Authentically Detroit
Authentically Detroit is the leading podcast in the city for candid conversations, exchanging progressive ideas, and centering resident perspectives on current events.
Hosted by Donna Givens Davidson and Orlando P. Bailey.
Produced by Sarah Johnson and Engineered by Griffin Hutchings.
Check us out on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @AuthenticallyDetroit!
Authentically Detroit
Civic Stats, Soul Food, and Sound Waves: Preserving Detroit’s Culture with Alex B. Hill, Chef Keisha, and Robin Kinnie
This week, Donna and Orlando spoke about everything from fresh collard greens, vital city statistics, to innovative educational partnerships all of which celebrate Detroit's cultural legacy and future potential.
They began with a brand-new segment, "Detroit by the Numbers" featuring Alex B Hill of Detroitography who breaks down surprising statistics shaping our city. These numbers tell a powerful story about civic participation, energy infrastructure, and housing vulnerability that affects every resident.
Next, they welcomed Chef Keisha, crowned champion at Detroit is Different’s 2025 Collard Green Cook-Off. Her Alabama-inspired greens earned a perfect score from the judges. More than just a culinary triumph, her story celebrates the cultural preservation work happening through food traditions that bring Detroiters together.
Finally, they explored a groundbreaking educational partnership as Robin Kinnie of Audio Engineers of Detroit discussed their recent collaboration with Ferris State University. This alliance creates a clear pathway for Detroiters to transform technical training into university credits toward a bachelor's degree.
From voter statistics to soul food traditions to educational innovation, this episode showcases the people working to preserve Detroit's cultural legacy while creating new opportunities for its future.
Up next the winners of the 2025 Collard Green Cook-Off, miss Keisha's Kitchen and Mama Tree of Treetop Grows Farms, plus the duo behind the Audio Engineers of Detroit, michael and Robin Kinney, join Authentically Detroit. But first we're introducing a new segment with Alex B Hill of Detroitography, called Detroit by the Numbers. Keep it locked. Authentically Detroit starts after these messages. Have you ever dreamed of being on the airwaves? Well, the Authentically Detroit Podcast Network is here to make those dreams come true. Formerly known as the Deep Network and located inside the Stoudemire, the Authentically Detroit Podcast Network are for studio space and production staff. To help get your idea off of the ground, just visit authenticallydetcom and send a request through the contact page. Hey y'all, it's Orlando. We just want to let you know that the views and opinions expressed during this podcast episode are those of the co-hosts and guests and not their sponsoring institutions. Now let's start the world. Welcome to another episode of Authentically Detroit broadcasting live from Detroit's Eastside at the Stoudemire inside of the Eastside Community Network headquarters. I'm Orlando Bailey.
Donna Givens Davidson:And I'm Donna Givens-Davidson.
Orlando Bailey:Thank you for listening in and supporting our efforts to build a platform of authentic voices for real people in the city of Detroit. We want you to like, rate and subscribe to our podcast on all platforms. We will have a full house. Today we're so happy to have the winner of the 2025 Collard Green Cook-Off and also the husband and wife duo behind the Audio Engineers of Detroit to discuss their partnership with Ferris State University. We're also happy to premiere our new monthly segment called Detroit by the Numbers with our friend Alex Hill of Detroitography. Welcome to Authentically Detroit. Once again. Everybody. Donna Gibbons-Davidson, it's Monday. How is this blessed day finding you?
Donna Givens Davidson:Oh, it's good, it's been a good day. You know it's a little rainy and dark outside, but this time of year is very exciting for a person such as myself, because the campaign finance statements came out on Friday and I'm like looking at all that information. And, alex, I know you've been looking at those numbers, or I'm guessing you have.
Orlando Bailey:Hi Alex Hill, Welcome back to Authentically Detroit, thank you, thank you. What do you have to say about those campaign finance numbers and the people, the names behind them.
Alex B. Hill:What do you notice? There's some interesting names there's some interesting names, anything standing out for you? It's some interesting names, anything standing out for you? I haven't dug in super deep but I did catch. Malachi did a quick map and you can really see that I call it the northwesterly pattern of Detroit. Oh yeah, kind of follows the lodge and that's where those donors in Detroit are following along to Samuel.
Orlando Bailey:L Jackson gave to Mary Sheffield. You said his name wrong. It's Samuel L Jackson.
Donna Givens Davidson:That's how we say his name. I'm sorry, I need to be so he's on there.
Orlando Bailey:He gave to Mary Sheffield there's another person in Hollywood.
Donna Givens Davidson:She got a couple of Hollywood people. You know Greg Mathis is supporting her campaign and I think he brought in some Hollywood money but, what's interesting to me is actually Durhall's campaign.
Donna Givens Davidson:Durhall. Filed late but his campaign seems to have a lot of developer ties, a lot of you know. He has a lot of big money donors, not as many small donors, although he does have names that I recognize but he has. It feels like a lot of big money donors, not as many small donors, although he does have names that I recognize, but he has. It feels like a lot of real estate developers. Did you look at Durhall's number and then of course he has a chamber pack.
Orlando Bailey:Yeah, no, I did not get the opportunity to look at the numbers yet, and so I am saving that for this evening. It's going to be a treat to myself.
Robin Kinnie:I cannot wait.
Orlando Bailey:It really is one of the most wonderful times of the year, because you get to see where alliances are, where allegiances are and who's sort of cozying up to whom and why are, and who's sort of cozying up to whom and why, like who's, you also get to see who's maxing out contributions and stuff like that?
Donna Givens Davidson:which is always interesting as well. It is what the probably the interesting thing for me is also that I feel like a lot of my peers um people, black women around my age and black whatever a lot of them are supporting santil. Yeah, santil seems to have the I'm still calling myself middle-aged group, you know captured, but you know, mary has an interesting group as well. What I thought was interesting is earlier today we had some students come in for our summer youth employment program. We have a mini internship, and so we were watching the documentary Landgrab.
