In this episode, Bailey Flannery and Desiree Cooper discuss how Cooper's decision to "marry Detroit" (by way of marrying a Detroiter) has irrevocably shaped her as a creative and person. This includes her long journalistic career at Detroit Free Press, which led her to eventually interviewing and documenting the life and legacy of Sarah Elizabeth Ray (also known as Lizz Haskell), one of Detroit's long-forgotten Civil Rights leaders.
This conversation covers:
- Cooper and Ray's parallel journeys from the South to Detroit, and how Cooper fell in love with Detroit's "mystique" and "swagger."
- The centrality of play and leisure to the civil rights movement, including Ray's own case, which was based on her forced removal from the Bob-Lo boat SS Columbia. (Spoiler: She took her case all the way to the US Supreme Court--and won.)
- Ray's lesser-known second act, which centered on protecting childhood through Action House.
- Futures currently realized and in jeopardy along the Detroit River.
- Why the Detroit River is laughing at us, and why we should laugh with it.
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