Former Detroit School Board member Marie Thornton tells State Treasurer Andy Dillon and review team they must not take away Detroiters' voting rights March 21, 2010

Residents blame “white supremacy” as state and city officials, appeals court  collude to disenfranchise residents and worsen living conditions

By Diane Bukowski 

March 25, 2o12

Marcher at MLK Day Rally outside Gov. Snyder's home says state trying to undo Emancipation Proclamation

DETROIT – Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, and State Treasurer Andy Dillon, in collusion with Detroit city officials, are racing to put the city under the direct control of Wall Street banks and disenfranchise its residents, before over 226,000 signatures for a referendum to repeal Public Act 4 are validated. The State Board of Canvassers is currently reviewing the petitions. 

An Appeals Court on March 24 overturned an earlier order by Ingham County Circuit Court Judge William Collette barring Snyder, Dillon, and the city’s state-appointed review team from approving any agreement on the city’s finances before a March 29 hearing. Robert Davis, who brought the suit, has said he and his attorney Andrew Paterson are filing an emergency appeal of the appeals court order.

The  review team will meet Mon. March 26 at 3 p.m. at Cadillac Place on W. Grand Blvd. and Second to meet Snyder’s self-proclaimed deadline for them to recommend whether he should appoint an emergency manager (EM) for the world’s largest majority-Black city outside of Africa. Mayor Dave Bing’s top staffers Kirk Lewis, Chris Brown and members of the city council met frantically during the weekend to draft a mutually agreeable consent agreement, one step short of an EM.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder hugs Mayor Dave Bing as he presents Damon Keith award to him Feb. 14

Under PA 4, an emergency manager (EM) supplants elected officials and has virtually unlimited powers to override the City Charter, sell city assets, shut down departments, privatize services, bust unions, and even dis-incorporate and regionalize the city. 

Both Snyder’s proposed consent agreement (CA) and an alternate drafted by Bing’s staff and some council members  would last until at least two Wall Street bond rating agencies grade Detroit’s debt in one of their two highest levels. Both versions also state they would remain in place even if PA 4 is overturned, and bar city officials, unions and residents from taking any action, legal or otherwise, against the CA’s.

City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson at meeting March 20, 2012

“There is nothing to be gained by rushing forward to comply with Governor [Rick] Snyder’s timetable before the referendum process mandated by the citizens takes effect,” said Detroit City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson. Watson has repeatedly raised that the state owes Detroit over $500 million, including $220 million in revenue-sharing payments, with the remainder in taxes the state barred Detroit from collecting. 

Snyder refuses to pay despite the fact the state reported a $1 billion budget surplus this year. He claims it would only be a stopgap measure, although it would address Detroit’s current estimated deficit of $150 million. He said in a phone interview from Germany with Detroit’s Fox 2 News on March 21 that he is only trying to provide assistance to the city so that its residents get good services. 

Sandra Hines tells review team "THIS IS WAR!"

“This is war!” long-time community activist Sandra Hines told the state-appointed financial review team at its meeting March 21.  “We are not going to let you come in and take our city.  This whole process is built on racism. It’s white supremacy at its best. House Negroes still exist. You don’t live in Detroit, and all you want to do is close, shut down, take everything we have away, our city, our schools, our homes, our libraries!” 

A takeover of Detroit would mean that over 50 percent of Michigan’s African-American residents have been disenfranchised, since Public Act 4 has been applied almost exclusively to majority-Black cities in Michigan.  

“How can MY people agree to be part of a consent agreement that basically takes away our right to vote for public officials?” former Detroit school board member Marie Thornton asked at the meeting. “If you take any action, pray for me, because I will not be responsible for what I do.” 

In 2008, when Thornton was on the school board, she was the only member to vote against a consent agreement, then under PA 72. Only weeks after the agreement was signed, then Gov. Jennifer Granholm appointed an emergency manager.

Marie Thornton sitdown to protest Review Team, including (top, l to r), treasury official Brom Stibitz, New Detroit CEO Shirley Stancato with head bowed, Conrad Mallett, Jr., State Treasurer Andy Dillon, and treasury official Frederick Headen

Thornton then conducted a sit-down on the floor in protest, as other Detroiters in an audience of over 100 chanted, “No justice, no peace!” 

Despite repeated calls from the audience for the team to provide documentation supporting their declaration that Detroit is in a state of “severe financial distress,” the review team produced no report. They have never discussed particulars of Detroit finances during their public meetings. Dillon and his staff drafted Governor Snyder’s original consent proposal and then gave it to the team at its previous meeting.

At the behest of U.S. Representative John Conyers (D-Detroit), the Democratic caucus of the House Judiciary Committee released a report last month which found that Public Act 4 egregiously violates the national Voting Rights Act as well as other provisions of the U.S. Constitution. Click on Judiciary PA4 report to read full report. 

Meanwhile, Wall Street is putting the pressure on.  Moody’s Investor Services downgraded $2.5 billion of the Detroit’s outstanding debt two levels on March 20, making Detroit the lowest-rated large city in the U.S. Fitch Ratings followed suit March 22. Moody’s threatened the city with a $350 million termination payment, while Fitch has said the city must immediately pay $50 million. 

APTE city union VP Cecily McClellan calls on people to overturn Wall Street takeovers in Benton Harbor last year

Placing the city between a rock and a hard place, Fitch earlier said that many of Detroit’s loan agreements specify that the appointment of an emergency manager would trigger at least $400 million in immediate termination payments.

Ingham County Circuit Court Judge William Collette on March 21 barred the state and city from signing any agreement prior to a hearing in his court March 29 on a lawsuit filed by Highland Park school board member Robert Davis and his attorney Andrew Paterson. 

Collette was to determine whether Snyder, State Treasurer Andy Dillon and the state-appointed Detroit financial review team should be held in contempt of court for continuing to meet in private in violation of the State’s Open Meetings Act and a temporary injunction Collette issued Feb. 6, in response to a lawsuit filed by Highland Park school board member Robert Davis and his attorney Andrew Paterson. The state appeals court has now barred him from holding the hearing. 

Highland Park school board member and AFSCME rep Robert Davis

On the same day, Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina removed Flint, Michigan’s emergency manager and restored its mayor and city council, ruling that their review team also violated the Open Meetings Act. 

Flint, whose white emergency manager Michael Brown was just removed by Judge Aquilina, is 53.3 percent Black. The state has said it will also appeal Aquilina’s ruling. Earlier, Judge Collette removed Jack Martin as Highland Park schools CEO pursuant to a another lawsuit filed by school board member Robert Davis. That school board’s review team simply met once in public and re-installed him.

