Kimberly Rivera, along with her partner Mario, son Christian (10 years old) and daughter Rebecca (8 years old), came to Canada in January 2007 when she refused redeployment to Iraq. Kim has two Canadian-born children, Katie and Gabriel.
Rivera first woman to refuse return to Iraq, take refuge in Canada
USDOJ had told Canadian judge they would not detain her
Compiled from reports by the War Resisters Support Campaign
September 20, 2012
U.S. Iraq War resister Kimberly Rivera voluntarily presented herself at the U.S.-Canada border this morning, after requests to have Canada’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney process her humanitarian and compassionate application to remain in Canada were denied.
Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney with Prince Charles of Britain, a U.S. partner in wars against Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Kenney also wants to reduce health care for immigrants to Canada and is anti-choice.
Rivera was immediately arrested and detained, and transferred to military custody. She now awaits transfer to a different military facility where she faces punishment for being absent from her unit.
Her family, including four minor children, crossed separately. Kimberly did not want her children to have to see her detained by the U.S. military, as this would be traumatic for them.
On Aug. 30, the Canadian government ordered Rivera, her husband Mario and their children deported to the United States. Kimberly served in Iraq in 2006, and sought refuge in Canada in 2007 after making the decision that she could no longer participate in the Iraq War. Kimberly was the first woman U.S. Iraq War resister to come to Canada. She and her family were living in Toronto.
Robin Long
She now faces harsh punishment. Iraq war resisters Robin Long and Clifford Cornell, also deported by the government of Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, were court-martialed and sentenced to 15 months and 12 months respectively for speaking out against the Iraq War, upon their return to the U.S.
Clifford Cornell
Rivera and her attorneys appealed the deportation order.
During a Federal Court hearing in Toronto Sept. 16, lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice argued that Kimberly would not be detained when she crossed the border. Justice David Near, of the Federal Court, ultimately denied her request for a stay of removal, finding arrest and detention to be speculative.
But despite the USDOJ’s guarantees, Rivera was indeed arrested immediately on her re-entry into the U.S.
Rivera has mass international support for her war resistance.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa earlier called on Canada to welcome Rivera.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa
“Despite all of the ghastliness in the world, human beings are made for goodness,” Tutu said. “The ones who are held in high regard are not militarily powerful nor even economically prosperous. They have a commitment to try to make the world a better place. I truly believe that Kimberly Rivera is such a person, and that Canada can only benefit from allowing her to stay.” Read the full opinion piece here.
An overflow crowd of residents from the Parkdale neighborhood of Toronto turned out to an emergency meeting on September 5th to show their support for Rivera and her family, and to call on the government to allow her to stay in their community. The meeting heard from all three elected representatives from her riding, and Archbishop Tutu’s statement of support was read. The meeting then spilled into the streets for a candlelight procession through the neighbourhood.
Delegation supports Rivera family at Labour Day parade in Toronto Sept. 3.
During the Sept. 3 Labour Day parade, Rivera marched with The War Resisters Support Campaign, part of the United Steelworkers contingent, along with Vietnam Veterans against the War and supporters from Buffalo, N.Y.
Member of Parliament Peggy Nash, who represents the Parkside neighborhood where the Rivera family lived, with Kimberly Rivera and two of her children.
Canada’s elected Parliament has adopted two motions calling on the federal government to allow war resisters to stay in Canada. But Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney has publicly labeled Iraq War resisters as “bogus refugee claimants.”
In July 2010, Kenney issued a bulletin to all Immigration Officers requiring them to red-flag applications that involve US war resisters, labeling them as ‘criminally inadmissible’.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is actually an appointee of the British Governor General of Canada, not an elected official. Book shown is available online.
Amnesty International Canada and former Immigration and Refugee Board Chair Peter Showler have called for Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) Operational Bulletin 202 to be rescinded because it “fails to recognize that military desertion for reasons of conscience is in fact clearly recognized as a legitimate ground for refugee protection” and it “misstates the law and seeks to intrude on the independence of both IRB members and Immigration Officers.”
In addition to Rivera and her family, other war resisters living in Canada face imminent deportation to the United States. Another war resister has been told to complete all of the submissions for his case by September 20th and to expect a decision shortly afterwards. Many other resisters are awaiting decisions on Humanitarian & Compassionate applications or spousal sponsorships. It appears that these decisions will now start coming in quickly.
Protesters at Canadian consulate in San Francisco.
The War Resisters Support Campaign is urgently appealing for financial help to assist with this crucial phase of the fight to win asylum for war resisters.
Faith communities, human rights organizations, refugee rights groups and thousands of Canadians have called on the Minister to implement their Parliament’s motions, or, at a minimum, to allow the individual cases to be heard on their own merit.
The only reason that US Iraq War resisters have been able to stay in Canada as long as they have is because of the tremendous support they have received from Canadians for their courageous decision to stand up against a war that was internationally recognized as illegal and immoral.
The campaign says on their website, “Nobody deserves to spend even a single day in jail for making a conscientious decision not to participate in the Iraq war. We hope you will give as generously as you can. A victory for U.S. war resisters in Canada will be a major victory for peace and justice, and for the kind of Canada we want this country to be.”
Councilwoman JoAnn Watson held special Quality of Life Task Force meeting at City Council Sept. 17, 2012 after state officials asked for cancellation of scheduled discussion on Belle Isle lease. New discussion is set for Tues. Sept. 25, 2012 at 1 p.m.
RALLY AGAINST BELLE ISLE TAKEOVER, PA 4 SAT. SEPT. 22 12 NOON AT BELLE ISLE CASINO, SPONSORED BY “FREE DETROIT, NO CONSENT”
COUNCILWOMAN WATSON HAS ASKED CORPORATION COUNSEL KRYSTAL CRITTENDON FOR OPINION ON BELLE ISLE LEASE
Corporation Counsel Krystal Crittendon with Assistant Council Louis Smith Sept. 12, 2012 after Council voted to issue subpoenas to Mayor Dave Bing, regarding his failure to provide an Executive Organization Plan to Council as required by Charter, and his use of outside counsel including Miller Canfield’s Mike McGee, a co-author of Public Act 4.
Part of crowd that came out to speak against Belle Isle lease: front Hilanius Phillips, city’s first Black head urban planner; back, Keith Hines, Tina Person, Morris Mays, Tyrone Travis
To read Tyrone Travis’ presentation on history of millages for Belle Isle since 1992 that Detroiters are still paying for, click on Tyrone 9 17 12. VOD will publish other comments from hearing shortly.
Marc Leder, host of fund-raiser where Mitt Romney showed his contempt for working and poor people, and Romney speaking at another event. (Is that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder next to Romney?)
When Mitt Romney at a private fundraiser dismissed all Barack Obama voters as moochers and victims—showing disdain for nearly half of the American electorate—he was speaking at the home of controversial private equity manager Marc Leder in Boca Raton on May 17, 2012. (It was Romney’s second fundraising event in Boca that day.) This is evident from references made by Romney within the full video recording of the event that has been reviewed by Mother Jones.
When Mother Jones first disclosed secret video of Romney’s remarks, we were obliged to not reveal details regarding the time and place of the event. That restriction has been lifted, as the story has garnered attention throughout the media.
At the fundraiser, Romney was asked how he could win in November, and he replied:
“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax…[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
Marc Leder’s 15,000 sq. ft. home in Boca Raton Florida. His luxurious lifestyle also includes a vacation retreat in Stowe, Vt. and six vehicles including an Aston Martin DB9 convertible, a Bentley Continental convertible, a Cadillac Escalade, a Lexus LS, and a private jet.
Romney made those remarks before donors who had paid $50,000 a plate to attend the dinner at Leder’s swanky house.
Leder has long been a fan of Romney. In January, the New York Times reported:
Years ago, a visit to Mr. Romney’s investment firm inspired Mr. Leder to get into private equity in the first place. Mr. Romney was an early investor in some of the deals done by Mr. Leder’s investment company, Sun Capital, which today oversees about $8 billion in equity.
