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

VOD contributing editor Greg Thrasher at Lansing rally April 13

By Greg Thrasher

In too many venues in this region from the board rooms to the lounges of manufacturing plants to even church basements there is always some chatter or whispers about Black on Black crime. Often these exchanges involve a discussion about horrific criminal acts perpetrated against Black victims by Black assailants. The range and depth of Black on Black crime in the city hurts even now as I write these words yet these words must be written.
 
Many of these internal exchanges and chatter are constructive and warranted it is also true that many of them are nasty race tinged rumors and chatter often used to demonize the city and Black folks in general. Quite often those invoking this verbiage are Black people, from police officers to parents to pastors.
 
Yet my words here today are not about the criminal themes surrounding this potent and provocative subject matter but  in this setting I want to engage in a dialogue about another incarnation of Black On Black crimes. I want to explore and discuss the crimes of personal inhumanity we commit against each other.  The crime of Black on Black inhumanity. These are intra/inter personal negative actions just as lethal as crimes that violate our criminal laws.
 

Join together instead

The tragic behavior and destructive culture within the Black diaspora that negates the humanity and self esteem of Black people is sometimes beyond comprehension. The very nature of Black people shouting down each other’s dreams, ambitions and esteem and denying each other the basic dignity of humanity is reckless and impacts the every caliber of our lives.
 
No wound or injury hurts and stings and leaves life-long scars more than those which defeat our spirit and damn our personhood and self essence. When Black parents lecture to their children that they are ignorant, stupid and losers these words fill the air with arrows that pierce not only the heart but they puncture the mental ether of our children’s mental state of mind. When we attack the foundations of our children’s essence we destroy the currency of their consciousness and we harm their personal futures and we create obstacles in their dreams.
 

Children need parents' encouragement

The damage of anti-esteem words punishes the very soul of a child’s imagination. When a Black person hurls bitter rage at a senior person it augments the velocity of our elders’ life span. When Black people wage a civil war within the community we commit crimes against humanity that prevent our communities from prospering and even recovering from tough times and duress.
 
The prisons of anger, rage, contempt, shame, ridicule, humiliation, envy, jealousy, sadness, despair, and sorrow handcuff the very essence of our community. Detroit cannot recover if the crimes against our personal dignity and self worth continue at the present velocity.
 
We need rallies and protests which focus on ending the civil war of personal self hate and incivility we share and exchange with each other to often on a daily basis. Instead of a day of prayer and atonement, we need endless moments of recognizing each other’s personal essence and self worth. We need to schedule appointments and meetings with each other with agendas that promote our humanity for each other.
 
The foundation of this collective self hate and contempt for our very essence and personhood has a history in the development of America. I will leave the navigation of the origins of our collective self hate for another day. If we intend to create a city which has a future, we must as a Black community begin this journey with the affirmation of our collective self worth. We must end the crimes of inhumanity we are waging against each other beginning within our families and extending out into our relationships with our friends and others.
 
We can live a purposeful life in the city of Detroit and other urban venues across America. We must end the internal civil war within the Black community which places our very collective being in peril. Our future starts now only if we affirm each other’s humanity and self worth every moment we interact with each other. Right here…Right now…

Debra Taylor (l) with bullhorn and Monica Patrick at right lead chants

By Diane Bukowski

 DETROIT – The start of a TWO-SIDED “class war” was hopefully evident in Lansing April 13. Up to 10,000 members of virtually every union in Michigan, and their supporters, swamped the Capitol building to oppose Governor Rick Snyder’s budget and 41 bills pending in the legislature.

AFSCME Intl. Rep. Herbert Sanders (being interviewed) kicked off the rally

The event was historic, said Herbert Sanders, International Representative of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). He kicked off the rally, officially sponsored by the We Are the People coalition.

“This is a call to battle,” Sanders said. “It’s time to fight. This moment in history has caused us to build solidarity like never before, and it’s just the beginning. We plan to recall Snyder and every legislator who has advocated these attacks. If that doesn’t work, WE ARE PREPARED TO SHUT THE STATE DOWN!”

Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPbX7nN9Zbk to hear Herbert Sanders’ excellent speech.

Choirs from AFSCME and SEIU sang "God Bless America"

The demonstrators were Black, Latin and white, male, female and LGBT, young folks and seniors, child care workers making minimum wage and public workers at every level (many of them also living in poverty), including clericals, custodians, bus drivers, teachers, and nurses. The private sector was represented by steelworkers, autoworkers, laborers, and even members of elite skilled trades unions who are normally divorced from the general working-class fray.

Bus drivers called in sick

Many Detroit bus drivers called in sick to attend, carrying red “ATU” signs (Amalgamated Transit Union). They were docked a day’s pay by Mayor Dave Bing’s anti-union

administration, in the wake of his budget address the day before. It was AFSCME Council 25, which represents City of Detroit workers, that put out the initial call for the April 13 Day of Unity.

The rally was scheduled for 12 noon to 5 p.m., with the intention that many committed workers would leave their jobs to give the state government a taste of what might be to come.