Orlando Bailey:Oh yeah, which is really interesting years later.
Donna Givens Davidson:But what's most interesting is that Santil Jenkins is featured in there as one of the people who she was the president of the city council at the time, and some of her statements are just downright interesting. I wonder if people remember some of her stances at that time.
Orlando Bailey:Where were they?
Donna Givens Davidson:You know, it was sort of like well, hans Woodlands is doing this and I don't see anybody else bringing their money to the table, and she suggested that he was getting a deal because he was going to pay $200 per lot for this land and he wasn't going to make any money from this. And indeed he has made $9.5 million in counting from selling the land and so sort of like this wholesale support and dismissal of all of the protests from residents in the city of Detroit.
Donna Givens Davidson:It just felt very dismissive to me, which is disappointing.
Orlando Bailey:We'll have to get her back and ask her about it.
Donna Givens Davidson:Well, I mean, we'll see.
Orlando Bailey:Yeah.
Donna Givens Davidson:You know, it depends on what happens in August. Well, next week.
Orlando Bailey:Next week.
Donna Givens Davidson:If in August she prevails, it's certainly going to be something that I think we should be asking her about. I think there was sort of also this mindset about people didn't pay their taxes, their homes got taken, and since then we know that it was much more complicated.
Orlando Bailey:So yeah, you said something that was interesting too. You teased out the fact that a lot of folks in your age group are supporting Santil. Why do you think that is?
Donna Givens Davidson:I don't know. I think that Santil is. You know, she is very. First of all she's closer to the age group than Mary is, and so I think that between the two of them she seems the most mature in a lot of people's eyes. I hear that talk about experience and maturity and you know, the way she speaks kind of resonates with them. Mary is young, not as young as Kwame was when he became mayor, but you know, women don't get the same grace that men do in similar situations, but Mary is young. I think Mary has a lot of grassroots ties. I think that she has not kissed the rings, the right rings that people kiss to get into certain spaces. And then I think that there is the impact of her father on her image. And if you love her father, that's a good thing, but if you don't, I think that that, can you know, resonate in some of the way people respond.
Orlando Bailey:Yeah, yeah, we'll be paying close attention. Remember the absentee ballots are already out. Early voting has begun. Everybody, we are encouraging you, if you are listening to us, if you are a resident in the city of Detroit, to participate in the voting process this primary. Please, I'm begging you. If you need a ride, call me, I will take you. Please, please, participate.
Donna Givens Davidson:ECM will be providing rides Call 571-2800.
Orlando Bailey:Don't call me to get a ride.
Donna Givens Davidson:Call, or let me look up your number really quick 571-2800. Don't call me to get it right. No call Orangely.
Orlando Bailey:Let me look up your number really quick 571-2800.
Donna Givens Davidson:No seriously, though, I think people need to show up. I think this myth that you showing up doesn't matter is simply wrong. And this is such an important election, we need young people out at the polls. We don't just need people my age out at the polls. You know the story that showed that for every one person under 30, you have 10 people over 60 voting. That's a ridiculous number and I think we need to change that.
Orlando Bailey:Yeah, yeah. Well, since we're talking about numbers, let's get to our brand new segment. Remember it Detroit by the numbers right, where we highlight significant data and numbers from this past month for Detroiters. We're here with Alex B Hill of Detroitography and newly minted chairperson of the city's GoData Commission. The GoData Commission is a diverse group of stakeholders including data experts, community leaders and representatives from various sectors. We are dedicated to ensuring that the city's open data initiatives serve the needs of all residents and promote informed decision making. Alice, congratulations, yes, thank you. Thank you. I feel great comfort knowing that you are in that post. Absolutely, I trust your science, alex Hill.
Alex B. Hill:No, thank you. I just hope we can keep pushing the numbers out and make them useful. Well, let's do it, let's do it. Yeah, let's do it.
Orlando Bailey:So sometimes there are numbers and data points in the news, but it's hard to know the context behind them, so let's talk about them and dig in. What numbers do you have for us this month, alex?
Alex B. Hill:Yeah, so both of you were kind of teasing our first one. Our first number for this month is 62 62? And that's 62% of active voters in Detroit are senior citizens or over the age of 60.
Orlando Bailey:Wow, that's a large number.
Donna Givens Davidson:That defeats my description of myself as being middle-aged Donna, you're still 37 my description of myself as being middle-aged, donna, you're still 37.
Orlando Bailey:Griffin, mute my mic so that I can laugh boisterously, please.
Donna Givens Davidson:Okay, yes, but you were saying that Malachi Barrett broke it down.
Orlando Bailey:So sort of break that down a little bit for us. Alex, 62% of active voters in Detroit are senior citizens, right?
Alex B. Hill:Right. So we have a whole bunch more people in the city that are registered, but the people who actually show up to the polls are more likely to be over 60. And Malachi requested that data from the Department of Elections, so that's where we get that number. Requested that data from the Department of Elections, so that's where we get that number. But so I think to your point. You know that's, if you're young, please get out to the polls. You can vote today at any of those early voting centers and I've been making a plug, for we put together a new tool called VoteDetroitorg where you can plug in your address and figure out what's your polling place Did your city council district change because those got redistricted? And you can also find where your early voting centers are located, or ballot drop boxes.
Donna Givens Davidson:So you guys are giving a major assist to the clerk huh Clerk's office.
Alex B. Hill:We're trying to. If they won't do it, we'll build the tools.
