BLACK BOTTOM SAINTS

Narrators Prentice Onayemi and Imani Parks swap chapters in this chronicle of Detroit in the years 1938-1968, when Black workers streamed into the city looking for work in the car plants. Onayemi creates the voice of Joseph "Ziggy" Johnson, nightclub emcee at The Flame and The Driftwood Lodge and gossip columnist covering the celebrated Detroit neighborhood of Black Bottom. Parks employs a distant observational tone as she anchors the emotional side of the story. Motor City comes to life as Onayemi infuses Ziggy's voice with a knowing attitude that suggests his experiences with the good, the bad, and the ugly of Black life in this time and place. R.O. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2020]