STOP CORPORATE GREED!

Sanders ticked off a list of all the unions there, with their members roaring in response.

“In the coming days, the legislature will start voting on Snyder’s budget,” he said. “That includes $564 million in public education cuts, $200 million in higher education, eliminating the earned income tax for working families, taxes on seniors’ pensions to pay for $1.2 billion in tax cuts for the corporations and CEO’s, contracting out union services to address the budget shortfalls as a result of huge corporate tax breaks, and a litany of more than 40 bills in the legislature designed to take away 75 years of progress for working America.”

Kids off chopping block

The crowd chanted repeatedly, “THAT’S NOT RIGHT!”

One worker cried out, “Don’t forget the fact that we know how to fight!” Chants of “This is what democracy looks like!” were raised as well.

“I gave 30 years of service to Wayne County, I went to work every day,” said Dorothy Burrell.

Dorothy Burrell

“Now the government wants to tax my pension, and [Wayne County Executive Robert] Ficano has already taken part of our 13th bonus check, which is the only thing we have left because we lost our cost of living increases. We are paying more for our health benefits too.”

One of the bills pending in the legislature would force all public workers to pay 20 percent of the cost of their health care.

“Whose money, our money! Whose pension? Our pension! Whose house, our house!” the protesters chanted repeatedly.

DFT members

Marsha Chatman, a lead Special Ed teacher at Keiden Elementary in Detroit, said, “I’m here because of cuts involving 470 students. We’re already in a deficit, and we don’t need any more cuts. We hoped this governor would bring jobs, but instead he has divided the state and taken everything away. Those that put him in there want him out now. He’s not been in office six months, and look at all these people.”

Her co-worker, Detroit Federation of Teachers union steward Rochelle Massingill, also of Keiden school, denounced Robert Bobb’s cuts at DPS, approved by the state.

Kids B4 business

“This is prompting a lot of the best teachers, especially new teachers, not to come to the district,” Massingill said. “Principals, occupational therapists, social workers and others are leaving. They are attacking not only the students and their families, but our families. Young teachers have to look out for their future.”

Despite the failure of United Auto Workers President Bob King to attend the rally or join the call for it, numerous UAW locals turned out with their banners and placards anyway.

UAW Local 651 present!

Dan Tyler of UAW Local 651 in Flint carried a homemade sign declaring, “Never forget who paved the way for the rights we have today! Why should THEY have to pay?”

It was the historic Flint autoworkers sitdown which launched a nationwide flood of plant and workplace takeovers, leading to the formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, which later linked with the American Federal of Labor.

UAW Local 412 in the house

“There are all sorts of UAW locals here,” Tyler said. “If you’re not rich, if you’re middle or working class or poor, everything they’re doing has an impact on everybody’s way of life. They tax us and leave the rich alone, when they are the ones who can afford it the most.”

A song of “We are the union, mighty, mighty union,” arose from the ranks of a sea of green-shirted AFSCME members from all over the state. UAW Local 869 leader David Edgar paced the stage, leading chants of “What do we need? JOBS! When do we need them? NOW! GOOD JOBS NOW!”

UNITE in the house

The stage was crowded with workers holding banners from the AFL-CIO, AFSCME, UNITE, the UAW, the Michigan Nurses Association, the Laborers International Union, the Sprinkler Fitters, and many others.

Flags and banners from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), American Postal Workers Union (APWU), the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), the Graduate Employees Organization, the Sheetmetal Workers, the Plumbers, the Bricklayers, the Boilermakers, the Cement Masons, the Ironworkers, the Teamsters, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the Communications Workers of America, and the United Food and Commercial Workers flew in the bright sunlight.

Fund people not war!

 “We pray to our God that if the hands [of Snyder and the lawmakers] sign those bills to tax pensions and end collective bargaining, they will become withered hands,” said the Rev. David Bullock, head of the Detroit Chapter of Rainbow:PUSH during the invocation. “We pray to our God that the tongues of those who speak ill of the workers, of teachers, firefighters, public employees, those who built this country, will stick to the roofs of their mouths.”

Bullock diplomatically avoided referencing the Biblical alternatives to the punishments he cited.

NALC and AFSCME out in force

After Sanders, Mary Pollack, president of the Michigan State Employee Retirees’ Union, with 150,000 members, addressed the crowd.

“We believe this proposed tax shift to seniors and working people while disinvesting in Michigan communities is unfair,” Pollack said, to chants of “THAT’S UNFAIR.”

NO PENSION TAX!

She noted that over 70 percent of her members have pensions under $24,000, while 15 percent get less than $12,000 a year.

“Yet the governor and leaders of the House and Senate propose to tax our pensions while eliminating taxes on 95 percent of the businesses in our state, and slashing the budgets for education, human services, and health care,” she said. “We need better schools and universities; we need the government to fund public services, not tax breaks.”

