While revising an essay I wrote about J Dilla, I came across this sentence:

“Cultural legends such as Amp Fiddler, Dj Head, DJ Los, and Nick Speed were among the many artists and educators who supported the event.  They gave talks on the legacy of J Dilla, the hip hop underground and how it’s changed, and the impact Detroit has been having for generations on how we know music. These music veterans also performed alongside Detroit youth artist showcases. On Dilla Youth Day the “slum village” of Detroit came to life to celebrate community and the power of creativity to plot new pathways.”

I thought of changing the first two words, but I won’t. I don’t use the word “legends” ironically or sarcastically. It is a powerful experience to be part of a culture that constructs its own legends and elevates its own members for their contributions. Especially as now, so much discussion of Black culture is only about entertainers and celebrities that are nationally known, distributed and promoted.

It’s a powerful experience to be in a cultural scene where your legends walk amongst you and don’t claim to be “A-List” or to have elevated to some other degree of existence beyond the culture that created them.

I’m grateful that I was a pre-pandemic cultural organizer (poet, MC, writer). Based in Detroit where people you may or may not have heard of tour internationally and have fans and friends all over the world, and eat off creative incomes. Where we develop by contributing to our local culture and learning how to represent it around the Nation and across the Globe.