Fifty years ago this weekend: The Belle Isle Love-In
Posted By Michael Jackman on Fri, Apr 28, 2017 at 6:31 AM



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. - PHOTO BY LENI SINCLAIR


As seemingly everybody gears up to mark 50 years since Detroit erupted in what is described as a "riot," and "uprising," and a "rebellion," we risk forgetting one of the signature events in the run-up to that hot week in July: The Belle Isle Love-In.

What's a "Love-In"? For those who don't know, it's a peaceful kind of protest that involves meditation, lovemaking, and a sprinkling of illicit substances. The term was coined by a Los Angeles radio personality, and a wave of Love-Ins quickly swept the country, as hippies sought inventive ways to protest the Vietnam War and have a little fun at the same time.

The prime movers here in Detroit were John Sinclair and his confreres at the Detroit Artists Workshop, who obtained a permit for said event from none other than the Detroit Police Department. And on April 30, 1967, thousands of hippies and fellow travelers arrived on the island for several hours of singing, dancing, and probably a little bit of doobie-smoking as well.



The Detroit Police Department also got into the act as well, bringing it the riot squad and a tactical mobile unit [[precursor to today's SWAT teams) to brandish shotguns and disperse the crowd.

Or as John Sinclair put it saltily in a recent interview with us, "We'd had our maximum hippie event, and the police raided it and drove everybody off the island. So that was our relationship with the police. We hated them."

https://www.metrotimes.com/city-slan...e-isle-love-in