VOICE OF DETROIT: The city's independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought

Some of students who walked out against Southwestern HS closure in Clark Park April 25, 2012/WSWS photo

By Lawrence Porter

http://www.wsws.org
April 27, 2012 

Over 200 students at two high schools in Detroit’s southwestern neighborhood, Southwestern High and Western International, walked out of class on Wednesday to protest the closure of Southwestern, the poor conditions at Western, and the growth of charter schools.

Students from Western said they walked out of school just before 11 a.m. in sympathy with the students at Southwestern High School, which is among nine schools slated for closure next year in the Detroit Public Schools district.

Natalie Rivera/WSWS photo

“Our walkout at Western was inspired by the walkout at Southwestern and it was in solidarity with it, but it was also against the conditions in our school system,” stated Freddie Burse, one of the leaders of the walkout.

Freddie said the students organized the event themselves via Facebook after a student heard that there was going to be a walkout at Southwestern.

“The purpose of the demonstration was to make our voices heard and to speak up on our education system because we feel there are a lot problems there,” continued Burse.

“We are also opposed to the growth of charter schools. The main one here is Caesar Chavez. The privatization of schools is the death of the school system.”

Several students said they were especially upset with the announcement that Southwestern High School would be closed next year.

Denby High students Anjanette Payne, 16; Zana Davis, 17; Marquita Kennedy, 16 and Tamara Hollis, 17. “As a senior, I feel it’s not just about me, it’s about other kids too,” said Davis, one of the organizers of the boycott. (Laura Phelps / The Detroit News)

“It’s about trying to save Southwestern High School,” stated Natalie Rivera, a junior at Western, as she and several hundred students gathered in Clark Park with students from her school and Southwestern. “We are tired of the closing of the schools. We want them to stop.

“Southwestern students walked out so we felt we should walk out in solidarity. We want all of the schools to join together,” continued Rivera. “We don’t even have proper books in the school. We have to learn with old stuff that is not updated. The teachers take their own money to pay for the stuff we need.”

The walkouts at Western International and Southwestern are the third student walkouts in the last month in Detroit.

Denby High students Anjanette Payne, 16; Zana Davis, 17; Marquita Kennedy, 16 and Tamara Hollis, 17. “As a senior, I feel it’s not just about me, it’s about other kids too,” said Davis, one of the organizers of the boycott. (Laura Phelps / The Detroit News)

Last month students at Denby High school walked out after the announcement that the school will be placed in the new statewide district for what are being billed as low-performing schools—the Education Achievement Authority (EAA). Another spontaneous protest took place at Fredrick Douglass Academy when 50 students walked out because they did not have teachers. After protesting that they wanted an education, the students were suspended for a day.

The Detroit school system has been decimated by the actions of a series of Emergency Managers—state-appointed directors that take over a school district in financial distress, that have been appointed by both Democratic and Republican governors—the systematic defunding of the system by state and federal administrations and the collapse of city property tax revenues, the archaic basis of public education funding in the US.

Avontae Latham/WSWS photo

The present Emergency Manager, Roy Roberts, appointed by Republican Governor Rick Snyder, is implementing the closure of Southwestern. Roberts, a former General Motors executive, has outlined a plan to model a new school district dominated by charter schools similar to the New Orleans Recovery School District created after Hurricane Katrina. The charter school policy is in line with President Barack Obama’s Race to the Top educational initiative.

Avonte Latham, a junior involved in the walkout, said the government should provide more financial assistance to the Detroit school district. “I feel Michigan needs to give more money for schools. This is holding things back by closing schools,” charged Avonte.

“I don’t think they should be closing schools every year. They are forcing people to leave Michigan. When they decided to close Southwestern HS we decided to take a stand. Enough is enough. They are taking the schools out of the DPS system and putting them in a new system. It’s not right.”

Gabriela Alcazar/WSWS photo

Several students and their supporters said the closure of Southwestern would have a major impact on the choices for schools next year. Gabriela Alcazar, a community activist who attended the protest, said the students at Southwestern have been given two choices for schools that will only make matters worse.

“If Southwestern is closed the student will either go to Western or Northwestern,” stated Alcazar. “Southwestern is already overstretched with 1,700 students. Northwestern is 15 miles away.”

The author recommends:

Detroit schools manager names schools to close this fall
[10 February 2012]

Jerry White campaigns in Detroit against school closings
[14 February 2012]

Detroit school czar targets 15 schools, 600 teachers
[21 March 2012]

School districts throughout Detroit area face cuts
[18 May 2011]

STUDENTS SUSPENDED IN WALKOUT HOLD FREEDOM SCHOOL 

Students protest in Clark Park, across the street from Western International High School in Detroit Wednesday, April 25, 2012. Students suspended for the action are now planning to hold a "freedom school" in the same pa

By David Sands

April 27, 2012 

Students suspended for walking out of class at Detroit’s Western International High School earlier this week to protest school closures and demand a better education, are holding a “freedom school” Friday in Clark Park, across the street from their official school building.

Students left class Wednesday morning to protest the closing of Southwestern High School, which many fear would lead to overcrowding at Western, and to demand more resources and greater teacher engagement for the district’s schools.

Southwestern’s nearly 600 students will be offered space at Western International and Northwestern high schools next year, according to the district.

Detroit school board member Elena Herrada waiting to testify against consent agreement at Detroit City Council meeting April 2, 2012

Detroit Board of Education member Elena Herrada told the Detroit News that up to 180 students were suspended from Western and Southwestern high schools following Wednesday’s action. Detroit Public Schools spokesman Steven Wasko told The Huffington Post about 100 students were suspended for five days following the walkout.

School officials at Western did not return repeated requests for comment.

Wasko said concerns about a potential lack of supplies at Western are unfounded. “Western was one of the schools with top scholarships awards, coming in after Renaissance and Cass” high schools for the 2010-11 school year, securing more than $13.9 million in grants and scholarships.

One Western student told The Huffington Post she could be facing more than a suspension. Raychel Gafford, 17, said she has been singled out by school authorities for her vocal role in the walkout and that the district’s police have indicated she may face unspecified charges.

Gafford said students are organizing the freedom school for the same reasons they walked out. “We’re sticking together and we’re not backing down from this,” she said. “We were thrown out of school for fighting for an equal education and we’re doing this to show we’re still going to be learning even if we got kicked out of school.”

Classes at the freedom school will be held with help from community volunteers for the duration of the students’ suspensions, including over the weekend.

Greg Pratt posted this photo with an account of the Freedom School on its Facebook page

A Facebook page promoting the freedom school puts the number of participating students at more than 150:

We do not understand why we are being punished with a loss of educational opportunity when that is exactly what we were fighting for. To further demonstrate our commitment to education, we will be attending our own school taught by ourselves and community educators for the duration of our suspension.

Gafford said the freedom school would cover a number of subjects, including the history of the civil rights movement, hip-hop, and art classes, and that space would be provided for students to make up missed class work.

