Ever met anyone who was actually there?
The ask was "immersive storytelling technology," so we happily demoed hi-res video walls, shiny VR worlds and AR tools, projection maps. This wasn't our usual auto or shoe brand looking to pioneer the "future of immersive retail," but a local historical museum. Their goal was to paint the bigger picture of the 1967 Detroit riots, from the perspectives of people who experienced it.
After meeting the Director, I took a more personal interest in winning the project. Soon after, my role shifted from magical technology wizard to trusted creative partner, (a pattern I've seen a few times in my career.)
A question dropped casually into a deck became the preferred headline: Riot or Rebellion? An interesting polemic that underlaid the discourse in a politically charged project. Still my sense was that most Detroiters from all backgrounds were in agreement that it was, in fact, a riot.
"Who started it?" is the question we'd hear a lot. Instead, I framed my own editorial contribution as an emphasis on the most interesting stories. Terms like “lived experience” and “personal truth” don’t normally fit with an objective account of historical events, but neither does pretending the storyteller doesn't have an opinion.
So many great partners and support on this project, but working with my friend Marlowe (1976-2020) on Detroit '67 and beyond is a great memory from the before-times. We disagreed on a lot, yet we were almost totally unfiltered with each other, a kind of relationship that's truly rare today.
A lot of creative efforts are only possible in a certain moment, and in this case it was obvious that after 2017 we simply wouldn't have seen the candor or the cultural conditions; a different regime would have been in full control.
Feels good to get away with it.