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In today’s episode, we’re talking with Dr. Dyann Logwood, who grew up with her family in the historic Willow Run neighborhood before moving to southern Ypsilanti Township, where her family would be one of the few Black families in the area. Dr. Logwood tells us personal stories about her experience as a kid in a Black family in 1970s and 1980s Ypsilanti. She talks about how things were different between Willow Run and southern Ypsilanti Township, and also tells stories that provide a snapshot of what life was like during that period.

Podcast speaker:

 

Dr. Dyann Logwood

Dr. Dyann Logwood is a poet, writer, activist, and Assistant Professor in the Women’s and Gender Studies Department at Eastern Michigan University, and also teaches courses in Africology and African American Studies, Political Science and Religious Studies.

 

Photograph of the south side of Cross Street showing five businesses, Hon's Flowers and Fancies, Depot Exchange Antiques, Artrain, Framing & Matting and Sidetrack Bar & Restaurant.

Photograph from 1982 of the south side of Cross Street showing five businesses, Hon’s Flowers and Fancies, Depot Exchange Antiques, Artrain, Framing & Matting and Sidetrack Bar & Restaurant. From the Ypsilanti Historical Society Archive.

A distance photograph looking east at the Depot Town Festival during the summer of 1986.

A distance photograph looking east at the Depot Town Festival during the summer of 1986. From the Ypsilanti Historical Society Archive.

Photograph of "Yankee Lady" on the runway at Willow Run Airport in the 1980s

Photograph of “Yankee Lady” on the runway at Willow Run Airport in the 1980s. From the Ypsilanti Historical Society Archive.

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