The city of Detroit, USA has had a large and thriving black community since the 1920s, when many African Americans moved to northern cities to find work in the then-booming industrial sector. This Great Migration continued through the 1960s. By the mid-1970s, African Americans formed more than half the city's population.

Many black churches are located in the city, including the historic Second Baptist Church, which assisted runaway slaves. A monument to the Underground Railroad was erected in 2001 at Hart Plaza downtown.

In 1959, Berry Gordy founded Motown Records, one of the first black-owned record labels. Over the next decade, a number of top artists, including Detroit native Aretha Franklin, signed with the label. The company relocated to Los Angeles in 1972, but the city has seen new movements develop since then, including disco, funk, rap, and dance music. Detroit is considered the birthplace of techno music.

Detroit has produced a large number of black athletes. Perhaps the most legendary is Joe Louis, heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949. Louis is memorialized with a sculpture of a giant fist at the intersection of Jefferson and Woodward Avenues, as well as in the name of Joe Louis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings.

Detroit has a reputation as one of the finest centers of soul food in Michigan, with a number of highly-regarded establishments.