It was forty years ago today

A raid on a blind pig on Twelfth Street sparked riots in Detroit.

I wasn't here, but read about it in the Stars & Stripes paper.

Driving through the city and seeing 82nd Airborne troops on street corners was ... just infuckingcredible.

My father in law had a store in the New Center area, a block from a Michigan Bell facility. Those troops were visibly uncomfortable and plentiful around that store.

Still have a bunch of slides taken with my trusty Nikon F.

and seeing the orange glow of fire in the distance. I was young but the memory is indelible.

The news station played a tape of the destruction made from a helicopter accompanied by dirge-like symphonic music.

And I remember a girl named Tanya Blanding died...

Tanya Blanding a 4-year-old African-American female died 7/26/67 at 12:30am. Tanya was the youngest and most innocent victim of the riot. Tanya died as a result of a gunfire from a National Guard tank stationed in front of her house at 1756 W. Euclid. Guardsmen claim that they were responding to sniper fire from the second floor, where Tanya lived with her family. They claim to have seen a flash in the window and therefore opened fire on the apartment complex. That flash was actually the flick of match in the dark room, as one of Tanya’s male relatives attempted to light a cigarette. Sergeant Mortimer Leblanc of Roseville, reportedly fired the first shot at the apartment complex. The result was that a 50-caliber bullet tore through Tanya’s chest. Nobody was held criminally responsible for this child’s death.

Isn't that strange, I think of that girl to this day.

Tanya, I still think of you! :hi:

Wyoming was a major north-south road for movement of troops/equipment.

Dix, Vernor, And Michigan Ave. were the biggies for eastern movements.

I took photos of Patton Park. Helos, half-tracks, and more. I was so damned nervous. I was surprised the pics came out as good as they did.

We lived one street from Wyoming, and from the second floor porch you could hear the rumbling of the equipment going on all night long.

My mother, who survived WWII in Europe, was nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof hearing those sounds again.

then too.

I lived off-campus at Wayne State University and had just changed jobs from teaching math at an inner city high school (Salesian) to programming at Chevrolet Central Office on the fringe of the New Center area. The Lodge Freeway was so full of smoke cars had to creep through - if they used it at all. APCs were everywhere. Police cars had four seats full of shotgun-toting cops. Buildings were burning ... two in the same block as where I lived.

It was a prep school in a tough neighborhood.

Take that from a UDHS person.

... it's true that it wasn't like Cooley High. Just a Catholic Boy's High School. It was nothing like Cranbrook or Detroit Country Day - the facilities were pretty Spartan and old. I'd guess something like 40% of the boys were college-bound. As a lay teacher, I taught the lower two tracks.

like this, sad isn't it.

Twelfth Street no longer exists in that area. To help erase the memories, the street was renamed to Rosa Parks Boulevard.

:(

many because of poor design so what do they do about it when they got tired of reading about the deaths on hyway 33, change the designation, it went from hyway 33 'the killer' my words, to hyway 412. I shit you not

Oh I bout forgot, when they did do something about it finally they built a four lane turnpike adjacent to it, which btw cost me a quarter if I want to drive it for 7 miles or 23 miles for 3 bucks, now hows that for some cookies. It did get 95 percent of the big rigs off our little dangerous road though, which was a big improvement,

Is this a Detroit expression?

Was this the event that inspired Gordon Lightfoot to write "Black Day in July"?

And we said :wtf: in our 1960's way!

But here is the info on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_pig

Also, that indeed is Gordon's subject: ("Motor city madness!")

Black day in july
Motor city madness has touched the countryside
And through the smoke and cinders
You can hear it far and wide
The doors are quickly bolted
And the children locked inside
Black day in july
Black day in july
And the soul of motor city is bared across the land
As the book of law and order is taken in the hands
Of the sons of the fathers who were carried to this land

Black day in july
Black day in july
In the streets of motor city is a deadly silent sound
And the body of a dead youth lies stretched upon the ground
Upon the filthy pavement
No reason can be found

Black day in july
Black day in july
Motor city madness has touched the countryside
And the people rise in anger
And the streets begin to fill
And there’s gunfire from the rooftops
And the blood begins to spill

Black day in july

In the mansion of the governor
There’s nothing that is known for sure
The telephone is ringing
And the pendulum is swinging
And they wonder how it happened
And they really know the reason
And it wasn’t just the temperature
And it wasn’t just the season

Black day in july
Black day in july
Motor city’s burning and the flames are running wild
They reflect upon the waters of the river and the lake
And everyone is listening
And everyone’s awake

Black day in july
Black day in july
The printing press is turning
And the news is quickly flashed
And you read your morning paper
And you sip your cup of tea
And you wonder just in passing
Is it him or is it me

Black day in july

In the office of the president
The deed is done the troops are sent
There’s really not much choice you see
It looks to us like anarchy
And then the tanks go rolling in
To patch things up as best they can
There is no time to hesitate
The speech is made the dues can wait

Black day in july
Black day in july
The streets of motor city now are quiet and serene
But the shapes of gutted buildings
Strike terror to the heart
And you say how did it happen
And you say how did it start
Why can’t we all be brothers
Why can’t we live in peace
But the hands of the have-nots
Keep falling out of reach

Black day in july
Black day in july
Motor city madness has touched the countryside
And through the smoke and cinders
You can hear it far and wide
The doors are quickly bolted
And the children locked inside

Was possession of alcohol not illegal, just sale thereof during prohibition?

So someone could charge admittance to see a "blind pig" for example
and then serve alcohol as a complimentary drink?

Wow, wish that were the case with grass!

" Come on in and see the decrepit old hippie!
Joints going 'round continuously!
Complimentary, of course"

The federal prohibition of alcohol did not include any penalties for possession per se, although “possession” of large amounts could be prosecuted as “intent to distribute.”

http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/miron.prohibition.alcohol

They encouraged you to park a couple of blocks away to avoid police interest.

Like the cops didn't already know!

here's wiki on the blind pig:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_pig

I was asking him about the riots and how it was and he replied "It was as bad as what you see happening on TV in Baghdad now."

Wow...:wow:

of DUers.

Thank you all--this is fascinating (and I sincerely hope not a portent for current events... :scared:)

My grandmother, who spoke very halting English, LOVED the movies. The first evening of the riot there was still no curfew, and she had gone to a movie theatre that we learned on the news was in the "path" of the rioters. For hours everyone worried about her, and finally she arrived home from her double feature and said "What are you all worried about? The first movie theatre looked dangerous so I had the cab driver take me to Dearborn and I went to the movies there instead!"

She never thought to call us as she assumed we knew she would know better than to go to the first theatre, saying "Why would I call you, what do you think I am, crazy?"


Here is an excellent webpage that tells the story of the riots:

http://www.67riots.rutgers.edu/d_events.htm

In particular, look at the page of the victims and note how many say "No one was held criminally responsible for the crime. It was ruled an “Accidental shooting” on the police report."