- Just ahead on One Detroit, in recognition of Pride Month we'll tell you about the history of Detroit's oldest gay owned gay bar, Gigi's.

Plus Detroit's African World Festival is celebrating 40 years.

We'll hear what's untapped for this year's event.

Also ahead, highlights from the Detroit NAACP's commemoration of the city's 1963 Walk to Freedom.

And we'll take a look at some of the events around town for the upcoming weekend and 4th of July holiday.

It's all coming up next on One Detroit - From Delta faucets to Behr Paint.

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(elegant music) - Just ahead on this week's One Detroit, in a few weeks, a celebration of African culture is taking place at Hart Plaza.

We'll get a preview of the African World Festival plus we'll have highlights from the Detroit NAACP's June Jubilee celebration of Freedom and Dave Wagner of 90.9 WRCJ shares some ideas on what you can do for the weekend leading up to the 4th of July.

But first up June is pride month and we're shining a light on Detroit's oldest gay owned gay bar.

Gigi's is marking 50 years as a cultural staple in the city and a safe haven for the LGBTQ community.

The bar is also the site of the state's oldest drag pageant the annual Miss Gigi's contest.

One Detroit's Chris Jordan has the story.

- Gigi's has always been a place it's predominantly gay, but everyone's welcome.

Everybody's welcome.

It doesn't matter who or what you are.

Color, creed, it doesn't matter.

Everybody's welcome except narrow-minded people.

- Gigi's is Detroit's oldest gay owned and operated bar located on Warren Ave just off of Southfield.

This year, Gigi's has celebrated a major milestone 50 years in business, having opened in 1973, just four years after the Stonewall Uprising in New York City.

- People think that this is just a bar and it's not.

It's a community haven for not only the gay community, but anyone that feels different than their surrounding area.

We speak the language of love.

We don't ask at the door who you love who you want to love, who you are, who you want be.

We just accept you for who you are and we offer you a place to be able to come and socialize.

- Co-owner Louis Manhan bought the business in 2020 but before that, he had been a regular at Gigi's since the 1990s and even met his husband there.

- I have been coming here for over 20 years.

At that point when I was approached I had at that point been retired out of the Army.

I spent a little over 30 some odd years in the Army.

Being in the military I was under the don't ask, don't tell.

So it was very difficult to find a happy space for myself in the military.

And so this gave me an opportunity to come here and be free be who I was, be who I actually felt comfortable being around.

And in the late nineties, I met my husband here and so I take great pride in what we try to do here, not only for my sake, but for the sake of the community and for the sake of all the customers that have walked these halls and continue to walk these halls.

We've gotta just remember where this establishment started.

In 1973, if you were female, you couldn't wear anything male.

If you were male, you couldn't wear anything female.

And so it was illegal.

You could have basically gone to jail.

And so a lot of that history that we have in the Miss Gigi's contest started as a Halloween gimmick.

And because during Halloween it was kind of, okay, you can be whoever you wanna be because for that night it's acceptable.

And that's how we evolved into a pageant, a contest.

And now to this day we are one of the biggest contests in the Midwest.

- Nikki Stevens has directed the drag shows in Gigi's Cabaret space for 31 years ever since she was crowned Miss Gigi's in 1992.

- The old show director who has now passed which was one of the old owners when I won on Sunday October 10th, 1992.

Monday, October 11th, she said to me you are now the show director.

So included in winning the title I had to take over the shows.

Miss Gigi's is the longest gay bar title in the nation.

We just, we're gonna be celebrating in October 50 year anniversary.

We know all of our old title holders and the ones that are able to, and the ones that are still with us, come back each and every year.

Well, when I started here, we were going through the AIDS epidemic and you would be sitting next to somebody and two weeks later they would be gone.

We would put on shows and benefit shows for research and trying to find the cure and trying to bury some of our friends that their families had abandoned them because of their sexual orientation or whatever.

There was people dying that just couldn't even get buried.

They were in Wayne County.

And so we did all that fighting trying to fight for our rights.

And it's come a long way but there's more that can be done and needs to be done.

- I love listening to all their stories.

