Current Project
Murder in the Motor City:
The 1967 Detroit Riot and American Injustice
Today, as protestors around the country demand an end to police violence and cities like Chicago, Ferguson and Baltimore simmer and seethe with racial tension, understanding the causes and consequences of the Algiers Motel murders and the history of the 1967 Detroit uprising holds the promise for reconciliation and future change. Failure to heed this history can only lead to what James Baldwin called “the fire next time.”
In 1967, Police murdered 3 Black teenagers at the Algiers Motel in Detroit. In 2024, a historical marker was dedicated in their honor.
A historical marker and a memorial to the victims of police violence Survivors and victims’ family members gathered together on July 26, 2024 for the dedication of the Algiers Motel historical marker. 57 years earlier, on July 26, 1967, three Detroit policemen and a private guard raided the Algiers Motel on the third night of
A police killing. A coverup. And a history of silence.
No headstone marks William “Billy” Dalton’s gravesite. His childhood home on Fernwood Street, once part of a vibrant, working-class Black neighborhood, was razed to build the Jeffries Freeway. The former parking lot of Wild’s Cleaner’s on the corner of Grand River and Edmonton, where Detroit Police officer Ronald F. Karchefski shot and killed the 19-year-old
Happy 100th Birthday, Recy Taylor!
Happy 100th Birthday, Recy Taylor! Recy Taylor was born on New Year’s Eve in 1919, a crucible of violence & resistance. It was the year of the “Red Summer” when white terrorists rampaged through black towns and across the country in an orgy of violence. WEB DuBois said “We return from fighting. We return fighting.”
Letters for Betty Jean Owens
Last night I spoke with Betty Jean Owens’s grandson, Amonte Martin. He and I talked over the past decade–first when my Journal of American History article came out and since my book was released in 2010. We chatted about history, family and especially the health and well-being of his grandmother, Betty Jean Owens, who was
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