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.
Chou, Pao-yu
Summary: Dr. Pao Yu Ching Chou was born in Beijing, China,
the oldest of three children. Though of royal descent (Qing
dynasty), her father grew up an impoverished orphan; her
mother was a very wealthy member of the Han majority. Dr.
Chou's early life was influenced by the 1911 and 1949
revolutions in China, by the tension over finances between
her parents, and by the rise of communism. After graduating
first in her class with an economics degree, she received a
scholarship to attend graduate school at Bryn Mawr. There
she was struck by the gap between her expectations of the
United States (as an ideal, democratic country of equality)
and the realities exposed by the civil rights movement. Dr.
Chou married, and continued to work while completing her PhD
dissertation on inequities in milk production and government
subsidies. For a long period, China's importance in her life
was minimal, but now China and the rest of the world have
become a major interest. She says, "I think I’ve become a
Marxist. I have to throw away everything I learned in
graduate school...The hardest thing is to clean up bourgeois
economics. Clean it up and relearn."
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, Izzat
Summary: Izzat Khapoya was born in Tanzania and raised in
Mombasa, Kenya. She was the seventh of eight children born
of Indian parents who were members of a small Muslim sect
called Ismailis. She enjoyed a privileged childhood thanks
to her father's successful scrap metal business. In 1965, a
few years after Kenya gained independence, Ms. Khapoya's
father moved the family to London. From there she enrolled
at Foothill College in Los Altos, California, and then
Oregon State University. She met her future husband Vincent
at Oregon State. Because her husband was African he was not
accepted by everyone in her family; her father was
especially opposed to the marriage. She and Vincent
eventually moved to Detroit so he could take a job at
Oakland University; it was from OU that Ms. Khapoya earned
her clinical psychology degree.
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.
Lewis, Frances
Herbin
Summary: Frances Herbin Lewis was born in Greensboro, North
Carolina, in 1942. Greensboro at the time was segregated,
with separate school, church, and recreational facilities
for blacks and whites. Black people had separate bathrooms
and water fountains, and they could buy food at a lunch
counter but couldn't sit down to eat it. Ms. Lewis recalls
that from an early age she was encouraged by her teachers to
study government, to recognize the injustice of black
people's daily lives, and to become an active, informed
citizen of Greensboro.
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, Jr., Henry
Summary: Henry Revell grew up the oldest of 12 brothers and
sisters on a farm near Selma, North Carolina. Their
grandfather was a former slave who had been given the farm
and property as payment from his former master. Mr. Revell
describes his early experiences playing baseball, winning
public speaking contests, and participating in a 4-H group.
He explains what it was like to play baseball while in
college, in the military service, and for the Negro League,
travelling up and down the coast for exhibition games. He
majored in agriculture at North Carolina A & T, spent
the next two years stationed in Fort Lewis, Washington,
where he was the only black player on a white baseball team,
and eventually made his way back to North Carolina to marry
and work as an agriculture agent.
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.
Rice,
Gwendolyn Mackel
Summary: Gwendolyn Mackel Rice was born the fourth of five
children in Natchez, Mississippi, to parents who were active
in the 1940s and 1950s civil rights movement. Although her
childhood was comfortable and protected, she remembers
racial slurs, separate restrooms and drinking fountains, and
not being able to try on clothes in department stores. In
1956, just before Ms. Rice's senior year in high school, her
family moved to Chicago after being "run out of Natchez,
Mississippi by the Citizen's Counsel." Ms. Rice attended
Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C., where her instructors
were "fiery," "dynamic," and influential in expanding her
worldview. She was present when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
spoke at Bennett, and actively participated in the
demonstrations at Woolworth's and the Carolina Theater in
Greensboro, N.C. After graduating, she began a career as a
social worker and has worked in public welfare,
community-based programs for the elderly and youth,
especially black males, and college preparatory programs for
underserved youth. In the interim, she earned the Master's
in Social Service Administration from the University of
Chicago after which she served as a senior program officer
for a local foundation and later, as a not-for-profit
consultant for organizations in underserved communities. She
is currently at Developing Communities Project, a
faith-based community organizing institution that addresses
youth violence and advocates for transportation and
environmental equity.
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.
Smith, Roslyn
Roslyn Smith was born in Princeton, West Virginia, the fifth
of six children. Her mother was a domestic and her father
was a railroad laborer. She was raised by her mother,
grandmother, and aunt, who taught her about the "place" of
black people in the South, for example, never using the
public library, sitting in the back of bus, using the back
door of a white family's house, and addressing white people
as 'miss' or 'mister.' Ms. Smith received a Merit
Scholarship to attend Bennett College for Women in
Greensboro, N.C. and made the move from small town to big
city in 1957. She and other Bennett women became inspired by
their personal experiences and their expanding knowledge of
the outside world to join the fight for civil rights. With
the support of their teachers, community leaders, Dr. Willa
Player (then president of Bennett), and fellow students from
nearby A & T University, they targeted Woolworth's in
Greensboro as the stage for the 1961 sit-ins. Looking back
on her experiences now, Ms. Smith worries that Bennett
women's involvement is being written out of the official
history of this integral part of the civil rights movement.
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.
Teasley, Marie
Summary: Marie Teasley was born on October 1, 1926. She grew up in Hannibal, Missouri. In this interview Marie recalls memories of her mother who immigrated from St. George's, Bermuda, and her father who migrated from Hannibal to Ann Arbor, Michigan and then to the Detroit area. Marie speaks fondly of growing up in Hannibal. She recounts the story of her father owning the Hannibal Registrar, the only African American newspaper in town. Marie describes how the family transitioned the business from Hannibal to the Detroit area. At the age of 9 she was dubbed "reporter" for the Registrar by her father, inspiring a life-long career in journalism that culminated in her position as Women's Editor for the Michigan Chronicle.
Terry, Esther
Summary: Esther Terry grew up the youngest of 12 children on
a farm in Wise, North Carolina, and became the first in her
family to attend a 4-year college. In the fall of 1957 she
began classes at Bennett College for Women in Greensboro,
North Carolina, where she became part of the group of men
and women participating in the sit-in demonstrations at
Woolworth's lunch counter in 1960. Ms. Terry recalls those
days in Woolworth's, and describes some of the people who
most influenced her during this time, including her parents,
her closest friends, and Dr. Willa Player, the first female
and the first black president of Bennett College. After
graduating from Bennett, Ms. Terry earned a master's degree
from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a
PhD from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Torrence, Laretta
Summary: Laretta Torrence is interviewed by Marygrove
College student Stanley Keyes about her experiences growing
up and going to school in Detroit. She was born in 1930 in
Black Bottom where blacks and whites lived and played
together in shared poverty. When her family moved to a
better house in southwest Detroit in 1948 she observed white
flight but not much racial tension. Laretta recalls
listening to the radio, dancing at the Greystone Ballroom,
and visiting Belle Isle for entertainment. She married at
age 19 and had two sons who also grew up and went to school
in Detroit.
You are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit) this work under conditions set forth in this Creative Commons license.
