| Author | Message | ||
  Charise (mistrivia1) 5-Doyen Username: mistrivia1 Post Number: 193 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 198.81.26.46 |
I was looking at the news and saw that it has been 37yrs since the Riots in Detroit. I just wanted to here from those of you who were in Detroit at the time, what are your memories of that? I hope I'm not being too invasive. I have read about it, but I was all of 2yrs old at the time. | ||
~medusa~ (~medusa) 5-Doyen Username: ~medusa Post Number: 338 Registered: 3-2004 Posted From: 68.79.164.57 |
I feel like going to New York right about now~ Ok folks~~~I'm Outta here~~~ | ||
Dinelle (dinelle_watson) 4-Laureate Username: dinelle_watson Post Number: 151 Registered: 3-2004 Posted From: 68.222.55.85 |
That must have been terrible. | ||
Gary (gary) 4-Laureate Username: gary Post Number: 90 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 172.208.54.176 |
I lived in a relatively quiet, racially mixed (at that time) neighborhood, so there was no significant riot activity in my immediate neighborhood, but we could clearly see the smoke from the burning stores and homes about a half mile south of us. We also saw ALOT of policemen, and later soldiers patroling the area. Sirens blasting day and night. All the grocery stores and gas stations were closed. Most of the city was in total lock-down, so none of my friend's parents could go to work. My two most vivid memories are of my friends and me riding our bikes on our street, carrying our Daisy air rifles, just as we always did. We were just kids and we had no idea of the potential danger we were in. A bunch of black kids carrying what looked like real guns would have almost certainly been a target for the cops had they seen us. My friend Butch's dad saw us out there with those BB guns and went totally ballistic on us. We all thought he was nuts. Little did we know. The other memory is falling out of a tree in my backyard on about the third day of the riots, breaking my right arm in the process.My mom rushed me to the hospital and the break was so severe that I had to have surgery to repair it. I can remember watching the TV news coverage from my hospital bed and seeing the 101st Airborne Division camped out at the old Northwestern High School athletic field at Grand River and W. Grand Blvd, about 3 or 4 blocks from Hitsville. Being only 13 at the time, I never felt any sense of fear or danger during the "Urban Insurection of 1967". Looking back on the whole thing now, I realize that I was in a lot more danger than I realized and I understand what a tragic event that riot really was. In many ways, the aftermath of the riots brought about many much-needed changes in the city. But in a lot of other ways, Detroit still hasn't recovered from the events of the summer of '67, but you would have to have lived here both before the riots and for all those subsequent years since then in order to truly understand. BTW, in case anyone is wondering, my arm healed just fine. | ||
Charise (mistrivia1) 5-Doyen Username: mistrivia1 Post Number: 206 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 198.81.26.46 |
Gary!!!! My Eyes were this BIG, when I got to the part about you riding your bike with the BB gun!!! Oh my God, you didn't know what danger you could have been in!!! God was looking out for you and your friends  Thank You for your input. P.S. Was it your writing arm???? | ||
Gary (gary) 4-Laureate Username: gary Post Number: 92 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 172.208.54.176 |
Charise...I can't beleive how stupid we were myself. We played with those stupid BB guns all the time, but mostly only in the alley to shoot at garbage cans, squirrels, and birds (don't worry, we never hit any animals, or each other for that matter). We were really just a bunch of spoiled, naive middle class kids going about our normal routine and had no clue as to the potential danger we were in. Yes, it was my writing arm, but since school was out for the summer, it really didn't matter. I did have to wear a cast for 9 weeks though, so eventually I had to start school with that damn thing still on my arm. It came off around the 3rd week of school as I recall. I forgot to mention that Smokey Robinson autographed my cast. He was friends with one of my neighbors. That almost made the whole broken arm ordeal worth it. | ||
