Sankofa Community Research

Sankofa Community Research (SCR) is a Black Detroiter led, community research project in partnership with Detroit Peoples Platform and academic partners at the University of Michigan to collect oral histories and conduct historical research to document the multi-generational impact of the destruction of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley on Black Detroiters; and to explore Black Detroiters collective vision for reparations as part of the 'I-375 Reconnecting Communities Project'.

We want to know:

1) What was lost in the destruction of Paradise Valley and Black Bottom?

2) What was the impact of displacement on Black Detroiters?

3) What do displaced Black Bottom/Paradise Valley community members and their descendants think reparations could include in the 30 acres of land to be developed from the ?

We are collecting oral histories from Black Detroiters who have stories of life in Black Bottom/Paradise Valley, or the descendants of someone who holds those stories.

If you are a Black Detroiter with stories and memories from Black Bottom or Paradise Valley we would love to record your story, and hear your ideas for what reparations can look as part of the I-375 development. We promise what you might think is ordinary is always going to be extraordinary when so much of our history as Black Detroiters is erased or incorrect. 

All storytellers will receive a $100 stipend.

Scroll to listen to some of the oral histories we’ve recorded from Black Bottom community members and descendants!

Leonard Johnson Black Bottom Oral History x Sankofa Community Research