Speaker from Alliance for Immigrant Rights

A young organizer from the Alliance for Immigration Rights denounced ICE raids in southwest Detroit and anti-immigration legislation passed in Arizona and proposed in Michigan.

“Our families are being ripped apart by the raids, and our people are being stopped by the police because of the color of their skins,” she said. “We are not hardcore criminals like the Wall Street banks who go to the casinos with our mortgage and retirement money, like the CEO’s laying off workers and causing the collapse of their companies.”

She led the crowd in a chant of “Si, se puede!” (yes, we can).

Child care worker Robin Edwards

One of the bills in the hopper would deny child care workers the right to unionize, and Snyder’s budget cuts subsidies for child care.

“We are part of the backbone of Michigan communities, but we have been abandoned,” said child care worker Robin Edwards. “We give other workers the support they need every day. But Rick Snyder is working to prevent us from organizing. This is not the Michigan we believe in.”

Students sacrificed

A teacher in the East Detroit High School system denounced emergency manager laws and other pending bills, saying they would destroy public education in the state of Michigan.

“They are taking 15 to 20 percent out of school budgets evcrywhere, they’ve cut funds for remediation, enrichment courses , and basic education period,” he said. “If there are no teachers, there will be no education for kids. There is a $600 million surplus in K-12 funding now; it must be used to properly fund education.”

People were angry

“YA BASTA!” the crowd chanted, as Graduate Employees Organization representative Serge Farines denounced the increased tax burden on workers and the poor. He called on the demonstrators to join in a protest outside the University of Michigan commencement April 30, where Snyder is scheduled to be the keynote speaker.

 A round of cheers went up for Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, who was defeated by Snyder in the gubernatorial race.

Bernero and daughters

Some present at the rally said they believed the Democratic Party did not throw its full support behind Bernero because of his militant stance against the corporations, banks and mortgage companies.

His opponent in the primary, former House Speaker Andy Dillon, was supported by the likes of Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, and former Mayor Dennis Archer.

Independent class struggle!

Dillon is now State Treasurer, busy training Emergency Managers across the state in league with the proponents of state takeovers of municipalities and school districts.

One sign in the crowd read “No compromises! No share the sacrifices! No givebacks! We need a workers’ party that fights the Dems/GOP with HARD class struggle!”

Bernero told the crowd, “YOU make this state and this country, not the moneymakers on Wall Street, not the big banksters, not those in every corporate boardroom!”

Utility Workers rep flew in from New York

International union leaders from the IBEW and from the Utility Workers Union flew in from Chicago and New York to address the crowd, among dozens of other speakers. Detroit City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson, whose staff helped organize busloads of demonstrators from Detroit, was present on-stage as well.

On her WHPR TV show, Watson has asked supporters to call her office at 313-224-3435 if they are interested in attending a special announcement April 21 related to city legislation against water department takeovers.

Detroit City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson on stage

More information on upcoming events can be obtained by calling the headquarters of AFSCME Council 25 in Detroit at 313-964-1711.

Also listed as a contact for the We are the People Coalition on a press release was Zack Pohl at 517-980-6190.

Organizers also asked those interested in being notified of the ongoing struggle to text MI to 225568, so their phones could be added to the growing battle against the neo-Nazi like attacks on the country’s working and poor people.

Detroit AFSCME retiree Helen Webb (l), Loc. 457 Pres. Laurie Walker to her left; Loc. 1023 Pres. Sheila Pennington second from right

A new day is dawning! (Kenny Snodgrass videographing at left)

Young mothers brutalized, hauled out, arrested for peaceful sit-in to save Catherine Ferguson Academy April 15, 2011

Cops slam Ashley Matthews against police car; she has two-year-old daughter

13 ARRESTED IN HEROIC ACTION, BUT VOW THAT FIGHT CONTINUES 

By Diane Bukowski

DETROIT – In an interview with VOD, Ashley Matthews, 17, described the heroic student-led occupation of her school, Catherine Ferguson Academy on April 15. She spoke of the wholehearted support the young mothers received from the community, as well as the vicious physical and verbal brutality police visited on them during their arrests.

She said two toddlers, there with their mothers, watched the events.

Inside Catherine Ferguson Academy in happier times

“When I came home, my mom and step-dad watched us on the news,” Matthews said. “My mom broke out in tears when she saw how the police treated me. She told me, ‘I’m so proud of you.’ This was the most joyful moment of my life. I was so flabbergasted by all the support and I felt so much pride because I actually stood up for something I believe in.”

Catherine Ferguson is a Detroit Public School for teens with children, or who are expecting. It provides special support services to help them complete their education and go on to college. It received broad publicity last year for the urban farm the students themselves created in the surrounding area.

Catherine Ferguson student working on well-publicized urban farm

It is the only school of its kind in the country, but it is on the list of almost 60 schools that DPS czar Robert Bobb, board chair Anthony Adams, and their state cronies, have slated for the chopping block this June, either through closure, merger or charterization.  (See VOD article at http://voiceofdetroit.net/?p=6372)

Matthews said she has a two-year-old daughter, Breanna.

