Occupy Detroit packs plaza in front of Coleman A. Young Municipal Center Oct. 14
Most diverse crowd of protesters seen in years
By Diane Bukowski
October 18, 2011
DETROIT – Occupy Detroit hit the city like a thunderclap Oct. 14 as hundreds of marchers packed the plaza in front of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center chanting “The people united will never be defeated,” and “Bail out Detroit, not the banks.”
Long-time schools activist and former board member Marie Thornton's sign demands moratorium on city's debt to banks
They brandished signs condemning foreclosures, DTE shut-offs, unemployment, public bank debt, corporate greed, U.S. wars, and the entire capitalist system. Banners sponsored by Moratorium NOW! demanded that President Barack Obama issue executive orders establishing a national jobs program and banning foreclosures.
“It’s not one thing, it’s everything!” one protester’s huge cardboard sign read.
Numerous rank and file Detroiters from the Black community joined young white protesters new to the movement, as well as seniors, filling the sidewalks all the way to Grand Circus Park a mile away. There they began an occupation they said will last as long as possible, joining people in 900 cities across the country who have allied themselves with Occupy Wall Street.
Marie Butler (l) campaigns against DTE shut-offs, street light elimination
“It’s always about the children,” said Marie Butler, a member of the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization. “DTE turns our lights off at home, and they’ve dug up street light poles in Highland Park. We don’t have cars, the buses are late, it gets dark by 4 and 5 p.m. now. The children can be accosted going to school, their parents’ homes can be broken into. DTE could have given Highland Park a waiver with a plan to work out their debt. This is ridiculous.”
Occupy Detroit wasted no time with plans to target those it says are enemies of the people, marching first on Bank of America Oct. 17 to demand that it declare a moratorium on foreclosures or face a mass demonstration Oct. 21. (See accompanying story.)
Numerous other targets populate the area around Grand Circus Park, including the DTE headquarters on Bagley, the Detroit Water Board building on Randolph, and various court buildings. U.S. District Judge Sean Cox is poised to sever Detroit’s possession of its primary jewel, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, which serves 400 million customers in southeast Michigan, on Nov. 4.
Marchers take the street; youths are joined by AFSCME Local 207 (Water Department) officer Mike Mulholland (behind man in blue jacket)
Detroit’s casino workers, who were on the verge of a strike over stalled contract negotiations, planned to rally at Campus Martius Oct. 19 at 5 p.m. Across the country, unions have joined Occupy Wall Street protests in a rejuvenation of the earlier mass occupations in the Midwest that they sponsored earlier this year.
“This is long overdue,” Wallace Hoskins, a slot machine field service technician who works all over the state. “The people have been sleeping a long time, addicted to Facebook and video games, but it’s finally coming to a head. Detroit is the worst hit city in the country. I want to see a future for everyone. Even though I’m working, if I ignore this like nothing’s happening, then I’m a fool, because it’s going to come to my doorstep too.”
Occupy the Hood leader Ifejohari Uhuru; instead of police (at right) occupying the hood, they want the people in control.
The occupation notably included many people like Hoskins, not the usual dedicated protesters from many organizations who have held the fort in smaller numbers for many years, but fresh new faces.
Anne Kabel, a Southfield librarian, campaigned to keep libraries open.
“Everything on both sides of the aisle is wrong,” she said, referring to the Democrats and Republicans. “They need to listen to the people who elected them.”
Librarian Anne Kabel
As she was speaking, a contingent of Black youths sporting shirts demanding “Good Jobs Now,” and carrying signs declaring “Fight Racism,” positioned themselves in Grand Circus Park and began a cadence of chants.
“When I say good jobs, what do you say?” a leader of the group shouted. “Good jobs NOW,” the youths declared in unison, over and over. Many young people from the Black community were present at the protest, a heartening sign in a city that has been devastated by youth unemployment, government-sanctioned drug trafficking, police brutality, and violence triggered by the overwhelming lack of hope many young people experience.
What do we want? Jobs! Good Jobs NOW!
Ifejohari Uhuru represented “Occupy the Hood,” a national movement that has sprung from Occupy Wall Street.
“We began three weeks ago in solidarity with the Wall Street occupation,” she said. “We seek to encourage people of color to get involved. We have over 10,000 supporters now and have been joined by people like Cornel West and [U.S. Congresswoman] Maxine Waters.”
Tax the Rich MORE
By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), a national organization largely composed of Black students, has fought school closures, privatization, and state takeovers of Detroit Public Schools for years. They recently won a court victory against Michigan’s anti-affirmative action Proposal 2 and plan to rally at the University of Michigan Nov. 16 to oppose the state of Michigan’s appeal of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision.
Tabrion Joe was there with BAMN
They were present as well to welcome the addition of many other Black youths to the movement.
Tabrion Joe, who has grown up with BAMN, said he wished the marchers had taken Woodward as well as the sidewalks and Grand Circus Park.
At one point, chanting, “Whose streets, our streets,” they began to do so, but were reined in both by Occupy Detroit marshals and Detroit police. Students who occupied Catherine Ferguson Academy in February took Woodward in during a march to Detroit Public Schools headquarters at the Fisher Building in April.
A contingent of marchers carried signs opposing Proposal C, the city charter revision on Detroit’s ballot this November.
Part of Vote NO on C contingent
“This represents a corporate takeover of the city of Detroit,” said Dempsey Addison, president of the Association of Professional and Technical Employees, representing city workers. “They are using the charter to take over and retrofit the city for their profits.”
A man who did not give his name but said he was born in India carried a sign decrying the fact that only 18,000 students graduated from medical schools in the U.S. last year. He blamed the American Medical Association, which he said deliberately limits the number of physicians in the country, despite the crying need in cities like Detroit for health care.
Occupy Detroit is online at Occupy Detroit: http://twitter.com/#/OccupyDetMI
Occupy the Hood: http://twitter.com/#OccupyTheHood
Website: http://occupy.detroit.us (in solidarity with http://www.occupytogether.org)
Monetary donations to be sent to: https://www.wepay.com/donate/17751
Physical donations to be sent to:
Workers World Party
5920 Second Ave.
Detroit, Michigan 48202
Link for protesters rights from Detroit NLG (which will be present for legal defense):
National Lawyers Guild – Detroit and Michigan Chapter
450 W. Fort St. Detroit, MI 48226
MORATORIUM NOW!
