Detroit
Public
Television
to Air
“Summer
’67” by
Local
Filmmaker
By Karen
Hudson
Samuels/Tell
Us
Detroit
DETROIT
(Tell Us
Det ) -
A new
documentary
by
Detroit-based
Big City
Films
looks
into the
lives of
the 43
people
who died
when
Detroit
went up
in
flames
during
the
riotous
rebellion
of 1967.
“Summer
’67 goes
beyond
the
victim
demographic
breakdown
of “33
black,
10 white
dead”
into who
were the
individuals
whose
families
lost a
loved
one and
delves
into how
what
happened
50 years
ago,
still
shapes
the city
of
Detroit
and
Southeast
Michigan
today.
Directed
by Emmy
Award-winning
filmmaker
Bruce
Harper,
the
documentary
gets to
the
heart of
one of
the most
troubling
events
in
Michigan’s
history
through
a
trilogy
of
stories.
“Finding
the
Lost"
examines
forty-three
lives
cut
short
that
tragic
week in
July,
while
"The Day
Before"
and
"Seeds
of '67"
explore
Detroit
in the
hours
that led
to the
explosion
and five
decades
that
followed.
“We see
news
footage
of tanks
and
burning
buildings
year
after
year on
July
23,”
says
Harper,
“Our
film
takes a
deeper
look at
the
underlying
origins
and
long-range
outcome
of a
true
American
tragedy.”
Storytelling
that
combines
music,
historical
imagery,
rare
photographs
and
original
footage
is the
essence
of
“Summer
’67”
coupled
with
family
remembrances;
Juanita
Harper,
sibling
of
20-year-old
George
Tolbert,
who was
killed
by the
National
Guard
during
the
uprising,
tells
her
story on
film for
the
first
time.
A
Dialogue
Phase is
planned
to
engage
the
public
in a
series
of
discussions
to
address
the
underlying
structural
racism
and
related
issues
that
impact
poverty
and
social
problems.
Big City
Films
has
collaborated
with the
Michigan
Roundtable
for
Diversity
and
Inclusion,
Detroit
Equity
Action
Lab and
Focus:
HOPE to
help
facilitate
the
development
of the
dialogue
sessions.
Outlines
for each
event
are
designed
to help
audiences
better
identify
and
address
their
roles in
creating
positive
race and
community
relations
in
southeast
Michigan.
The
documentary
will
first
air
Tuesday
July
25th at
8:00 pm.
on WTVTS
Detroit
Public
TV
Channel
56.