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Motown Museum CEO talks Mackenzie Scott donation, 50th Anniversary of Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On' album

Posted at 7:29 PM, Jun 17, 2021
and last updated 2021-06-17 19:33:20-04

DETROIT (WXYZ) — Motown Museum Chairwoman and CEO Robin Terry appeared on Thursday's 7 UpFront segment to discuss the massive monetary gift given to the museum by philanthropist Mackenzie Scott, and what that means for the museum's future. Additionally, Terry touched on how the museum has celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Motown legend Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" album, and the work still to be done to affect change

RELATED: Motown Museum receives $5 million gift from Mackenzie Scott

"It's a great day in Detroit and an exciting day for Motown Museum, and all I can say is we are extremely grateful to Mackenzie Scott for just recognizing the work that we do, along with five other really worthy organizations in our community," Terry said, adding that the gift will certainly help in many ways.

"I think what's most exciting about this gift is that Mackenzie Scott did something very rare, and she allowed extreme flexibility for the organizations and really trusted that if they were chosen... that they were trusted to put the dollars to use in a way that is best for the organization," she said.

Also discussed was the 50th Anniversary of Marvin Gaye's iconic album, "What's Going On," which has ties to Detroit during its production. Terry talked about how even today, Gaye's message resonates with ongoing calls for justice and equity in disenfranchised communities.

"I think what we have come to understand as we have celebrated the 50th anniversary of this prolific album for an entire year, and we're continuing to celebrate that, is just how relevant those words are today," Terry said. "And our goal at Motown Museum is really to create dialogue and conversation around some of these issues and to celebrate this tremendous body of work that came right out of our backyard."

Watch the full UpFront interview in the video player above.