The paper noted that Leder is something of a poster boy for private equity—and not in a good way:
Mr. Leder personifies the debates now swirling around this lucrative corner of finance. To his critics, he represents everything that’s wrong with this setup. In recent years, a large number of the companies that Sun Capital has acquired have run into serious trouble, eliminated jobs or both. Since 2008, some 25 of its companies—roughly one of every five it owns—have filed for bankruptcy. Among the losers was Friendly’s, the restaurant chain known for its Jim Dandy sundaes and Fribble shakes. (Sun Capital was accused by a federal agency of pushing Friendly’s into bankruptcy last year to avoid paying pensions to the chain’s employees; Sun disputes that contention.) Another company that sank into bankruptcy was Real Mex, owner of the Chevy’s restaurant chain. In that case, Mr. Leder lost money for his investors not once, but twice.
But Leder does differ from Romney in one significant fashion: how he likes to have a certain sort of fun. In August 2011, the New York Post reported,
It was as if the Playboy Mansion met the East EBond at a wild party at private-equity titan Marc Leder’s Bridgehampton estate, where guests cavorted nude in the pool and performed sex acts, scantily dressed Russians danced on platforms and men twirled lit torches to a booming techno beat. The divorced Sun Capital Partners honcho rented a sprawling beachfront mansion on Surf Side Road for $500,000 for the month of July. Leder’s weekly Friday and Saturday night parties have become the talk of the Hamptons—and he ended them in style last weekend with his wildest bash yet. Russell Simmons and ex-wife Kimora Lee attended a more subdued party thrown by Leder—who’s an event chair for Simmons’ Art For Life charity—on July 29 together. But the revelry hit a frenzied point the next day before midnight when a male guest described as a “chubby white meathead” and a “tanned” female guest stripped and hopped into the pool naked.
At Romney’s fundraiser at Leder’s Boca Raton home, not a single sex act was recorded.
Chicago teachers struck despite bipartisan opposition.
By Bruce A. Dixon, BAR Managing Editor
September 19, 2012
Despite universal hostility in corporate media, and new laws savagely restricting their right to strike, or even what they could bargain over, Chicago teachers mustered broad parent support behind their 7 day strike, now suspended. What does the Chicago strike mean for the national fight against privatization and corporate “school reform”?
By early this week, the truth was hard to avoid and impossible to deny. The Chicago Teachers strike threatened to expose the vast gulf between some of the president’s rhetoric about preserving public education and protecting teachers, and the savagery of the Obama administration’s Race To The Top initiative, which ties federal education funding to how many public schools are closed and privatized, how many public school teachers fired, and how many of those remaining are evaluated according to business-friendly norms like test scores.
“I want you to understand, the president has weighed in,” Emanuel said. “Every issue we’re talking about regarding accountability of our schools, quality in our schools to the education of our children, is the core thrust of Race to the Top.”
Emanuel added that the “notion” of the teacher evaluations he proposed came from Race to the Top.
“In that sense there couldn’t be a bigger push for the president,” Emanuel insisted.
Mitt Romney expressed his support for Rahm Emanuel vs. Chicago’s teachers,
parents and students.
Emanuel also thanked Mitt Romney for his statement of support.
Besides the president, Rahm Emanuel had every newspaper and radio station in town, the Commerce Club and all the billionaires, scores of well-funded charter school operators and their contractors and hedge fund backers. He even had fake citizen groups like Democrats for Education Reform, which used money donated by its billionaire backers to run deceptive radio and TV ads (still running as of Tuesday night) aimed at inciting parents against the people who teach their children. Illinois is also one of twenty or so states that have passed corporate inspired “school reform” testing and curriculum measures into law, and drastically limited the issues over which teachers can negotiate along with the their right to strike.
But one of the signs carried by striking teachers told it all. It said “our working conditions are your child’s learning conditions.” The Chicago Teachers Union had prepared months in advance for the strike by reaching out to and working with organized parents around the city and enlisting them behind its basic demands to keep schools open and well-funded, and keeping them informed on and involved in activities that fought the creeping privatization of public education in Chicago. While Rahm had the media the billionaires, armies of hired stooges and the president, the teachers enjoyed broad support among parents and the public. Continue reading →
Mayor Dave Bing (r) stands at attention as Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (center) discusses state lease of Belle Isle Sept. 12. At left is George Jackson, CEO of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, and to Bing’s right is Keith Craig of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources/VOD photo
“Has the time come to take to the streets and shut Detroit down–no cars in, no cars out?”
90-year lease does not reserve new entrance fee for park improvements
State police and others to join city cops patrolling the island
Advisory board dominated by governor’s appointees established.