Teacher and young male supporter arrested

“The girls bring their kids to school because we don’t have anyone else to watch them,” said Matthews. “What else are we going to do? Ninety percent of our students graduate, and most of them go on to two and four year colleges. Our principal tells us ‘smart mothers make smart children.’”

Cops brought out canine unit: who let the dogs (and cops) out?

She said she is four classes away from graduation, but does not know if the students who sat in will be allowed back. She said she decided they needed to fight to save their school, and approached the organization By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) for support.

“The day before, I packed up all my stuff, my clothes and food, because I thought we were going to stay for a week,” Matthews said. “I left my daughter with my mom and dad. We were inside making signs and calls, going on Facebook, and putting stuff up in the windows. We hooked up speakers in the windows so we could voice our demands.”

Supporters chanted "NO NO, LET THEM GO!"

She said she was “surprised” when she saw how many people demonstrated outside in their support. She said the supporters passed lasagna through the windows, but that they didn’t even get a chance to eat it because the police got there first. Supporters at first blocked numerous police cars from entering the school’s back lot.

Cop arrests picketer

“When we heard the police were coming, we ran to the library as fast as we could and barricaded ourselves in there. The police knocked on the window, and before we knew it, they busted open the library door. We all got in a line and held hands. We took a vote because we wanted to be democratic and we decided not to leave. We chose to stick together, we came together and we were staying together. We were chanting, ‘Whose schools? Our schools!’ The whole time I was recording everything on my phone.”

She said the cop who arrested her, a Detroit police officer named R. Brown, saw that she was recording the events and snatched the phone away. She said Detroit Public Schools officers also took part in the attacks.

Huge cops push 100-lb. Ashley toward car

“I had sat down, and he yanked me up and slammed me down on my stomach on the floor,” Matthews said. “All the girls went berserk, telling him to get off me, but he was just wiping up the floor with me. He pressed his thumbs in my neck, and he tightened the handcuffs so hard that I have bruises there. I cried at first but then I made myself stop.”

Matthews said she weighs only 100 lbs. and is often mistaken for being much younger because she is so small.

Supporter is horrified at brutality

“The officer pushed me up against the police car, with my face against it, and put me in it,” Matthews said. “They police didn’t read us our rights even though they told us we were under arrest. Then they were playing ‘good cop, bad cop,’ asking, ‘does your mom know you’re going to jail?’ I told them ‘She knows, I’m fighting for my education, and I want a lawyer.’ I wouldn’t talk to them any more after that.”

But Matthews said the police “verbally assaulted” them the whole way to the Eighth Precinct at Schaefer and Grand River.

Police rousted demonstrators too

“All the officers were so rude to us you would have thought we had killed somebody,” she said.  “They asked us, ‘do you have money, because you’re going to be in jail all weekend.’ They told me it was good I’m 17, because I would have to go on the ‘big block’ and I’d better not be talking that ‘education stuff’ there. They were so mad because it was females standing up. But we have the right to fight for our school, and we were non-violent.”

She said the students felt absolutely “degraded” by the treatment they received from the police.

Eighth Precinct police station

The students, represented by attorney Joyce Schon, were released that evening from the garage in the precinct, where they were forced to sit during their detention.  During their arrests, their cell phones were taken, and many left without their shoes or jackets because the police would not allow them to get them. Matthews said she received a ticket for “trespassing and being in the school after hours.”

Catherine Ferguson Academy before the police raid

She said they plan to go back to get their possessions at the school this week.

“We ran out the jail to so many people hugging us, and telling us how proud they were of us,” Matthews said.

“It’s all over You Tube and Facebook now, and I hope everyone sees how the police treated females in my school,” Matthews said. “All my friends were contacting me on Facebook when I got home and asking what I got arrested for. It’s time for all of us to stand up, it’s our future. We can’t find another school that does what Catherine Ferguson does. I am thankful to BAMN and our supporters because they truly showed us we do have a sense of hope, that there is something you can do about what happens.”

GROWN (AND JAILED) IN DETROIT

She said her mother was a single mom too, and taught her to be strong, to do the best she could.

“Robert Bobb doesn’t understand how we have to work hard to get an education to get to where we want to go, because he never had to do it,” Matthews said.

“The fight’s not over, not as long as any school is on that list,” she said. “We are going to fight in a respectable, peaceful way for my school and for every school. I owe it to myself, to my classmates, to my daughter, to my mom and dad. I still love my school, and the Detroit Public Schools, and I am a proud citizen of Detroit.”

BAMN ORGANIZERS TELL STORY 

Monica Smith (at left during earlier protest) went inside Catherine Ferguson with its students to occupy the school while other BAMN organizers rallied support outside. She was among those arrested.

“We are encouraging students everywhere to take up the fight to save their schools,” Smith said.

“The students are in great spirits and they all say they would do it again. We are completely against these policies getting rid of public education and closing schools like Catherine Ferguson, Moses Field, Carlton, Rutherford.  Rutherford is for autistic children, and Carlton has over 500 students. Where are they going to put them? The other schools are filled. Evidently they want pregnant girls and mothers and disabled students to stay home.

