Diarra Kilpatrick is full of stories. Growing up in Detroit, the actress, writer and creator of Diarra From Detroit heard plenty of them, from the heartwarming to the completely hilarious. But one story she came across years later—about pieces of old Harlem brownstones carrying the energy of the Black lives once lived inside them—stayed with her long enough to become part of the DNA of Diarra’s second season.
The artist had witnessed so much Black life, “particularly at a time when people were really at home — like you were born at home, you died at home,” Kilpatrick said with a warm reverence. “The parties of the Harlem Renaissance might be the only safe space you had to be in the fullness of your Blackness. She would take these artifacts and would put them in her sculptures, and she said that they would vibrate almost with the frequency of Blackness. And I just got chills all over my whole body.”
A similar frequency reverberates in Diarra’s world as the protagonist — and the show creator’s namesake — takes on a bigger and riskier world in this eight-episode season. While staying true to its melting pot of comedy, murder-mystery and romance, this season finds our teacher-turned-self-appointed-detective searching for a desk that holds the keys to her landlord’s inheritance.
Hijinx ensue as Diarra and her crew (played by Bryan Terrell Clark, DomiNque Perry and series newcomers Chris “CP” Powell and Shoniqua Shandai) go deeper into this treasure hunt filled with clues left by big-time prohibitionist Duncan Duckett before he was gunned down in his own speakeasy. Diarra’s use of ancestral veneration to crack this case runs parallel with the spiritual fulfillment Kilpatrick invokes in discussing what gets passed down in Black families.
“Sometimes we don’t get our inheritance. We don’t get the trust fund that we want. We get these heirlooms that literally vibrate with the frequency of our stories of our parents, our grandparents, and of all the generations. There’s treasure to be found there.”
The road they’re on is already filled with riches as the show cleverly maps out the interconnected significance of Black institutions and traditions: the church, oral histories and secret societies to the culture as a reminder of why they’re worth fighting for.
“We wanted to share with the audience and have them look at it in a new way because we know the church is dying,” Kilpatrick explained. “We know that these social groups and our secret societies and stuff, they’re not as big of a deal in our community anymore, and we just wanted to take a tour, circle back and see what treasures there might be still there for us.”
At the same time, Diarra has been trying to leave her previously kidnapped boyfriend Chris (Shannon Wallace) — hard to do when he’s been charged with a triple homicide — and contemplating if she should spin the block with her ex (Clifford Smith Jr.), who’s ready to have a child. Her biological clock isn’t ticking quietly either as she questions whether or not she’d even make a good mother, or if it even makes sense to bring a child into a world so chaotic.
“Right now, the world, frankly, feels a little more hostile towards Black women, and so it’s an even harder decision to make,” Kilpatrick, who has a child of her own, said. “There’s a slight hopelessness that I hear people talking about, and so then they don’t want to have kids. I wanted to touch on that so that people in the middle of asking themselves all these tough questions know that they’re not alone.”
Balancing the character’s deep inner life with a world seeped in both danger and silliness is what makes this show one of the freshest and original series currently out. This season also boasts star power from Phylicia Rashad, Glynn Turman, Harry Lennix, Bokeem Woodbine, Morris Chestnut and Jon Chaffin. And don’t sleep on guest stints from P-Valley star Nicco Annan and rappers Skilla Baby and Icewear Vezzo, native Detroiters who bring their 313 flair. Amber Riley, Lil Rel Howery, Lovie Simone and Jude Demorest also make their Diarra from Detroit debut. And though it didn’t work out this season, Kilpatrick hints that she has a role in mind for Colman Domingo, which he seems eager to portray.
In season 1, Diarra from Detroit was a hidden gem with a cult following on BET+. Kilpatrick has been excited about bringing this bigger season to a bigger audience.
“We made a really rich season, and it really taught me about how big the sandbox is of the world of Diarra from Detroit,” she said. “It can really handle quite a bit, and that’s just exciting for me as a creator, especially with this cast.”
Diarra from Detroit drops a new episode Wednesdays on Paramount+.