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In the summer of 1967 chaos broke out in the streets of Detroit. After five days of violence 43 were dead, thousands were injured and over 4000 people had been arrested.

This summer – forty years later – Michigan Radio takes an in-depth look at the deadliest riot of the 1960’s. Why did the riots begin? What fueled them? And, have we ever really recovered?

Our documentary, “Ashes to Hope: Overcoming the Detroit Riots” explores how the riots affected people, neighborhoods and even music. It explores questions such as: Whether it was truly a riot? Or, a rebellion? Is the “white-flight” that we see today in Detroit a consequence of the riots? Did the riots cripple the relationship between the state of Michigan and Detroit?

We also hear from Michigan Radio reporters as well as first-hand accounts of what it was like to be in Detroit during the riot.

If you have comments or questions about "Ashes to Hope" e-mail us here.

	1967 Detroit Unrest Remembered Dustin Dwyer The 1967 Detroit riot was five days of chaos, sparked by a small incident, but driven by a deeper unrest among black Detroiters, mistreated for years by the city's whites. Michigan Radio's Dustin Dwyer produced an account of what happened those five days from three people who lived it first-hand. Hear the story

Riot or Rebllion In recent years, many black Detroiters have come to prefer the term rebellion. Grace Boggs is of Chinese descent, but she and her African America husband were Detroit's leading radical intellectual theorists. They have always argued that the events of 1967 were not a riot -- but a real, if unfocused, rebellion by the oppressed against the unfair conditions of their lives. Hear the story

	U.P. Family Still Struggles to Deal With Pressure of '67 Riot Richie Duchon The riot took place in Detroit, but its impacts have been felt by people all over our state. Doug Houseman is one of them. He was 10 years old at the time, living more than 400 miles from Detroit. Hear the story

	Memory of the Algiers Motel Incident Sarah Hulett and Jennifer Guerra Lee Forsythe was in his late teens in 1967, living at the Algiers Motel, when Police shot and killed 3 young men during a controversial encounter in the waning days of the riots. Lee recently revisited the site of the incident. Hear the story

	It Could Happen Again Tracy Samiltion In 1967, most Detroit police officers were white, and the wide gulf of mistrust between police and citizens has been blamed as one factor leading to the riot. Today, the police force is 65% African American. But a wide gulf of mutual distrust remains. Michigan Radio's Tracy Samilton looks at the state of police-community relations today. Hear the story

	Detroit Then & Now Sarah Hulett For our series commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Detroit riot, Michigan Radio reporter Sarah Hulett sat down to talk with her grandfather. He was a Detroit police officer in 1967. Hear the story

	The Sound of Detroit Jennifer Guerra In 1967, chaos broke out on the streets of Detroit. Just about everyone who lived in or near Detroit at the time of the riots has a story of how they were changed by that summer. Some of those people were musicians. Hear the story

	White Flight Vincent Duffy Before the Detroit riot, blacks were still a minority in the city. But so many white families moved out following the riots that blacks quickly became the majority. Today, Detroit is more than 80 percent black. Michigan Radio's Vincent Duffy has this look at the white flight from Detroit. Hear the story

	A Simple Lesson Richie Duchon Ivory Williams was a teenager living in Detroit, when the looting spread to his neighborhood. He says he learned one very simple, but lasting lesson from those days. Hear the story

	1967 Detroit vs 2007 Detroit Steve Carmody Since the events of 1967, the rest of Michigan has often perceived Detroit as violent, corrupt and in decay. It's a perception that cripples the state's relationship with its largest city. Michigan Radio's Steve Carmody reports. Hear the story

	Grand Rapids Riot Remembered 40 Years Later Kaomi Goetz The Detroit Riot of 1967 is remembered as that city's deadliest. The incidents sparked unrest across the state in Grand Rapids, where African-Americans reacted to their own feelings of injustice. Michigan Radio's Kaomi Goetz reports. Hear the story

	Searching for Highland Park of the Past Maria Howes, Richie Duchon Donna Daines was in her early 20's when the riot touched her life. Afterward she went looking to re-create her childhood neighborhood. Hear the story

	The Recovery of a Neighborhood, 40 Years Later Sarah Hulett The work of rebuilding a neighborhood after devastation is painstaking and slow. The Detroit neighborhood near the intersection where the 1967 riot began is still struggling.  Michigan Radio’s Sarah Hulett reports on efforts to get the area back on its feet Hear the story

Historic July 1967 photos from the Walter P. Reuther Library Wayne State University, photo of the MC5 by Leni Sinclair, modern Detroit photos by Sarah Hulett.