It's so empowering and it's so freeing listening to how it was back in the day to compare to now.

It's like the struggles and how much freedom I have now.

It's crazy.

- Randy Marcos Santiago has been the bar manager for 15 years.

- The owner before his name was Paul Zo.

I asked him one day, I was like why don't we ever put money outside?

Why don't we ever make the building look nice?

And back then they would graffiti it, they'd throw bottles at the walls, they'd tear down, they'd destroy the bar on the outside because it's gay.

It was so much hate back then.

He said they would never put money on the outside.

But now it's 2023 and we finally put flags up on the roof.

We're making it well known that this is what we are and it's okay.

I've been here 15 years.

I've seen people who get thrown out of their homes nowhere where to go.

So they'll come to the bar to spend a peace of mind that no one's gonna hurt them here.

Only thing they'd have to worry about is where they're gonna go after the bar is closed.

They'd have to go to a friend's house from one person to another until they figure it out because their family don't want anything to do with them.

I've known some people that committed suicide because of it.

It's really sad.

So there's never a stop to fighting for equality and all of that.

One of the things that we pride ourselves is that we are one of the only establishments that allows 18 and over.

Not because we want to try and get anything out of them but we, because we want them to have a safe space.

It's very difficult for an 18, 19, 20 year old to find a safe space that they can go and find other people that accept them for who they are.

Once you come through the door, it is a magical experience.

You will experience nothing but acceptance when you walk in through our doors and you will leave a very happy person because you obviously came here to enjoy yourself.

And I can guarantee you that's what you would do.

- Even though I work here I still feel like I can be myself here.

I don't have to worry about the hate out there.

Like there's still hate out there.

I can't walk down the street holding my husband's hand and not have people stare at us weird or look at us funny.

I can't give him kisses outside of, at Belle Isle we can't sit at the park and just hold hands because people are gonna look at us weird.

Here I can kiss him on the face, I can kiss him on the cheeks, I can be whatever.

But out there, it's still crazy to me that people still hate.

And like it's 2023, move on.

- We're working hard to try and hopefully make this a historical site one day.

I mean, it's 50 years.

50 years is about the same time that Stonewall has been around and we know that that's a historical site now.

So at one point I had a conversation with the governor of Michigan and asked her, I says, how long or when has the last LGTBQ site been a historical site in Michigan?

And there isn't one.

There aren't any, and I think that this qualifies for it.

Yes, it is a bar, but it's more than a bar.

It allowed me to be who I wanted to be and enabled me to meet the person that I love now and that I live my life with.

- The ones that wanna criminalize us and everything else, it gives me a lot of joke material.

But we go on with what we do, unapologetic.

This is, for people that are looking for a good time and entertainment, everyone's welcome, come.

Come see me!

The crazy peroxide perhana.

- There's another milestone anniversary taking place in Detroit next month.

The African World Festival is celebrating 40 years in the city.

The event is from July 14th to the 16th at Hart Plaza.

It's put on by the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American history and celebrates the arts and culture of the African Diaspora.

One Detroit contributor Cecilia Sharp of 90.9.

WRCJ got all of the details from the festival's director Gia Kai.

(elegant music) - I am here with dearly and respectfully called Mama in Gia Kai the authority on event production here in Detroit.

So if you say Noelle Knight campus Marsh's concerts Beacon Park the dearly missed Detroit Festival of the Arts, African World Festival, you are the woman behind making those events happen.

So before we jump into the African World Festival how did you get into event production?

I graduated Castech High School, went to DC for Howard University and I moved myself from the pre-law program into the film directing program and I really found myself there and I lucked up on this little ad and it just a two line ad and said, they were looking for a programming coordinator and I thought well I can produce a film, I'm sure I can produce an event.

I ended up with the University Cultural Center Association and that's how I got involved with Detroit Festival of the Arts.

And I'm literally now completing maybe about at least 25 years as a consultant with what's now Midtown Detroit Inc. Had been the University Cultural Center Association and was the producer of Detroit Festival of the Arts which was an event I just loved.

I'm so grateful to have been associated with that.

What's better in life than to do what I really love to do, and then it actually is a service and is appreciated and supports, folks moving forward in their careers.

