In the early morning hours of Saturday June 28, 1969, a score of detectives raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar located where Christopher Street meets Seventh Avenue in Greenwich Village. The resistance of taken patrons spurred peers who had been let go, and assorted passersby, to mount a chaotic protest against the authorities. This riot lasted until summoned police reinforcements could clear the area. That Saturday evening, through to the dawn of Sunday June 29, the entire eastern tip of Christopher Street was engulfed by protestors. Their rioting was more political than the spontaneous outburst of the night before. A heavy police presence kept agitators in check on Sunday. Rain discouraged masses of people from returning to Christopher Street on Monday and Tuesday evenings. But on Wednesday July 2, the bloodiest and most destructive rioting of all flared up after dark. These street disorders were an unorchestrated rebellion against oppression. But they triggered a chain reaction of community organizing that spanned the country and beckoned the world. In less than a year, this organizing transformed a sober American push for civil rights for homosexuals, known as the homophile movement, into a blazing grassroots drive for pride, power, freedom, and community. Toby Marotta's Community Roots Archive and tobymarotta.com revisits Stonewall, 1969, a score of detectives raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar located where Christopher Street meets Seventh Avenue in Greenwich Village. The entire eastern tip of Christopher Street was engulfed by protestors. Their rioting was more political than the spontaneous outburst of the night before. In less than a year, this organizing transformed a sober American push for civil rights for homosexuals, known as the homophile movement, into a blazing grassroots drive for pride, power, freedom, and community.
Toby Marotta revisits Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village, Toby Marotta Community Roots Archive, American push for civil rights for homosexuals, American push for civil rights for homophile movement, Stonewall grassroots drive for freedom, Stonewall grassroots drive for power, Stonewall grassroots drive for community. Tobymarotta.com and the Stonewall Riot, Tobymarotta.com and the gay liberation movement, Tobymarotta.com and a closer look at civil rights.