Raychel’s mother, Amber Gafford, 34, said she supports her daughter and other students fighting for a quality education.

“I wish there were more kids doing this,” she said of their decision to walk out. “The children, they aren’t doing it to be malicious to the school. They have a reason they’re doing it. Their voices should be heard.”

The freedom school is the latest in a series of recent student actions at Detroit schools.

Around 50 students were suspended March 29 after leaving their classrooms at Frederick Douglass Academy to protest the school’s shortage of teachers. And hundreds of students marched in front of Denby High School on March 16 to protest their school’s transfer into a new state-run district.

Below is WSWS video of parents protesting former DPS EFM Robert Bobb’s firing of Western High School principal.

Kawhnua Liggins takes her daughter to day care April 24; her D-DHS grant to pay for it has now been cut/Photo ClickonDetroit Channel Four

By Diane Bukowski

April 29, 2012

DETROIT – A union representing Detroit Department of Human Services (D-DHS) workers filed suit April 19, demanding the restoration of millions in federal funds withheld by Michigan Department of Human Services (M-DHS) director Maura Corrigan since Oct. 2011. The suit requests the maintenance of D-DHS’s designation as a Community Action Agency (CAA), and an injunction preventing Wayne Metro Community Action Agency (WMCAA) or any other entity from taking over its programs.

APTE President Dempsey Addison at first Occupy Detroit march in 2011

“As a result of Director Corrigan’s illegal cut-off of CSBG funds to the City of Detroit, the neediest Detroiters are being denied desperately needed services, services which are vital to their very survival,” says the lawsuit. It was filed by Attorney Jerome Goldberg on behalf of Dempsey Addison, President of the Association of Professional and Technical Employees, and DHS employee Cecily McClellan.

(Click on APTE lawsuit and letters to read suit as well as letters from APTE to the federal government.)

D-DHS assists residents in fighting foreclosures, evictions and utility shut-offs, provides food, clothing, day-care and transportation, and helps fund non-profits like Young Detroit Builders. It also ran the city’s home weatherization program, which was turned over to WMCAA April 1, with hundreds of workers and contractors left unpaid, and work on homes unfinished.

Funding for the city’s Head Start Program, amounting to $55 million, which D-DHS coordinates through contractors, is being transferred as well.

Detroit Head Start program; funding transferred from D-DHS

Kawhnua Liggins, who was taking her toddler to a day care program, told Channel Four reporter Paula Tutman April 25 that she needs the grant D-DHS provides. Tutman reported it had been cut the day before and that three-quarters of the families at the day care center have lost their grants beginning last fall.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing gets hug from Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, who now controls him and city's government.

“If I don’t have that money, I could lose my job,” Liggins said. “Jobs are bad right now, so I only work part-time. Child care is every bit of $150 to $200 a week, and my check is only $120 a week. I can’t afford to pay rent and my other bills on top of child care.”

Council President Charles Pugh told Tutman that funds were cut due to alleged mismanagement, but was not quoted regarding the letter City Council sent to the state refusing to voluntarily de-certify D-DHS. (Letter is attached to lawsuit PDF referenced above.)

(Click on http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/Detroit-families-say-they-re-struggling-after-state-cuts-funding-to-human-services-department/-/1719418/11860610/-/o703bo/-/index.html to view full broadcast.)

Mayor Dave Bing, who now reports to the state under the recently enacted “Financial Stability [Consent] Agreement,” announced in his April 12 budget address that he would cut off all funding for D-DHS in the coming year.

Debra Taylor at earlier meeting of Detroit Financial Review Team

“Michigan has become up South, the new Jim Crow,” Debra Taylor testified during a state administrative hearing April 23. “You can’t just dress this pig up and put perfume on it. Turning over D-DHS has nothing to with the city’s deficit or with mishandling of funds. It is racism, another power grab along with the illegal Public Act 4 takeover of Detroit.”

The suit requests a temporary restraining order and writ of mandamus (to compel a government officer to perform a duty) against defendants Corrigan, Mayor Dave Bing and Kirk Lewis. A hearing is set for Friday, May 11, 2012 at 9 a.m. before Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Kathleen McDonald in the Coleman A. Young Center, 2 Woodward Avenue, Rm. 1507.

The suit says laws a review of any proposed termination of funds must be completed at both the state and federal levels BEFORE funds are cut-off. It challenges the state’s assertion that D-DHS has been responsible for massive misuse of funds. D-DHS workers face lay-offs this June as a result of the allegations. (Click on DHS Closing for documents APTE gathered containing favorable state D-DHS audits under Stacie Gibson, former director of the Michigan Bureau of Community Action and Economic Opportunity.)

“The state violated federal guidelines and the legal process when it withheld $8 million over six months ago,” lawsuit plaintiff Addison testified at the April 23 hearing. “It hurt thousands of Detroiters by cutting off essential services. What right do you have to sit here like a judge and mislead the people?”

D-DHS Commissioner Tia Comart speaks at state hearing April 23; Stephanie Comai is at right on judge's bench

Stephanie Comai, Acting Director of the Bureau of Community Action and Economic Opportunity, and an M-DHS employee, presided over the hearing in a State Court of Appeals (COA) courtroom in the Cadillac Building. She and two others sat at the bench normally used only by COA judges.

The little-publicized hearing was a step in adversarial proceedings brought by the state subsequent to the Detroit City Council’s earlier vote against voluntary termination of D-DHS’s CAA status. (Click on http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/03/06/corrigan-demands-council-hand-over-control-of-city-dhs/  for earlier VOD article.)

Detroiters who opposed takeover of D-DHS at hearing April 23.

Mayor Dave Bing previously told the state the “city agreed” to the voluntary termination, but statutes require that the City Council also sign off.

Dozens of Detroiters who testified April 23 demanded copies of the state’s “comprehensive monitoring report” recommending de-certification of D-DHS and its specific reasons for doing so, which was not provided at the meeting. Comai referred to it in a March 23, 2012 letter to D-DHS director Ursula Holland, attached to the APTE lawsuit.

The lawsuit says such a report must be submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, but “on information and belief, a report in conformance with [federal law] stating the basis for such a determination has not been prepared and submitted.”

Comai said she would send a copy to those who requested it at the meeting, including this reporter, but it has not yet been received.

WMCAA President Jodi Adamovich, board member Thelmas Chonko, CEO Louis Piszker, who operates for-profit Thornton Park LP out of WMCAA Ecorse office

Comai said M-DHS plans to temporarily turn D-DHS programs over to the Wyandotte-based WMCAA, while issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) open to non-profits which will be “a high-performing effective service operators.” She said WMCAA would be opening offices in Detroit shortly to resume services that have been cut off.

Precinct Delegate and former Detroit School Board Member Marie Thornton challenged Comai’s statement that D-DHS is the ONLY one of 30 CAA’s in the state with compliance problems.

“You said the 29 other agencies are perfect,” Thornton declared. “Well, tell me about the 29 perfect agencies so I can say to Detroit, ‘Shame on you.’”

Precinct delegate and former Detroit school board member Marie Thornton at earlier meeting

She asked whether Comai would open an investigation into corruption at WMCCA. Testimony was given that WMCAA’s CEO Louis Piszker runs a for-profit real estate company, Thornton Park Limited Partnership, out of WMCAA’s Ecorse office, and that WMCAA sold a property to his business for $10. Confronted with an increasingly hostile audience, Comai reluctantly said she would.

Several speakers asked Comai why she is not investigating Mayor Dave Bing as well, since he directed former D-DHS director Shenetta Coleman to use $400 million in federal grant funds to help pay off the city’s $1.5 billion Pension Obligation Certificates (POC) debt, as well as to fund construction of new offices for D-DHS at the Herman Kiefer Health Complex on Taylor. (Click on lawsuit)

Several of the Department’s elected Commissioners testified angrily that they had not been consulted by the state about the proposed action, as required by state law. The failure to do so is also cited in the APTE lawsuit.

Les Little speaking at City Council hearing on consent agreement

Comai said they had spoken with the commission chair, but Commissioner Tia Collette Comart said the chair is appointed by the Mayor and has not shared any information with the rest of the commission.

“I am the first chair, and am in an elected position,” she said. “No one said anything to the first chair, the second chair, only to Mayor Bing. “I am a Head Start parent and assistant secretary for Hartford Memorial’s Head Start program and I object to this attack by the state. ” She gave her email address in testimony, which is commissionertia@gmail.com.

Commissioner Carolyn Thompson said, “Detroiters’ voter rights are being trampled. I am insulted that I am being asked to re-apply with the new CAA for a position to which I was already elected. The City of Detroit is ravaged by poverty, but now you are cutting residents off of utility assistance and other vital services.”

Michigan Auditor General Thomas McTavish

“It’s time for Detroit to do what a bunch of patriots did in the 1700,’s” said Les Little. “We have been under assault from the State of Michigan since Public Act 4 and the consent agreement. Time and time again services we pay taxes for have not been rendered to our people.”

Several speakers challenged Comai because M-DHS itself was cited by State Auditor-General Thomas McTavish for a lack of financial controls and millions of dollars in questionable purchases, in an August 16, 2011 audit.

The audit revealed that the same employees created and processed invoices and then approved the checks to pay them. McTavish also found a lack of documentation for purchases of computers and other electric applicances allegedly provided to M-DHS clients, among other issues. For further information, click on http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/08/dhs_audit_finds_millions_in_qu.html.

We Pay Our Taxes! Why Doesn’t GE! – – A No Struggle, No Development Production!   By Kenny Snodgrass

Thousands of citizens marched at the GE Annual Shareholder Meeting in Detroit Michigan on April 25, 2012 at the Detroit Marriott Renaissance. Marchers came to demand that GE “Pay Their Fair Share Of Taxes.” They marched on East Jefferson and on the river front side as well. About two dozen shareholders were escorted out of the meeting, after standing to make their demands heard. They included Pastors William Rideout, Homer Jamison and Walter Starghill of Detroit and Inkster. The Free Press reported that GE Vice Chair and Chief Financial Officer Keith Sherin said “We pay our taxes.” GE paid $2.6 billion in taxes to the USA last year, but they were offset by tax breaks, according to the marchers.

  *A No Struggle, No Development Production! By Kenny Snodgrass, Activist, Photographer, Videographer, Author of From Victimization To Empowerment…

www.trafford.com/07-0913  eBook at www.ebookstore.sony.com

 I have over 275 community videos and over 87,000 Hits
on my YouTube channel at www.YouTube.com/KennySnod  

GE protesters packed East Jefferson curb to curb April 25, 2012

By Diane Bukowski

 April 26, 2012 

Youth participated in protest en masse

DETROIT – Thousands of  marchers, many of them Black youth, union members and church leaders, occupied the streets of downtown Detroit for several hours April 25 outside General Electric’s national shareholders meeting at the Renaissance Center. 

They chanted non-stop, “GE, pay your taxes” and “Hey, hey, ho, ho, corporate greed has got to go!” They came from metro Detroit, and from all over the Midwest in busloads, including Wisconsin and Ohio. 

Leaders skillfully coordinated the mass occupation of the streets, keeping the marchers in solid blocs behind the RenCen, where they were supposed to remain, and then down the side streets onto East Jefferson and up to the front doors of the RenCen. Despite threats and shoving by Detroit police on horseback and in dozens of cars, they were not able to make arrests. 

Protesters round the side of the RenCen to confront GE at front

Pastors William Rideout, Homer Jamison and Walter Starghill from Detroit and Inkster led the occupation after disrupting the shareholders’ meeting inside.  They tried to present GE CEO Jeff Immett with a bill for $26.5 billion, which they said the company owes the U.S.  in back taxes based on the 35 percent statutory rate. 

A GE spokesman said the company paid $2.9 billion GLOBALLY, but had its tax rate reduced due to falling sales in previous years. 

Many of the protesters have occupied DTE's headquarters as well.

The three pastors, along with Good Jobs Now! and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), have also led militant occupations of DTE Energy’s downtown Detroit headquarters, again with large contingents of Black youth. A group of young women carried letter placards spelling out “D-T-E” during the march. 

Youth celebrate the rising of the 99 percent against GE

In a city where many youth have lost hope for their future, the numbers participating in the GE protest were astonishing. They danced and chanted, excited to be fighting the real public enemy, instead of each other. 

“This affects me,” said Jataveyis Price, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He carried a sign calling GE a tax dodger. “The youth could have education, jobs and health care by getting all these tax dodgers out and fixing our deficit.” 

Jataveyis Price

GE is known for moving its plants overseas to take advantage of low wages, leaving hundreds of thousands jobless in the U.S. 

Jerome Jackson, who is fighting the foreclosure of his home in Inkster, came in his wheelchair. 

 “If GE paid their fair share, it could be used for bringing our city out of the red and into the green.” 

Jackson has another hearing pending June 7 at 2 p.m. in 22^nd District Court, and is being supported by Moratorium NOW!, Occupy Detroit, and People Before Banks, who have rallied outside his home. 

Charles Whitmore is the regional coordinator for MoveOn.Org, representing western Wayne and Oakland Counties. 

Charles Whitmore and Chuck Altman (l), Jerome Jackson (r)

“GE is a criminal for not paying its fair share,” Whitmore said. “They are holding up the economic recovery with their tax breaks, along with the subsidies that the oil companies and other corporations get. Since the U.S. Supreme Court decided that corporations are people, they need to become good citizens. It’s so ironic that the corporations could actually make more money by cooperating with the people instead of laying them off and foreclosing on them, because they would have more customers. “ 

Chuck Altman added, “GE is a major defense contractor, with contracts from the Pentagon for equipment like jet turbine engines. This country needs more butter, not more guns.”

Carrying signs proclaiming, “Windmills not Weapons,” Carolyn Doherty and Charlotte Kish explained, “GE also makes machinery for nuclear reactors, which are unsafe at any price.” 

JOBS NOW!

Marchers wearing purple SEIU T-Shirts were everywhere. Chris Michalakis, president of the Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO, said the planning committee for the march included the United Auto Workers (UAW) and other unions as well. 

However, no signs from the UAW, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and other major unions were in evidence. 

Tax the 1% for Health Care

Before the march, the daily media including Nolan Finley of the Detroit News blasted the protesters’ plans.

“. . . there’s a real risk . . . investors will witness instead a confirmation that Metro Detroit is ground zero for the destructive war against wealth and business,” Finley proclaimed April 22. “Groups tied to the Occupy Wall Street movement and the United Auto Workers’ 99% Spring action SWAT team have been recruiting protesters to stage an anti-World Trade Organization-style protest in the streets around the RenCen.

“But if massive numbers of raucous demonstrators disrupt the GE meeting, it will be a disaster for Detroit,” Finley continued. “Other business gatherings will avoid the city like the plague, hurting the convention business and killing jobs. More broadly, it will affirm that Detroit is still in the clutches of militant unions, hostile to business and a lousy place to plant money.”’

Pastor leads prayer at front of RenCen; if pastors can organize the people, why can't union leaders?

The News later reported that UAW President Bob King was re-considering his union’s participation. 

SEIU was in the house: where were the other unions?

Despite the recent disastrous state takeover of Detroit, and the cut-offs of hundreds of thousands of state residents from public assistance, many major unions have refused to call on the economic clout still held by Michigan workers. So far, leaders have refused to declare an all-union general strike, like those in Greece which forced the international banks to reduce their demands for that country’s debt payments by 75 percent. 

The only time many union leaders appear to unite is to negotiate contract concessions as a group, despite the fact that such concessions have sapped both the union membership and living and working conditions for people everywhere, since the 1970’s. 

The turnout of thousands, predominantly youth, at the RenCen April 26 shamed  these other unions. Combined with the resources of the major unions, the national 99% movement could eventually triumph against the “destructive war” on working and poor people.

Protesters take the streets behind RenCen, backing off police

Sanford and Jones families march together April 23 outside Frank Murphy Hall; beautiful signs for Davontae, Aiyana and Charles were made by a niece of Mertilla Jones

 Families of two men unite to demand their release and the imprisonment of killer cops Joseph Weekley and wannabe George Zimmerman 

By Diane Bukowski

April 26, 2012  

Taminko Sanford (l) and Mertilla Jones (center) discuss their children's cases as Jones' 14-year-old grandson listens April 23.

DETROIT – Families and friends of  Davontae Sanford, 14 when he was  convicted in 2007 of four murders to which another man has confessed, and Charles Jones, father of Aiyana, 7, killed by Detroit police in 2010, rallied together to demand freedom for the two men April 23. 

It was the first time the families of the two young men met. Their grief and anger poured out in chants of “Free Davontae, Free Charles, Justice for Aiyana,” and “Brick by brick, wall by wall, we’re going to fight until we free them all,” as they marched outside the Frank Murphy Hall in downtown Detroit for two hours. 

Davontae's two sisters and father Jermaine Tilmon

“George Zimmerman killed an innocent child for nothing,” said Davontae’s father Jermaine Tilmon. “They just freed him on bond today, but they have had an innocent child locked up for five years. Give Davontae a bond right now. What they are doing is unconstitutional.”

Both Zimmerman, who killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida in February and  Detroit police officer Joseph Weekley, who shot little Aiyana Stanley-Jones in the head as she slept with her grandmother, are free on bond. Weekley was granted a personal bond after being charged with manslaughter nearly two years later, while Zimmerman’s family raised $15,000 for a 10 percent cash bond. Both killings enraged people across the world.

 Davontae’s 14-year-old sister DeShonda said, “It’s crazy what they’re doing to him. It doesn’t make any sense. We were so close, oh my god, I love him. He is the best brother to me. He is amazing.” 

Taminko Sanford and others in Davontae's family demand justice for all

Sanford’s attorneys have now filed an affidavit with the appeals court, in which Vincent Smothers admitted to the drug house killings of four people on Runyon Street and explicitly exonerated Davontae. (Click on )  Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Brian Sullivan refused to let him testify during proceedings on a motion to withdraw Sanford’s confession, obtained by police without the presence of his mother or an attorney. 

Aiyana’s father Charles Jones faces first-degree murder charges in the death of Je’Rean Blake, based primarily on the hearsay testimony of jail-house snitch and six-time convicted felon Jay Schlenkerman. A final conference for their joint trial is set for May 4, with the trial scheduled for June 20, in front on Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Richard Skutt.

Jones family members included Mertilla Jones (behind grandson in red jacket, Aiyana's mother Dominika Stanley, second from left, and Charles Jones' sister LaKrystal Sanders (r)

 “We support Davontae and the family of Trayvon, and all those who are unjustly locked up,” Aiyana’s grandmother Mertilla Jones told the marchers, after she and Davontae’s mother Taminko Sanford spoke with each other and tearfully embraced. Jones’ daughter LaKrystal Sanders and Aiyana’s mother Dominika Stanley, along with many youngsters and others from the large Jones and Sanford families, also attended the march. 

Jones family wears T-shirts demanding justice for Aiyana, freedom for Charles

“My grandson is 14, the same age as Davontae was,” Jones said, her arm around his shoulders. “One day you all could be standing in our shoes. We want freedom for our kids.. Someone had the nerve to invite my niece to a benefit for Weekley’s daughters, so that they can live the life-style to which they are accustomed, and go to college. But my son will never have a father-daughter dance with Aiyana, or see her walk across the stage to get her high-school diploma or college degree, or walk her down the aisle to get married.” 

Weekley lives in Grosse Pointe Farms, while the Jones family lived on Lillibridge in a poor east-side Detroit neighborhood. 

Aiyana was Charles Jones’ only daughter of seven children. His mother said police trained guns on his toddlers when they arrested him in his Ypsilanti home earlier this year. 

Charles Jones with daughter Aiyana Stanley-Jones

A Detroit police “Special Response Team” threw an incendiary grenade into their Detroit home before killing Aiyana on May 16, 2010, as A&E’s “The First 48” filmed the assault, although they knew little children were inside then. Jones said they trampled over the toddlers while rampaging through the house, then grabbed Owens’ 15-year-old daughter and made her and her father sit on the blood-soaked couch where Aiyana died.

Police threw Charles Jones in blood and glass on the home’s floor, and arrested Jones herself, holding her for several days. They continue to claim in civil lawsuit proceedings that she “interfered” with Weekley. 

Khalid Fareed Muhammad speaks to families

Khalid Fareed Muhammad called for charges to be brought against the officer who threw the grenade through the window, as well as the rest of the team. That team included Kata-Ante Taylor, who according to Jon Marko of the Fieger law firm, ran with Aiyana out of the home before her family could hold her in her dying moments. 