Donna Stern organizing support outside Catherine Ferguson

Smith said a documentary filmmaker was also inside and arrested. She said the woman’s camera was seized during her arrest, then returned, but a sergeant at the police station seized it again and kept it. She said students were also filming events on their cell phones, many of which the police smashed on the ground, and that they are concerned about the preservation of the documentary film.

If police do erase the film, or have destroyed any other evidence, it is a violation of the law, according to various attorneys.

Smith said the sit-in was very well-organized, and that people from the community, including those from the Trumbullplex commune nearby, came to their assistance almost at once.

“There were two small kids in there, two years and four years old,” she said. “They gave the kids to the principal. But the police were totally brutal. They choked me twice, they choked a 100-lb. student, and they lifted up a teacher who took part in the sit-in by the pants. At the police station, they handcuffed us together on the floor of the garage. Everyone who was handcuffed has bruises on their wrists and arms. When I was dragged out, they pulled my handcuffs up so high I was on my toes.”

BAMN organizer and teacher Donna Stern said the police took everyone’s cell phones and smashed them on the floor, making the students really angry because their phones are their only way to stay in touch with their families and children. 

“They don’t have that much money, and getting a new phone is a big deal,” Stern said.

She confirmed the accounts of Matthews and Smith regarding the brutal way in which the police treated the young women. She said the number of supporters outside kept growing, and that they followed the arrested students to the police station, where they kept protesting until their release.

VIDEO FROM WHICH ARREST PHOTOS WERE TAKEN IS ON YOU TUBE AT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmrpcHIYVMM

Supporters of students vow to continue fight

SIGN PETITION TO SAVE CATHERINE FERGUSON AT http://www.grownindetroitmovie.com/school.php  : 

Carole Kronberg of Detroit speaking at Board of Police Commissioners meeting

To All Detroit City Council Members

This is a concerned resident citizen’s request for action by the Council. Those Detroit Police who arrested peaceful defenders of Catherine Ferguson Academy (an excellent school, doing vitally important work, but slated for destruction by Robert Bobb) were NOT acting out of loyalty to the People or to the Bill of Rights!  Apparently, they thought they were supposed to be OK with “politics by bulldozer!”  

That school and all public schools rightfully belong to the People, because the People paid for them. All power flows from the People, and the People have made it quite clear that they DO NOT want their properties destroyed! 

By the same token, We the People are opposed to the coming hostile State takeover which calls for YOU, our elected officials, to be swept away!  

In its own best interest, and in the interest of the People, CITY COUNCIL NEEDS WITHOUT DELAY TO PASS A RESOLUTION CLARIFYING THE PROPER ROLE OF DETROIT POLICE: Detroit residents pay them (and the Council) to support, not arrest, our demands for Home Rule –rightful LOCAL sovereignty over LOCAL affairs!

If my father’s Uncle Gus were still on the Detroit Council, (He was an alderman and city clerk in the late 1800’s)  I KNOW he would DEFEND –AS YOU SHOULD NOW– THE CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE OF DETROIT! 

Thank you.

Respectfully,

Carole A. Kronberg



Link to a Rachel Maddow show about Detroit Catherine Ferguson School fight, student occupations, and Robert Bobb.
 
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/42725827#42725827
 
Financial contributions are urgently needed!  Go to http://www.bamn.com/1/donate.asp
 
Please help pay for the tickets and other legal expenses related to the Catherine Ferguson occupation and other protests.
 
Besides providing critical assistance to the young people who are the heroes of our city, these dollars are the smartest way to use your pocketbook to save teacher jobs !
 
In Detroit, there will be a mass meeting at 4:30 this Tuesday, April 26 with unions and community and civil rights groups. 19484 James Couzens.

Please note that the regular Saturday meeting of Defend Public Education / Save Our Students is cancelled due to the holiday and related scheduling problems. 

See more video from the Catherine Ferguson struggle at our youtube site below. 

Steve Conn
Defend Public Education / Save Our Students
313.645.9340 sjconn@msn.com  

·         http://defendpubliceducation.com   THIS IS NEW !!

·         Follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/steveconn231 

·  You can also text follow steveconn231 to this phone number: 40404

·  Look for us at “Save DPS” on Facebook

·  watch our latest videos at www.youtube.com/dftmembers  

City-wide baby shower at Catherine Ferguson Academy

STUDENTS AND SUPPORTERS SIT-IN TO DEMAND THAT NO DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOL CLOSES

Following in the civil rights tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, Catherine Ferguson students — along with their babies and toddlers, teachers and supporters — have begun a peaceful occupation of Catherine Ferguson Academy (CFA). CFA, located at 2750 Selden, is a Detroit Public school that is slated to be closed in June. The students who are sitting down have five demands:

• No School Closings
• Keep All Detroit Schools Public – No More Charters or Privatization
• Reinstate all programs and services that have been eliminated, including art & music as   well as counselors & social workers
• Student Control of Curriculum and School Character to assure that every Detroit school provides equal, quality education for all
• No discipline or retaliation against any of the participants in the occupation

Catherine Ferguson Academy

Catherine Ferguson Academy (CFA) is a Detroit public high school for pregnant and parenting teen girls– the only one of its kind in the nation. Providing an excellent education and services for both the teen mothers and their children, CFA has received international attention, numerous awards and is the subject of several documentaries.

