Dominique Morisseau: Where Black Stories Community, and Cooperativism Meet

October 22, 2026 This week’s episode features Dominique Morisseau, an award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and television producer. Vernon and Dominique explore the Kwanzaa principle of Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) and its connection to cooperativism and cooperative economics, themes that are reflected throughout her plays.  Dominique Morisseau’s work explores the experiences of African American communities and the socioeconomic forces that shape their lives. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, she draws on her lived experiences and historical knowledge to reveal the humanity behind pivotal moments in Black communities. Dominique earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting from the University of Michigan in 2000. Morisseau is the author of The Detroit Project, a three-play cycle comprising Detroit ’67, Paradise Blue, and Skeleton Crew. Her other acclaimed plays include Pipeline, Sunset Baby, Blood at the Root, and Confederates. She also wrote the book for the Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations. Her work extends to television and film. She served as a co-producer on the Showtime series Shameless and wrote the film adaptation of the documentary STEP. Her numerous honors include two Obie Awards, NAACP Image Awards, the Ford Art of Change Fellowship, and the 2018 MacArthur Fellowship. In 2023, she received the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize.