Locusts (Detroit, 11 min)
Directed by Iqaa The Olivetone
Score by Houseshoes
Produced by EMERGENCE
Finale and Invincible spent over five years writing "Locusts." The song writing process began with them each collecting oral histories from friends, mentors, and family. Finale's grandfather drove him around Detroit and showed him the sites of his old stomping grounds, now long gone. He told Finale stories of how the city had changed in his lifetime. Invincible spent time with her mentors learning about the history of anti-displacement organizing in Detroit.
During the songwriting process, Invincible and Finale continued their research by collaborating with Jenny Lee (all three of them members of the Detroit Summer Collective) to produce an audio documentary on the effects of Superbowl XL on the city, and the Brush Park neighborhood in particular. Excerpts of this documentary were later woven into the song itself.
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This video has now reached thousands of people worldwide through its inclusion on the ShapeShifters multimedia CD, online distribution, film festivals (including SXSW and Media That Matters), and at community screenings by educators and activists.
As Locusts shows, Detroit is an inspiring model of community resistance to displacement. In Detroit, activists have taken the initiative to not just oppose predatory developers, but to also create sustainable alternatives. These models are being envisioned and implemented by Detroiters who have been most impacted by disinvestment, speculation, and underdevelopment.
Invincible leads a workshop called, “Resisting Displacement, Gentrification and Colonization through Hip Hop and Media,” which features presentations and discussions of Locusts and People Not Places. In the workshop, participants learn about the Detroit Summer Live Arts Media Project (LAMP) organizing process and how to apply it to local struggles. These workshops have created amazing opportunities for exchanging resistance strategies between different communities facing similar issues.
Visit Detroit and see the side of the city rarely shown in the mainstream media. Detroit Summer and the Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership collaborate on hosting movement history tours of the city. These tours showcase the living legacies of community organizing, music, media, and art in the city. For more information, contact info (AT) detroitsummer (DOT) org.
Locusts song and video is featured on Invincible's ShapeShifters album, available in the EMERGENCE Store.