 “When people at my regular high school realized that I was pregnant, I was told my chances of being a success in life were over. At Catherine Ferguson, they told me they wouldn’t allow me to be anything BUT a success. I love CFA, and I am prepared to fight to keep it open, not only for myself, but for all the girls who will come behind me,” said Ashley Matthews, a junior at CFA.

Bobb, Adams say Catherine Ferguson Academy is OUT!

With approximately 200 students who come not only from Detroit, but also from the surrounding suburbs, every year Catherine Ferguson achieves a 90% graduation rate and 100% of those who graduate are accepted to two- or four-year colleges, most with financial aid.

“If this school closes, or if any of our services are eliminated, I believe that over half of CFA students will drop out of high school because they don’t have anyone to watch their baby while they attend classes,” said Dalana Gray, who is a senior at CFA. Also, this school benefits our children, because the early education program teaches them a lot that they wouldn’t learn if they were kept at home.”

The school provides pre-natal and parenting classes, and offers high school student mothers the opportunity to finish their high school education immediately after giving birth by providing on-site daycare, early childhood development services, and pre-school for their children, as well as on-site medical, dental and social services, so the young women don’t have to miss school to attend appointments. What also makes CFA unique is its organic garden and farm with chickens, goats and a horse, which the students maintain as part of their science education.

Southeastern High School students protested with walk-outs, sit-ins in March

Nicole Conaway, a science teacher at CFA who decided to join her students in the occupation said, “As a teacher, I can find another job, but for my students, if Catherine Ferguson closes, there are no alternatives. The same can be said for many of the students at other schools on the closing list – the Day School for the Deaf; Rutherford, which is the home of two autistic programs; Moses Fields, which educates many learning disabled children, and several neighborhood schools that are the anchors for their communities. It’s time to say: no more. ”

”The massive school closures that have been carried out in DPS since 2004 have led to the depopulation of Detroit and to the deepening financial crisis of the district. Public schools are being closed to make way for charters and are part of the national attack on public education. Today Detroit – tomorrow, every city in America. The parents and students of Catherine Ferguson are fighting to maintain the right of every student in our nation to a free, quality public education. Every supporter of public education should do everything possible to support their fight and make sure they succeed”, said Shanta Driver, National Chairperson of By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), which is helping to organize and coordinate the occupations.

For more information, call Monica Smith at 313-585-3637 or call 855-ASK-BAMN

Do you wonder (like I do) what the tax accountants and executives are doing over at GE this weekend? Frantically rushing to fill out their IRS returns like the rest of us? Hardly. They’re taking the weekend off to throw themselves a big party and have a hearty laugh at all of us. It must really crack them up to see us like suckers scurrying around to make sure we report everything to Uncle Sam—and even send him a check, if necessary.
The joke’s on us, folks. GE and tons of other corporations will have a tax bill for 2010 of ZERO. GE had $14.2 billion in profits in 2010. Yet they will contribute NOTHING to the federal government while every last dime is soaked from us.¹
In the latest budget deal, our politicians could have tackled the deficit by stopping the flow of these ill-gotten billions to corporations. Instead they cut billions from “wasteful” programs that do “wasteful” things, like create new jobs, drive economic growth, and help the needy and our nation’s children. It’s Democracy in reverse and it sickens me.

GE spends $20 million a year to lobby Congress to throw themselves this party.² But do you know what speaks louder than $20 million? 20 million votes! 20 million people, and more, standing together and taking to the streets. That starts now, with you.
 

This coming Monday, April 18 is Tax Day—and that’s the day when “we the people” will demand our country back from these corporations in events all across the country. The folks at MoveOn tell me that the nearest event to you is in Detroit. I hope you’ll be there:
Host: Wednesday T—fellow MoveOn member
Where: U.S. Post Office-Detroit (in Detroit)
When: Monday, Apr. 18, 2011, at 11:00 AM

RSVP by clicking here  

Bail out the people, not the banks

This Monday, MoveOn members—along with union, community, and environmental allies—will gather outside the headquarters and local offices of the biggest corporate tax dodgers to deliver tax bills from the American people. And we’ll demand that our leaders make these corporate deadbeats pay.
We’re doing this because we don’t buy into the Big Lie: that greedy teachers caused the crash on Wall Street! That the selfish firefighters sent millions of jobs overseas! That pregnant woman, infants, and children are sending us into deficit!