Orlando Bailey:Thank you. Well, that's exactly why the Detroit Documenters are a thing, because the city clerk is not. You know, we don't want to harp on that. So you know, one of the things that is you know I'm sort of seeing on the campaign trail is I'm seeing a lot of young people rally themselves behind Mary Sheffield and I'm also seeing a contingent of young people more so in my age bracket rally themselves around Kenlock. Do you suspect that that would translate in number significantly at the polls? We're hoping so, right.
Alex B. Hill:We're hoping so, but I mean, over the last few elections that the trend of older voters coming out to vote has kind of remained steady. Gotcha, all right. So we'll have to well, mary will have to really, really get people pumped up to show up to the polls?
Donna Givens Davidson:Yeah, I don't know that that's the issue, because I think she also is winning older voters, if I'm not mistaken, but maybe not. I just think that you know. Anyway, let me ask a question. One of the things I saw is that Kinloch had about 2% of white voters are voting for Kenloch, but I always have this, or supporting Kinloch, but I always have this perception that white voters are overrepresented as well. Do we have any data that would show that that's the case?
Alex B. Hill:That is a very good question. I'm not sure if that's definitely something we can dig into.
Donna Givens Davidson:Oh, I can't wait for you to dig into it, because I think that income and, you know, status plays into who votes. People who have more privilege tend to be the ones who show up at the polls, and we know that in a lot of communities that's what we're seeing is we're seeing this influx of younger people.
Orlando Bailey:Not all of them are registered in Detroit, but influx of younger people who you know have interest to protect, differently than a lot of people who just feel as though elections don't matter to them.
Alex B. Hill:Yeah, yeah, all right, alex, what's the next number? So our next number for this month has a decimal point 163.5. I won't make you guess that one. That's the acreage of solar neighborhoods that the city is putting in place in their phase one and phase two, and that's you know. If you put them all together that would take up all of downtown Detroit within that kind of expressway bubble around downtown.
Donna Givens Davidson:So you're saying for the Fisher Freeway south.
Alex B. Hill:Right, right, yeah, yeah. So if you imagine that's all solar, that's what's going to start showing up in a lot of neighborhoods across the city. It's a really it's a massive scale. It's a really interesting investment by the city, but the only other large example we have is, you know, there's just 10 acres of that O'Shea solar field that was installed a few years back, so this is going to have a pretty significant impact on a lot of neighborhoods.
Orlando Bailey:Significant impact on neighborhoods, especially the aesthetic of neighborhoods. But I'm wondering if you know this number. This investment is for the city to offset its costs, or is this also going to be an effort for residents to stop depending on the utility? Or is this just the city?
Donna Givens Davidson:It's just the city.
Alex B. Hill:This is only, yeah, only for the city government, All right okay, orlando knew that.
Donna Givens Davidson:He was just giving you an opportunity.
Donna Givens Davidson:Yeah, because I think that we have to talk about it. I think it's important. I appreciate you bringing out that point, because community solar is solar that's shared by residents to reduce their energy bills and also to increase reliability. In the case in the event that your energy goes out, you may have solar as a backup if there's a battery. In our state, community solar is not allowed by law, and so we need to do some things at the legal level in order to enable community solar. When this is described as solar community solar it kind of bothers me, because it's solar in the community.
Orlando Bailey:That's what it is. It's solar in the community.
Donna Givens Davidson:That could be used and actually a lot of people are wondering I don't know if you have this answer why wouldn't we put solar on top of the buildings where we're trying to reduce the energy footprint?
Alex B. Hill:Yeah, I asked that same question. Keep asking. I won't say who I was talking to, but they said well, maybe that made too much sense, but it was. You know, the current mayor has an effort to say they're turning blight to beauty and it's a better story to be able to say that you're taking vacant land and putting it to a better use than to say you're about to put solar panels on the top of all the municipal buildings.
Donna Givens Davidson:Yeah, we did blight to beauty here at ECM when I first got to ECM. Do you remember that on Mack Avenue where we had the young people growing the flowers on Mack in front of the pennycrest sleds? And the sidewalks were all broken. It didn't look very beautiful to me. I was like, oh, I don't know if you can call this beauty yet Are these? Solar farms going to be beautiful? Have you seen renderings which would make you think this is going to beautify a neighborhood?
Alex B. Hill:I have not. That is a big open question as to what they're going to look like, and I know the neighborhoods are saying the same thing. They're saying what are these actually going to look like? What?
Orlando Bailey:am I going to wake up to, and so what we have are a ton of open questions. Got it? We've seen O'Shea Park.
Donna Givens Davidson:We've seen O'Shea Park right.
Orlando Bailey:Yeah.
Donna Givens Davidson:And I think that's probably not what I would consider beautiful. I don't know what your thoughts are.
Orlando Bailey:Detroit by the numbers. Alex Hill, what's the next number?
Alex B. Hill:Yeah, our next number for this month is 40. And unfortunately that's 40 buses that went out of service in the last two weeks. Oh my goodness, that went out of service in the last two weeks. Oh my goodness, I think we know. You know, ddot Department of Transportation has had some trouble recently with keeping bus drivers employed and on the job. A lot have retired recently. They had a similar issue with mechanics and making sure mechanics had experience with diesel engines and things like that. But now it's just the bus fleet has gotten so old they weren't able to put 40 buses out on the roads and that was a major disruption in service.
Orlando Bailey:Wow, how did that?
Donna Givens Davidson:impact. I wonder how that impacted reliability.
Orlando Bailey:Yeah.
Donna Givens Davidson:You know, I always think about people who have to go to school or jobs and how they're impacted, and we don't really give much grace to people who are late or don't show up because of those issues. Do you know if there's any data on the impact on on-time bus service? Do we track on-time bus service in?