DETROIT – A proposed state “lease” of Belle Isle, the largest island park in the country, a “jewel” deeded to Detroit in 1873 and designed by the same architect who designed New York City’s Grand Central Park, is angering many here in the world’s largest Black-majority city outside of Africa.
Aerial view of Belle Island, the largest public island park in the U.S.
The deal, announced by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and Detroit Mayor Bing Sept. 12, would last for 90 years (including two renewals), cost the state no rent, put newly-instituted entrance fees into the state’s general fund, have state and federal police patrol the island along with city cops, and leave Detroit citizens to pay off outstanding improvement bonds for the island.
There is no specific financial commitment by the state in the lease for improvements. The lease provides for an 11-member advisory board, with Gov. Snyder appointing or approving seven of the members.
The City Council must still approve the lease, and is set to hold a discussion on it Mon. Sept. 17 at 1 p.m. (Click on CC cal09-17-12 – COW – Belle Isle). Public comment is invited.
Detroit COO Chris Brown (r) discusses “city employment terms” with Bing advisor Atty. Michael McGee, a co-author of PA 4, and PMD Kriss Andrews (r) prior to a meeting of the PA 4 financial advisory board June 28, 2012.
On April 4, Council passed the city’s PA 4 “consent agreement,” which includes the following language:
“Create park funding for Belle Isle while ensuring continued City ownership by designating Belle Isle as part of a cooperative relationship with Milliken State Park. This would include a long-term lease that would accrue the cost of the park’s maintenance and improvements out of the Park Endowmen Fund. We will partner with Belle Isle Conservancy and the City to implement a master plan for the island.”
Bing would not discuss what will happen if the Council votes down the lease. Under the consent agreement, decisions of the Council and even the Mayor can be overridden by a Financial Advisory Board, Project Management Director Kriss Andrews, State Treasurer Andy Dillon, and Snyder.
A referendum to repeal PA4 is on the state’s November ballot, temporarily suspending the Act, but Snyder and Bing have insisted that Detroit is still operating under the consent agreement, and that it will stand even if PA 4 is repealed.
BELLE ISLE BELONGS TO US! Youth cavort in front of statue of Dante Alghieri on a beautiful Saturday on the island, Sept. 14. They included Jimmy Young (third from left in back showing victory signs), Ms. Hamilton (r) and Breanna Dean, (center front). “Belle Isle is a safe place for the kids,” Young told VOD.
“This is a place to come where kids can be kids,” said Jimmy Young, as he and his friends and family played in front of the Dante Alghieri statue near the beach on Sept. 14, 2012. “We can be safe. There are no abandoned houses where someone can jump out at you from, no broken glass all in the streets.”
Nationally-known Detroit-born poet Jessica Care Moore and her son King Thomas Moore in front of giant slide, which has been closed for several years.
A young woman who identified herself as Ms. Hamilton said, “I could understand if the fee was going to maintain the park, but if it’s not for that, it will make things worse. If they sell Belle Isle, they can sell the rest of the zip codes.”
Jessica Care Moore, a nationally known poet from Detroit, was out enjoying the island with her son King Thomas Moore, who had just turned six.
Young King Thomas said, “I want the giant slide to be open.” The famed slide on Belle Isle has been closed for several years, and it is not clear whether the state will re-open it. Many other children were seen approaching the slide, turning away disappointed when they saw the locked gate.
New M-DOT toll booths at the Bluewater Bridge, an international crossing into Canada. Will such booths likewise block the Belle Isle Bridge?
“I love Belle Isle, Moore said. “I’ve been coming here since I was a little girl. It’s a public park that belongs to the city, and it should be free. I bring people here that I meet from New York City and everywhere. What else are they going to be looking for when they stop people at the entrance to pay the fee? And why do they close the park every night now before ten? When I got older, my friends and I would stay out here to all hours enjoying ourselves.”
Councilman Kwame Kenyatta addresses rally against Belle Isle takeover Aug. 1. He co-sponsored the rally with Councilwomen JoAnn Watson and Brenda Jones. Speakers included the Rev. Charles Williams II and other community leaders.
Snyder, Bing, and George Jackson, president of the private Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC), glossed over specifics during a press conference Sept. 12, touting the deal as “an equal partnership.”.
