313 Legends

A proud native Detroiter, Alycia Meriweather has deep roots in the city’s public education system, a former student and graduate of the city’s schools, who later earned an education degree from the University of Michigan.

Held in high esteem for her steady leadership and relentless focus on student success as a teacher, curriculum leader, and district administrator, her mission has always been clear: to restore trust, reform education, and always put the needs of students first.

Though born in New York, Dr. Lisa Newman’s most important work happened in Detroit, where she served as Director of the Breast Care Center at Henry Ford Health System for nearly two decades.

During her time in Detroit, she built esteemed clinical programs that helped reshape the national dialogue around breast cancer, including triple-negative breast cancer (which disproportionately affects Black women), revolutionizing how race, genetics, ancestry, and healthcare outcomes are perceived worldwide.

Born to Iraqi parents in Sheffield, England, and raised in Royal Oak, Michigan, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha developed an early love of justice and science that would heavily influence her future career path.

Best known as the truth-telling pediatrician who blew the whistle on the Flint water crisis, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha didn’t just fight for the city’s children; she took data and used it to ignite an entire revolution.

Dr. Hanna-Attisha graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA and a master’s degree in public health, as well as a medical degree from Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine.

She then completed her residency at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, where she also served as chief resident.

Born and raised in Ann Arbor, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun is an alumnus of the University of Michigan, the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and George Washington University who previously served as Vice President and Chief Health Equity Officer at CVS Health.

A firm believer that health outcomes aren’t just biological, but also a reflection of a wider systemic issue, Dr. Khaldun has dedicated her entire career to expanding medical care access for those who need it the most.

She doesn’t just speak truth to power; she does the work needed whenever necessary, never being afraid to get her hands dirty.

A native of Indiana, former Fox 2 News morning anchor Anqunette Jamison moved to Detroit in early adulthood and quickly became a staple in the city’s local journalism scene for nearly two decades, eventually making the transition from the newsroom to public health activism.

A beacon of warmth, intelligence, and grace, Anqunette’s story is one of reinvention, resilience, and purpose-based leadership.

Detroiters came to know her as the woman who helped them wake up on the right foot—a consistent voice in a city known for its hard times and harder comebacks.

A child of Detroit’s west side, Charity Dean learned early on that, in order for people to heal, you must start by healing the systems in which they exist.

Charity earned a BA in political science from Oakland University, followed by a law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, where she currently works as an adjunct professor.

During her time as an attorney, she founded Dean Law and Consulting, a firm committed to serving Detroit’s most disenfranchised areas through education, advocacy, and strategic mentorship.

Living proof that economic development is possible even in blighted areas, she’s also the founder of the popular Grandmont/Rosedale neighborhood coffee shop Rosa.

Born and raised on Detroit’s west side, Rick Williams is a man best known for blending street-level storytelling, fashion, and footwear to help redefine what Detroit style looks like through his work in design, retail, and community upliftment.

A hustler from an early age, his interest in fashion started with his love of sneakers and product design, both of which served as the groundwork for his lucrative creative career to come.

Tommey Walker is a creative mastermind and Detroit native that didn’t just build a brand.

He’s the voice behind a beloved slogan:

Detroit Vs Everybody.

Born and raised in Detroit, Asia Hamilton is a creative architect and photographer, best known for her intimate portraits of Black life.

A leader in Detroit’s artistic renaissance, Asia Hamilton isn’t just the woman behind the camera; she’s a powerful force whose stunning work both documents and empowers.

Deeply moved by Detroit’s creative history, Asia found her artistic instincts early on by watching inner-city life unfold all around her.

She then went on to study at Columbia College in Chicago before returning home with a clearer vision and a newfound mission: to shine a light on not just trauma, but also Black joy, vulnerability, beauty, and power.

She tells stories often ignored by the mainstream lens, utilizing her subjects not just as props, but as participants.