According to eyewitnesses, Taylor executed 18-year-old Artrell Dickerson in 2009, shooting him in the back as he lay on the ground. He never faced charges. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has not charged a single Detroit cop in the killings of dozens during her tenure. 

A “grand jury” composed of Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Kenny brought the charges against Weekley, but it was Worthy who charged Charles Jones. 

Roberto Guzman, on bullhorn, leads march

Roberto Guzman, an organizer of the rally, passionately condemned Worthy’s actions in the Sanford case and others he has been involved in fighting. He ended talk in tears as Taminko Sanders and Mertilla Jones embraced him. 

“Why, Ms. Worthy, do you continue to deny this child justice?” Guzman asked in a portion of his talk, which detailed the history and  constitutional violations in Sanford’s case. “Kym Worthy knows she can stop the appeals process right now by filing a Confession of Error with the Court of Appeals. . . .Obey the principles of due process, a fair trial and the laws of humanity!   . . . .set this child free!  You are committing a greater crime in continuing to condemn him to prison, rob him of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  He will never be able to get a high school diploma, raise a family and live life to his fullest all because her sin is pride. 

Taminko Sanford and Mertilla Jones embrace Roberto Guzman as he weeps after his talk

“Freedom fighter Frederick Douglass said, ‘No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at least finding the other end fastened about his own neck.’  Your crime in condemning this innocent child is enormous; and here again you leave a trail of tears. “ 

(Click on Sanford Speech  to read full speech with history of Davontae’s case.) 

For more information on the cases of Aiyana and Charles Jones, call 313-825-6126; for more information on the case of Davontae Sanford, call 313-272-1406. Davontae also has a Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100002107776225.

DETROIT SHALL RISE AGAIN

By David Rambeau 

April 24, 2012 

Introduction

Back in the 60s when there was much social and political ferment in our communities, many of those involved in “The Struggle ” were regularly reading writers like Frantz Fanon, Stokely Carmichael, W. E. B. Dubois, Walter Rodney, Malcolm X and a host of others to use as references to make points during the heated public discourse that occurred. Nowadays those who have benefited from that strife seem to have forgotten, and more likely denigrated, the historical perspectives that were brought to bear in the many arguments back then over contemporary issues. As far as I can tell every comment today comes off the top of the head, the cuff of the sleeve or the seat of the pants. Freedom of speech is fine, but you hope they would add some intellectual yeast to their comments. They never do.

Analysis

Occupy Movement has been protesting the banks' rape of the cities for months

The annual interest on Detroit’s debt to its creditors (banks, for example) is $600 million on a debt of about $12 billion or a rate of 5% annually. Negotiate a cut in that rate to 2.5%, the interest declines to $300 million and then Detroit has a tidy budget surplus. No state financial (review) control committee, (three white boys and seven negroes) no control (consent) agreement for the city council (five negroes and four blacks). If you’re keeping a cultural and financial scorecard. (I use the term “negro” in the socio-historical context delineated by E. Franklyn Frazier in “Black Bourgeoisie”.)

The “Negroes” on the City Council

And a little wiggle room for the city’s budget and some anguished creditors. But they can handle it. In ten years at 2.5% instead of 5% they still suck $3 billion out of an improverished, non-productive, dependent community, far more than what they deserve.
The banks shouldn’t be getting a quarter in interest after what they did to the people with their sub-prime mortgages, but that’s another story. Have you heard of any pressure the city (the mayor, his minions and the city council) is putting on their partners? That’s right, when you owe your creditors in the billions, they are no longer merely creditors, they’re partners. Or don’t you know how the game is played with the big boys. Check out Billie Sol Estes.

Workers in Greece forced banks to reduce debt payments by 75 percent although they themselves took concessions

When you need a break they give it to you. When you’re in a tight situation, they better give it to you or you go belly up…if you’ve got any guts. (The system of exploitation has to be maintained without warfare or collapse. That’s what’s happening right now in Europe. We are Greece or Spain or Italy confronting Germany, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.

(Comparative analysis is always instructive, to a point, but I digress.)

At least that’s what you tell them, and let them sweat with that thought for a few minutes. The banks got bailed out by the President, and now you ask them for payback. What can they say, “Go see the colored guy in the White House.”

I don’t think so.

Detroit financial review team celebrating with Massa Dillon

Meanwhile what do these bid whist negroes do, these alienated individuals devoid of history, culture, ideology, organization and identity? They rationalize. They go along to get along; they write mediocre op-ed pieces for the corporate media to disguise their dilemma. Whom do they think they are fooling? They must do something or they’ll have to commit suicide.

However, ghosts don’t have to commit suicide. Ghosts are capable of looking in the mirror, seeing something dark and nappy and believing that it’s relevant. The blues is real; the slam dunk is real. They, in contrast, are an unfortunate necessity for the system, a pimple on the pig’s behind, a well-dressed, suburbanly attired pimple, but a pimple nevertheless. The Black Power political run in Detroit from 1973 till 2012 has come to a close with the control (consent) agreement. We’re back to where we started with minor changes to placate the upwardly mobile and frustrate the masses.

Women of the Black Panther Party

In the 60s and 70s a serious challenge to things as they are, or were, was disturbing the system. After WWII the powers-that-be wanted to return to business as usual, but couldn’t, so when challenged on the home-front, adjustments were made. Eventually we got some affirmative action, some voting rights, an increase in elected officials and a modicum of change, particularly for those in position to take advantage of the opportunities.

However, systems counter-attack, which brings us, in a sentence, to what’s going on in Detroit today. I understand the mayor and the council majority. They get to continue receiving their checks every two weeks, their pensions and benefits, their elected positions of status, their non-union, at-will staffs whom they can torment whenever they choose, and other perks to inflate their egos. So what if they’ve signed away their power and the people’s democratic rights. You can’t have everything. It’s tough out here being a pimp, or a pimple. Anything beats being unemployed or on welfare or being homeless. Besides, nobody is hiring ex elected officials these days.

So what’s next? The unions and the black-blacks (the people of color who holler, and march and present two minutes of rhetoric at government meetings) must punish those who sold them out. They’ve got to recall them. That requires organization, patience, focus, resources and work, none of which are easy to come by. And that’s just the first step. The process only gets increasingly difficult. That’s what makes it interesting and that’s what separates the men from the boys, in addition to history, culture, ideology, study and identity. A luta continua.

David Rambeau in the day (Facebook photo)

This has been another Rambeau Report for For My People. If you want more information, access your public library and read Thomas J. Sugrue, “The Origins of the Urban Crisis”, “Capitalism and Slavery” by Eric Williams, and “The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual” by Harold Cruse. For openers. Post your comments on my facebook site at http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1047977978 or send a letter to the editor. 

David Rambeau is a free-lance writer located in Detroit, MI. Access his websites on facebook: David Rambeau – and – Concept East Theater. (Check out http://sylviatestblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/friendsofbroadside-fwd-uban-theater.html for more information on Concept East II.)

