John Sinclair, Joe Mulkey and Billy Reid of the Detroit Artists Workshop after obtaining the license to hold the Love-In from the City of Detroit at Police Headquarters at 1300 Beaubien in the spring of 1967.
It was April 30, 1967.
The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper” album was to be released in just one month, celebrating love, peace, and flowers. But beating it to the punch was Detroit’s Belle Isle Love-In, kicking off the infamous 1967 “Summer of Love”.
News media at the time described it with words like ‘drug-laden’… ‘protests’… ‘rebellion’… ‘rioting’… ‘stoners’… and an ‘uprising’.
It was, in reality, very peaceful. At least for six hours.
So what defines a love-in?
Dancing, colorful clothing, all races getting along, music, peaceful protesting, painted faces, meditating, gifts, beads, artwork, loving, balloons, food, long robes, chanting, flowers, bare feet, candy, touching, and yeah, some drugs here and there.
Announcement in the Ann Arbor Sun, April, 1967
The 1967 love-in was arranged by John Sinclair and other members of the Detroit Artists Workshop, who were granted a permit by the police to hold the event. Of course, the police sent their own troops in to make sure everything didn’t get too out of control. Thousands of kids – hippies, non-hippies, bikers, straights, you-name-it…all began arriving that morning…approximately 8,000 of ’em. Traffic was backed up for miles and it took drivers over an hour just to get across the bridge. Compared with the 2000s, it seems so amazing that all these different kids got along. Yup…..bikers, hippies, and kids of all races got along together just fine.
Plus, music was being provided by The MC5.
Hours later, as night began to fall, the police brought out the shotguns and riot gear to get everyone off the island. This was the only blot on an otherwise peaceful, pleasant day for those involved.
Sources :
John Robinson, “FLASHBACK: The Detroit Love-In at Belle Isle, 1967 “, 99.1 WFMK Blog, February 17, 2021.
Michael Jackman, “Fifty years ago this weekend: The Belle Isle Love-In“, The Metro Times, April 28, 2017.
“The Belle Isle Love-In of Detroit” courtesy of Detroit Artists Workshop.