Alex B. Hill:Detroit. You know, I know that that is. I know it's tracked internally. I don't know if that, I don't know if those data points make it anywhere publicly. But I also know, really early on, the mayor used to have I think he just called it the Detroit dashboard and the bus on time performance was one of those metrics. But that didn't last very long. I think he did that for about a year. All right, Go ahead. Yeah, and just you know, Transit Riders United has been doing a lot of advocacy around. Ddot has been making a lot of great improvements. Ddot has been making a lot of great improvements and so this was really a punch in the gut for some of those improvements that have been coming.
Orlando Bailey:All right, you have one more number for us, alex Hill. What's that number?
Alex B. Hill:Yeah, final number 26%, and this is one that comes from Outlier Media. Aaron Mondry did some great reporting on the rate of homeowners who have home insurance and the folks he cited who had this number said it was likely an undercount and the top estimate could be as high as 41% of folks who do not have home insurance.
Orlando Bailey:Wow, wow, which really really gets rough when we have things like those major flooding events, major floods, or if you're in the area that has a low amount of homes insured, it's going to cost you significantly more to try to get insurance, because they're looking at they're looking at comps, exactly, yeah.
Donna Givens Davidson:You know, I think one of the challenges when you start talking about homeowners insurance is going to be the um, the underwriting requirements. Um, I know that people who have roofing issues or other kind of foundation issues in their homes sometimes struggle. People who have dogsing issues or other kind of foundation issues in their homes sometimes struggle. People who have dogs, people who live on blocks with a lot of vacancy, a lot of homes are simply uninsurable because of their location or the state of the home. And you know, I was at a flood event that Rashida Shalip sponsored on Friday to a press conference talking about this idea that FEMA should do a better job reimbursing people, because we know a lot of people just can't get insurance and it's not fair.
Donna Givens Davidson:Either we're going to hold insurers accountable, but also have you looked at the cost of insurance, Because sometimes they will insure you but $200 a month on top of your $400 a month car insurance payment is really excessive.
Alex B. Hill:Right, absolutely, and we've already. I mean Detroit already is a city with. I think we consider it an overburdened city when it comes to housing costs. So you know, adding home insurance on top of that is really Right.
Orlando Bailey:That's well over 30% of your income, which is what industry experts say. We should not be spending over 30% of your income on housing. Alex B Hill, this might be one of my favorite segments we've ever done and I'm so glad, I'm serious and I'm so glad that we will be partnering with you monthly to present Detroit by the numbers. Alex B Hill, everybody from Detroit.
Donna Givens Davidson:Agri, thank you for being with us. For all the nerds who listen, this is great.
Orlando Bailey:I'm such a nerd. Anytime, alex, hey, everybody, we're going to be right back.
Orlando Bailey:We're going to be right back with Detroit. One Million is a journalism project started by Sam Robinson that centers a generation of Michiganders growing up in a state without a city with one million people. Support the only independent reporter covering the 2025 Detroit mayoral race through the lens of young people. Good journalism costs. Visit DetroitOneMillioncom to support Black independent reporting. Welcome back to Authentically Detroit everyone.
Orlando Bailey:The third annual Detroit is Different Collar Green Cook-Off took place at the Samaritan Center's Wellness Center Gym this past Saturday, july 26th, and it was from 2 to 6 pm with the theme of bringing Detroit through culture and cuisine bridging Detroit through culture and cuisine. Rather, this year's cook-off honored the city's proud legacy of urban farming, family recipes and food as a cultural connector. Elders, youth chefs and growers came together for an afternoon that nourished both the body and the soul. The gathering wasn't just about whose greens tasted best. It's about passing stories, celebrating traditions and creating community through a staple that has long been central to Black Detroit kitchens. Whether you're tasting for the first time or grew up with your grandmother's greens, every Sunday the cook-off offers and offered a seat at the table for everyone.
Orlando Bailey:The Detroit that we know and love is rich in agricultural history and growing Black farming movement. This event was more than a competition. It was a conversation about culture, sustainability and how we feed ourselves and each other. And we are here with the winner of the 2025 Collard Green Cook-Off Chef Keisha. Welcome to Authentically Detroit.
Chef Keisha:Hi, thank you so much for having me.
Orlando Bailey:Let me tell you something. Okay, I got to be one of the judges. This is my second year being a judge and I don't think that anybody in my two years of judging ever got a perfect score from the judges on stage.
Donna Givens Davidson:Let me just say this I put all my coins in your thing. Oh my goodness, those greens. My husband was like can you get the recipe? I was like baby. I don't know if they're going to give us a recipe.
Orlando Bailey:I started to ask her to bring this up.
Donna Givens Davidson:He was like where can we go and buy those greens? Your greens have a very unique kind of flavor. Can you talk about how you put them together? Yeah, what's the story?
Chef Keisha:I'm just going to start from saying that's the first time I've ever cooked 60 pounds of greens at one time ever in my life and I make tons of greens. It was not an easy task but nonetheless great team behind me. So we just started with pretty much the basics. We set up kind of like an assembly line removing the stems, which is very important so that you don't have bitter greens. Removing the stems, which is very important so that you don't have bitter greens, and then the washing process. People use different things, but the washing process for me has always been natural. My grandmother vinegar and baking soda, and that was it. We rolled them up, we cut them up and I do start with searing my turkey meat, okay, and using Mama Tree offered me some of the best produce, not only my greens.
Chef Keisha:She gave me all my celery, my garlic, my onions, everything. But I have a motto I go by which is fresh is best. So the fresher your ingredients, the better. But definitely just take your time. You know, love the thing first, because if you're not doing that and you're just rushing through there because you want to make money or you're just trying to get done quick, you're going to miss something If you're not taking your time and just thoroughly going through it. And this competition meant a lot to me. I wanted to be a part. Last year I didn't get a chance to register in time, so I had my eye on that date. I'm like I'm getting them next year. I'm coming out there and I'm so glad to be a part of that.
