DAVÓNE TINES x DETROIT

As part of his work as Artist in Residence, Davóne Tines explored neighborhoods throughout the city of Detroit and encountered many of its people - artists, business owners, community organizers.
“To know the full truth you have to contend with how you’ve been complicit in the systems that uphold oppression,” said Tines. “And the hardest thing for a person to do is acknowledge when they’re wrong. Why are people still out here having to prove that they are human?”
Inspired by those interactions and his performances of his program Sermon with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Tines brings these questions and philosophies to his artistic practice wherever he goes.
Excerpt from “You Want the Truth, but You Don’t Want to Know” from the opera X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X
Music by Anthony Davis
Libretto by Thulani Davis
Story by Christopher Davis
performed by Davóne Tines and The Philadelphia Orchestra
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor
recorded on January 16, 2021
LYRICS
My truth told me, quit before you start.
My truth told me, staying’ alive is all you’ve got.
I’ve shined your shoes, I’ve sold your dope,
Hauled your bootleg, played with hustler’s hope.
But the crime is mine.
I’ll do your time as you can sleep.
I won’t be out to get you on the street at night,
But I won’t forget any evil that’s white.
My truth is a hammer coming from the back.
It will beat you down when you least expect.
I will not tell you what I know.
You want the truth.
You want the truth.
But you don’t want to know.
Produced by:
Comet Interactive
Eric Longs
Executive Producer
Luisa Wiewgorra
Production Manager/Assistant Producer
Jason M Schultz
Director/Editor
Wayne Ten Roberts
Director of Photography
Kyle Cummings
Camera Assistant
Thank you to Andrea Scobie, Arthur White, and Suzanne Hanna.