At a meeting of the City Council March 20, Cardinal Baye Landy of the city’s storied Shrine of the Black Madonna said, “Listen to the voice of the people. You know that with 226,000 signatures they have enough to repeal Public Act 4. Do not sign any consent agreement or compromise.” 

Cardinal Baye Landy of the Shrine of the Black Madonna tells City Council not to approve consent agreement; attorney Jerome Goldberg of Moratorium NOW! is at his right

With Christian Black Nationalist beliefs, the Shrine played a key role in Detroiters’ battles against racism during the 1960’s, and has since remained a force to be reckoned with. 

Despite Cardinal Landy’s plea, and Collette’s order, some members of Detroit’s City Council, including its President Charles Pugh and President Pro-Tem  Gary Brown, have been meeting secretly on an individual basis with members of Mayor Dave Bing’s staff and with state review team members to finalize an alternate consent agreement before March 26. 

Bing has released a proposal, which like Snyder’s proposed consent agreement, establishes a Financial Advisory Board (FAB) with essentially the same powers as an EM, which would not stand down until Wall Street gives the go-ahead. Click on Mayor Bing proposed CA.

Also click on http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/03/15/snyderdillon-proposal-for-financial-advisory-board-fab-totally-unfab-seizure-of-power-say-detroiters/ to read earlier VOD story on Snyder’s proposed agreement. 

City Council President Charles Pugh defends negotiations with Mayor for alternate consent agreement March 20, 2012

Under both the Snyder and Bing agreements, the FAB would be composed of ten non-elected officials with years of complex experience in Wall Street financial transactions, restructuring and labor and pension matters. Their mission would be to “restructure” and downsize the city, with virtually dictatorial powers. The agreements both state they will remain in place even if Public Act 4 is overturned.

State Treasurer Andy Dillon received a third joint proposal allegedly authored by some City Council members in collusion with Bing, during the March 21 review team meeting. Council President Charles Pugh, and Bing staffers Chris Brown and Kirk Lewis were seen leaving the building just before the meeting. Dillon refused to release it.

“A consent agreement doesn’t just disenfranchise Detroit, it makes the banks the city’s decision making body,” Attorney Jerome Goldberg of the Coalition for a Moratorium NOW! on Foreclosures, Evictions and Shut-offs, told the Council March 21. (See column by Goldberg below.)

Homeowner Kyra Williams and her attorney Vanessa Fluker joined mass protest by Occupy Detroit and Moratorium NOW! to stop bank from foreclosing her home

“Wall Street ratings agencies are not objective,” Goldberg continued. “The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations reported last year that they are financed by the same banks they rate. They get billions of dollars a year to issue positive ratings to those who finance them. These same banks have destroyed Detroit’s neighborhoods with massive foreclosures based on racist predatory lending. What right do they have to rate Detroit or tell us how to run our city?” 

The global accounting firm Ernst & Young met in an illegal closed session with the City Council last year to claim that the city will run out of money by next month.. Ernst & Young is being sued by the states of New York and New Jersey for misrepresenting the finances of Lehman Brothers before its collapse in 2008, causing the states themselves to lose millions. 

Massive march in Greece against IMF austerity measures last year

Councilwoman Watson  said May 21, “We need to enact a resolution to decrease the city’s debt payments drastically.”

After massive protests in Greece, banks there agreed to a 75 percent reduction in debt payments in exchange for some austerity measures. Snyder, Dillon, Bing and the City Council have not even attempted to negotiate with the banks to lower debt payments as Detroit Mayor Frank Murphy did during the 1930’s.

They have evidently ignored an announcement made by the Coalition of City of Detroit Unions at a press conference March 23 that city workers have agreed to concessions amounting to $130 million, nearly the entire current deficit. In exchange, city workers have received NO CONCESSIONS from the banks.

Rally in Sanford, Florida March 22 to demand justice in the murder of Trayvon Martin; Detroiters must similarly begin to mobilize en masse

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 A Detroit rally is being organized to take place on MONDAY, March 26th, at 6pm – Hart Plaza, to show our support for JUSTICE for Trayvon Martin, the teenager gunned down by Mr. Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida. Several clergy persons and students from local colleges are organizing this event, so let us all take a part of this fight for justice. Wear your “hoodie” if you want to and bring a bag of skittles! 

FinalCall.com News 

By Jesse Muhammad -Staff Writer-
Updated Mar 20, 2012 – 11:14:35 AM

ORLANDO, Fla. (FinalCall.com) – Trayvon Martin had dreams of being an aviation mechanic, however, the 17-year-old Black teen is dead, the man who shot him has yet to be arrested, and angry protestors from across the country are preparing to occupy Sanford, Florida.

Demand Justice for Trayvon Martin Click Here for More Information @ JusticeForTrayvonMartin.com    Sign The Petition!

“This family is in outrage that they lost their son in this manner. But there’s more outrage over the police handling of this case and the fact that George Zimmerman sleeps in his bed every night and their son is in a grave,” Attorney Benjamin Crump told The Final Call.

Mr. Crump, a principal with the Tallahassee firm of Parks & Crump, LLC, is representing the victim’s family. The family wants the shooter prosecuted.

Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, the father and mother of Trayvon Martin, addressed the media on March 16, calling on the FBI to get involved in the investigation.

“We’re not getting any closure, any answers, and it’s very disturbing. As a father, I’m hurt. I feel betrayed by the Sanford Police Department,” said Tracy Martin.

“I don’t understand why this man has not been arrested,” said Sybrina Fulton.

Florida college students are demanding that Mr. Zimmerman be arrested immediately for shooting the unarmed teen.

They rallied March 19 at the Seminole County criminal courthouse in Sanford and on the campus of Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.

NYC Million Hoodie March for Trayvon on March 22, 2012

“As students we are in shock and outraged over this. Trayvon Martin did not deserve to be shot. The 911 tapes don’t lie. George Zimmerman should be held accountable,” law student Adner Marcelin, 24, told The Final Call.

Mr. Marcelin heads the Student Coalition for Justice that is headquartered in Tallahassee. It includes a network of at least 7,000 students within the U.S. and parts of Canada.

“According to the family and friends who knew Trayvon Martin, it would have been out of character for him to attack anyone. George Zimmerman aggravated the situation and took the life of an innocent child who had a bag of Skittles,” said Mr. Marcelin. “Were it not for the work of the family’s legal team and the attention being built, this case probably would have been swept under the rug. We cannot tolerate someone playing like a vigilante cop and getting away with murder.”

Trayvon Martin's parents at Million Hoodie March NYC

Sanford is located approximately 20 miles north of Orlando. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Sanford has a population of nearly 54,000, 57 percent White and 31 percent Black.