Donna Givens Davidson:So now yours also had something else special about them too, right, your greens. It felt like it was more than just yours. First of all, they were cut really nicely so that you could eat them with those little spoons, because other?
Orlando Bailey:than that, some of them were on the floor.
Chef Keisha:There was collard green juice everywhere. Yeah, the cut is very important.
Donna Givens Davidson:Anything else special that you did with your greens?
Chef Keisha:Only just pretty much. I don't cook my turkey meat with the greens. I make the broth outside of the greens, so once the meat is done, I remove it so that you don't have strings of turkey. And I don't know if you've witnessed any of that, because that's the only thing I regret about the competition. I didn't get a chance to try the competition. I did.
Donna Givens Davidson:I did. I tried some of the competition too. I think sometimes you're cooking in large quantities. Getting the flavor balance just right can be a challenge. Some people may have gone a little bit heavy on the salt. We're not too salty and I'm not saying that because you know, listen, I'm not a cook, right. So I admire anybody who can cook, but I just thought yours were perfectly seasoned.
Orlando Bailey:What's the story? I mean, were you watching Grandma growing up? I mean, you know, are greens your specialty? How did they become your specialty?
Chef Keisha:Give us the backstory, Well soulful for me is my thing, all of it, from the greens to the mac, to the dressing.
Orlando Bailey:Your husband, antoine, is nodding his head in agreement.
Chef Keisha:Soul food is absolutely my thing, definitely in the kitchen with my grandma and my mom, my aunts, and food for just about any family. You know it's the thing that bring everybody together, you know. So, on Christmas, you know nights, my mom's up late in the night and cutting those greens and cleaning chitlins and I'm just in there like what can I?
Orlando Bailey:do I want to do something.
Donna Givens Davidson:Absolutely, it was fun. Where are your people from?
Chef Keisha:My origination of my grandmother's people is Tuscaloosa, alabama. Yeah, baby, I felt like it was.
Donna Givens Davidson:Alabama.
Orlando Bailey:Yeah, baby, if you're in.
Donna Givens Davidson:Detroit, it's probably Alabama somewhere. Yeah, alabama, we were on state.
Orlando Bailey:Me and Coco were like this is the taste we've been looking for. This tastes like grandma greens Because you know everybody wanted to do, you know, some experimentation at the Calgary Green Cook-Off. No knock to you. But I'm just like this ain't really the time for that kind of like experimentation we need. We're looking for I know some of the judges are always looking for like that familiarity, like that familial taste, that familial feeling, and your, your dish, definitely brought that. Let me tell you what happened. Yo, let me tell you because I was a little worried. I was I was a little worried because this chef sashayed up on the stage, she was dancing and she was giving out her greens so confidently and I was like I really hope the greens match the confidence that she's exuding, because it wouldn't be good if it weren't. And I was like, oh, you are who you think you are. I want you to know that. Thank you very much.
Chef Keisha:And he said that too. It's like the energy of them greens better match the energy you're sashing the tree with. I'm like oh, they will, I'm sure. But I definitely went into the competition saying that, yeah, I'm doing it the way my grandmother taught me to do it. I'm not doing anything outside of what I was taught. That's what I did. I just kept it original.
Donna Givens Davidson:You know, when you do things with love, that's part of the soul food experience too, you can taste that love inside of that food. I was loving it, so do you cater.
Chef Keisha:Yes, ma'am, okay, miss Keisha's Kitchen LLC is a family faith-based catering company. Faith-based Okay catering company. Faith-based okay, absolutely. We operate out of a kitchen in Southfield called Culinary Studio and we do all-event catering, any event you could think of. We do contractual catering orders. We're currently in negotiations with contracts right now for corporate catering. Yeah, and we just. Our motto is to serve souls one plate at a time.
Donna Givens Davidson:I'm going to tell you, in addition to being co-host of this podcast, I'm also the CEO of this organization. So, this building, we serve a lot of food. We hire a lot of caterers and, Ms Keisha, you've got to cater for us because anybody who has not had your food and all we tasted was your greens, right? But I'm looking at your husband. Your husband is saying Antoine is back there. Okay, okay, all right, all right. So, other than greens, what are your specialties?
Alex B. Hill:Again anything soulful Mac and cheese.
Chef Keisha:Oh, mac and cheese, absolutely, absolutely.
Donna Givens Davidson:Yams, candy yams.
Chef Keisha:Right now, the thing that everybody is beating down the door for right now, especially collard greens, but it's meatloaf. Oh, they love, love, love Miss Keisha's meatloaf.
Donna Givens Davidson:A good meatloaf can be so good. So do you do ketchup or brown gravy. How do you do your-.
Chef Keisha:Brown gravy. That's my favorite. That's what I'm talking about. Keep the ketchup away. I want that brown gravy, and that's what I'm talking about.
Orlando Bailey:That's my favorite.
Donna Givens Davidson:That's what I'm talking about Keep the ketchup away. I want that brown gravy. I want no ketchup.
Orlando Bailey:Let me ask you this final question how does it feel to have won the collard green cook-off? Oh my, because it wasn't just the judges that decided. Everybody who got a taste also put their votes with the judges, so the community decided that you were the winner. How does it feel?
Chef Keisha:It feels amazing.
Orlando Bailey:Yeah.
Chef Keisha:And I just couldn't say hallelujah, thank you, jesus, enough, because it was everything. Again, I stayed original to what I was always taught, you know, and to know that everybody loved that, it just broke my heart. I feel like I won an Emmy, an Oscar, something. Yeah, that's the Oscar.
Alex B. Hill:so full for me. You got the belt, yes, absolutely.
Chef Keisha:I got. Colleen, the collard green queen, Like yeah.
