Though our commitment to raising up and supporting the Black community transcends the calendar, during Black History Month, we will use our platform to share stories, events, and partnerships, as well as strengthen bonds between our club, our city, and beyond.
For information on Black History Month events happening around the city, check out these articles – or share any events and organizations in Detroit with your fellow supporters below.
dcfc culture and traditions
Black Arrow Award
The Black Arrow Award is given to the Detroit City FC player voted most valuable by the coaches, owners, and supporters. The award is named after Jamaican immigrant, Detroit native, and soccer pioneer Gil Heron.
Gil Heron was known for his blazing speed and was regularly called off-side because officials could not believe his speed. Earning him the nickname. The Back Arrow. As a member of the 1946 Detroit Wolverines, Heron led the North American Soccer Football League in goals. He would go on to become the first black player for the legendary Scottish Club, Celtic. After several years playing in England, he came home to play for the Detroit Corinthians. His son was the poet/musician Gil Scott-Heron. The elder Gil passed away in Detroit in 2008 at the age of 86.
Meet our 2025 Community Spotlight
Andrey Douthard, Owner of Paramita
Throughout the month of February, our Community Programs Manager, Maxwell Murray will be speaking with trailblazers who breathe life into Detroit. The first conversation is with Andrey Douthard, the owner of @paramitasound, a thriving bar in the downtown area that has cultivated a space for our city’s Black, Brown, and Queer folk to gather around their shared love of music. Read along as we explore topics such as the true meaning of community, how Paramita has evolved since its birth, intergenerational influence, and how DCFC can grow its impact in Black communities.
“I guess with the work that I do at Paramita, the easiest way to describe it is it’s like bridge building, and we use music as a vehicle to build bridges between generations. That’s one of the special parts about our music community here. To connect younger generations to older generations, I’m 38 – so I kind of live in the middle of multiple generations.”
Partnerships and initiatives
DETROIT BLACK BUSINESS ALLIANCE
The Detroit Black Business Alliance promotes Black businesses in metro Detroit and recently held the 2021 Black Business Expo at the Detroit City Fieldhouse.
In celebration of Juneteenth, our team wears training tops provided by our partners at Head High Detroit.
Detroit City is proud to partner with Mature, a Detroit small business specializing in men’s clothing. Mature will keep our men’s team and owners looking sharp off the pitch this season.
Fate Students will form a youth-led consulting firm and deliver solutions for the club and the city, utilizing skills they’ve learned with Merit over the past three years. Twelve Detroit high school seniors will work on a paid project to help the DCFC business.
Award-winning East African restaurant Baobab Fare has been a staple at Keyworth for the past three years.
Growing the game
In 2021, Ally and Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) launched a new DPSCD Indoor Soccer League for DPSCD youth. Following a tumultuous year where many extra-curricular activities had to be canceled, DPSCD is recognizing soccer as an official, funded sport– and Ally is helping to make the sport accessible.
A new program was developed to help accelerate the growth of soccer in Black American communities and to increase access and opportunity in the sport at the grassroots level, on and off the field.