“This city-state collaboration will return Belle Isle to its original beauty through major improvements and regular maintenance overseen by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources,” Bing said. “It presents a win-win situation for the City and the entire State, by preserving a historic destination in the City of Detroit.”
Snyder vision of Belle Isle, patrolled by friendly state trooper to keep it “safe for families. Photoshop version was handed out to media at press conference.
Snyder said, “One of the two gems in the City is Belle Isle, but it requires many resources from the city at a difficult time. Neighborhoods and other parts of the city need those resources. Phased improvements such as revamping the picnic shelters and restrooms will begin as soon as we get approval from the Council. A public safety plan will be put in place to make sure the island is safe for families.”
Snyder refused to set a dollar amount on state investment or give other details of the improvements, also not included in the proposed lease document itself (see link at end of story to read entire document, not just executive summary given to media Sept. 12.) The lease does say that any improvements will be subject to the availability of funds.
“Pastors, community leaders and citizens, has the time come to take to the streets and shut Detroit down–no cars in, no cars out?,” asked former mayoral candidate and community activist Jerroll Sanders in a column on her Facebook page.
Jerroll Sanders
“The taking of assets in Detroit is racism prima facie,” Sanders said. “In less than seven years, Michigan State officials, colluding with selected members of Detroit’s City Council, the City’s current and former mayors, and powerful backers, seized Detroit’s billion dollar art institute, billion dollar waterfront convention facility, prime golf courses, thousands of acreage of camp and park land, billion dollar water assets, billion dollar historical museum assets, as well as countless other properties and conferred them to suburban and personal corporate interests, often without providing one dime in return.”
Sanders recalled her childhood basking on the island’s beach, which has a gorgeous view of Detroit’s downtown skyline. During the warmer months, national family re-unions, church, union and neighborhood picnics, concerts and other events fill the island. It is one of the few places left where Detroit youth can “cruise” on week-end night nights in a dating ritual that is decades-old and continues on major roadways in Detroit’s suburbs.
Mayoral candidate Tom Barrow in 2009.
Asked whether the new joint “public safety” force might target Black youth from Detroit, Snyder said, “We just want to make the island safe for families.”
Tom Barrow, who also ran against Bing in 2009 and is appealing the election results to the U.S. Supreme Court, called for the people of Detroit to vote on the proposed deal.
“Belle Isle is not a ‘tattered’ gem,” he said. “It is a city park which Detroiters enjoy immensely on warm days. My view is the island is owned and controlled by Detroit and should remain so. If the state wants to fix something up, tell us what it is and then provide a specific grant narrowly defined for that purpose. That is a partnership, not giving it to [the state] under some clever guise.”
Riverfront Conservancy runs Detroit Riverwalk, shown here east of Belle Isle bridge. VOD visited this park Mon. Sept. 11 and found the restrooms closed, and the park patrolled to keep the homeless out.
In contrast, Detroit’s private Riverfront Conservancy, run by prominent corporate executives, received $44 million in state and federal funds in June, no strings attached, to fix up the east riverfront across from Belle Isle.
The deal converts the island into a state park run by the Department of Natural Resources. Vehicle entry after March, 2013 would require annual purchase of a $10 state “Recreation Passport.” A previous law included an $8 daily fee for non-residents, such as relatives attending family re-unions from out-of-state, but the daily fee is not mentioned in the new regulations.
The lease does not include revenue from the so-called “Recreation Passports,” which would be substantial, in any fund set aside for Belle Isle improvements. It would set up “sub-account” for the island in the state’s park management fund as follows:
“During any term of this Lease, Lessee [the state] will collect, receive, and administer, subject to applicable law, all revenue generated or earned from grants, endowments, special events, fees collected and revenue generated or earned from sponsorships, advertising, and cooperative ventures (collectively ‘Park Revenue’). PARK REVENUE DOES NOT INCLUDE RECREATION PASSPORT REVENUE.”
Fishing on Belle Isle with beautiful view of downtown Detroit skyline. Such fishers could be stopped by “conservation officers,” who are state troopers, to ask them to show their fishing license and state ID, among other requirements.