Donna Givens Davidson:You're on the east side of Detroit, right, and the east side is where we started in this city. We came to the east side first and then spread out, so to have that kind of cultural event on the east side of Detroit really felt special to me. It's not that many times. We come together just around our history and our culture and seeing young people in the room also enjoying.
Chef Keisha:It was a beautiful experience. The energy was absolutely electrifying. Everybody came in there with the same goal in mind they just wanted to eat what the man told me. I want some grains.
Orlando Bailey:I'm like come on in, we got some greens for you, honey.
Donna Givens Davidson:We got them for you.
Orlando Bailey:Shout out to.
Donna Givens Davidson:Kyrie Frazier in Detroit. It's different. They did a great job we love Kyrie Frazier here.
Orlando Bailey:He's a habitual partner of ours and so, you know, when we talk about, we have to talk about Kyrie Frazier's role in the cultural preservation work that he's doing, because that's, you know, he's doing a lot, but I also think that's one of the umbrellas that is his vein the cultural preservation of Black folks in this city and our custom, our culture and our food. Thank you for being a part of it. Thank you for coming on the podcast, congratulations on being the 2025 winner of the Collard Green Cook-Off. Thank you so much.
Orlando Bailey:We'll be seeing you around.
Chef Keisha:Oh, absolutely, you guys have my contact information.
Donna Givens Davidson:I will leave a card at the front desk.
Orlando Bailey:We're going to take a quick break and then we're going to exchange information.
Orlando Bailey:We'll be right back with Michael and Robin Kenny of the Audio Engineers of Detroit. Stay tuned. Interested in renting space for corporate events, meetings, conferences, social events or resource fairs? The MassDetroit Small Business Hub is a 6,000 square feet space available for members, residents and businesses and organizations. To learn more about rental options at MassDetroit, contact Nicole Perry at nperry at ecn-detroitorg or 313-331-3485. Welcome back to Authentically Detroit.
Orlando Bailey:Audio Engineers of Detroit. Detroit's premier audio production recording and training facility serving Southeast Michigan has entered into an agreement with Ferris State University that enables AED students to receive university credit for their coursework. This partnership establishes a seamless pathway for students to pursue Ferris State's Bachelor of Science in Television and Digital Media Production degree, furthering their education and career opportunities in the audio and digital media industries. The collaboration was spearheaded by Robin Kinney, chief Executive Officer and President of Audio Engineers of Detroit, and Glenn Okonowski Okonowski, how do you say his name, robin Okonowski director of Ferris State School of Digital Media. Under the agreement, aed students will have the opportunity to apply their credits toward Ferris State's program, which boasts a history of alumni success in freelance, corporate and governmental video production and management, Founded by husband and wife, michael and Robin Kinney in Midtown, detroit in 2021,.
Orlando Bailey:Audio Engineers of Detroit offers a comprehensive 52-week program designed to equip students with the skills needed for a professional career in audio recording, engineering and music production. The program covers everything from entry-level concepts to advanced techniques, with hands-on instructor-led training, including state of the art equipment. Robin, we're so happy to have you on, authentically Detroit Welcome.
Robin Kinnie:Thank you so much. It's an honor to be with you today.
Orlando Bailey:We're glad to have you. So this is really, really an exciting venture. Aed partners with Ferris State University at a time where so many young people or older people are trying to figure out what their next career pathway is or what they want to do, and everybody seems like now wants to start a podcast, right, and so tell me how this all came about start a podcast, right, and so tell me how this all came about.
Robin Kinnie:What's the story behind the finding?
Robin Kinnie:Well, okay, so we opened our doors in the summer of 2021.
Robin Kinnie:And even before opening our doors, myself and my husband knew that we wanted to give back to the city, our hometown, that had given so much to us.
Robin Kinnie:And my husband and partner is an audio engineer, and throughout his 30 plus year career in the industry, he would always get questions from people of how do I become an audio engineer? Because there isn't a straight path per se. You know, it is a trade, and so we really wanted to concentrate on providing an affordable and accessible pathway for Detroiters to be part of a very lucrative career in audio engineering. I serve on the board for the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, and so I was at a broadcast engineering conference and that's where I met Glenn Okonowski from Ferris State University, and so in talking, you know, we really started talking about how can we collaborate, you know, and Glenn and Ferris State, they have this excellent digital media production program, excellent digital media production program, and we have the students down here in the Detroit area, and one of the things that we wanted to concentrate on was making a connection so that a degree in digital media production was accessible for students in the Metro Detroit area.
Orlando Bailey:Yeah, and that has to mean a lot, especially for, you know, the young folks who may be trying to figure out if college is for them. So, you know, getting into the AED program and then having the decision, you know, to either continue their education with credit already apply or to try to get you know into the break into the field. But it gives young people options. Was that the vision?
Robin Kinnie:Oh for sure, and this is just basically what we call phase one of this collaboration. Over the past four years, we've graduated students who've gone into different career paths, whether they start working for themselves as music producers or go on tour work at a concert venue. By the way, we have an internship for our students at the Aretha, so they are not only getting the technical training in the classroom, but they're getting the hands on experience in the field.
Orlando Bailey:All right. Shout out to Shahida and the Wright Productions at the Aretha. We love them.
Donna Givens Davidson:Another cultural preservationist, were they at the RITHA this past weekend during the chem concert.
Robin Kinnie:They were not. No, they're typically earlier in the summer. We have students that come out and their RITHA and the whole team there has just been awesome and really being patient with our students and showing them the ropes. So now, where are these classes held? Well, we are located at 4750 Woodward, near the intersection of Woodward and Warren, inside of the Hannon Center.
Orlando Bailey:Oh, okay, we know it. We know it very well. Yes, okay, so tell us about go ahead. I'm sorry.
Donna Givens Davidson:Just one more question I was just going to ask you about tuition. How much does it cost to take these classes?