Monica Lewis-Patrick, the co-founder and president of the community organization “We the People of Detroit,” is one of the most impassioned voices on the front lines of water rights, environmental racism, and public accountability in a city that has often lacked these essential qualities.

That said, she fights for far more than just infrastructure; she fights for dignity.

Although not a native, Monica Lewis-Patrick found her true calling after she moved to Detroit in the 2000s and quickly became involved in policy battles, community care work, and local organizing.

It was a likely turn of events given her extensive background in civic engagement and education.

Detroit gave her purpose.

At a time when the city was deep in the midst of its emergency management era and battling issues such as privatization, state overreach, and shutoffs, Monica didn’t flinch.

Instead, she picked up a bullhorn and got to work.

A proud Detroit native born into a family of activists, Siwatu-Salama Ra is the face of an entirely new generation of Detroit freedom fighters, one that is deeply rooted in the city that birthed her, and who has never feared standing up to the many systems that have tried to silence her.

Siwatu’s mother, Rhonda Anderson, was once a prolific environmental justice advocate, and because of this, Siwatu was exposed to her life’s calling from an early age.

Come her teenage years, she was already busy organizing movements around clean air, water rights, and food access in the very neighborhoods that needed them the most – neighborhoods that most politicians went out of their way to ignore.

Although he was born in Florida, actor and producer Justin Bartha spent the majority of his formative years in a suburb just outside of Detroit called West Bloomfield.

Best known for his roles in the mid-2000s “The Hangover” franchise and Nicholas Cage’s “National Treasure,” Justin Bartha brings a subtle charm and contagious wit to all the projects he takes in.

An alumnus of West Bloomfield High School, Bartha developed an early love for the spotlight while in high school drama and theater, gaining an appreciation for film and storytelling that would later propel him to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he studied acting.

A spunky kid with Broadway technique and blockbuster potential, he slowly built up a career by playing the guy the audience remembers, even if he isn’t necessarily the loudest voice in the room.

In short, the drive, humorous self-deprecation, and timing he honed during his time in Detroit went on to show up in every role he took on—whether he was a missing groom or a sidekick delivering dry quips.

A woman best known as “Tess” on the iconic 90s show “Touched by an Angel,” Della Reese (birth name Deloreese Patricia Early) got her start on Detroit’s east side in an area once known as “Black Bottom,” the only child of a steelworker and a cook.

Raised in the choir, she found her gospel roots early, her angelic voice revealing itself early in the pews of Ebenezer AME Church.

By the age of six, she was already belting out gospel, and by her teen years she was a member of Mahalia Jackson’s national tour, learning firsthand from the queen herself.

That said, Della was never the type to feel satisfied staying in just one lane.

She further expanded her sound into blues, jazz, and big band, developing the kind of elegance that made her seem destined for bigger things.

A child of Detroit’s east side, who grew up absorbing the city’s eclectic music, Sterling Toles isn’t just a man who makes beats…

He uses his craft as a portal into what feels like whole other realities.

For Sterling, music is more than just music…it’s memory, resistance, and an avenue to pay respect to the legends of old.

He isn’t just a reflection of Detroit’s one-of-a-kind musical DNA; he’s a beacon of it, best known for blending hip-hop with gospel, jazz, Motown, ambient, and field recordings to create a new sound entirely.

Raised on music with meaning and songs that carried the seed of both soul and struggle, Sterling went on to study journalism at Michigan State before eventually coming to terms with the fact that music would always be his true calling.

So he did the only thing that made sense.

He returned to Detroit and got to work making it.

Born and raised on Detroit’s east side in a Sicilian household, Sonny Bono got his start early, shaped by a blue-collar work ethic and a Catholic upbringing in a city marked by its industrial rhythm.

Although he and his family relocated across the country to California when he was just a child, Detroit had a lasting impact on Sonny, who would later go on to be part of the iconic TV duo Sonny & Cher.

His time in Detroit taught him not just how to manifest his wildest dreams, but how to make other people believe in those dreams, too.