Najee Muhammad, who heads the New Black Liberation Militia in Atlanta, told The Final Call his group is determined to make a citizen’s arrest.

“Everybody is making great speeches but somebody has to do something different. Nobody is thinking like this. We can’t keep looking to the enemy to give us justice,” said Mr. Muhammad. He says the militia group has had “well-trained members” on the ground in Sanford the past few weeks and even obtained the address for the parents of Mr. Zimmerman in Lake Mary, Fla.

MIAMI, FL - MARCH 21: Protesters hold cans of ice tea and Skittles which is what the 17-year-old Trayvon Martin is reported to have been carrying when he was killed by neighborhood watch person, George Zimmerman on February 26 in Sanford, Florida, on March 21, 2012 in Miami, Florida. The Justice Department and the FBI opened an investigation into the death of the black teenager, and the local state attorney announced that he had asked a grand jury to investigate. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“We were able to obtain information that his father, Robert Zimmerman, got him out of the country because they are spooked out and scared by what his son did,” said Mr. Muhammad. “People want to debate about whether there is probable cause to make a citizen’s arrest. George Zimmerman killed a 17-year-old boy in cold-blooded pre-meditated murder. What more probable cause do you need?”

Since making their efforts public, he says the New Black Liberation Militia has received numerous calls from the Justice Dept., FBI, the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center in attempts at “finding out details of our plans because they know how we move. We’re not playing games.”

A national community rally is scheduled for March 26 in front of Sanford City Hall. Prominent civil rights leaders, clergymen, grassroots organizations and supporting Floridians are expected to be in attendance.

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 21: Supporters of Trayvon Martin block traffic as they march on W. 14th Street during a "Million Hoodie March" in Manhattan on March 21, 2012 in New York City. Thousands of protesters turned out to demonstrate against the killing of the black unarmed teenager by a white neighborhood watch captain. The protesters took to the streets after holding a large rally in Union Square. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

“We’re going to keep putting the pressure on. We’re asking the Department of Justice to get involved in the investigation. This makes no sense. Race is the elephant in the room. Had Trayvon been the triggerman, he would have been arrested day one and he would be sitting in jail,” said Mr. Crump.

Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, said, “We also know that the murder of innocent Black men in the American South is nothing new. Fifty-seven years ago, the White murderers of 14-year-old Emmitt Till in the Mississippi Delta were acquitted of the crime in a clear case of racial injustice.”

“The fact that a young unarmed man could be killed by a neighborhood watch captain while his family was blatantly misled by local police as to the background of the shooter is disturbing,” said Rev. Al Sharpton. He will be leading a rally on March 22 at First Shiloh Baptist Church in Sanford.

The last cries of a dying boy?

Children cry out for justice for Trayvon

On Feb. 26, the same night the world was watching the NBA All-Star game airing from Orlando, Trayvon Martin, who was from Miami, was visiting relatives in the Retreat at Twin Lakes gated community in Sanford.

He was walking back from a nearby 7-Eleven convenience store with a can of ice tea and a bag of Skittles candy.

Mr. Zimmerman, an armed self-appointed “neighborhood watch leader,” called the police to report a suspicious person in the area when he spotted Mr. Martin. He ended up engaging and eventually killing Mr. Martin with a gunshot to the chest. “Being a young, Black man has been called the hardest job in America. Young, Black men are much more likely than White men to be jobless, in jail and labeled ‘suspicious,’ sometimes with deadly consequences,” said Mr. Morial.

Marcher at Trayvon protest in Florida/Photo from Justice for Trayvon Facebook site

Although Mr. Zimmerman, 28, admitted to shooting Mr. Martin, his self-defense claim was enough to keep Sanford police from detaining him.

“Until we can establish probable cause to dispute that, we don’t have the grounds to arrest him,” said Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee during a press conference on March 12. The case is headed to the desk of the State Attorney’s Office.

“Of the many unanswered questions in this case, two stand out. First, Trayvon Martin, who had just stopped off at a convenience store, was armed only with a bag of Skittles and a can of ice tea. George Zimmerman, who weighed over 100 pounds more than the victim, was armed with a 9 millimeter handgun. Even if there was a physical altercation between the two, why was such deadly force necessary?” asked Mr. Morial, whose group is also calling for a federal probe.

Florida is one of many states to have passed some form of the Castle Doctrine or “Stand Your Ground” law in which self-defense is asserted against a charge of criminal homicide.

“Those laws were designed to allow a person to defend themselves. It is not to give people the right to go out, confront people and shoot them down,” said Warren F. Muhammad, a criminal attorney in Houston.

From Justice for Trayvon Facebook page

“It is sad how this country goes to length to stretch laws such as this to protect someone who clearly is not acting in self-defense. The case of Trayvon Martin is another example of the lack of value placed on the life of the Black man in America. And they go to lengths every day to prove that to us,” said Atty. Warren Muhammad.

“Laws like that make modern-day vigilantism that can have these kind of tragic consequences. Too many young Black men are losing their lives to mistaken identity and overzealous assumptions about their criminal intent,” said Melissa Harris-Perry during a segment of her MSNBC show. She is a political science professor at Tulane University.

“One of the reasons the police gave for not immediately arresting Zimmerman was that he had a ‘squeaky clean’ record. A few days later it was discovered that Zimmerman had been arrested in 2005 for resisting arrest with battery on a police officer. Trayvon Martin, on the other hand, had no criminal record,” said Mr. Morial, the former mayor of New Orleans.

Justice for Trayvon Martin Facebook photo

Mr. Crump told The Final Call that a public records lawsuit was filed on behalf of the family to ask a judge to order the police department to release the 911 tapes.

A hearing was set for March 19, but the police department surprisingly released the tapes to the public on the evening of March 16.

Prior to the release of the audio recordings, Mr. Crump told The Final Call that he believed by obtaining the 911 tape, they would get answers to some very critical questions. “Why did he (Mr. Zimmerman) think this kid was suspicious? Why did he disregard and ignore the police instructions to him? It’s going to show this loose cannon’s overwhelming mentality when he got out that car with a loaded 9 millimeter gun and confronted this 17-year-old, 140 pound child who had a bag of Skittles and a can of ice tea,” he said.

In his 911 call, Mr. Zimmerman can be heard telling the dispatcher that it was a Black male and “he looks like he’s on drugs and up to no good. … It’s raining. He’s just walking around, looking about. He just staring, looking at all the houses.”

The dispatcher told him not to pursue the person. Mr. Zimmerman responded, “Ok,” but then disregarded those instructions and can be heard saying, “These a–holes always get away.”

In the background of 911 calls made by witnesses, the cries of a young boy, believed to be Trayvon Martin, can be heard yelling for help just before a gunshot is let off. The cries then go silent.