And I love when it, when it does feed somebody.

We have the African World Festival coming up celebrating 40 years of the African World Festival.

Who are the minds behind the creation of the African World Festival?

Why was it so important for the African World Festival to be created in Detroit and how has it evolved?

- The first festival was held in August of 1983.

Katherine Blackwell, who is a revered ancestor from this city, she was the first chairperson for the very first African World Festival.

And I even saw the registration form for the first craftspeople who were making up the marketplace and it was Ibn Pori Pitts who was the chair for the Craftspersons.

So it was just a number of persons.

We are gonna definitely have all their names available at the event.

We are really looking at the history this year and we're going to actually have an installation a big display on Hart Plaza during the festival weekend that the public can check out the whole 40 year history of this event.

So we've been deep in the archives and it has just been so thrilling to really recapture the story of its evolution.

- For those who are wondering what the experience is like at the African World Festival, take our hand and walk us through the tastes, sounds and smells and sights of the African World Festival coming up this year.

- So this is a cultural arts event with something for everyone.

We have the Watoto Village, which focuses on our youth.

Watoto means children in Ki Swahili.

We have Elder Village where we treat our elders as they should be respected.

We have Generation Next, which is where we really favor our older teens and young adults.

We have African cuisine, Caribbean cuisine, African American foods.

We have vegan and vegetarian foods.

We have specialty drinks.

And so we really look to focus on all of the arts the theater, spoken word, dance, musical performance, both vocal and instrumental.

So we have all that going on and we really work to bring a lot of different representations of the African world.

- I know that we have some internationally known locally grown talent presenting and performing at the African World Festival.

- Of course there's the main stage where Friday night as we're celebrating our 40th, we thought who else kicks off with the notion of a Afro future?

Cause we're saying we're 40 years, but we we're not stopping.

We plan to keep zooming.

And so who is that?

And sure enough, we were able to land Parliament Funkadelic featuring George Clinton.

We're really happy this year that one of our local internationally known groups Underground Resistance with our organization that has fostered techno and hip hop all across the world from right here in Detroit.

They are doing a special presentation on Saturday night to close the main stage.

And then our own Jessica CareMore is curating the Friday night close of the pyramid stage and she has Dre Scon and the Clowns and she has Somi who is not from Detroit, but it's a sister whose voice is so beautiful, we know that Detroiters are going to, who don't know her are gonna fall in love with her.

So I say the food, the entertainment and the marketplace those are the soul of the African World Festival.

But the heart of the festival is the annual reunion because people come every year bring their friends and family and it's just a joyous, it's a beautiful spirit within this festival.

It's just an absolute pleasure to be able to provide opportunities.

And I'm that bridge.

I figured out at some point that I'm that bridge between people who have a talent or a skill or an interest and somebody who needs or wants that talent, skill or interest.

And I can plug it up and we can create something really beautiful.

- The 4th of July is fast approaching and there are a lot of activities and events happening in metro Detroit for the holiday and beyond.

Here's Dave Wagner of 90.9 WRCJ with today's One Detroit Weekend.

- Now the weekend is just around the corner and there's a lot to see and do in around the city.

So let's get to it.

The Rocket Mortgage Classic commenced today at the Detroit Golf Club.

Get over to the course and check out some of the top players in the PGA as they vie for the tournament.

Tomorrow through July 3rd Greenfield Village presents its Salute to America in partnership with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

And at the end of the night you'll experience an exhilarating 1812 overture performance Cannon Fire and a brilliant fireworks finale.

And tomorrow through July 4th, it's fun and eats for all ages at the Royal Oak Taco Fest.

The Five Day Street Festival have Great Eats four stages of live entertainment, crafts for the kids, vendors, daily contests and more.

And on Sunday the second you'll also don't wanna miss Detroit legend Anita Baker's concert at Pine Knob.

Being in the pavilion or on the lawn at Pine Knob is really truly one of the most magical ways to spend a Michigan summer night.

And with Bonita gracing the stage it doesn't get much better than that.

