A shop called Somebody’s opened last October in Clinton Township. The place celebrates Black history and Detroit’s past every day of the year, not just in February.
Owner Darryl Young picked the name from Rev. Jesse Jackson’s spoken word poem, “I Am – Somebody.” Walk through the door, and you’ll hear it playing.
“We wanted to build a place where people can come and see the culture, be accessible to it, you know, be able to be inspired, create, and feel good about themselves,” Young told WDIV ClickOnDetroit. “So that’s what inspires somebody. You know, ‘I am somebody’, so that’s what inspired it.”
Before Clinton Township, Young built similar spots in Detroit. Inside, visitors find images and stories about legendary Black Detroiters — Aretha Franklin, Berry Gordy, Isiah Thomas, J Dilla. The walls speak.
Posters hang next to old newspaper clippings. Artifacts from Detroit’s past fill the space. Young records artists here, hosts podcasts, conducts interviews. It’s more than a shop.
“We do a lot of things, from recording artists to podcasts to interviews,” Young said, as shared per the source. “So, it’s an archive of like this culture for real.”
FC Benji runs the studio side. He’s Young’s business partner and has spent two decades making music in the area.
“I don’t need the big mixing boards; It’s all about the plug-ins,” Benji said, according to the source. “Everything you need to learn is having a good mic and a good song. I can record outside in the middle of Gratiot.”
The official opening happens in April, but Young keeps working. He’s adding pieces from local artists and has pulled art from across the country. The collection will keep growing as time passes.
“I don’t want this to be represented in just February; It has to live forever,” Young said, as reported by the source. “We honor our history all throughout, not just the year, our lifetime, from what we eat and like how we feel. That’s Black History.”
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