Exxon, Mobil and other oil companies profit from war on Africa

No, it was the big corporations that did this. It was the CEOs and the top 1% of the country. THEY brought on the mortgage crisis. THEY made off with trillions of dollars from our economy. THEY are systematically destroying the middle class. And THEY have bought and sold the very people elected to represent us!

This Monday we will call them out—can you join in?

On Monday, we will have something to say to Exxon, Chevron, and the big banks that crashed our economy and got billions in bailouts, like Citigroup and Bank of America, who pay little or no federal income tax. In fact, the IRS will likely give them a tax REBATE.³ If that doesn’t boggle your mind then nothing will.
The Tax Day events are about sending this message: We are coming after you, we are stopping you and we are going to return the money, jobs, and homes you stole from the people. This is your tipping point, Corporate America. And I, for one, am glad it’s going to happen this Monday.
And don’t go alone, because none of us can win this fight by ourselves. Plus, it’s more fun and exciting to go along with friends and family to be part of real democracy in action—not the store-bought kind Big Business gets on Capitol Hill.

Unions protest outside Chase Bank on Wall Street

If you’ve never been to an event like this before, this is the time.

I really hope you can make it. Click here to RSVP:

http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=114364&id=26978-6828678-YaeujGx&t=5

This is our chance, my friends. Take the time on Monday to make your voice heard. I can guarantee you I will. Please join me.

Sincerely,
Michael Moore

P.S. Can’t make this event? Click here to find another event near you.

Sources:
1. “G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes All Together,” The New York Times, March 24, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=207848&id=26978-6828678-YaeujGx&t=8
2. Ibid.
3. “Tax Time? Not for Giant Corporations,” release from Senator Bernie Sanders, March 27, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=207847&id=26978-6828678-YaeujGx&t=9

Want to support our work? We’re entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

Sandra Hines speaks at mass rally in Lansing Feb. 23 against EFM bills and other takeovers

By Sandra Hines   

After reviewing accounts that have taken place on the dismantling of DPS, I find the EFM legislation coming out of Lansing, mind boggling.  “Justice has been tardy” in the war to save DPS and many policies have been evoked by the Michigan Legislators.

The Coalition to Restore Hope to DPS’ goal has always been to educate our children in a manner above reproach. We try to impress upon others that we have to fight for our children whenever opportunities arise. We saw the handwriting on the wall when Mr.  Bobb rode in, on a Trojan Horse welcomed by many. No teacher, board member, parent, nor child, had time to bestow a thought on what was about to happen, it was a matter wholly outside the realm of our understanding. Some didn’t rightly see how distressed their circumstances were about to become in the fight to save our city by saving DPS.

Closed and gutted, Grayling Elementary School is down the street from where police shot and seriously wounded 84-year-old Charles Griggs in his home March 24, without cause.

Many did not realize how the effect of closing schools, would negatively impact our communities. Detroiters did not know how vital DPS was. Dismantling DPS opened the flood gates to push through the EFM legislation which allowed Mr. Bobb to roll out the plan to convert 41 schools into charters. Closing down DPS, also fit into Mayor Bing’s plan, to downsize Detroit. Closing our schools has contributed to blighted neighborhoods and crime ridden communities. There’s no longer access to computer technology, a place to meet or recreational activities that were provided by DPS, driving residents out of the city, thereby reducing our tax base.      

This EFM law is in direct opposition to the will of the people in the City of Detroit. The Coalition to Restore Hope to DPS refuses to be held in captive by Robert Bobb or any other accomplice in this unlawful, premeditated demise of our school district and city. The total breakdown and silence from the school board during this takeover is baffling. These draconian measures outlined in the EFM law are ostensibly designed to destabilize and funnel scarce public funds away from educational programs while giving the EFM unlimited power.  

Board President Anthony Adams allegedly does not live in Detroit

There has been a shift in the manner in which public officials now function. Many are not driven by high ethical and professional standards. It has been alleged by the media that DPS board President Anthony Adams does not live in the city of Detroit or in the district he represents, district five. What implications does this allegation raise? Why would a high ranking official fraudulently falsify his place of residence? As board president why would Mr. Adams support Bobb’s proposal to close 41 schools, in DPS? Officials who don’t live in Detroit, but want to make policy and decisions for Detroit, should do the right thing and step down. We must hold everyone accountable in upholding the law. The law is what we will use to fight the EFM legislation and win.

The corruption has to end. No one is above the law.  We cannot look the other way anymore, because we have a relationship with someone. If a person is malfeasant, we must confront their evil doing. To ignore and the law and give favors to those who boldly break the law makes that person an accessory and complaisant. These law breakers have to be held accountable for their actions, for they dim our eyes and block our vision, and the vision for Detroit must be one rooted in the law, and dignity, thus giving us a renewed spirit.

BOBB: HANDS OFF OUR CHILDREN!!!

Let us bring forward a cultural rebirth and harness DPS’ great past, the great past long before Robert Bobb and his team players, those who have sacrificed our children for short power and long money.