And on Wednesday, July 5th Will Downing and Darryl Beebe will perform at the Aretha Franklin Amphitheater taking the deep soul music of Downing while gazing at the waters of the Detroit River.

Definitely a thrill for all of the senses.

And of course there's so much more going on in and around metro Detroit.

So here are more events.

Have a fantastic July 4th weekend.

- That will do it for this week's One Detroit.

Thanks for watching.

Last weekend our team, along with Bridge Detroit covered the Detroit branch NAACP's June Jubilee celebration commemorating the 60th anniversary of Detroit's Walk to Freedom.

We'll leave you now with the sights and sounds from the events.

- Four, three, two, one.

- 60 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. Would lead at least 125,000 down Woodward Avenue from Adelaide in Woodward all the way to where we're standing right now in what is known as the Detroit Walk to Freedom.

That march was organized by the Detroit Council for Human Rights, which was led by Reverend C.L.

Franklin.

And of course if you don't know C.L.

you probably know his daughter the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.

Reverend Albert Clegg who will become the founder of the Shrine of Black Madonna and changed his name to Jerem Moji Abbe Ajman, Benjamin McFall, the owner of McFall Brothers Funeral Homes and James del Rio who was go on to become a judge.

They would lead that march in conjunction with the UAW which of course was led by Walter Ruther, the mayor of the city of Detroit that time Jerome Kavanaugh.

And they would lead that 125,000 people down here and Martin Luther King Jr. at what was then Cobo Arena would give a speech, a 30 minute speech, and at the end of that speech he would leave a crescendo of the I have a dream refrain.

- Organized labor and the civil rights movement are inextricably intertwined.

And we stand together and it is a great great prestigious honor to be a part of this.

- I hope that as you step out into the street this morning you are making a commitment.

A commitment to organize our community.

- It is a generational moment and it's personal for me.

My father marched 60 years ago as a six year old in this march.

- You see people banning books.

People wanna ban the book that talks about Dr. King.

This march would not be acceptable in Florida under the current governor, under the current legislature.

- 1963!

- Hello.

- Why is it a little known fact that Dr. King rehearsed the I have a dream speech here.

- I know.

- In the city of Detroit first before he took it to DC.

- Well you know how it is man.

You getting your sing on at one place before you go sing.

- You working it out.

- That's right.

You working out the kinks and stuff and this ain't no small place Detroit.

If you can do it in Detroit, then you can withstand all kinds of critique.

Cause people here are rigorous about performance about intelligence, about oratory and the like.

- You can never stop marching.

It's critically important though that we have fixed policy to protest.

Protests without policy is pure performance.

- When do we want it?

Now!

- Charity, ou were intentional with bringing your daughter here.

Why?

- Absolutely.

Well, she has to see this in action and she also gets to see mom at work in a number of ways.

She also needs to see mom marching down and she needs to get the opportunity so that 10 years from now 20 years from now, 30 years from now, she'll be able to say she participated in the march as one of the first steps toward her own fight for freedom for all of us.

- This is commemorating the downtown Detroit downtown walk from Woodward to Coble Hall in 1963.

And of course that's Aretha Franklin and Dr. King and I was six years old when I was in the first march in 63.

- So you were in the original march in 1960?

- Yes, my dad.

My dad brought me.

- My favorite quote was injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

We never forget that.

- Sacrifice, crusade us, be destined for Braden.

No justice, no peace, no justice, no peace.

- We won't stop.

- There's a huge portrait behind my desk of Dr. King and this march in 1963.

I keep it there as a reminder of the promise of the dream, but also a reminder of what happens when you don't honor that dream.

I look at that picture and think just four years later this city erupted in violence that we still haven't recovered from.

- I dream of a world where we don't have to fight day after day to have our voices heard.

But I know I can't create that world on my own.

It's up to all of us to take active parts in making our world a better place for the younger generations.

- Let us be the generation that shatters the chains of injustice, discrimination, and oppression.

We have the power to shape the future.

Let us march with courage and resilience and with the unwavering belief that a brighter tomorrow is within our reach.

Together, let's make Dr. King's dream our own.

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

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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.

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- 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.

- Nissan Foundation and viewers like you.