All Interviews

Baker, Joe Ann
Summary: Joe Ann Baker grew up a small town in Eastman Georgia where she did not notice prejudices (white doll). But life was quite different when she moved north. After moving north she encountered racism and white flight in Michigan. She also discusses the Highland Park riots and the mayor at that time Colman A. Young.

Byrd, LaDonna
Summary: LaDonna Byrd is a single mother of five children living in Detroit, MI. This interview recounts her younger years living in Detroit and the difficulty of dealing with the early loss of her parents. Also, how moving back to Detroit, Michigan from a safer Burlington, Vermont has changed her life.

Caka, Bardha
Summary: Marygrove College student Tracee Anderson interviews Bardha Caka (Barbara) about her experiences moving to the United States from Albania. Barbara talks about the lottery and how she came to America. Ms. Caka goes on to speak about Communism in Albania, her journey to the United States, and how she learned English by watching television.

Echevaria, Mercedes
Summary: Marygrove College professor Dena Scher interviews Mercedes Echevaria about her experiences coming to the United States from Cuba. Mercedes came to the United States via Mexico in 1968 when she was around ten years old with her mother and siblings. Mercedes' father came to the United States a few years before to find work earn enough money to bring his family.

Foote, Sandra A.
Summary: Marygrove College student Crystal Avant interviews her mother, Sandra Foote, about her experiences moving to Detroit. Sandra Foote grew up in New Orleans and lived a sheltered life with a close-knit Creole community. Foote did not feel much racial prejudice until she moved to Detroit. Foote moved to Detroit with her mother when she was five years old.

Gary, Daisy
Summary: Marygrove College student Danielle Washington interviews her great-grandmother, Daisy Gary, about her experiences moving to Detroit. Daisy Gary was born in Arkansas, later moved to Houston, Texas, and finally arrived in Detroit in 1945. Gary then details her life since the migration.

Johnson, Andrew
Summary: Marygrove College student LeAndre Johnson interviews his father, Andrew Johnson, about his experiences moving to Detroit. Andrew Johnson came to Detroit in 1962 with his mother and siblings. Johnson's mother came to Detroit looking for work. Johnson talks about racism in the South and in Detroit and his perceived differences between the Black Panther party and Dr. Martin Luther King's approach.

Khapoya, Vincent
Summary: Dr. Khapoya talks about his early schooling and initiation rites when he was a 14 year old boy in Kenya. In the interview, he recounts his father’s dedication to achieving an education for his children, including his sister who was not his sister, but his cousin. The continuity of tradition is noted in Dr. Khapoya’s building a house for his mother, which is not his mother’s house but his own house.

Kirn, Herbie
Summary: Herbie Kirn grew up in a small town as a homosexual male. As Herbie grew older he joined a band, and traveled around the country with the band. He later joined the Church of Scientology where he met his wife Lorrie Kirn. The couple stayed married for while and had 2 children. Herbie eventually divorced Lorrie, because he was still a homosexual male.

Lerebours, Nulca
Summary: Marygrove College professor Dena Scher interviews Nulca Lerebours about her experiences coming to the United States from Haiti. Nulca came to the United States in 1968 at age 26 with her husband. Nulca speaks about her journey from New York to Florida with her children, her involvement with the church and community, and how Haitians are living in Florida.

Matlock, Mildred
Summary: Mildred Matlock speaks about her mother, Myrtle Lois Gilford, and her mother's move to Detroit. Myrtle Gilford came to Detroit from Beloit, Alabama in search of better job opportunities and a better life. Mildred Matlock is a member of the Detroit Association of Black Storytellers (DABS). The speech was given during the "History Telling Concert" at Marygrove College on May 7, 2006.

Moore, Sam
Summary: Sam Moore was born April 1, 1932. He was raised in a small town outside of Texarkana, TX. In this interview, Sam Moore revisits living in poverty during his childhood which led to his migration to Detroit. He also recounts living in poverty in Detroit as a result of migrating to the region during “the turn over” (when automotive plants lay workers off for two weeks).

Okezie, Chuckwunyere
Marygrove College professor Dr. Chukwunyere Okezie was one of 10 siblings in his family's compound in Nigeria. After Zaira University in Nigeria was closed, he moved at the age of 22 to the United States to earn his undergraduate and Ph.D. degrees. Dr. Okezie married in 2001 and describes his growing family and academic life at Marygrove College.

Perez, Cosmae
Summary: Marygrove College professor Dena Scher interviews Cosmae Perez about his experiences working the United States as a migrant. Cosmae was born in Mexico from Mexican American parents. After he quit school at the age of sixteen, Cosmae began to work - first locally and then as a migrant worker.

Perez, Esperanza
Summary: Marygrove College professor Dena Scher interviews Esperanza Perez about her experiences coming to the United States from Mexico. Esperanza's mother crossed into Texas while pregnant and gave birth so that Esperanza would be registered as an American citizen. Esperanza lived in Mexico and immigrated to the Unites States when she was nine. Esperanza talks about migrant work and how she met her husband, Cosmae, and their family.

Revell, Yvonne
Summary: Yvonne Revell was a Bennett College student, living at home, during the sit-in demonstrations at the Woolworth’s lunch counter which began on Feb. 1, 1960, Greensboro, NC. The interview recounts her student days at Bennett College, the demonstrations in February 1960, how these events impacted on other events in her life, and her years as a schoolteacher in segregated schools.

Rodriguez, Freddie
Summary: Marygrove College professor Dena Scher interviews Freddie Rodriguez about his experiences coming to the United States from El Salvador. Freddie came to the United States in 1995 when he was seven years old with his siblings. Rodriguez's parents came illegally to the United States a few years before. In his first years in Florida, Freddie and his brothers were set apart by their language barrier, but they eventually overcame that obstacle.

Shakarnah, Mahar
Summary: Mr. Shakarnah was born in Bethlehem in the West Bank. He started to cook at an early age and was working as a chef in the Middle East. Mahar came to the United Stated for a visit in 1997. He traveled the country and eventually settled in Michigan to continue working as a chef.

Stamps, Earnest
Summary: Earnest Stamps, a retired pharmacist, details his migration from Atlanta to Detroit and the opportunities presented by the move north. Stamps also speaks about his life once he arrived in Detroit. He speaks about the hard times for his family, going into foster care, and the Marcus Garvey Movement. The interview was conducted on April 28, 2006 by Marygrove professor Dena Scher.

 

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