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The greatest place on earth to be from, according to Diarra Kilpatrick, is Detroit.
In her showDiarra From Detroit, Motor City is milieu and muse.
The BET+ series traces namesake protagonist Diarra Bricklands farcical descent into the citys criminal underworld.
To her surprise, before the second date, her charming rebound vanishes no text, no communication.
There have been times when its been violent, she adds.
I dont think theres anything wrong with admitting that.
These characters are trying to be better.
Theyre just failing, explains Kilpatrick.
And thats whats interesting to watch.
She is falling apart.
Her husband was the sun in her life and it burned out.
We wanted people to get that right away.
I get why youre depressed.If Morris Chestnut walked out of my life, Id be totally bereft.
Is her quest to find Chris, then, about regaining some sort of control?Youre so astute.
We definitely talked in the writers room about her reclaiming her power.
But, at the same time, shes very avoidant.
Its easier to solve a cold case than it is to go through a divorce.
Even though its insane, its almost easier for her to do that than to sit in her feelings.
Have you ever been ghosted?Ive been saying this whole time, Sorry.
Ive never been ghosted.
My friends talk to me about it and I just wrote it in the show wasnt me.
But I forgot I have been ghosted.
You know what it is, Im old enough that we werent calling it that.
When I was a freshman in college at NYU, I met an MTV DJ on the street.
We went on two dates and then he fell off the face of the earth.
I was still very much a little girl.
Shes very weird and not ready to be in a relationship with a grown man.
So, I was ghosted by three different dudes.
One was an MTV DJ.
The other is now a Marvel actor.
And the third is another actor.
And I have repressed it until last night.
The shows very funny, but there is a sobering subtext.
Do you feel parallels to the contemporary moment?Yes.
Theres a heaviness to the time and there has been since the pandemic.
They have to go above and beyond.
Theres been conversations about defunding the police.
Detroiters often have a hard shell, even though theres the chewy center on the inside.
I dont think theres anything wrong with admitting that.
Danger is in therapy, so am I. I love me a good therapy session.
That dishonors our humanity.
Sometimes we fall with the wrong crowd.
Sometimes we talk shit.
If we pretend were perfect, that actually dehumanizes us.
There are references to class differences in the show as well.
I feel like most Black people are one or two degrees away from either kind of person.
Its important to me that Black women of all economic backgrounds are able to see themselves on the show.
And then I have my girlfriends who are trying to change the world.
Theyre trying to break every glass ceiling.
I wanted to show them love.
Im rooting for them.
In episode five, Diarra delivers a love letter to Detroit.
Shes in this frazzled state.
Her hair is messy, makeup smudged.
What are you going through?
And I was like, What are you talking about?
This is one of the greatest places to be from on the planet.
What is old Detroit versus new Detroit?Gentrification is wild.
Detroit growing up was such a thoroughly Black City.
Everybody from the mayor to the garbage collector was Black.
You could be whoever you wanted to be.
There was freedom and affirmation in that.
Now, the opposite is true.
You dont see a lot of Black people go downtown.
And its complicated, because from a financial standpoint, peoples property values are going up.
But I always want Detroit to come back for the people whove been waiting on it.
I want them to feel a part of the renaissance.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