Stop The War On Our Youth! – – A No Struggle, No Development Production! By KennySnod * Stop The War On Our Youth! There’s No Justice In Condemning An Innocent Child to Lift In Prison or Death!

Kenneth Snodgrass is the official videographer/photojournalist for VOD. See is bio on the About page.

Families, friends, and supporters of Davontae Sanford, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Dad Charles Jones, Trayvon Martin. Protest April 23, 2012 at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice

George Zimmerman, killer of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, is now out on bond, joining Detroit cop Joseph Weekley, killer of 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley Jones. They are free to roam the streets, while Davontae Sanford, 14 when he went to prison for murders to which another man confess to, and Charles Jones, Aiyana’s dad, are behind bars.

Davontae’s mother has just now heard from her son for the first time since January. He is being held in solitary and was under barbaric conditions until intervention by his supporters. Charles Jones, still grieving for his daughter Aiyana, killed May 16, 2010, is in the Wayne County Jail without bond based solely on the testimony of some jail-house prisoner. We would like to hear the truth about Davontae Sanford. There No Justice In Condemning An Innocent Child to Life In Prison or Death For A Crime They Did Not Commit! – –

A No Struggle, No Development Production! By Kenny Snodgrass, Activist, Photographer, Videographer, Author of From Victimization To Empowerment…
www.trafford.com/07-0913 eBook available at www.ebookstore.sony.com
YouTube – I have over 275 community videos and over 87,000 Hits
on my YouTube channel at www.YouTube.com/KennySnod

Channel 7: Protesters demand justice in two high profile cases;

Organizers say black men are being targeted

VOD STORY ON RALLY TO FREE DAVONTAE SANFORD AND CHARLES JONES, AND JUSTICE FOR AIYANA STANLEY-JONES AND TRAYVON MARTIN APRIL 23 COMING SHORTLY. Rally was covered in the Detroit News and Free Press (Freep video at bottom) as well as Channel 7 (video above). Channels 2 and 4 ran versions of the following AP story.

DAVONTAE SANFORD CASE: DETROIT HIT MAN TAKES ANOTHER STEP TO HELP CONVICT

Monday, April 23, 2012 4:56 PM EDT

By The Associated Press

Davontae Sanford at court hearing two years ago

DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit hit man in prison for eight slayings has signed an extraordinary confession to four additional killings in a bid to persuade the Michigan appeals court to order his testimony and possibly free a young man who is locked up for murder.

The sworn affidavit by Vincent Smothers was filed last week by a lawyer for Davontae Sanford, who at age 15 pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Sanford, now 19, insists his own confession was false, and he has struggled to have his conviction thrown out.

In a three-page statement, Smothers said he was hired in fall 2007 to kill a drug dealer as part of a feud between competing gangs. He said Sanford, a neighborhood kid who was just 14 at the time, was not his accomplice.

Vincent Smothers

“I have never used a juvenile as an accomplice,” said Smothers, who is serving a 52-year sentence for eight other murders.

A few months ago, Smothers offered to testify in court on behalf of Sanford. But in February, Wayne County Judge Brian Sullivan declined and, at the same time, rejected Sanford’s request to set aside his conviction.

Smothers hopes the affidavit — a formal, detailed recollection of what happened on Detroit’s Runyon Street — will make a difference with the appeals court.

“I have nothing to gain by agreeing to testify,” said Smothers, 31. “No one is pressuring or threatening me to testify. I am testifying because Mr. Sanford is innocent of the 4 murders on Runyon Street and should be exonerated.”

Smothers said he and another man, nicknamed Nemo, scouted the location earlier in the day by playing catch with a baseball a few doors away. They returned and starting shooting — Smothers through the front door with an AK-47 and Nemo with a handgun through a window.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy still refuses to stop prosecution of Davontae Sanford or at the very least grant him an appeal bond.

He said they immediately found victims dead on separate couches. Smothers said a young boy was in bed in another room and a woman was hiding under the bed. They were not injured.

“Just after we left the house, I fired my AK at a person across the street, who had fired at me,” Smothers said, a reference to a minister who has admitted firing a gun that night.

In April 2008, Smothers was arrested in suburban Detroit. He quickly admitted participating in 12 murders-for-hire, including the ones on Runyon Street, but was only charged with eight. At the time, Sanford had already pleaded guilty and was in custody.

“At one point during the interrogation, when I was being escorted to the bathroom, I told a bald detective that they did not have the right person convicted for the Runyon Street murders,” Smothers said in his affidavit.

The Wayne County prosecutor’s office has refused to back away from Sanford’s guilty plea. But it hasn’t explained why Smothers was never charged, despite the confession to police, and why a gun directly linked to the Runyon Street slayings was recovered from a home associated with Nemo.

When asked about the affidavit, Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for prosecutors, said her office will wait to hear from the appeals court.

Sanford’s attorney, Kim McGinnis, wants the appeals court to overturn the trial judge’s decision and allow her client to withdraw his guilty plea or, alternatively, put Smothers on the witness stand 

By Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World

April 2o, 2012 

What do you do when your municipality is holding arguably the most hated and notorious killer on earth? You grant him bail. That’s exactly what Judge Kenneth Lester did for George Zimmerman, the man who killed Trayvon Martin. As a condition of his bail, Zimmerman is not allowed to have possession of firearms, drink alcohol or use drugs. He must also maintain a curfew. How nice.

Geprge Zimmerman, killer of Trayvon Martin

Zimmerman won’t be released on Friday, but the details of his release are going to be worked out between his attorney and law enforcement. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the killing of Trayvon Martin, but he claims that he shot him in self-defense.

If the city of Sanford wanted to embarrass itself any further, it just did. The justice system that has obtained international prominence as one of the most inept, irresponsible, racist and unprofessional organizations in the country has set a new standard for judicial indecency. The family of Trayvon Martin worked hard to g

Trayvon Martin, murdered by wannabe cop George Zimmerman

et Zimmerman arrested because he was a flight risk, now he’s a flight risk all over again.

Granting bail for George Zimmerman, for the most part, is a slap in the face to those around the world who worked for his arrest. It simply says that without regard to the will of the people, those possessing the power of the state have no obligation to answer to anyone or even share whatever information they are using to come to their illogical decisions. Granting bail to Zimmerman renders meaningless all the rallies, petitions and hard work done around the world to bring him to justice. It effectively communicates defiance within the Sanford judicial system to say, “We don’t care what you think. We’re going to do whatever we choose to do.”

http://www.yourblackworld.net/2012/04/black-news/dr-boyce-why-was-george-zimmerman-granted-bail-in-killing-of-trayvon-martin/

Davontae's mother Taminko Sanford (center), family and friends at 2010 rally

VOD: This travesty should recall to all in Detroit that Davontae Sanford, 14 when he was convicted of four murders that hitman Vincent Smothers confessed to, exonerating Davontae, remains jailed in barbaric conditions at the Michigan Reformatory at Ionia, five years later. Detroit cop Joseph Weekley, who slaughtered seven-year-old Aiyana Jones as she slept with her grandmothers, has been free on bond on manslaughter charges while her father Charles Jones has been charged with first-degree murder based solely on the testimony of a jail-house snitch. So far, he has been denied any bond.

