- [Presenter 1] Coming up on "One Detroit," book bans in schools and libraries are on the rise across the country.

We'll check in on the situation here in Michigan, plus, Detroit Opera's musical director previews the unique productions plan for the upcoming season.

Also ahead, a Detroit Month of Design exhibition that uses blueprints from two renowned architects.

And we'll have a list of events and activities you can enjoy this weekend.

It's all coming up next on "One Detroit."

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Masco, serving Michigan communities since 1929.

Support for this program is provided by the Cynthia and Edsel Ford Fund for Journalism at Detroit Public TV.

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Among the state's largest foundations committed to Michigan focused giving, we support organizations that are doing exceptional work in our state.

Visit dtefoundation.com to learn more.

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(synth music) - [Presenter 1] Just ahead on this week's "One Detroit," we'll get details on Detroit Opera's unique plans for the new season, both on stage and off.

Plus artist Mike Han explains the creative process behind his new solo exhibition for Detroit Month of Design.

And Dave Wagner and Peter Whorf of 90.9 WRCJ are here with some fun and interesting ways to spend your weekend in metro Detroit.

But first up, we're examining the growing efforts to ban certain books in schools and libraries.

It's part of a movement by various groups to restrict access to certain types of literature, in protest of the content.

Banned Books Week, which runs from October 1st through the 7th, seeks to bring awareness to attempts to censor books in libraries and schools, and advocate for the inclusion of diverse voices on public bookshelves.

"One Detroit" contributor Elizabeth Stewart produced this report exploring the book banning issue here in Michigan.

(synth music) - We always knew that it was gonna be a when, not if sort of thing.

So, you know, we knew we'd have to deal with this eventually, but we didn't really anticipate its form.

- [Will] With book bans sweeping the nation, Ferndale Library assistant director Jordan Wright says it won't be long before a wave of censorship hits Michigan.

In early June, two people checked out the LGBTQ books on display for pride month, trying to stop others from reading them.

The tactic, part of a national campaign called "Hide the Pride," by a group called Catholicvote.

The books were eventually returned, but Wright notes the larger trend of book banning is on the rise, to take the books completely off the shelves.

- So right now, the biggest target is LGBTQ books, particularly books with trans characters, or on trans topics.

- [Will] Pen America tracks book bans in school libraries, reporting 26% of banned titles have LGBTQ+ characters or themes.

- This past fall, you know, we were able to count over 1,400 instances of book bans, which equals about 800 or over, I should say, 800 unique titles being removed from student access in public schools across the country.

- [Will] Kasey Meehan is the Freedom to Read program director at Pen America.

- I think being able to see yourself represented in a book is critically important, as well as being able to see others who may differ from you represented in a book, is also critically important to, you know, continuing to foster, you know, what we would say is like an informed citizenry that's empathetic and understanding of each other and our differences.

- [Will] While some think all books should be included in the library collection, others believe certain topics are inappropriate.

- So I don't believe that, you know, topics such as gender identity, gender ideology, those types of things are appropriate for minors in school.

- [Will] Katie McFarland is the chair of the Oakland chapter of Moms for Liberty, which wants more parental control over their children's education.

- They have also been, I have also found as well, so many, so many people across the state of Michigan and across the country, pornographic material in our school libraries.

Just recently, we discovered the book "Genderqueer" in the Troy High Library.

- [Will] McFarland cites graphic sexual images in the novel "Genderqueer: A Memoir," by Maia Kobabe.

- Now, if that's not pornographic, I don't know what is.

- "Genderqueer" was the most widely banned book across the country this year.

It recounts the author's life growing up and accepting their gender identity and sexuality.

While some say the book is obscene, others argue it's misunderstood.

- I think there's a part of the strategy that can be provocative, that if you call out one book and label it as such, and that book, you know, and it kind of catches on, that people begin to fear that there are books that have, you know, that these books exist, and that these books are pornographic, sort of the rhetoric gets locked in the public discourse.

But, you know, again, we say there's, there is a legal test for obscenity.

- [Will] It's called the Miller Test, based on a US Supreme Court decision that defines obscenity.

Libraries can't acquire items without consulting the test.

Along with school libraries, book banners are targeting public libraries like Ferndale.

To counter that effort, the Michigan Library Association has an initiative called My Right to Read, which started in 2021.

- My Right to Read is about the value of protecting our First Amendment rights, which is the right of everyone to choose for themselves, what they read, what they want to read, and not making any assumptions about my neighbor, and what they can read.