The community is now accusing the Sanford police dept. of trying to protect Mr. Zimmerman, who has reportedly dialed 911 at least 50 times over the last year.

“The truth is contained in the 911 tapes and we think that if the Sanford police chief led a shady investigation, he should be removed. If they had nothing to hide why did they withhold the tapes this long?” asks Mr. Marcelin.

Growing call for justice

The story of the death of Trayvon Martin, who attended Michael Krop High School in Miami, is spreading rapidly across the Internet and attracting wider mainstream media coverage.

An online petition on Change.org has garnered at least 400,000 signatures. People are being encouraged to make daily phone calls the State Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Dept. of Justice.

Small rallies have taken place in Sanford including one led by pastors on March 14 at Allen Chapel AME Church. Popular Baltimore preacher Jamal Bryant told the crowd, “This is a wake-up call for the state of Florida. We are going to shut Florida down until justice weighs down!”

Protestors are being asked to bring a bag of Skittles, like the candy Trayvon Martin was carrying the night of his death, to the rally on March 26.

“As the father of a 10-year old African American son, I join all African American parents and Americans of conscience everywhere in calling for an end to the war against young, Black men and a thorough investigation of the death of Trayvon Martin,” said Mr. Morial.

(Kendrick Muhammad of Orlando contributed to this report.

By Diane Bukowski 

March 18, 2012 

Edward Sanders, incarcerated for 37 years, is now in Kinross prison in the U.P.

DETROIT — Juvenile lifer Edward Sanders contacted me this past week to let me know that on March 2o, the U.S. Supreme Court will be hearing the appeals of juvenile lifers Kuntrell Jackson and Evan Miller, sentenced to life without parole (JWLOP) when they were each 14, in Arkansas and Alabama. 

The key importance of these cases is that these children were charged with murder. Previous U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Graham v. Florida and Roper v. Simmons   have respectively outlawed JWLOP sentences  and the death penalty for non-homicide cases, while Jackson and Miller were convicted of murder. 

“The oral arguments will be on C-SPAN, and they will be available afterwards for downloading,” Edward said excitedly.  

I first interviewed Edward at least six years ago in an article for The Michigan Citizen newspaper. I was on his visiting list when he was serving his JWLOP term in the Mound Road prison in Detroit, later to be shut down. He was later transferred because his brother Richard, also serving life, was inadvertently moved from Ryan to Mound. 

Edward Sanders (right holding baby) with family and friends during his youth

“I had not seen him in more than 30 years,” Edward said. “We tried to keep our relationship quiet, but they eventually found out. He and I both cried when I was transferred, it hurt so much to be torn apart again.” 

Every time I visited Edward, I left with my heart ripped apart, wishing I could magically snatch him back home after the 30+plus years he had spent in prison. The U.S. is the ONLY country in the world that sentences juveniles to die in prison. It is one of the few countries in the world that even sentences ANYONE to life without parole. 

I nearly cried when he told me what he remembered of his life before the age of 17, when he was sentenced to death in prison. It was in reality the only life he had ever lived. 

“As the adult that I am now,  Edward, then 45, said, “I look back every day and wonder how the juvenile that I was then was able to get me into this situation. I remember the church picnics, and the fun we had,” he said. “I remember my grandmother warning me and my brothers and friends not to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.” 

His eyes and mind left the present and drifted back to another time. 

Gary Webb, who exposed U.S./CIA sponsored drug dealing in poor neighborhoods

Edward grew up in the Linwood neighborhood of Detroit. His mother was caught up in the genocidal drug epidemic fostered by outside forces including the U.S. government, the CIA and the Contra drugs for weapons deals that journalist Gary Webb gave his life exposing. His grandmother took over as grandmothers often do. (But meanwhile, why are the top drug dealers including U.S. government officials not serving life without parole?)

Edward was expelled from school in the sixth grade for breaking into the school. That’s a potent argument against the school to prison pipeline the Michigan ACLU has exposed in their book, and the current announcement by Detroit police chief  Ralph Godbee  that they are stepping up school suspensions to combat youth crime. 

Edward was left to find his way on the streets. But Edward was very intelligent. He earned his college degree in prison before higher education courses were eliminated, and became a competent jail-house lawyer, even conducting classes for other prisoners.

Kuntrell Jackson's case to be heard by U.S. Supreme Court March 20, 2012

He became a dedicated Muslim and has practiced the peaceful tenets of that faith ever since, praying at the specified times, avoiding pork, and exercising every day. 

Even after he was nearly killed by another psychopathic prisoner last year, Edward went on to rank third in the prison’s recent sprints. 

As to the crime itself, Edward and four friends went out one night and hit up every liquor store in the neighborhood. (who was jailing the store owners for selling to minors, or charging alcohol companies for aiding and abetting juvenile delinquency with the billboards they put up in every poor neighborhood?)

They were looking for a party they had heard about. 

By the time they got to the scene of the crime for which Edward was convicted, they were not in their right minds. An argument with acquaintances led to the firing of a barely-functional gun, but not by Edward or three others in the car.  A man fell dead. 

Evan Miller (r) with co-defendant Colby Smith

Edward would not testify about the real shooter, although another man in the car did. The real shooter, badgered by the police to testify against them, tried to hang himself in the court lock-up on a lunch break.

Edward was locked up in 1975. It is now 2012, 37 years later. He wrote on the back of a photo he sent me recently “35 years and still holding.”   Now, the U.S. Supreme Court may finally give him and thousands others like him a chance to see the light of day, for what is left of their lives.

On March 20, Kuntrell Jackson and Evan Miller’s  attorneys from the Equal Justice Initiative will argue that the two did not have the capacity physically, mentally or psychologically to be responsible for first degree murder. (Click on earlier VOD post at http://voiceofdetroit.net/2011/11/12/us-supreme-court-agrees-to-hear-juvenile-lifer-cases-could-have-major-impact-in-michigan/ to read their stories. Both were sentenced for capital murder although they were not the shooters, as in Edward’s case. 

Michigan Atty. General Bill Schuette

Amicus curiae briefs on their behalf have been filed by the American Medical Association. Amnesty International, Former Juvenile Court Judges, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the American Parole and Probation Association, the American Bar Association, law students from the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University,  and the Juvenile Law Center, among others. 

On the other side, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette requested leave to participate in the oral arguments, but was summarily denied by the USSC on March 5.

“The court’s March 5 rejection was quick, 10 days after Schuette’s office sought to participate in arguments that will help decide the fate of 2,500 inmates nationally,” wrote MLive’s John Barnes. “One in seven are in Michigan. Schuette’s office limited its comments to a short statement by spokeswoman Joy Yearout, who said Schuette acted at the request of the defending attorneys general of Alabama and Arkansas.

