing it and then to say, “Alright, I’m switching careers. I need to do a job that’s more conducive to my health. I’m going to become a special ed teacher.’” She was beloved. She became a very successful special ed teacher.
She did a lot of living in her time here and that was such an inspiration today. Her life inspires me anew because now I understand how hard that was; what she accomplished, given both her physical limitations and again, this discriminatory culture she found herself in with the systemic racism at play. Now I think of her as a heroine.
BridgeDetroit: What do you hope readers take with them from reading Rita’s story?
Davis: I hope they’re inspired by her life and how she managed to hold onto joy despite all that she faced it was up against. I want people to think twice about what it means to move through the world as a Black woman.
BridgeDetroit: What’s the status of “The World According to Fannie Davis” movie?
Davis: It has moved through the process after all kinds of things, including a pandemic, a major strike in Hollywood, and recent forest fires. There’s been so much that has gone on since 2020 when the film was first developed. But fortunately, it’s moving along. A director’s in place and it’s now truly in development. I wrote a first draft of the screenplay, and then the writer/director we chose is developing and writing her draft of the story.
As always, have a great week!
Cheers,
Micah
313 Scene
- Midtown and Ferndale are the top two preferred destinations for an LGBTQ business district, according to feedback collected in a recent metro Detroit survey. The survey, conducted last summer by the Detroit Regional LGBT Chamber of Commerce, showed support for the creation of a district. Separately, Palmer Park – a historically gay neighborhood off McNichols and Woodward – ranked tops in a supplemental survey as a third option.
- An events space in Highland Park called Tuxedo recently launched its new era with a night of house music by Mark Farina, a San Francisco DJ known for his “mushroom jazz” style, and others. Tuxedo’s general manager Alyssa Prince and talent buyer Jake James say they are taking the venue located at 11745 Woodward Ave. in a different direction, bringing in DJs, jam bands, comedians, poetry readings, drag shows, and other events aimed at metro Detroit’s arts scene. (Detroit Metro Times)
- East side arts complex Little Village made it on Time Magazine’s list of “World’s Greatest Places of 2025.” Led by husband and wife duo Anthony and JJ Curis, Little Village opened last summer and consists of The Shepherd, a former church transformed into an arts and culture center; the Little Village Library, a public archive dedicated to artists of color; ALEO, a boutique bed and breakfast dedicated to providing a refuge for artists and The Lantern, a building located a few blocks from The Shepherd. (Time Magazine)
- The Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation announced pianist, composer and artist Jason Moran as the Artist in Residence for the 2025 Detroit Jazz Festival, which will be held in downtown Detroit Aug. 29 – Sept. 1. (Detroit Free Press)
- Billy Joel has postponed his upcoming Ford Field show with Stevie Nicks to Nov. 15, citing an unspecified “medical condition” and recovery from a recent surgery. The piano pop superstar was set to play the downtown stadium on March 29. Existing tickets will be honored for the new date. (Detroit Free Press)
What’s Going on in the D?
- R&B star Mary J. Blige is bringing her “For My Fans Tour” to Little Caesars Arena at 7 p.m. Wednesday, with fellow R&B singers Ne-Yo and Mario serving as openers. There are still tickets available on Ticketmaster, beginning at $79.
- The Detroit Historical Museum is hosting “Tales from the D: Dennis Coffey” at 6 p.m. Friday. Tales from the D, hosted by Detroit musician Tino Gross and produced by award-winning filmmaker Tony D’Annunzio, will take you on a musical journey into the lives, careers, and songwriting skills of iconic Detroit musicians. Coffey is an R&B and soul guitarist who was part of the backing band at Motown called the Funk Brothers and he had the hit song “Scorpio” in the 1970s. Guests can enjoy a reception with a cash bar and light hors d’oeuvres, an episode screening, and a performance featuring Spyder Turner with the Ronnie Nelson Band. Tickets are $20 for Detroit Historical Society members and $35 for non-members.
- Detroit Repertory Theatre is showing its latest production, “Hysterical!” The dark comedy follows a cheerleading team and how each girl succumbs to uncontrollable tics and outbursts from a mysterious illness. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Fridays, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturdays, and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 the same day of the show.
- Black Tech Saturdays is hosting its Women’s History Month celebration from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at the College for Creative Studies’ Alfred Taubman Center. The free event includes speakers Kady Cox, founder of Cox Consulting Agency; Alyse Brown, founder of Alyyo Clothing Company and host Geralyn Gaines, founder of Keeping It G.
- Detroit’s Marche Du Nain Rouge parade returns at 11:30 a.m. Sunday at the intersection of Canfield and Second Avenue in the Cass Corridor. The annual event is held to ward off the mythical Nain Rouge, a red hobgoblin or dwarf demon that dates to Detroit’s origin. Musical performances include local acts Strand, Greektown Hotbox, and the Gabriel Brass Band. After the parade, people can head to the Masonic Temple for an afterparty.
