Riot, Race and Reconciliation

by George Bayard

In the summer of 1967 Detroit Michigan exploded with riots and rebellion after police raided a “blind pig” after hours party. 43 people died, and property damage soared into the millions over a month-long campaign. A day later Grand Rapids experienced the same trauma, though nobody was killed, and the uprising lasted only 3 days, scars and bitterness still exist. The Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives set out to document the event and collect firsthand accounts of the causes and results of this action by it’s citizens. We found similarities in the causes that parallel most of the riots from 1967 around the country as well as some unique occurrences from Grand Rapids.

The overriding source of information was collected from the City commissioned document “Anatomy of a Riot”. To our surprise, not one person from the inner-city was interviewed for it’s creation. The people involved in the uprising were omitted from the conclusions compiled by the city researchers. As in many cases, the African American community’s opinions remained excluded. GRAAMA dug into the community to unearth valuable commentary about the events of July 23, 1967. We gave voice to those overlooked in the “official” document. Our film Riot, Race and Reconciliation, serves as a background for this talk but dive a little deeper into some of the reasons why the uprising occurred, the racial climate at the time and the aftermath of 3 days of destruction in the South east section of the city.

George Bayard, Executive Director of GRAAMA, will guide you through the film and add commentary to the images. Some artifacts will be available to drive home the mood of the city and country in 1967. Your questions will be answered and if you were present during the uprising, we would like to add your comments to our “Grandma’s Voices” oral history project. As GRAAMA is an Archives, devoted to collecting artifacts and interviews related to local history, we welcome any opportunity to talk with people who have lived that history. This project, Riot, Race and Reconciliation, exemplifies why our Museum exists when the official city document doesn’t value the opinion of any African American involved in the uprising and omits them from that document. Instead they relied of police records, arrest and social service accounts to foster a slanted view of what really happened that summer. We welcome you to attend this talk and gain a wider understanding of the events of July 23-25, 1967.

George is currently the Executive Director of the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives (GRAAMA). He is spearheading a group to create the largest museum in West Michigan devoted to African American history, culture, learning and family. Opening the Museum Store in 2016, at 87 Monroe center, his group hopes to build a new facility centering on local, African American history and culture in the near future. www.graama.org

“Riot, Race and Reconciliation” Thursday, February 14, 2019, 7:00 p.m.at the Grand Rapids Public Library presented by George Bayard.