Robin Kinnie:Sure For a full year of classes. You're looking at about $20,000. And that was one of the barriers. I'll say that we are working on. We're currently in the process of becoming accredited and we know once we're accredited, students will be able to get federal funding to apply. So in the interim we pretty much work one-on-one with our students. Again, our whole focus is about making it accessible and affordable for students.
Orlando Bailey:Can you talk a little bit about the upcoming cohort that you're preparing for? Talk a little bit about the upcoming cohort that you're preparing for, the new class is starting in September, right?
Robin Kinnie:Yes, yes. So we have an open house next Monday, in fact, from 5 to 8 pm, and people can register on our website at aedetroitcom. And our next cohort is a 52 week class, so it goes for an entire year. Our students typically meet twice a week for three hours per day, and again, I just want to emphasize that our instructors are Grammy-nominated producers. They are local. You know local producers as well as people who are industry experts. So this cohort will start off what we call that module one. You know we lay the foundation with what is sound and build upon that, and our goal is, at the end of their curriculum and they do the internship at the Aretha, that they have choices, you know they can decide then. Do they then want to transfer credits towards the fair estate degree or is there a job or employer that they're looking for right now that they can transition into?
Orlando Bailey:So can you talk a little bit about the career services part of this? You know folks, graduate folks may need income. You know right away what does the career services part look this? You know folks graduate folks may need income. You know right away what does the career services part look like? Are you partnering with some of the local television stations, radio stations to try to get graduates?
Robin Kinnie:I'm glad you asked that that's a great question. That's a great question Because since I serve on the MAB board, we've been able to have some partners WDIV We've worked with them as well as WDET. So one of the main questions and the reason that we even was looking at extending into broadcast engineering and where the whole partnership with Ferris State came about, was we started to get phone calls from local radio and television stations who were looking for broadcast engineers. Literally, this is an industry that the people who have been in it for 30, 40 years they're retiring, they want to retire and we need to create a pipeline for that next generation to come in and take over those jobs. So one thing that we've really been zoned in on was the career placement.
Robin Kinnie:So we have a lot of relationships that we've built over the years with, like local unions, for example, so that our students, you know, as they're going through their training, they're able to get access to, you know, some jobs you know and some local positions so that they can support themselves. But also, the majority of our students are working, whether full or part time. So that's why we have our students excuse me, we have our classes in the evening and we're able to be flexible around their schedule. So you know, in addition to like the internship, you know making sure that, ok, what is the next step after you leave here? Our final module is a class on Entrepreneurship 101 that I teach. So I want to make sure, if you're looking at entrepreneurship, we're going to give you the skills and the tools and the knowledge to do that.
Donna Givens Davidson:All right. How would you compare the earning potential for an audio engineer to other? You know I don't know other like light and sound, do you? What are the earning potential? I guess that's my real question.
Robin Kinnie:Like you know, well, you know, in general it depends on like what area you go into. So, for example, if you're looking at going on tour with you with a band, that's going to be one rate. If you're working at a concert venue, you know that's going to be a different rate. If you're going to into business for yourself, that's going to be a different rate. If you're going to into business for yourself, that's going to be a different rate. In general, I would say the majority of our students start off in a position probably between the $30 to $40 an hour range. This is what I tell people very lucrative career to go into and it's expanding.
Orlando Bailey:Everybody want a podcast and it's expanding. Everybody want a show.
Robin Kinnie:Yes, and it's not just that. You know a lot of people talk about podcasting, but you know the growth that we're seeing a lot of is in immersive audio. Yeah so for example Dolby Atmos. Yeah, you go to a movie theater and they say Dolby Atmos. So we're one of the few studios that can record in Dolby Atmos, so we have this awesome space where students can learn the skills of tomorrow today.
Donna Givens Davidson:So when you talk about Dolby Atmos who's using that to record, Like I know that's being done in Hollywood, but is there any local application for that?
Robin Kinnie:For sure. So we work with local directors. So let's say, they shoot a movie.
Orlando Bailey:We're the 2B capital of the world, Robin.
Robin Kinnie:I know so. Yes, so a director or producer would come to us and we could do the post-production for them in the studio.
Donna Givens Davidson:Wow, so my son it does. You know film and he's based in California, but I wonder if he could bring his audio to you. I know he struggled with that. He had an audio engineer who was diagnosed with cancer, went into the hospital and slowed things down. Finding somebody good is difficult. I mean obviously one of your students, because you don't do that yourselves. But you know, I don't know if there's a way to connect people like him to some of the people who graduated from the program, for sure.
Robin Kinnie:And one thing I want to point out is we have the Trey School where we're actually teaching audio engineers, but we're also open to the public as a recording studio. So we work on projects ranging from you know, orlando you mentioned podcasts but also when the Van Gogh in Detroit exhibit came to the DIA, the audio that you heard in your headphones.
Orlando Bailey:That was you guys. Yeah, oh, wow, because I went there. Yeah, that was amazing. Oh my gosh.
Robin Kinnie:Yeah, so we work on a variety of projects and that's what makes the school so special. Our students, yes, they're learning the technical skills, but they're also witnessing and they're able to work on real projects, that's amazing.
Orlando Bailey:So is the class in September full? Is it full yet it?
Robin Kinnie:is not full, we're still accepting applications.
Orlando Bailey:Cool, so tell people how they can get to it.
Robin Kinnie:Yeah, yes, you can go to a Detroit dot com, and at the very top there's a pop up for the open house. If you're not able to attend the open house, there's a virtual tour on the main page as well, and then, if you click on classes, you can see a link that says apply now.
Orlando Bailey:All right everybody. Robin Kenny of Audio Engineers of Detroit. Robin, thank you so much for coming on Authentically, Detroit.
Robin Kinnie:Thank you for having me.