Aiyana Stanley-Jones' aunt LaKrystal Sanders, grandmother Mertilla Jones, and mother Dominika Stanley at national rally against police brutality and murder.

PLEASE COME OUT TO THE RALLY FOR JUSTICE FOR DAVONTAE, AIYANA AND CHARLES MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012 AT 8 AM AT THE FRANK MURPHY HALL OF JUSTICE ON GRATIOT AND ST. ANTOINE. WE WILL ALSO CALL FOR JUSTICE FOR TRAYVON MARTIN AND THE REMAND OF HIS KILLER GEORGE ZIMMERMAN TO JAIL.

To read VOD stories on the Sanford and Jones cases, please click on: http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/03/25/davontae-innocent-being-tortured-in-prison-judge-refuses-to-allow-real-killers-confession/ and http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/02/01/aiyana%e2%80%99s-dad-faces-trial-for-murder-based-on-%e2%80%9cjail-house-snitch%e2%80%9d-jay-schlenkerman%e2%80%99s-testimony/. VOD has extensively covered both cases; for other stories, put “Davontae Sanford” and “Aiyana Jones” in search engine.

By Diane Bukowski

April 19, 2012

Lansing—Supporters of the campaign to Repeal Public Act 4 are calling for a state-wide rally at the Capitol Building here Thurs. April 26, 2012, as the State Board of Canvassers meets on final certification of their petitions at 10 a.m.

They say pressure must be applied particularly because one of the two Republican members of the Board, Jeffrey Timmer, is directly tied to a group challenging the petitions. 

Canvasser Jeffrey Timmer's company sponsored challenge to Repeal PA4 petitions

“Plan now to be there,” said a Detroit Repeal PA4 organizer. “Organize others.” 

Public Act 4, enacted into law last year, allows the appointment of emergency managers with virtually unlimited powers to replace municipal elected officials. It also lays the basis for the enactment of “consent agreements” with similar powers, like that signed by Detroit and state officials April 4. 

Michigan Forward and Stand Up for Democracy, sponsors of the petition drive, issued the following statement regarding the challenge filed by Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility (CFR): 

Wanda Hill of Detroit and George Moon of Benton Harbor at rally in Benton Harbor

“If this challenge reveals itself to be true we are prepared to fight this attack. We stand by the 226,637 signatures we submitted on February 29. We are bolstered by the fact that the Bureau of Elections removed a mere 752 signatures in the certification process. Our campaign believes that a successful certification of these signatures will happen soon.” 

The challenge claims font size on the petitions should be 12 points instead of 10 points and also claims the petitions have unclear summaries and lack other information. 

Michigan Forward cited a 1976 Michigan Supreme Court ruling that minor technical issues, such as font size, shall not be used to disqualify a citizen’s initiative. The group was required to publish the ENTIRE language of Public Act 4 on each petition. 

Robert LaBrant of Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility

Robert LaBrant is the resident agent for CFR. It was incorporated as a non-profit organization in Michigan on March 6, 2012, according to state records, which also cite the address of its registered office as 112 E. Allegan, Suite 700, Lansing, Michigan. That is also the address for The Sterling Corporation.

Timmer is a partner in the Sterling Corporation, and LaBrant is its general counsel, according to the company’s website at  http://www.sterlingcorporation.com/. LaBrant previously spent 34 years as Senior Vice President of Political Affairs and General Counsel for the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. 

According to its website, “The Sterling Corporation is a premier Republican communications company specializing in public affairs, political campaigns, ballot initiatives, and fundraising for corporations, trade associations, issue advocacy groups and political candidates who cannot afford to lose and must persuade and mobilize voters, donors, consumers, members, or public officials.” 

Regarding Timmer, it says, “Jeff provides the big-picture strategy for our clients. He is a veteran political and public affairs strategist specializing in public policy issue management, ballot proposal campaigns, and partisan political campaigns. Jeff also serves as Sterling’s Creative Director, overseeing development and production of Sterling’s, well, sterling printed materials and broadcast advertising for our clients.” 

Timmer was previously Executive Director of the Michigan Republican Party from 2005-09. 

VOD contacted media relations at the Secretary of State’s office regarding what appears to be Timmer’s shocking conflict of interest and is expecting a call back. 

Other members of the Board of Canvassers are Chairperson Julie Matuzak, a Democrat, Vice-Chair Norman Shinkle, a Republican, and James L. Waters, a Democrat. Board members are appointed by the Governor and are considered public officials subject to the state’s Ethics Code. All measures must be passed by at least a 3-1 majority.

Pontac teacher Brooke Harris (l) and Mertilla Jones (r) listen as Rev. Charles Williams II speaks at rally for Harris and Trayvon Martin April 10, 2012

 Students flock to Pontiac rally April 16 

Aiyana Stanley-Jones’ grandmother Mertilla Jones speaks at church rally 

By Diane Bukowski 

April 17, 2012 

Pontiac journalism teacher Brooke Harris

DETROIT – Brooke Harris, the Pontiac Academy journalism teacher who was fired in late March  for proposing to have her students wear hoodies in solidarity with Trayvon Martin, appeared in Detroit at the Historic King Solomon Baptist Church April 10. A packed rally demanded her reinstatement and justice for Trayvon. 

Trayvon Martin, 17, was executed by self-appointed cop wannabe George Zimmerman on   Feb. 26, 2012 as he walked to his father’s house in a gated Fcommunity in   Florida. (Click on http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/03/23/killing-of-black-teen-trayvon-martin-sparks-outcry-national-mobilizations/) After two months, his killer has finally been charged with second-degree murder. 

Harris was acknowledged at a press conference held by Martin’s parents and his supporters after the charges were brought. 

Trayvon Martin, executed

The Rev. Jamal Bryant, a Baltimore pastor who has joined Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network in the campaign for Trayvon, said, “We stand with Brooke Harris, the middle school teacher in Michigan who was fired.” 

As promised during the Detroit rally, when Harris was not re-hired immediately, protesters from the group traveled to Pontiac to picket at her school April 16. 

“Over 30 students, their parents and their grandparents came out to join in the rally,” said Mike Shane of the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice (MECAWI). “It was obvious how much they loved their teacher and looked up to her.” 

Since then, a petition to re-hire Harris with more than 200,000 signatures was presented to the board of the Pontiac School for Excellence on April 17. To sign the petition, click on http://www.change.org/petitions/fired-for-teaching-about-trayvon-re-hire-brooke-harris-at-pontiac-academy-for-excellence.