- [Will] My Right to Read has a hotline, news of local incidents, tips for fighting book bans, and encourages citizens to join the cause.

For Mikula, more support for librarians feels essential.

- Censorship has been happening forever and ever and ever.

What we're seeing is the increased volume at our libraries at this point, and which is just almost overwhelming.

You know, the health and wellbeing of the profession is tired right now.

We've had to pivot so quickly to protect what is one of their most valued, you know, valued guiding principles, which is protecting the First Amendment.

- [Will] In Lapeer, north of Macomb County, a county prosecutor threatened to pursue legal action against library workers for allowing "Genderqueer" on the shelves.

at Patmos Library in Jamestown, Michigan, near Grand Rapids, citizens voted to defund the library.

- Basically, they were up for a millage renewal.

And the issue, the preventage of the millage renewal was that the library director wouldn't remove LGBTQ children's books from the library.

And so the millage didn't pass, so the funding ran out.

- [Will] The Patmos library is due to shut down in mid 2024 unless more funding is found.

In Ferndale, the library doesn't face those challenges.

- We put out a call, our strategy was basically to get enough copies of these books on hand, pre-processed, ready to go so that if this were to happen again, we can just put out more books.

- [Will] Wright said the library received hundreds of books in the following weeks, along with community support in the form of Facebook messages, personal thanks, even offerings of food.

- More and more libraries are community gathering places.

They're places, you know, they're the primary places for enrichment, education, entertainment and a community.

- The library is there for everyone.

And I think that we have to just keep that in mind is, all are welcome.

We have a diversity of books for all, and what's right for me is not, might not be right for you.

So choose a different book.

- [Will] Let's turn now to Detroit Opera's new season, which begins on October 7th with a re-imagined production of "Madame Butterfly."

The opera's musical director Roberto Kalb sat down with "One Detroit" contributor Cecelia Sharpe of 90.9 WRCJ to talk about what's in store for audiences this season.

(synth music) (singing in foreign language) - Detroit Opera has been on the cutting edge of operas, trying innovative things, taking chances in opera, and that mission still continues today with the season that is coming up.

What is on the menu for the season that starts on October 7th?

- We have something for everyone.

We have great opera selection, so we're starting the season with "Madame Butterfly," a new production of that.

And then we're going to do John Cage's "Europeras," and then we're doing Missy Mazzoli's "Breaking the Waves," one of her most successful operas.

It's a gorgeous piece, a very, very powerful piece.

And then we close out the opera season with "The Cunning Little Vixen" by Leos Janacek.

- What's different about these operas this season?

- We've sort of taken an interesting view on how we present opera and dance, and it really is based on doing things a little bit differently, with a little twist.

So it might be Madama Butterfly, a piece that was written a long time ago by Puccini, but there's something interesting about it, or different about it, or a different view on it.

- Why is it so important for the Detroit Opera to re-present these operas in new and innovative ways?

- Well, because opera is a living and breathing art form, and if we don't try and reflect and adapt in how we present these pieces, we sort of become stagnant, or not relevant to today's society.

(singing in foreign language) - So that's everything that's happening on the stage here at the Detroit Opera, but the Detroit Opera goes beyond the stage and into the community.

- When I took this job, I really wanted to focus on having the orchestra musicians play outside of the pit.

I thought, well, we should really go out into the community and feature our orchestra, and we came up with this "Beyond the Pit" series.

- Tell us a little bit about your education program , and your developing program for professionals.

- We try to reach as many people as possible by doing, you know, school programs.

And as I told you, the "Beyond the Pit" series is going to take place in a high school in sort of the Latin area of Detroit, which I feel has been maybe a little bit neglected.

So as a Mexican, it was important to me that we really feature our orchestra there.

And as you said, developing young talent.

(singing in foreign language) - Roberto, it seems that it's very important to you to champion for diversity in the orchestra, on the stage, in the audience, and beyond.

Why is that so important for you?

- Well, I think, I like to think that opera and classical music is for everyone.

And so with that spirit, it's important that people that are on stage and the people that we are catering to are as diverse as possible.

So I do think that we do a wonderful effort to really diversify our casts and really feature programming that caters to everyone.

- So we've heard so much about the Detroit Opera, what's happening on the stage, in the community, the education component of Detroit Opera, but let's get to know a bit more about you, the maestro.

How did you venture into the world of conducting?

