Don Handy
Title
Don Handy
Description
Don Handy wrote a poem about his memories of the summer of 1967.
Publisher
Detroit Historical Society
Date
08/19/2016
Rights
Detroit Historical Society, Detroit, MI
Format
Text
Language
en-US
Type
Written Story
Text
summer of love
we had a riot in the summer of love
snipers shooting
everybody looting
systematic "justice" at the Algiers Motel smoke rising in the air does anybody care?
in the end 43 people fell
we had a riot in the summer of love
looters ruled the streets
those caught the pigs beat
the National Guard camped-out in Chandler Park patrolling the streets day and night Detroit as seen through a gun-sight through which everything is very, very dark
we had a riot in the summer of love
falling asleep to gunfire
the world's gone haywire
tanks rumbling down the streets, mile after mile "Soul Brother" painted on plywood burn baby burn down the neighborhood the jails overflowed to the beach house on Belle Isle
we had a riot in the summer of love
during which I turned ten
no celebration, then
some say it was the beginning of the end others say it was a rebellion an uprising, uppance come a half-century later, did anything mend?
yeah, we had a riot in the summer of love such a riot in the summer of love
we had a riot in the summer of love
snipers shooting
everybody looting
systematic "justice" at the Algiers Motel smoke rising in the air does anybody care?
in the end 43 people fell
we had a riot in the summer of love
looters ruled the streets
those caught the pigs beat
the National Guard camped-out in Chandler Park patrolling the streets day and night Detroit as seen through a gun-sight through which everything is very, very dark
we had a riot in the summer of love
falling asleep to gunfire
the world's gone haywire
tanks rumbling down the streets, mile after mile "Soul Brother" painted on plywood burn baby burn down the neighborhood the jails overflowed to the beach house on Belle Isle
we had a riot in the summer of love
during which I turned ten
no celebration, then
some say it was the beginning of the end others say it was a rebellion an uprising, uppance come a half-century later, did anything mend?
yeah, we had a riot in the summer of love such a riot in the summer of love
Original Format
Email
Submitter's Name
Don Handy
Submission Date
08/18/2016
Files
Collection
Citation
“Don Handy,” Detroit Historical Society Oral History Archive, accessed October 9, 2024, https://detroit1967.detroithistorical.org/items/show/368.