Wayne Co. Prosecutor Kym Worthy takes the oath of office as daughter Anastasia watches; Worthy testified against justice for Michigan's juvenile lifers

‘We will continue to defend and fight for justice for victims and their families at every opportunity,’ she wrote.'”

But Schuette is not fooling anybody. His attempt to intervene typifies the brutal law enforcement mentality endemic in this state. When hearings were held four years ago in the Michigan State Legislature on a package of bills that would have given juvenile lifers the opportunity for parole, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper, and Berrien County’s Prosecutor all testified against the bills.

Worthy sent her staff to an earlier hearing to show a video of an incident where Detroit teens beat a man to death at a Coney Island, enforcing stereotypes of Black youth held by most of Michigan’s out-state white legislators.

Arguing the Supreme Court cases will be Attorney Bryan Stevenson, Founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative and a MacArthur Fellow. The video at the top of this story contains his comments. Stevenson argued Sullivan v. Florida, the companion case in Graham v. Florida, where the Supreme Court found juvenile life without parole was an unconstitutional, “cruel or unusual” punishment in non-homicide cases.

Barnes writes that three outcomes are likely: limiting the Supreme Court judgment to juveniles 14 and younger, limiting it to cases where juveniles were not the shooter, or focusing on states like Michigan, one of only 11 states in the U.S. that bars judges from considering age as a mitigating factor during sentencing. He also notes that allowing juveniles a chance at parole does not guarantee them a chance at freedom any time soon.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial

But VOD believes the battle must continue until, in the terms of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.” One day, rage at the sorrow visited on poor, Black, Brown and Latino people in the U.S., particularly the youth, will open the country’s prison doors just as French revolutionaries tore down the walls of the Bastille.

John Barnes  of MLive.Com has led a team of reporters since last year to expose the plight of Michigan’s 350+ juvenile lifers. He and his team have given hope to them that they will not die in prison. To read his recent articles, click on  (pdf).

VOD: click on the following links to read Supreme Court questions and state court of appeals decisions in the cases:

Kuntrell Jackson questions and Kuntrell Jackson v State of Arkansas

Evan Miller questions and http://willamettelawonline.com/2011/11/miller-v-alabama/.

Go to http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts.aspx and http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_audio.aspx to obtain transcripts and recordings of the oral arguments in the two cases after March 23, 2012.

Cynthia McKinney speaks in Detroit 8 27 11

By Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. Congresswoman

March 7, 2012

Hello! It’s amazing what one can learn just by talking to strangers who can become acquaintances. I want to get this out there because I was stunned when my waitress made the comment as I was complementing her on her cheerful attitude, her pretty eyeshadow, and other small talk. She announced that she was really not that cheerful about the fact that her sister, in the U.S. military, had just received her orders to report to Syria and that her sister would be shipping out very soon. Imagine that. U.S. troops headed to Syria. Did our President make that announcement to the people of this country?

U.S. readying for war on Syria

U.S.combat troops currently roam throughout central Africa having been deployed by our President to Uganda, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, and every other country that received the message loud and clear from our President’s previous Africa deployment–Libya–about what could happen if the leadership of that country refusU.S.forces now reportedly all over the oil-producing areas of Libya and in the desert reportedly spying on the other countries of the region from a secret drone base. View the video here: http://www.algeria-isp.com/actualites/politique-libye/201112-A7555/libye-une-base-militaire-secrete-americaine-francaise-libye-katroune-video-voir-decembre-2011.html

U.S.combat troops currently roam throughout central Africa having been deployed by our President to Uganda, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, and every other country that received the message loud and clear from our President’s previous Africa deployment–Libya–about what could happen if the leadership of that country refused cooperation with the Obama military and hence, says “yes” to the presence of foreign troops on their territory. Of course, this offensive deployment was made under an appropriate cover story that, for those familiar with the region, is clearly only a cover story and a not-very-credible one, at that. Watch this video at: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/10/20111014174712102972.html.

Drone bases are in Kenya, Djibouti, Seychelles, Ethiopia; and the Obama Africa policy has succeeded in ensuring that Kenyans now fight and kill Somalis on the ground while drones fire missiles from the sky (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-building-secret-drone-bases-in-africa-arabian-peninsula-officials-say/2011/09/20/gIQAJ8rOjK_story.html).

Obama has ordered drones over Somalia

This is going to continue, folks, until the people of this country say no. Please let our President know that he must act immediately to bring all of our troops home, stop the CIA drone bombings, and adopt a military policy of non-intervention in other countries. Please send that message by clicking onn the link posted below: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments.

Fox News Poll: 78% of Voters Oppose Sending Troops to Syria

By Dana Blanton

Published March 15, 2012

|FoxNews.com

U.S. troops on ground near Syria

American voters oppose U.S. military involvement in Syria, where the government has killed an estimated 7,500 people as it tries to end a year-long uprising. In addition, a majority thinks there should be a national debate before the U.S. intervenes in hot-spots around the world.

Arizona Sen. John McCain has called for U.S. air strikes to help the anti-government rebels — something the United States did in Libya. A Fox News poll released Thursday shows that a slim 51 percent majority of voters opposes that action, while 37 percent support it.

Larger majorities oppose the U.S. providing weapons to anti-government groups (64 percent) and launching air strikes to try to oust the Syrian government (68 percent). Fully 78 percent of voters oppose U.S. troops on the ground in Syria.

Instead of military action, most voters — 82 percent — think the United States should provide humanitarian aid.

In this March 19, 2011 file photo, supporters of besieged Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi cheer as they rally in support of him in the city of Bamako, Mali. While Western powers herald the death of Gadhafi, killed Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011, many Africans are mourning a man who poured billions of dollars of foreign investment into desperately poor countries. Gadhafi backed some of the most brutal rebel leaders and dictators on the continent, but tens of thousands are now gathering at mosques built with his money and are remembering him as an anti-colonial martyr, and as an Arab leader who called himself African. (AP Photo/Harouna Traore).

Current opinion on U.S. involvement in Syria is in line with sentiment last year on Libya. A 55-percent majority opposed military involvement in Libya, and 64 percent opposed providing funding to Libyan rebels (August 29-31, 2011).

President Obama authorized military intervention in Libya without first consulting Congress.

American voters think it should be the other way around. The poll found 59 percent think there must be a national debate and approval from Congress before the U.S. intervenes overseas. That includes majorities of Republicans (65 percent), independents (60 percent) and Democrats (54 percent).

About a third of voters — 34 percent — think the president must be able to decide what actions the U.S. should take on his own.