Charise (mistrivia1) 5-Doyen Username: mistrivia1 Post Number: 212 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 198.81.26.46 |
Gary, but that was the age of innocence!! You were doing normal kid things. That was a cool tidbit about Smokey, I love stories like that!! I'll bet he remembers that too!! Boy, if only I had been born a little earlier and lived in Detroit, Chicago or Phily I would have never stayed home, would have been always trying to see the celebs....!!!! In the words of Juice, "I can dream can't I". P.S. Knowing me if it had been my cast I would have done all I could to save the piece he signed!!!! | ||
Gary (gary) 4-Laureate Username: gary Post Number: 93 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 172.208.54.176 |
Believe me Charise, I wanted no parts of that cast after 9 weeks. It got so crusty that they had to take it off after 6 weeks and put on a new one. The good news is Smokey also autographed my copy of "The Temptations Sing Smokey" album and I still have that. | ||
Charise (mistrivia1) 5-Doyen Username: mistrivia1 Post Number: 214 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 198.81.26.46 |
I got cha'! I fractured my leg in the 4th grade, so I know the feeling, all of the itching inside. It's enough to drive you crazy. Okay, now that's a keeper! My dad has that album. Did you get that before or after??? Is it displayed or put up? | ||
Gary (gary) 4-Laureate Username: gary Post Number: 94 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 172.208.54.176 |
He autographed the album at the same time he autographed the cast. It is now safely stored in a climate-controlled plastic milk crate in my basement. I guess one of these days I should probably have that album cover sealed in clear plastic to protect it. I haven't played that album in years, it's too scratched up and I have it on CD anyway. | ||
Lady Mystique (ladymystique) 6-Zenith Username: ladymystique Post Number: 427 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 199.224.119.116 |
We touched on this in college...it must have been rough to walk through the streets and just see things on fire and people running about, etc. At least that's what I saw in the pictures. BTW, wasn't the riots one of the reasons why Berry Gordy wanted to move Motown from the area? | ||
Ralph Terrana (ralph) Moderator Username: ralph Post Number: 432 Registered: 3-2004 Posted From: 209.240.205.63 |
Lady M, The riots are not what influenced Berry to move the company. L.A. was the newly recognized center for the recording industry and Berry wanted Motown to be in the thick of things. | ||
Dinelle (dinelle_watson) 4-Laureate Username: dinelle_watson Post Number: 153 Registered: 3-2004 Posted From: 67.35.243.138 |
I can't believe that you played with BB guns, Gary! Didn't you ever take your eye out? My brother broke his arm during football practice back in his senior year in high school. I was 13 at the time it happened. I remember because I had to do all his homework during that time because he broke his right arm. He was out for the rest of the season. His doctor said that he was lucky he didn't break his wrist because he wouldn't be able to write again. He still has two large scars on his arm where he was operated on because he broke it in two places. He still has the plates and screws in his arms. He still won't have the doctors take the plates and screws out of his arm. That was pretty cool when Smokey signed your album and your cast. I'd love to meet him. I never broke any of my bones, but I did get a concussion once when I was 4 or 5 years old. I remember running up the driveway with my brother, he pushed me, and the next thing I knew I was on the ground and bleeding really badly. My mom took me to the hospital and they did and operation on me. That's all I remember. When I finally came to, my mom told me that the cause of my bleeding was because I hit my head on a fuse box outside my house. I always wonder about that day because after that I started talking. From the time I was a baby to about age 4 I was mute. Then after the accident I started talking. I never told anyone about this until now. | ||