- I went to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and one of my friends convinced me to go to the opera, and it was the first opera that I had ever seen.

It was "Fidelio," by Beethoven.

And I remember after the overture, the curtain went up, and there's a very cute duet, and as soon as they started singing, I fell in love instantly, like, because I realized that opera is about all of us, and the way the music and the drama reflected our society in a very natural way, and very direct way, made me fall in love with it.

- How does it feel for you now to conduct the orchestra, to know that there's this major production happening and this audience is experiencing it?

What do you feel when you're on the podium?

- I would say that it feels, it's the closest to making magic that one can get, because with a great orchestra, your gesture influences sound in an immediate and direct way, but I adore what I do.

I wouldn't change it for anything.

- What are you hoping this season that people take away from their experience at the opera?

- You're in an audience with 3,000 other people.

Okay.

And so, you feel the energy of everyone when you're experiencing it, but really the experience is only for you.

The lights dim, and we're all making this show happen for you.

And so that feeling of like, this is your story, I want every person in Detroit to feel that, like we do it for you alone.

(classical string music) - [Will] And make sure to join us next week for a behind the scenes report on Detroit Opera's opening production of "Madame Butterfly."

September is Detroit Month of Design, a time to celebrate the city's designation as a UNESCO City of Design.

The month long, citywide festival is presented by Design Core Detroit, and showcases a variety of works from the local creative community.

One of this year's featured artists is Mike Han, whose first solo exhibition is showing at Playground Detroit.

"One Detroit" contributor Sarah Zientarski shows how Han's designs focus on sustainable objects people use every day.

(synth music) (attendees chatting) - Collaboration, for me, has been essential to what I do.

I collaborate because I don't have the skills to do all the things, and being able to work with people who are experts, who are really good at what they do, it allows us to both shine, and do the things that we both love to do.

This is my first gallery show in Detroit.

My first solo show.

I've never worn a suit to an opening.

So like, you know what?

Like, I need to, need to like, be respectful of it.

It's "Mike Han: United by Design," and the show features a lot of different collaborations with Gardner White, with Haddy, with SEE Eyewear, Leon Speakers, also collaborated with Mothfire Beer.

They're out of Ann Arbor.

So all these companies are local except for one, one of them, Haddy.

I think the thing I wanted to show most about the show is sort of the vision that I've had.

So I've been working on the things that have come to being, you know, are 10 years, you know, 15 years in the making.

And so this idea of a sustainable lifestyle brand is from day one what I've wanted to build.

I've had a desire to want to learn how to live well through the art practice.

And so if I really want to do that, then I want to then make products that surround our lives, that are in our homes, that we use on a day-to-day basis, that are part of the solution to that problem, right?

How do we learn how to live well?

So, you know, home goods like, you know, tables, and rugs, and you know, speakers, and all these things working towards building the House of Han.

And so to be able to tell that complete story of how we live and live well, that's the ultimate goal.

And so I think the show begins to start to put all those pieces together where you see, you know, jackets, and sunglasses, and tables, and wall hangings, and rugs, and speakers, and you have music, and you have everything there except for food, you know?

And so it feels sort of like you're in a home, instead of a gallery.

And I think that warmth of being inside space that's also beautiful is really the ultimate takeaway.

How can you transform this, the perception of sustainability and just make it so it's beautiful, and it's good, and you want to use them.

And so with the rugs, for example, with Gardner White, they're made out of jute, so they're natural material, natural fiber rug, that we're then hoping to then produce and make available in all their stores.

And so, you know, being able to have something of that size compared to the same size of one of my paintings, you know, the price points are dramatically different.

And so the rugs would be something that everybody would be able to consume and get to love.

They're non-precious, but they make you feel wonderful.

And if they can be, you know, good for the environment as well, or at least not harm the environment, then that's, to me, a very exciting brand to build, is one that has a reason to grow, has a need to get bigger.

Minoru Yamasaki, you kind of see it here, yeah, these were salvaged in the train.

- [Attendee] Oh, it's salvaged.

- I believe the office is based here.

So I essentially vandalized a set of Minoru Yamasaki blueprints and Albert Kahn blueprints, you know, two of the most famed architects in the city of Detroit.

They are salvaged blueprints, the documents that were found, and they're quite weathered.

They're from, I think they're both roughly from about the '60s as prints.

They're not original drawings, but it's a series I call "Modern Vandalism," as I'm very much inspired by graffiti.

The salvaged blueprints are documents that were designed for very specific purpose.

