Host Ben Will with featured vocalists: Alex Way, LaShaun phoenix Moore, Jamiliah Minter,
Gene Alexander, Larry Duren, Bryce Pinchum, Jyn, and Rebecca Eaddy. Within our event series, The Motor City Singers’ Space, we partner with artists, community organizations, and mental health professionals to creatively and without judgement provide psycho-education and mental health resources to our audiences and greater community.
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Featured Vocalists Jyn and Jamiliah Minter perform during our
Aretha Franklin tribute in August 2018. |
Guests work together to sing through one of the improv jam session moments at our event in August 2018.
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Our organization recognizes that in the Black/African American community there is a stigma projected on individuals who seek professional support for mental health issues. The National Alliance on Mental Illness reports that over 50% of mental illness goes untreated and Black people are 20% more likely to experience mental health challenges, such as depression, suicidal ideation, and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder than other race/ethnic groups. We believe that both the stigma and increased statistics of untreated mental illness prevalent within Black/African American communities are due to the systemic racism upon which our country was founded, as well the affiliated bias towards Black/African American patients; and the documented accounts of unsafe, un-consented experimental, and torturous procedures performed on Black people within the American medical industry.
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This dark history has created an atmosphere where Black people are afraid to voice their mental health concerns or condition for fear of isolation or detachment. Through our work, we hope to address these needs and encourage others to seek trusted support when needed.
In June 2018, we started producing themed musical showcases/vocal jam sessions with the purposed of creating community and providing catharsis for Black artists and community members in Detroit. We established a format that includes curated musical performances, engaging audience interaction, and a special themed “mental health moment” specifically designed to highlight resources, services, and best practices the Black Community can utilize to maintain positive mental health. |
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Ben Will is a singer/song-writer/spoken word artist based in Detroit, MI. He is also the executive director of Motor City Sings and the host of The Motor City Singers' Space which he established in remembrance of his dear friend Rev. Ieshia Renee Currie whom we lost to suicide in 2015.
Born on Detroit’s eastside, Ben has been making music his entire life. Ben immersed himself in music and performance from his early studies of voice and theory as a Mosaic Singer and Renaissance High School Varsity Chorus member to studying arts and sciences at Cornell University, New York University, University of Detroit Mercy and Wayne State University. As an International Cultural Ambassador with the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Ben produces music and cultural events such as The Motor City Singers’ Space, The HAM Slam, WordPlay and Boa Me: A Community Songwriting Project. |
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