A National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame rendering could call the old Inkster High School home if plans are approved.
Photo provided by National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame Foundation
Detroit is synonymous with jams found nowhere else but through R&B music, and love songs crooned throughout the decades with the famous Motown sound that helped put the Motor City on the map.
Another city equally deserving of some shine for the rhythm and blues accolades is none other than Inkster which is looking to bring the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame to the city by 2023.
“The city of Inkster and the city of Detroit has had a very deep and rich musical heritage, so it only makes sense that we explore a deeper relationship with the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame Foundation. This will be a partnership that is based on music, and one that will help us to expand our educational mission and ability to celebrate music with students, the broader community in Inkster, Wayne County and the State of Michigan,” said Mayor Patrick Wimberly of Inkster.
The National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame Foundation and the city of Inkster are conducting talks to bring the developing project to the city known for many historic firsts musically and overall, in the Black community. There will be a discussion about plans at an Inkster City Council meeting in May.
The one-of-a-kind hall of fame would focus on the rich history of R&B music and its artists. With the passing of so many great R&B artists over the last few years including National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame Foundation board member/inductee Mary Wilson of The Supremes, there is now an interest in making the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame a reality.
The National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame will be a 21st century, 65,000 square foot state-of-the-art, highly interactive, virtual reality, 3-D hologram type of complex, that will give music lovers a total musical experience described as “going to Disneyland.”
The Founder/CEO and Basketball Hall of Famer, R&B Music Historian LaMont “ShowBoat” Robinson, founded the project in 2010 and has hosted nine induction ceremonies since 2013, inducting over 200 world-renowned artists including B.B. King, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Prince and Whitney Houston. The National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame Foundation is a 501(c) (3) organization, and the name is federally trademarked.
Robinson added that if the project does come to the city of Inkster, it will be its main headquarters, but he also said that he is in talks with a few other cities to build the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in the south, which will be a satellite location called the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame – South.
Robinson has put together a team of professionals to make this project come to life within the next 24 months.
“I’ve been pushing this great and much-needed concept to cities around the country for the past eight years. I am delighted that Mayor Wimberly can see the vision and the need to honor the greatest musical artists and the most sampled genre of music. When speaking with city officials, the question came up as to where would be the best location to build this project in Inkster. The old Inkster High School seems like the best fit for the project, which is also where all the members of Motown’s Legendary group The Marvelettes attended school,” he said.
Robinson said in an interview with The Michigan Chronicle that people have been “stunned” and “amazed” that there hasn’t already been an R&B home — a monument to celebrate the life and likes of R&B legends.
“So many other great artists came before them and after them — there isn’t a home for them,” he said of greats like Aretha Franklin and James Brown.
He added that the Motown Museum tells a piece of the R&B story but this project would tell a bigger story of the history of R&B, which includes a part of Motown.
Kurk Edwards, Founder/CEO of Joy-Jem Community Development is spearheading the talks concerning the project’s possible move to Inkster. Edwards remarked: “I am happy to see this world-class project possibly coming to Inkster for a lot of reasons. One reason is because it is the hometown of The Marvelettes. Also, the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame will be a national and international year-round tourist attraction for the city of Inkster, like the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, which is only 155 miles away. Another important reason has to do with the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame bringing jobs and providing an economic boost for the State of Michigan and Inkster. This project is good all the way around for everybody.
Robert Turley, former Inkster resident, musician and local historian, who also runs Inkster’s Facebook fan page, Inktown Fam aka Inkster Family, said during a Michigan Chronicle interview that the “incredible plans” in the works are long overdue.
“This is a debt that is owed and time for people to pay up,” he said, adding that Inkster is where it belongs not only because of the musical history but “because of our legacy.”
“There is this legacy we feel makes us the natural home for [the national museum]” he said.
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