this land is their land

This documentary looks at the choices that politicians make and what they do to retain power, seen through the context of Detroit’s first Black mayor, Coleman A. Young, and the issue of eminent domain. This Land is Their Land focuses on this controversial and charismatic mayor, elected during a national wave of Black mayoral wins and the beginning of Black political power in the 1970s. Young took the helm on the heels of one of the most consequential civil disturbances in US history and the looming collapse of the auto industry.

During his 20-year tenure, Young was credited for a number of solid accomplishments: decreasing police brutality, bringing increased racial representation to the police and fire departments, developing downtown projects, and strengthening arts programming and public transportation, while balancing an ever-shrinking civic budget. However, Young is still perceived by many white Detroiters (in both the city and suburbs) as corrupt and divisive, the reason for the city’s collapse.

This film addresses Black political power in 1960s–70s Detroit, Young’s history in the African American Black Bottom neighborhood in the 1940s, and its subsequent bulldozing and removal through eminent domain. It explores why this happened, who was removed, how people were affected, and how this influenced Young’s views of property ownership and public housing policies, including his own choice to bulldoze a long-standing Polish community in order to construct an auto plant that now faces an uncertain future. The film examines the historic relationship of property ownership to prosperity and intergenerational wealth, specifically in African American communities, and how the recent foreclosure crisis affected Detroit.

About the Artist

Nicole Macdonald is an artist who paints and collages her Detroit environment in miniatures and maximums, portraits and landscapes, with brush and camera. Her documentaries on the Detroit environment and city history have won Best Michigan Filmmaker at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Best Documentary at the Humboldt Film Festival, and a John Michaels Film Award for at the Big Muddy Film Festival. They have also screened at Media City Film Festival and Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. Nicole’s paintings and collages have been exhibited in local, national, and international shows, including Casco Art Institute (The Netherlands), and Detroit Institute of Arts. She is involved with the boards of various nonprofits and galleries in the city of Detroit, including City Sculpture (founder), Southwest Artist Latino Network (founder), Detroit Artists Market, and Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit. Nicole’s roughly 10-foot portraits of historical Detroiters have been erected throughout the city since 2014, as part of the Detroit Portrait Series. Her work was published in Canvas Detroit (2015) and Essay’d, Vol 1 (2016) by Wayne State Press, and in Hyperallergic and Art in America magazines. In 2018, she was awarded a residency at Signal-Return. Her recent documentary film, Last Days of Chinatown, has played at festivals around the country and on PBS.