RAY MONETTE (ray_monette) 3-Pundit Username: ray_monette Post Number: 41 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 67.72.98.54 |
THAT'S A DAY I'LL NEVER FORGET,ALONG WITH EVERYONE ELSE THAT WAS IN DETROIT AT THAT TIME. I WAS PLAYING GUITAR IN THE MOTOWN REVUE AT THE FOX THEATRE.WE HAD STARTED THE SHOW,AND HAD PLAYED A COUPLE OF NUMBERS,WHEN A SECURITY GUARD CAME BACKSTAGE AND SAID WE HAD TO STOP THE SHOW. HE SAID THERE WAS SOME TROUBLE OUTSIDE IN FRONT OF THE BUILDING.AT THIS POINT,NO ONE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT WAS HAPPENING. THE NEXT THING WE HEARD WAS GUNFIRE COMING FROM THE STREET. AT THIS POINT,THE SECURITY GUARD CAME UP TO ME AND SAID,"WE GOTTA GET YOU OUT OF HERE".I GUESS IT WAS BECAUSE I WAS THE ONLY WHITE PERSON IN THE BUILDING?? BUT I WAS DEFINATELY READY TO GET OUT OF THERE. HE LED ME TO MY CAR,AND MADE SURE I WAS ON MY WAY.I'LL NEVER FORGET HIS KINDNESS. THERE WERE PEOPLE RUNNING AROUND EVERYWHERE,GLASS BREAKING,AND GUNSHOTS GOING OFF! ALL HELL WAS BREAKING LOOSE.I GOT IN MY CAR AND NEVER LOOKED BACK UNTIL I WAS OUT OF THE AREA. THE FOLLOWING DAYS WENT, AS GARY SAID ABOVE.MY BROTHER WAS IN THE NATIONAL GUARD AND ENDED UP DOWN THERE TRYING TO RESTORE ORDER. THE WORST PART ABOUT IT WAS THE INNOCENT VICTIMS,AND PEOPLE THAT LIVED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HOT SPOTS,THAT COULDN'T LEAVE THEIR HOMES FOR FEAR OF LOSING THEM. I FELT VERY LUCKY THAT I MADE IT OUT OF THERE. RAY | ||
Gary (gary) 4-Laureate Username: gary Post Number: 95 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 172.164.201.128 |
Dinelle...How we never msnaged to injure ourselves with those damn BB guns is a mystery to this day. We had enough sense not to aim them at anyone, but something tragic could have easily happened anyway. We eventually outgrew them and moved on to other sources of amusement, specifically girls. I'd have to say the BB guns were less dangerous to our well being than the girls were. Just kidding. That's an amazing story about your injury. Ray...I've read accounts of that concert at the Fox that day. That had to be an incredible ordeal for everyone who was there. BTW, do you recall which acts were appearing? I saw an interview with Martha Reeves where she said she and the Vandellas were there and the book "The Algiers Motel Incident" by John Hersey mentions that The Dramatics were also on the bill. | ||
RAY MONETTE (ray_monette) 3-Pundit Username: ray_monette Post Number: 42 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 67.72.98.51 |
GARY, MARTHA AND THE DRAMATICS WERE THERE.I'M QUITE SURE THAT STEVIE WONDER, AND THE TEMPTATIONS WERE THERE ALSO.THERE WERE ALSO A COUPLE OF THE ACTS THAT HADN'T SHOWN UP YET,BECAUSE THEY WERE ON AT THE END OF THE SHOW.(LUCKY THEM) WE ONLY GOT THROUGH TWO SONGS WHEN IT ALL STARTED. I HAVE ACCOUNTS FROM FRIENDS THAT THE POLICE AND NATIONAL GUARD WENT HOUSE TO HOUSE LATER ON WANTING TO SEE RECEIPTS FOR EVERYTHING IN YOUR HOUSE.IF YOU COULDN'T PRODUCE THEM, THEY CONFISCATED EVERYTHING!AS I SAID BEFORE,MANY INNOCENT PEOPLE WERE VICTIMIZED. RAY | ||
Bong-Man (bongman) 2-Debutant Username: bongman Post Number: 19 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 63.148.123.128 |
I was only 7 at the time, and my family had just moved from Detroit to Warren. The thing I remember most is the helicopters coming from Selfridge. 30-40 at a time would fly over our house, going to the Fairgrounds I guess. You could hear that low hum for a couple minutes before you even saw them....and they flew very low to the ground. Being a kid, I associated this with all of the Vietnam war footage showing on the news. I didn't have the ability to really understand this was happening in our area. | ||
Erik T (erik_t) 3-Pundit Username: erik_t Post Number: 40 Registered: 4-2004 Posted From: 64.228.108.136 |
The Algiers Motel Incident also mentioned Parliament among the bands playing at the Fox that night, but they sure dodged the bullet so to speak by not checking into the Algiers like the Dramatics did that night... |