Many go to Belle Isle to fish in the river and its ponds and streams. DNR regulations require those fishing in state parks to purchase fishing licenses, at costs ranging from a daily $7 to $42. (Click on DNR fishing license-info_274655_7.) Possession of such licenses is restricted. It involves carrying one’s state ID in addition to the license at all times, and producing it upon the request of a state conservation officer. Such officers are actually certified state troopers according to the DNR website. (Click on DNR Fishing License Requirements.)
The lease additionally says that all unspent revenues the city has collected for the island until now (that includes rthe Grand Prix, APBA Hydroplane races, breast cancer walks, suburban bicyle marathons, Free Press Marathon), and all city equipment and property on the island, will go to the state. Funds directed to Detroit from public and private agencies including the federal government will now also go instead to the state instead for administration by the DNR.
The APBA has been sued for racial discrimination by not allowing Black hydoplaners to race. Look at the video above closely: are there any Black folks in evidence?” Is Snyder making Belle Isle safe for the APBA, Grand Prix, etc.?
Federal EPA re-development of Blue Heron Lagoon, currently on-going. The EPA is also re-develping Belle Isle’s south fishing pier and has granted other funds to Detroit for Belle Isle in the past. These would go to the state under termas of the proposed lease.
Bing earlier railed against any 90-year lease of the island, and is presenting this option as a 30-year-lease. However it automatically includes two 30-year renewals unless the city opts out when the time comes.
This picnic shelter near the beach was totally renovated only last year. Snyder claimed an advantage of the lease would be shelter improvements, but a VOD tour of Belle Isle Sept. 14, 2012 showed most shelters in good repair.
Snyder said during the press conference that bonds for improvements to Belle Isle will be proposed and paid for by the state. However, the state is not assuming payment of outstanding bond debt for Belle Isle (part of the City’s Recreation Department), and any other city department which has instituted improvements on the island.
Detroiters approved bond proposals which included upgrades that would include Belle Isle in 1997, 2000, 2004, and 2009.
Family and friends enjoying Shelter No. 3 on Sept. 14, 2011.
According to documents from the city’s Fiscal Analyst Irvin Corley, proposals for “Museums, Libraries, Recreation and other Cultural Facilities” totaled $197 million. Bonds for Public Lighting were $72 million, for Transportation $46 million (city buses operate on Belle Isle), and public safety $219 million (Detroit police have a station on the island).
Those amounts do not include interest rates for the bonds, most of which are to be paid on by the city through the year 2035. Detroit Water and Sewerage bonds would add to the total.
Detroit Water and Sewerage facility on Belle Isle.
It is not clear exactly what amounts of these bonds have been expended on Belle Isle alone.
The lease leaves Detroit with the continuing responsibility for maintenance and improvements of all utilities on the island, except for the improvements necessitated by future state projects.
That includes water, lighting, and heat for facilities like the island’s “casino” and the Detroit Yacht Club, which pays $1 a year for land it uses, launching yachts and boats for the well-to-do from its docks while hosting social events as well.
Ironically, according to historical documents, the City gave eviction notices to the Yacht Club and the Detroit Boat Club in 1969 because they would not admit Blacks. When they relented, they were allowed to continue their $1 a year lease payments.
Wealthy Detroit Yacht Club pays $1 a year to lease prime riverfront land; state will pay nothing to lease whole of Belle Isle for 90 years.
Family picnics on the Belle Isle beach in between swims with gorgeous view of downtown Detroit skyline.
SHUT DETROIT DOWN!
By Jerroll Sanders on Friday, September 14, 2012 at 7:07am
(News story from VOD, which attended Rick/Dave press conference, coming shortly. Meanwhile Ms. Sanders has SAID IT ALL in her excellent column from her Facebook page. The City Council is holding a special discussion on Belle Isle Monday, Sept. 17, 2012 at 1 p.m. PLAN TO BE THERE!
Jerroll Sanders
DETROIT —Perhaps you wonder why “they” are planning to take Belle Isle–the crown jewel of Detroit. The taking of assets in Detroit is racism prima facie (on the face). Powerful non-African Americans who want Detroit’s billion dollar assets “fixed” Detroit’s 2009 Mayoral election so Dave Bing–a man from the suburbs of the same race as a majority of Detroit’s citizens–could lead the charge.