They were drawn to, you know, create plans to help you build something.

And then once those things are built, those documents have very little value.

They no longer serve a purpose, in which they were intended.

And so they collect dust.

And so as something that is essentially garbage, that has lost its usefulness, I then vandalize and destroy these documents, in order to shine the light on them.

So now instead of collecting dust in the basement, these things end up on people's wall.

They end up framing these things and putting them on their walls.

In a very, I think, interesting way, this act of destruction has become an act of preservation.

The Minoru Yamasaki prints that I have in the show, they were actually painted with an ink that's made from sequestered carbon.

So it's a technology that was invented by these guys from MIT, it's company founded called Air-Ink.

And they are working to solve the problem of air pollution in India from, from their home.

And so taking that air pollution from factories and turning it into something functional, and then applying that, you know, sequestered carbon onto these salvaged blueprints, again, it speaks to then this layer of how I'm aspiring to live.

- [Attendee] Awesome.

(attendees chatting) When they go to the show, you know, I guess I want them to feel comfort, you know, I want them to feel joy, and I'm hoping that maybe they become inquisitive.

Start to wonder why, you know, the blueprint paintings are made, you know, and whether the destruction of them by me marking, you know, on blueprints made by Albert Khan and made by Yamasaki, you know, why that happened, and why it's good, you know, or if it's good, that they question everything that's in there, and why it's in there.

And if these things should be made.

Renaissance in my mind is told multiple times throughout the series.

- [Will] And you can see Mike Han's "United by Design" exhibition through September 30th at Playground Detroit.

That's just one of the many events you can take in this weekend in metro Detroit.

Dave Wagner and Peter Whorf from 90.9 WRCJ have the details on several activities you can choose from in today's "One Detroit Weekend."

- Hey, Dave, it's great to be with you hanging out, talking about what's coming up this weekend in metro Detroit.

- Oh, you're right Peter.

I love this cooler weather, and the fall colors coming in, and there's so much more to do.

So let's start with the Detroit Black Film Festival, happening through Sunday, where you can sit back and watch films created by incredibly talented African-American filmmakers.

There are going to be over 70 films shown, and they can be seen at three locations.

The Carr Center, the Marlene Boll YMCA Theater, and the DoubleTree Hotel on West Lafayette.

- It sounds like a lot of films packed into the five days of the festival.

Also, don't forget, this coming weekend is the closing weekend of Detroit Month of Design.

To celebrate, there's a Friday event at the Shinola Flagship store, and a Saturday event at Spot Lite Detroit.

One of the many things I love about this city is how it's the first and only UNESCO City of Design in the country.

- Right, I encourage everyone to really look up when walking around Detroit to take in the breathtaking architecture of the buildings that give us the honor of a UNESCO City of Design, one of only 34 cities worldwide.

Also closing this weekend is Mike Han's "United by Design" solo exhibition at Playground Detroit, which is part of the Detroit Month of Design.

- [Peter] I'd love to get one of his rugs.

and what's a fall weekend without some pumpkins, cider, and donuts.

Folks can head to Northville to get their fill at the Maybury Farm Great Fall Festival, where there'll be live music, wagon rides, pumpkin themed games, and so much more.

- [Dave] Also, this weekend starts the run of "A Jukebox for the Algonquin," presented by the Farmington players.

It's a quote unquote, "serious comedy" about a group of senior citizens at a senior living home who want to prove that aging can be a heck of a lot of fun.

- That does sound like a lot of fun and insightful.

This definitely gives our viewers a variety of activities to do this weekend.

Let's go ahead and check out a few more.

Have a wonderful weekend.

(synth music) - [Will] That will do it for this week's "One Detroit."

Thanks for watching.

Head to the "One Detroit" website for all the stories we're working on.

Follow us on social media, and sign up for our weekly newsletter.

- [Presenter 2] From Delta Faucets to Behr Paint, Masco Corporation is proud to deliver products that enhance the way consumers all over the world experience and enjoy their living spaces.

Masco, serving Michigan communities since 1929.

Support for this program is provided by the Cynthia and Edsel Ford Fund for Journalism at Detroit Public TV.

- [Presenter 3] The DTE Foundation is a proud sponsor of Detroit Public TV.

Among the state's largest foundations committed to Michigan focused giving, we support organizations that are doing exceptional work in our state.

Visit dtefoundation.com to learn more.

- [Presenter 2] Nissan Foundation, and viewers like you.