"In the heat of June in 1943, a wave of destructive and deadly civil unrest took place in the streets of Detroit. The city was under the pressures of both war-time industrial production and the nascent civil rights movement - a powder keg waiting to go off. Thirty-four people were killed, most were Black, and over half were killed by police. Two thousand people were arrested and over 700 required treatment at local hospitals for their injuries. Property damage was estimated to be nearly two million dollars. Composed of first-hand accounts collected by the NAACP just after the skirmish and research drawn from primary and secondary sources, Rachel Williams delivers a graphic re-telling of the violence and racism in the city's past, combining drawn images, text, and story. The history and impact of these racial rebellions is made clear with Williams' drawings, and in showing us what happened, she reminds us that many issues - like police brutality, economic disparity, and white supremacy - plague our country to this day"-- Provided by publisher.