Harris was soft-spoken, with only a few words to say April 10. She appeared overwhelmed by her support at the April 10 rally, sponsored by Rev. Charles Williams II of the National Action Network and his father Rev. Charles Williams Sr., among others. 

Mertilla Jones shows Aiyana's new-born baby photo

“I love the school,” Harris told an MLive reporter after the rally. “I love the staff. The children are amazing. It’s where I’ve spent the last three years of my life. I want to be there. I want to see these kids graduate from high school.” 

She had traveled all the way down south to the Southern Poverty Law Center to seek legal help in getting her job back, but those leading the rally promised that they would see to it that she got a lawyer. 

“Student action is the most important action in any movement,” Rev. Williams Sr. said. “When members of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the south decided not to go to school in the 1960’s, they ended up among the leaders of the massive civil rights movement.”  

Mertilla Jones, wearing hoodie in solidarity with Trayvon Martin, hugs Pontiac teacher Brooke Harris April 10, 2012

Mertilla Jones, grandmother of Aiyana Stanley-Jones, killed by Detroit police at the age of 7 on May 16, 2010, hugged Harris warmly, after Jones pulled up her own hoodie. Jones was sleeping with Aiyana in the family’s living room when Detroit cop Joseph Weekley and his storm-trooper team fire-bombed their house and shot the child in the head. 

Tears in her eyes, Jones displayed a photo of Aiyana as a new-born. 

“Aiyana’s mother came and put her in my arms the day she was born, and I was with her when she took her last breath,” Jones said. “But because we haven’t been speaking up til now, people think we’re guilty because of the media. My son Charles, Aiyana’s father, is locked up now, although he didn’t kill anybody and didn’t assist in killing anybody, but Joseph Weekley and George Zimmerman are still free. But I have faith because people all over the country and the world are praying for our family and Trayvon’s family.” 

Abayomi Azikiwe of MECAWI

Jones and Chauncey Owens face first-degree murder charges in the death of Je’Rean Blake, 17, two days before police killed Aiyana on the pretext that they were seeking to arrest Owens, who lived upstairs. 

“There are too many Trayvon Martins and too many Aiyana Stanley-Jones,” Abiyomi Azikiwe of MECAWI said. “Everywhere the police and armed forces of our country go, from Detroit to Florida to Iraq to Iran to Libya and Colombia, they leave a swath of death and destruction. We must avenge the blood of Trayvon, Aiyana and the many other martyrs whose lives this system has taken. Over 20 African-Americans have been slaughtered by police and racists across the U.S. over the last three months. It is open season on Black people. What happened here in Detroit with the so-called “consent agreement” takeover was another symbolic assassination as well.” 

Also speaking at the rally were Dawud Walid, head of the Michigan chapter of the Council on Arab-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Maureen Taylor of the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, Tamika Ganes of the American Federation of Teachers, and Ron Scott, among others. 

Students at Miami Central High School walk out March 23, 2012 to demand justice for Trayvon

Just as Pontiac Academy students walked out to in support of their teacher Brooke Harris and to demand justice for Trayvon, students in the Miami area conducted mass walk-outs last month as well.

Students from Miami area schools walk out in protest of Trayvon Martin shooting 

By Laura Isensee and Alexandra Leon, The Miami Herald

11:00 a.m. EDT, March 23, 2012

Walkouts continued Friday morning at several South Florida high schools Friday in protest of the recent killing of Miami Gardens teen Trayvon Martin.

Students joined national appeals for the arrest of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood crime captain who is accused of shooting Martin in Sanford.

Schools participating in the walkouts included Miami Northwestern, Central, Dr. Michael Krop, Norland, Carol City, William H. Turner Technical Arts and Edison high schools.

At Norland Senior High, hundreds of students left the school about 9 a.m. They coordinated the walkout through text messages and received support from their principal, Luis Solano.

“He said that if the students want to walk out, they could walk out and teachers don’t stop the kids,” said Desrick Hudson, a junior at Norland.

The students walked down 12th Avenue and onto 183rd Street to the Carol Mart Flea Market near 27th Avenue.

They stopped at convenience stores along the way to buy Arizona ice tea and Skittles.

They carried signs with messages that read: “Justice for Trayvon” and “Lock up Zimmerman.”

“We’re doing this to support Trayvon and show our respects,” said Hudson, who went to elementary school with the slain teen. “We’re proud to support.”

Chantale Glover contributed to this report 

Young and old came out for justice for Trayvon at Hart Plaza March 26, 2012

 DETROIT YOUTH WEAR HOODIES TO SUPPORT TRAYVON AT HART PLAZA; BUT SPEAKERS BETRAY THEM 

Analysis 

It was an awe-inspiring and soul-lifting sight, hundreds of young Detroiters walking to downtown Detoit’s Hart Plaza in hoodies, carrying Skittles and cans of iced tea to call for justice for Trayvon Martin. 

Young man carries Skittles to honor Trayvon Martin

It appeared that finally a political movement among the youth had awakened to counter the despair and poverty they face everyday in the schools, on the streets, in their homes, and if they are lucky enough to have one, at their minimum-wage jobs.

But who appeared on stage to provide guidance in this brave new movement? 

Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee, who has never apologized for or charged police under his command in numerous deaths of innocent youths on the streets of Detroit including seven-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones.

Stop the new Jim Crow!

His police continue to harass young people this summer as they go to Belle Isle, one of the only havens left for them in the city. Whirling red and blue police car lights can be seen every other block down East Jefferson on warm spring and summer week-ends as police pull people over and search their cars under Godbee’s directives to stop crime by stopping people with busted tail-lights. 

Raphael B. Johnson, leader of the Detroit 300, whose members dressed in their paramilitary outfits stood in front of him as if guarding him against the youth. Were they worried that their members had broken down the doors of the homes of some of those in the audience without warrants, and held them and interrogated them illegally as wannabe cops? Did they think righteous retaliation might be coming forward from the audience? 

Paramilitary police wannabes were all over the rally

 Rev. Wendell Anthony, whose NAACP has done little to fight the consent agreement which has put Detroit under state control, and promises to further impoverish the city and its youth.  

Sign reminds crowd who the enemy is

And, heaven forbid, Rev. Horace Sheffield III, who was allegedly thrown out of his own church by his wife, and now conducts services out of a building that used to be a Detroit Public School, as well as getting money for running a charter school there.

VOD could not stand to stay any longer after his presence was announced, but the memory of all those hopeful, bright-eyed youth still lingers. Hopefully, they will soon be educated by leaders such as those who supported teacher Brooke Harris, instead of those who kill them, frame them up, expel them from school, and put them in the school-to-prison pipeline. 

The fight for justice for Trayvon Martin is a battle FOR the youth, to stem the war on THEM, It must not be confused with violence in the community AMONG them, which results from despair, poverty and drug trafficking using cocaine and heroin brought in across U.S. borders with the blessings of the CIA and the banks who profit from money-laundering.

Mertilla Jones (center) and crowd give standing ovation to Brooke Harris at April 10 rally