Kim Hunter
Title
Kim Hunter
Description
Kim Hunter shares her experiences in 1967 as a young girl about to turn 13 years old. She remembers the media coverage and "two riots"
Publisher
Detroit Historical Society
Date
10/22/2015
Rights
Detroit Historical Society, Detroit, MI
Format
Text
Language
en-US
Type
Written Story
Coverage
South West, Detroit
Text
I was 12 about to turn 13, and it felt apocalyptic, in no small part because I was 12 and everything felt apocalyptic. Then there was smoke in the sky and tanks in the street.
I lived in SW Detroit (the Black part, 48217) where there was relatively little activity. But we knew families all over town, and got a sense over the phone that [things] were both better and worse than what we got on the news.
Moving around on the streets was not as dangerous as encounters with the police. You wouldn't have known that by what you heard and saw on radio and TV. It taught me to question the media. It was not my first lesson in that regard, but it was pretty early.
Later, I learned from people who were both older and more radical than I was that there were two "riots." There was the Rebellion started on 12th Street, and the police riot/retribution that followed. Both ended only when the National Guard showed up.
I lived in SW Detroit (the Black part, 48217) where there was relatively little activity. But we knew families all over town, and got a sense over the phone that [things] were both better and worse than what we got on the news.
Moving around on the streets was not as dangerous as encounters with the police. You wouldn't have known that by what you heard and saw on radio and TV. It taught me to question the media. It was not my first lesson in that regard, but it was pretty early.
Later, I learned from people who were both older and more radical than I was that there were two "riots." There was the Rebellion started on 12th Street, and the police riot/retribution that followed. Both ended only when the National Guard showed up.
Original Format
Email submission to website.
Submitter's Name
Kim Hunter
Submission Date
10/09/2015
Collection
Citation
“Kim Hunter,” Detroit Historical Society Oral History Archive, accessed February 12, 2025, http://oralhistory.detroithistorical.org/items/show/96.