Detroit '67: Recounting the uprising a half-century on

Half a century ago, the city of Detroit burned with the rage of an uprising. Fourty-three people – residents, visitors, first responders, looters, innocent bystanders – lost their lives. There was equal opportunity bloodshed. Hundreds more were injured or left homeless and thousands more were arrested.

There would be unrest and riots in 127 cities during 1967, but the events of Detroit would become the most notorious. Even now, we feel these scars.

Over the course of the next week, we will be retelling the story of the ’67 uprising using the Twitter account @detroitnews1967 and the hashtag #DetroitNews1967. Our goal is to portray the true scope and impact of the events.

Everything we tweet will come from either our archives or new and original reporting. You can find all of our coverage at detroitnews.com/Detroit-1967.

And because we know we could never tell this story better than the people who lived it, we will rely heavily on first-person accounts.

Follow along with us as we re-tell the story of the event that changed our city forever.

Sources: Detroit News archives, research