July 23, 2001

On this day, at 3:50am in 1967 police raided a blind pig (after hours drinking establishment) in the 12th (Rosa Parks Blvd.) and Clairmount area. As a reaction to the police brutality, people began throwing rocks and bottles at police cars as they were leaving. The first building caught on fire a few hours later and rioters wouldn't let the fire department extinguish the blaze. As the day progressed more rioters hit the streets, looting and burning local businesses. Snowflake turned to blizzard resulting in a massive riot encompassing the northwest end of the city. In the resulting days the riot has spread bringing fires and mass destruction with it. By the time the riots were under control, 7331 people has been arrested and 43 people killed. This was after Governor George Roomey had sent in 1500 national guardsmen and President Johnson had sent 4700 army paratroopers to restore order. Thousands were left homeless and local businesses had been looted and burned and in some cases obliterated. 

The impact of "Riots" or the "insurrection" as many refer to it is an inescapable reality in Detroit. Being a city which is very black and white, the events which happened 34 years ago still lay heavy in the minds of the people. Everybody has a story, recounting where they were and what they were doing when they saw their city in flames. As a child, my mother use to recount her experiences in the riots. Living in Windsor she use to go over to Detroit to visit friends and go shopping. While staying at friends house on the east side she was told not to leave the house because the city was in flames. Like many she was unaware of what was going on due to a media blackout. Everything was through word of mouth and when it was announced that the borders had closed, like many, she was stranded. I never fully understood why it all happened until I grew older. The 67' riots are still a hot topic in the city if people choose to discuss them at all. It seems that everybody likes to point the finger at someone else questioning "who?" rather than "why?". Unfortunately there are no easy answers just like there are no goods guys nor bad guys.

The downtown crowds were slowly pulling in to the car parks as I hailed a taxi in front of the Millender Center Down.

"Where do you want to go son?" asked my driver

"12th and Clairmount please" was my reply.

"You want to go where!?!"

          I really didn't need to reply, he understood the first time around. In my treks throughout Detroit I had never had a reason to head up there. With the hit and miss public transit system and  no car, it is an area of town I was unfamiliar with. Besides, I always told myself that if I headed over their it would be for a damn good reason. Today was a damn good reason!               

   "So do you have an address that you want to go to?" Asked my driver.

I didn't. I asked my driver to let me off at the corner because I just wanted to walk around. There were are few people hanging around a "Party Store"( liquor store) waiting for it to open and other than that there was not a single soul to be found. My driver agreed to wait for me as I snapped a few photos.

The blind pig had been torn down or burned down years ago and replaced with a park. There are no historical landmarks here. Instead, tired buildings line the streets and needles litter the park. The photo studio that was right across the street from the blind pig is still in operation but its doors were locked tightly. It is the last relic of a forgotten moment in history. Car parts and broken pay phones are scattered in the weed covered vacant lot next door. Walking back to the park, I sit and talk to the driver for a while. He knows why I am here but we don't discuss it. White Canadian tourists are a rare site in this part of town, so it is best to discuss the good aspects of the area rather then the bad.

"I remember coming down to this area in the summer on Sunday's after church. There would be kids everywhere, and barbecues going on. It was alot of fun. After the riots the city pumped a lot of money into this area of town, and there would be concerts and all kinds of stuff"

We shoot the breeze for a while and he tells me that he drop me off in a nice part of town. The radio is blaring the Fifth Dimension and off we go.

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