Many voters think the U.S. will soon face such a decision on Iran. A 56 percent majority thinks force will be required to stop Iran from working on nuclear weapons, while 30 percent think diplomacy and sanctions alone will work.

Just under half of voters (49 percent) support U.S. taking military action against Iran. That’s down from 60 percent support last month (February 6-9, 2012).

U.S. Stsff Sgt. Robert Bales who massacred Afghan civilians including women and children last week; Afghan government now charges he was not alone

“With disturbing news coming daily from Afghanistan and Syria, some American’s appear to be reconsidering whether opening another military front right now is a good idea,” says Democratic pollster Chris Anderson, who conducts the Fox News poll with Republican pollster Daron Shaw.

Still, a 61-percent majority thinks the United States should provide military support if Israel attacks Iran.

Fifty-three percent think Israel should take action to keep Iran from getting nukes, while 33 percent disagree.

The Fox News poll is based on land line and cell phone interviews with 912 randomly-chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from March 10 to March 12. For the total sample, it has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/15/fox-news-poll-78-voters-oppose-sending-troops-to-syria/#ixzz1pUtQ9g6d

Cynthia McKinney speaks in Detroit Aug. 27, 2011

By Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. Congresswoman

March 7, 2012

Hello!  It’s amazing what one can learn just by talking to strangers who can become acquaintances.  I want to get this out there because I was stunned when my waitress made the comment as I was complementing her on her cheerful attitude, her pretty eyeshadow, and other small talk.  She announced that she was really not that cheerful about the fact that her sister, in the U.S. military, had just received her orders to report to Syria and that her sister would be shipping out very soon.  Imagine that.  U.S. troops headed to Syria.  Did our President make that announcement to the people of this country?

U.S. troops in Syria

U.S.forces now reportedly all over the oil-producing areas of Libya and in the desert reportedly spying on the other countries of the region from a secret drone base.  View the video here:  http://www.algeria-isp.com/actualites/politique-libye/201112-A7555/libye-une-base-militaire-secrete-americaine-francaise-libye-katroune-video-voir-decembre-2011.html

U.S.combat troops currently roam throughout central Africa having been deployed by our President to Uganda, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, and every other country that received the message loud and clear from our President’s previous Africa deployment–Libya–about what could happen if the leadership of that country refused cooperation with the Obama military and hence, says “yes” to the presence of foreign troops on their territory. 

Of course, this offensive deployment was made under an appropriate cover story that, for those familiar with the region, is clearly only a cover story and a not-very-credible one, at that.  Watch this video at:  http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/10/20111014174712102972.html.

Drone bases are in Kenya, Djibouti, Seychelles, Ethiopia; and the Obama Africa policy has succeeded in ensuring that Kenyans now fight and kill Somalis on the ground while drones fire missiles from the sky (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-building-secret-drone-bases-in-africa-arabian-peninsula-officials-say/2011/09/20/gIQAJ8rOjK_story.html).

This is going to continue, folks, until the people of this country say no.  Please let our President know that he must act immediately to bring all of our troops home, stop the CIA drone bombings, and adopt a military policy of non-intervention in other countries.  Please send that message now:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments.

Poll: Voters Oppose US Troops In Syria

Updated: Thursday, 15 Mar 2012, 4:49 PM PDT
Published : Thursday, 15 Mar 2012, 4:49 PM PDT

(FOX News) – American voters oppose US military involvement in Syria, where the government has killed an estimated 7,500 people as it tries to end a year-long uprising, according to a FOX News poll released Thursday.

U.S. Major General David Hogg inspects Ugandan troops last year/Photo Ryan Sutherland

In addition, a majority thinks there should be a national debate before the US intervenes in hot spots around the world.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has called for US air strikes to help the anti-government rebels — something the US did in Libya. A FOX News poll released Thursday shows that a slim 51 percent majority of voters opposes that action, while 37 percent support it.

Larger majorities oppose the US providing weapons to anti-government groups — 64 percent — and launching air strikes to try to oust the Syrian government — 68 percent. Seventy-eight percent of voters oppose US troops on the ground in Syria.

In this March 19, 2011 file photo, supporters of besieged Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi cheer as they rally in support of him in the city of Bamako, Mali. While Western powers herald the death of Gadhafi, killed Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011, many Africans are mourning a man who poured billions of dollars of foreign investment into desperately poor countries. Gadhafi backed some of the most brutal rebel leaders and dictators on the continent, but tens of thousands are now gathering at mosques built with his money and are remembering him as an anti-colonial martyr, and as an Arab leader who called himself African. (AP Photo/Harouna Traore,)

Instead of military action, most voters, 82 percent, think the US should provide humanitarian aid.

Current opinion on US involvement in Syria is in line with sentiment last year on Libya. A 55-percent majority opposed military involvement in Libya, and 64 percent opposed providing funding to Libyan rebels, according to an August poll.

President Barack Obama authorized military intervention in Libya without first consulting Congress.

The poll found 59 percent think there must be a national debate and approval from Congress before the US intervenes overseas.

About a third of voters, 34 percent, think the president must be able to decide what actions the US should take on his own.

Many voters think the US will soon face such a decision on Iran. A 56 percent majority thinks force will be required to stop Iran from working on nuclear weapons, while 30 percent think diplomacy and sanctions alone will work.

Just under half of voters, 49 percent, support US taking military action against Iran. That is down from 60 percent support last month.

“With disturbing news coming daily from Afghanistan and Syria, some Americans appear to be reconsidering whether opening another military front right now is a good idea,” says Democratic pollster Chris Anderson, who conducts the FOX News poll with Republican pollster Daron Shaw.

Still, a 61 percent majority thinks the US should provide military support if Israel attacks Iran.

Fifty-three percent think Israel should take action to keep Iran from getting nukes, while 33 percent disagree.

The FOX News poll is based on land line and cell phone interviews with 912 randomly-chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research and Shaw & Company Research from March 10 to March 12. For the total sample, it has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Read more: FOX News

Read more: http://www.myfoxla.com/dpps/news/poll-voters-oppose-us-troops-in-syria-dpgonc-km-20120315_18575098#ixzz1pUYU6f5C

Huffington Post   Kate Abbey-Lambertz 

Posted: 03/13/2012 9:32 pm

VOD editor: click on http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/03/06/corrigan-demands-council-hand-over-control-of-city-dhs/ to read why charges of corruption in the DHS are invalid, and why state DHS director Maura Corrigan violated federal law by admittedly withholding federal funds from the city DHS since last October.  Our article also describes corruption in the Wayne Metro Community Action Agency (WMCAA), to which the state wants to give Detroit’s funding and services.

