In the summer of 1967, Detroit and several other major cities erupted in uprisings by Black residents protesting police brutality, racial injustice and social and economic disparities. The documentary “The Riot Report” looks at the work of the Kerner Commission, formally known as the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, which President Lyndon Johnson empaneled to investigate the cause of the civil uprisings that erupted, claiming 43 lives during that time.
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The documentary airs on Detroit PBS Friday, July 26 at 8 p.m. It was directed by Michelle Ferrari, who also co-wrote and co-produced it with well-known author and journalist, Jelani Cobb. It features a trove of archival material on the commission and interviews with commission staffers, including its sole surviving member Senator Fred Harris. The commission’s final report in 1968 examined race relations in the U.S. and was highly controversial when it was released.
One Detroit contributor and “American Black Journal” host Stephen Henderson spoke with Cobb about the historic uprisings that took place 57 years ago and how they help us understand where we are as a country today. Plus, they discuss the social and political strife that occurred in the years and decades leading up to the uprisings and the messages to be taken away from “The Riot Report.”
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