Orlando Bailey:Our pleasure. We'll be right back. Have you ever dreamed of being on the airwaves? Well, the Authentically Detroit Podcast Network is here to make those dreams come true. Formerly known as the Deep Network and located inside the Stoudemire, the Authentically Detroit Podcast Network offers studio space and production staff. To help get your idea off of the ground, just visit authenticallydetcom and send a request through the contact page. All right, welcome back to Authentically Detroit. All right, it is time for shout outs. It's been a full show today. Donna Gibbons-Adison All right.
Donna Givens Davidson:You got any shout outs? I got a shout out Kari Frazier, Kari.
Orlando Bailey:Frazier man.
Donna Givens Davidson:I had this warm feeling inside and you know I was up on that stage and I had a speaking role. Nobody heard anything. I said but it was a speaking role, the space was really loud.
Donna Givens Davidson:Yeah, the gym doesn't, but the gym didn't do credit to his vision it was the weather like today's weather, but it's such a great concept and, like you said, the way that he preserves our culture. Detroit is different and I sent this to him. I said Detroit is different because of Black people and our culture that you're preserving and you're going to make sure that people remember why Detroit is different. So I admire him for his tenacity and his commitment to uplifting us. And I mean, people were coming in. It stayed busy, it was hot in there, wasn't terribly comfortable, couldn't really hear anything, but it was the vibe that was keeping people excited.
Orlando Bailey:People didn't leave. I mean people left, but folks were steadily coming in. I got a question for you. There's something really big happening this weekend right.
Donna Givens Davidson:Yes, the Eastside Community Network annual meeting and open house. And I'm excited about the annual meeting because it's always exciting to share what we're doing with the community. But I'm equally excited with the open house because this year we decided we were going to honor black men who are sowing into our community and we have a great roster of black men showing up, hosted by none other than our own, orlando Bailey.
Orlando Bailey:I'm excited.
Donna Givens Davidson:Who's going to be pulling people together. You want to talk about who's going to be here.
Orlando Bailey:Yeah. So we have Mamba, who is the co-founder and owner of Bob Up Fair. We have Jeff, who is the owner of Morningside Cafe. We have David Elati from Citruy Partners, who is the owner of Morningside Cafe. We have David Elati from Citruy Partners. We also have Greg McKenzie from Akiba Lawn Village. We have Stephan Welch, who is the Vice President of Diversity, equity and Inclusion at the Detroit Pistons, and so these are not only leaders in the community, but they're leaders in their families, leaders in their homes, and they have children. I'm really, really excited to get into a conversation with them.
Donna Givens Davidson:I think what excites me is also that they're leaders in different areas. You don't have people doing the same thing and it just really shows that Black men show up in so many wonderful ways, even as we tear down. I think every week there's a new documentary about a black man gone bad on Netflix or on Tubi. It really makes me upset, because we do such a great job chronicling failure. We also need to chronicle excellence, which is much more common than failure, so I want to thank you for helping me pull together the panel.
Orlando Bailey:You know this is my jam. This is my pleasure. You know this is my jam. This was the vision, this is my pleasure, and I'm excited to say this. I have the pleasure of calling each of these dudes a friend and I really can't wait to get into the conversation with them. We're planning our pre-call now so we can show out for y'all on Saturday.
Donna Givens Davidson:All right, and you know also, we have a young person in our community, jim Garner Jimbo, who is going to be performing for us.
Orlando Bailey:And he's Arlene.
Donna Givens Davidson:Garner's son. Oh I downloaded his album. Did you hear?
Orlando Bailey:I didn't listen to it. Yet Is we still in Detroit? She gave it to me on Saturday. Oh my goodness, it's so good I played it for our interns.
Donna Givens Davidson:I think you're going to like it.
Orlando Bailey:Okay.
Donna Givens Davidson:And he's such a nice person, it's such a nice family, um yeah, so I'm excited about that as well. We're gonna have food trucks all the good stuff.
Orlando Bailey:So, yeah, I'm excited. Oh, and we also want to uh shout out um, the, the, the primary election that's coming up. I think the next time we talk, the next time we are here, it'll be the day before the election. So everybody, please, please, please, go out and vote. You can early vote. You can use one of the drop boxes If you have an absentee ballot. Do not drop your absentee ballot In that drop box and then still try to vote On the day of. You can't do that. Alright, august 5th is the primary. Go to many, many different places to figure out your primary polling location, outlier Media dot org being one of them. Call 313-571-2800 if you need a ride to the polls. Ecn is taking people to the polls. Let's show up and show out Detroit.
Donna Givens Davidson:And we're going to have. We're going to have a watch party here. So come here for dinner, where your I vote a sticker and we're going to have a watch party here. So come here for dinner, wear your I Vote it sticker and we're going to have some conversations. I don't know who's going to show up, but I always think it's worth a celebration, that I'm expecting there to be larger than normal turnout. I'm hoping there's going to be larger than normal turnout and you know what I hope you do at the watch party.
Donna Givens Davidson:I hope that you have it turned on to WDIV.
Orlando Bailey:Local 4 because I will be live with the results on the primary day on WDIV, local 4.
Donna Givens Davidson:I just want you to know that we were talking about who we might get and I said I think Orlando's too fancy for us to expect him here anymore. I think he might be on WDIV, I am so excited about you being in that role. You do such a great job commenting on politics, and you've always been a person who's been given a microphone to talk about things that are fun and interesting, but you have a lot of depth of knowledge that I don't think everybody has had the opportunity to experience. So, you're showing out now.
Orlando Bailey:Thank you, my friend. So, yeah, be sure to tune in to the election coverage on WDIV. I will be on, so I'm excited about it. All right, everybody. Thank you so much for listening. Remember to love on your neighbor. We'll see you next time.