Click on  DHS atty letter to read testimony of attorney Jerome Goldberg, representing unions at the city DHS.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder hugs Mayor Dave Bing as he presents Damon Keith award to him Feb. 14

Mayor Dave Bing’s unilateral announcement that he is disbanding the city DHS, described in the Huff Post Detroit article below, shows clearly that he cannot be trusted to defend Detroit against a PA 4 takeover, whether by consent agreement or emergency manager.

The Detroit Department of Human Services faces an uncertain future as Mayor Dave Bing’s administration and state and federal authorities plan to dissolve it entirely, but City Council and concerned citizens put up a fight to keep the department intact.

The department has seen sweeping changes and numerous firings following a rash of corruption and mismanagement charges, resulting in in one arrest to date.

Bing unilaterally decides to cut Detroit's Head Start program

DDHS will not reapply for the $55 million in federal funding it currently receives to administer the early education program Head Start. At the insistence of Bing and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD will consider proposals for a new body to manage the education program.

DDHS is also currently responsible for administering Community Servicement, which comes to the city by way of the state’s Department of Human Services. But MDHS wants to de-certify the Detroit department and transfer the CSBG program to a non-profit entity, citing the recent corruption in DDHS.

WMCAA Board members including CEO Louis Piszker at right

Bing has agreed to MDHS’s proposal. That plan would have a existing agency, most likely Wayne Metro Community Action Agency in Wyandotte, distribute the CSBG funding intended for to the city’s neediest residents in the short term, while the state finds a new agency for Detroit.

But to strip DDHS of CSBG funding — and thereby eliminate the department altogether — Detroit City Council would need to sign off on MDHS’s proposal. While the body hasn’t yet held a vote, most Council members have expressed extreme concern over handing over control of the department’s funds to an agency outside the city.

On Tuesday afternoon, Council members peppered Ursula Hollins, interim director of DDHS, with questions about the position of the department. Hollins said several times she agreed with the Bing administration’s decision to remove all funding from her department’s control, though she admitted she had not recommended to the mayor that the department be shut down.

Ursula Hollins

“I think the services should be provided by persons who care about the services being rendered, who have the skill sets and expertise,” Hollins said. “I believe we owe that to the citizens of the city of Detroit.”

Hollins said the city department faces some disadvantages in administering CSBG funds. As a government body rather than a non-profit, it has more hoops to jump through and can’t turn contracts around as quickly.

Several council members, including Pro Tem Gary Brown, said they would prefer to go through a full decertification process for DDHS, even though the public hearings and other red tape involved could drag on for months. If forced to go through the decertification, MDHS has threatened to air all of DDHS’s dirty laundry.

Detroit City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson

Some made the point that the department had already taken care of its management problems, and insisted past corruption shouldn’t factor in to the decision on DDHS’s fate. And Hollins said her time at the department had been spent making extensive changes, conducting investigations and discharging offending employees.

Council Member JoAnn Watson was most vocal about wanting to keep DDHS intact.

“We should fight to maintain human services and programs,” Watson said. “Keep the money [in the city] and serve the people.”

VOD: ironically, Mayor Bing earlier called on Ursula Hollins and the city’s DHS to fill in the holes in the safety net left by the state DHS cut-off of thousands of families from public assistance. Click on http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2011/10/03/city-works-to-weave-web-for-those-cut-from-welfare-rolls/

Selma to Montgomery! National Action Network Rally & March
A No Struggle, No Development! Production By KennySnod

March 6, 2012

The Struggle Continues, Black & Brown Together.

In 1965, the American South was a battlefield. The wealthy elite sought to block rights and a voice in society for a segment of the population. Nowhere was this battle uglier than in Alabama over the basic right to vote. Today, 47 years later, many states have launched an all-out coordinated assault on our democracy by attacking workers’ rights, voting rights, public education and comprehensive immigration reform.

In 1965, the Selma to Montgomery March made history and changed America. Now in 2012, we march again…for the 99%. History will be on our side. (March — Starts, Selma to Montgomery March 4–9, 2012 March 4: Selma—1:30 p.m. March 5–8: Selma to Montgomery march at 9 a.m. March 9: Montgomery, march at 9 a.m., rally at State Capitol at 11:30 a.m. – The distance between Selma to Montgomery is 47 miles.)

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 245 community videos on my YouTube channel at www.YouTube.com/KennySnod

A No Struggle, No Development! Production By KennySnod *

March 13, 2012

We peacefully protest in the name of justice for the family of Michael “Fat Mike” Haynes III and the Detroit Black Community. We are protesting against both institutional and community violence. We are protesting against the conditions that breed crime and violence in Detroit and across our country, which are rooted in the economic powerlessness of our communities.

We protest the disrespect of racist whites and foreign merchants of us and our communities. We feel violence and crime in our communities is rooted in our dependency on a broken economy, our mis-education, poor leadership, our economically depressed communities and families.

Our peaceful protest is aimed at closing the BP gas station on Fenkell & Meyers, and to demonstrate a Black Man’s life is worth more than some petty merchandise. We are venting our emotions while coming together as Detroiters to fight against the violence and problems that has created so much senseless violence in our cities.

We declare “WE” will be answer to the problems confronting our community’s throughcollective unity, from collective unity we can accomplish any goals we set to achieve.

Turn Tragedies Into A Triumphs – Join Us!
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 255 community videos on my YouTube channel at www.YouTube.com/KennySnod

Kenny Snodgrass (in brown outfit, center left) participates in MLK Day march on Gov. Rick Snyder's home to demand an end to disenfranchisement of Michigan's majority-Black cities

Doug Henwood

By Doug Henwood

Feb. 24, 2012

With the displacement of Greece’s elected government by Eurocrats acting in the interest of the country’s creditors, I thought this would be a good time to reprise the section of my 1997 book Wall Street that covers the New York City fiscal crisis of 1975, which was something of a dress rehearsal for the neoliberal austerity agenda that would go global in the 1980s. Certain celebrity academics are constantly cited for making this argument, but I was there first. You can download Wall Street for free by clicking here: Wall Street.

This chapter, and this book, has mainly been about the private sector, but it would be incomplete to finish a chapter on “governance” without looking at the relations between Wall Street and government, not only in the U.S., but on a world scale.

One advantage that Wall Street has in public economic debate, aside of course from its immense wealth and power, is that it’s one of the few institutions that look at the economy as a whole. American economic policymaking is, like all the other kinds, largely the result of a clash of interest groups, with every trade association pleading its own special case. Wall Streeters care, or presume to care, about how all the pieces come together into a macroeconomy. The broadest policy techniques—fiscal and monetary policy—are what Wall Street is all about. For some reason, intellectuals like the editors of the New York Review of Books and the Atlantic have decided that investment bankers like Felix Rohatyn and Peter Peterson have thoughts worth reading in essay form. Not surprisingly, both utter a message of austerity—the first with a liberal, and the second with a conservative, spin—hidden behind a rhetoric of economic necessity. These banker–philosophes, creatures of the most overpaid branch of business enterprise, are miraculously presented as disinterested policy analysts.

