Detroit Narrative Agency

The stories we tell about a place form a kind of DNA– shaping what that place is and what it can become.

For too long, the stories that circulate about Detroit have defined it as broken, violent, and in need of saving from itself. Since Detroit’s emergence from bankruptcy in 2014, we see a new strand of stories about Detroit: stories of resurgence led by white billionaires, scrappy entrepreneurs, and pioneering artists. Invisible from that narrative is the Detroit that was saving itself along, the Detroit that is pushing back against marginalization and erasure, the Detroit that has a vision for the future based on the complex and layered histories of this land and its people. The Detroit Narrative Agency is amplifying that Detroit.

DNA was co-founded in 2015 by adrienne maree brown and ill Weaver with support from Jenny Lee and Allied Media Projects. A community advisory team led a process to ask Detroiters what stories about Detroit they’re sick of seeing? What stories about Detroit do they want to see told? What infrastructure is needed for Detroiters to disrupt those harmful narratives? This process shaped the priorities that DNA went on to steward through fellowships, screenings, workshops, etc.

DNA is now co-directed by Ryan Pearson and Cornetta Lane Smith.