In less than seven years, Michigan State officials, colluding with selected members of Detroit’s City Council , the City’s current and former mayors, and powerful backers, seized Detroit’s billion dollar art institute, billion dollar waterfront convention facility, prime golf courses, thousands of acreage of camp and park land, billion dollar water assets, billion dollar historical museum assets, as well as countless other properties and conferred them to suburban and personal corporate interests, often without providing one dime in return.
Family re-union picnic on Belle Isle. Families travel from all over the country for these events. Cach carload coming on the island will now be forced to buy an annual pass or pay the $8 daily rate.
The charge to strip the citizens of Detroit continues the enactment of PA4 and the consent agreement–legislation that removes from citizens their most important asset–the right to vote. The progression of trampling citizens’ rights in Detroit has taken a new turn with an effort to take away Belle Isle–a place where I spent summer days with my family playing baseball, swimming and basking along the beach in the Detroit River as vessels from around the globe sailed by.
Lakefront parks in the five Grosse Pointes and St. Clair Shores bar Detroiters and other non-residents from entering. Detroiters sued Dearborn successfully to open up access to its parks. Time for racial discrimination suits against the Pointes and Shores! (VOD opinion)
Why Belle Isle? Why now? The citizens of Detroit are emotionally connected to Belle Isle. If “they” had taken Belle Isle before removing other assets, it may have ignited a war on the streets of Detroit. But now, they see Detroiters as aggressively passive, Facebook talkers with no “street cred,” no determination to shut the City of Detroit down to stop people from coming in taking what is rightfully ours.
They view our efforts to focus national attention on the rank discrimination that is occurring in Detroit as fleeting–maybe a story here or a story there, but nothing akin to the sustained focus needed to turn the tide and stop Detroit’s leadership and multi-racial cohorts from bleeding the citizens and City dry.
I ask: Pastors, community leaders and citizens has the time come to take to the streets and shut Detroit down–no cars in, no cars out?
Occupy Wall Street blocks Brooklyn Bridge in 2011.
I consider the Bible the ultimate book of wisdom. So I share with you the following biblical passage that I included in my book, The Physics of Money: If You’ve Got My Dollar, I Don’t! Not one bean.
One of my favorite passages from the Bible, 2nd Samuel 23:11, states: “The Philistines had gathered together into a troop, where there was a piece of ground full of lentils. So the people fled from the Philistines. But he [one of the villagers] stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.”
Imagine a small village of people threatened by the great Philistine army. The entire village fled in fear. One lone villager, however, was unwilling to retreat. He realized that the Philistines would never be content with the bean patch where the lentils grew. He knew that if he gave up the lentil patch, the Philistines would want the livestock, and then the houses, and finally the women and children. The lone villager knew a fight was imminent. The question was should he fight now or should he fight later? Knowing he would have to fight eventually, he proclaimed that he was not willing to relinquish even one bean. So he stood his ground. He fought and he prevailed.”
Sometimes, we the citizens are forced to employ non-violence as a means of standing our ground. That is how Dr. Martin Luther King, Gandhi and other greats non-violent protesters have slain abusive giants.
Detroit: Belle Isle is your last dance. Tell elected officials we don’t need meetings to discuss plans others have for Detroit; No longer we will be impressed with their demonstrated aggression in meetings and great oratory skills when in the end, we lose our assets. We need them to stand now, prevent the sale [or lease] of Belle Isle, and aggressively work to retake every asset wrongfully removed from the citizens of Detroit. Krystal Crittendon, City Council members—it’s time to act!
VOD: This is an initiative launched by one of Detroit’s young folks. Letter from his mother is below.
Hello to all of my friends and family,
Just a note to inform you of my son, Thomas’s latest endeavor. He has launched a new T-shirt line called Detroit vs Everybody.
I would appreciate it if you would go to the web-site (www.detroitvseverybody.com ) enjoy the video, spread the word, and if possible purchase a shirt in an effort to help his new business succeed. As you know Detroit is a phenomenal city. Let’s support and display the fact that Detroit is a city to be reckoned with. Your support in his lastest endeavor will be greatly appreciated.
The campaign says on their website, “Nobody deserves to spend even a single day in jail for making a conscientious decision not to participate in the Iraq war. We hope you will give as generously as you can. A victory for U.S. war resisters in Canada will be a major victory for peace and justice, and for the kind of Canada we want this country to be.”