Wall Street’s power becomes especially visible during fiscal crises, domestic and international. On a world scale, the international debt crisis of the 1980s seemed for a while like it might bring down the global financial system, but as it often does, finance was able to turn a crisis to its own advantage.

While easy access to commercial bank loans in the 1970s and early 1980s allowed countries some freedom in designing their economic policies (much of it misused, some of it not), the outbreak of the debt crisis in 1982 changed everything. In the words of Jerome I. Levinson (1992), a former official of the Inter-American Development Bank:

“[To] the U.S. Treasury staff…the debt crisis afforded an unparalleled opportunity to achieve, in the debtor countries, the structural reforms favored by the Reagan administration. The core of these reforms was a commitment on the part of the debtor countries to reduce the role of the public sector as a vehicle for economic and social development and rely more on market forces and private enterprise, domestic and foreign.”

Levinson’s analysis is seconded by Sir William Ryrie (1992), executive vice president of the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private sector arm. “The debt crisis could be seen as a blessing in disguise,” he said, though admittedly the disguise “was a heavy one.” It forced the end to “bankrupt” strategies like import substitution and protectionism, which hoped, by restricting imports, to nurture the development of domestic industries.

“Much of the private capital that is once again flowing to Latin America is capital invested abroad during the run-up to the debt crisis. As much as 40–50 cents of ever dollar borrowed during the 1970s and early 1980s…may have been invested abroad. This money is now coming back on a significant scale, especially in Mexico and Argentina.”

In other words, much of the borrowed money was skimmed by ruling elites, parked profitably in the Cayman Islands and Zürich, and Third World governments were left with the bill. When the policy environment changed, some of the money came back home — often to buy newly privatized state assets for a song.

Billionaire banker Felix Rohatyn, chair of NYC "Municipal Assistance Coporation" (Big MAC) in 1975

That millions suffered to service these debts seems to matter little to Ryrie. Desperate Southern governments had little choice but to yield to Northern bankers and bureaucrats. Import substitution was dropped, state enterprises were privatized, and borders made porous to foreign investment. After Ryrie’s celebrated capital inflow, Mexico suffered another debt crisis in 1994 and 1995, which was “solved” using U.S. government and IMF guarantees to bail out Wall Street banks and their clients, and creating a deep depression; to make the debts good, Mexicans would have to suffer. Once again, a dire financial/fiscal crisis—the insolvency of an overindebted Mexican government—was used to further a capital-friendly economic agenda.

Photo credit: AP | New York Gov. Hugh L. Carey, center, flanked by Felix Rohatyn, left, chairman of the New York State Municipal Assistance Corp., and State Comptroller Arthur Levitt, meet with White House officials in Washington, as they seek financial help for New York City. (Nov. 14, 1975)

These fortunate uses of crisis first appeared in their modern form during New York City’s bankruptcy workout of 1975. This is no place to review the whole crisis; let it just be said that suddenly the city found its bankers no longer willing to roll over old debt and extend fresh credits. The city, broke, could not pay. In the name of fiscal rectitude, public services were cut and real fiscal power was turned over to two state agencies, the Municipal Assistance Corp. (MAC, chaired by Rohatyn), and the Emergency Financial Control Board, since made permanent with the Emergency dropped from its name.

DC 37 members joined other city employees in a march on Wall Street. “Jobs and services are a hell of a lot more important than profits,” Victor Gotbaum said at the rally.

Aside from the most routine municipal functions, the city no longer governed itself; a committee of bankers and their delegates did, Rohatyn first among them. Rohatyn, who would later criticize Reaganism for being too harsh, was the director of its dress rehearsal in New York City. Public services were cut, workers laid off, and the physical and social infrastructure left to rot. But the bonds, thank god, were paid, though not without a little melodrama, gimmickry, and delay (Lichten 1986, chap. 6). Continue reading →

Then DC Mayor Anthony Williams dressed as "BungleBug" at society theatrical opening

From “Progressive Review” archives

VOD editor: Anthony Williams, who spoke at state Detroit review team meeting March 13, 2012, was Mayor of Washington, D.C. from 1999-2007. The state he left the city in is described below.

2008 

DC FISCAL POLICY INSTITUTE – A detailed review of the District’s economy reveals a number of disturbing trends and shows that the city’s wide economic disparities are getting wider:

– Despite city-wide job growth, employment among African-American residents and those with no more than a high school diploma has been falling. The employment rate for these groups is at nearly the lowest level in 30 years.

Poor Peoples' 1968 March on Washington; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s goals have yet to be achieved in that city.

– The gap between high-wage and low-wage workers in the District is at an all-time high. Wages have barely changed in 30 years for DC’s lowest-wage workers, after adjusting for inflation, while DC’s top earners have seen large earnings gains.

– Income inequality in the District is greater than in nearly every large U.S. city. DC’s rich-poor gap has widened over the past two decades. An analysis of 59 large U.S. cities by the Brookings Institution found that income inequality in DC was greater in 2006 than in every city except Atlanta and Tampa.

– Poverty in the District is at the highest level in nearly a decade. Since with the late 1990s, some 27,000 more DC residents have fallen into poverty.

These findings show that the District has two different economies: one represented by construction cranes, new jobs, and growing incomes – and another represented by people who work but earn very little, who are not moving into better jobs or higher wages, and who may not be working at all. The gleaming side of DC’s economy could continue to grow and prosper, but there is little evidence to suggest it would lead to any improvements for the thousands of residents who live on the other side.

Other stats:

– African-American residents are five times more likely than white residents to be unemployed. This gap was greater in 2006 than in any year since 1985.

– Employment among African-American adults has been falling since the late 1980s. The employment rate among black adults has even fallen during the city’s recent economic boom. Some 51 percent African-American adults worked in 2006, compared with 62 percent in 1988.

– Employment among residents with a high school diploma is at the lowest level in nearly 30 years. Just 51 percent of DC residents at this education level are working. In the late 1980s, by contrast, nearly two-thirds of residents with a high school diploma were employed.

– Real wages have barely changed for low-wage workers over 30 years. Hourly earnings for low-wage working DC residents rose just six percent between 1979 and 2006, after adjusting for inflation, compared with a 40 percent increase for high-wage workers.

– African-American median income is no higher than in 1980. . .

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