Our children have suffered the most casualties and our city the most land grabs. However it’s not over. The Coalition to Restore Hope to DPS will continue to work toward comprehensive educational programing and reform. DPS will rise against these insurmountable barriers as we emerge victorious. We cannot let Mr. Robert Bobb control the state of Michigan. Michigan’s future will be determined by our prize possessions, our children.    

Sandra Hines is Co-Chair of the Coalition to Restore Hope to DPS and owner of Families United Now.

On April 8, 2o11, the Coalition filed suit against Robert Bobb. The lawsuit can be read in its entirety by clicking on coalition_v_bobb[1]. It outlines his failure under the previous and current Emergency Financial Manager state statutes to provide regular reports on the internet detailing:

Joy Middle School, closed and left with hundreds of computers trashed

1. “A description of each expenditure made, approved or disapproved during the reporting period that has a cumulative value of $10,000 or more and the source of the funds.
2. A list of each contract that the emergency financial manager awarded or approved with a cumulative value of $10,000 or more, the purpose of the contract, and the identity of the contractor.
3. A description of each loan sought, approved or disapproved during the reporting period that has a cumulative value of $10,000 or more and the proposed use of the funds.
4. A description of any new position created or any vacancy in a permanent position that has been filled by the appointing authority.
5. A description of any position that has been eliminated or from which an employee has been laid off.

Detroit School Book Depository after closure; DPS students remain without textbooks year after year.

It goes on to say, “Mr. Bobb has breached a clear legal duty to post the required information in a report so the public can view, comment, question and/or challenge his expenditures and decisions as it relates to use of taxpayer funds for Detroit Public Schools.

It adds, “The public has been harmed as a result of Mr. Bobb’s failure to be transparent, as he is now proposing to close a majority of DPS buildings due to financial reasons. However, the public has no idea how Mr. Bobb handled the money prior to deciding so many schools had to be closed.”

The lawsuit asks the judge to issue a declaratory judgment stating Bobb is in violation of the law for failing to provide the reports, that a writ of mandamus be issued ordering Bobb to provide the required outstanding reports and to comply with the law in the future.

The lawsuit has been assigned to be heard by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge John Gillis.

For further information from the Coalition to Restore Hope to DPS, call 313-778-4393.

(Go to VOD http://voiceofdetroit.net/?p=5306,  http://voiceofdetroit.net/?p=5320,  http://voiceofdetroit.net/?p=5322, and http://voiceofdetroit.net/?p=5324 to read Russ Bellant’s detailed study of Robert Bobb’s history of corruption and malfeasance in this and other school districts and governments he managed.)

The former Sidney D. Miller High School before it was boarded up and put on the auction block; it counts many famous Detroiters among its graduates, and displayed a beautiful photographic exhibit of them. It is unknown where that exhibit is now; a search of the internet produced no results. If anyone knows, please contact VOD by calling 313-825-6126.

Maryanne Godboldo (at left in black and white) speaks to supporters during prayer vigil. Rev. Charles Adams is at her left.

Prayer vigil to support Maryanne and Ariana Godboldo, held at Hawthorn Center

By Diane Bukowski

NORTHVILLE – “I want my daughter back NOW, release her TODAY,” Maryann Godboldo cried out during a prayer vigil outside the Hawthorn Center where her daughter Ariana is incarcerated because her mother would not medicate her with a dangerous drug, Risperdal.

Godboldo cries for her child in the arms of a friend

The Hawthorn Center in Northville is a state-operated psychiatric facility.

“She was taken illegally,” Godboldo said of the seizure of her child Mar. 24 by an army of police accompanying Child Protective Services (CPS) workers. “They did not have a warrant. My daughter belongs to ME, not the state.”

The hour-long vigil was attended by over one hundred supporters, some of whom came in a church bus. Godboldo’s pastor, the Rev. Charles Adams of Hartford Memorial Baptist Church, Social Justice ministry head the Rev. Edie Worthy, and numerous members of that church, along with other families who have lost their children to the state foster care system,  swelled the ranks.

Rev. Adams leads crowd in chant of "Free Ariana Now!"

They chanted, “What do we want? Ariana! When do we want her? NOW! Free Ariana!”

“CPS has lost their way,” Adams told the crowd. “Many children are caught in their web. They are institutionalized unfairly, medicated, mistreated and abused. The entire system needs to be investigated and those responsible for abuses should be charged.”

Godboldo faces eight felony counts for resisting the seizure of her daughter from their home on Blaine near Linwood. Criminal proceedings against her have been stayed until the State Supreme Court rules on a similar case. She and her family say Ariana was seeing a doctor of Godboldo’s choice and receiving holistic treatment, which allowed her to recover from the side effects of Risperdal, including weight gain, facial grimaces, and behavioral changes.

Ms. Eula Jackson, 98, attended the vigil. She said, "It's terrible what they have done. I hope the family can get her out of there and let her lead and natural life."

“They are not giving her the medications her doctor prescribed in there,” Godboldo said. “The only reason I came out of the house was because I thought she would go to my family and receive the proper care. But she was kidnapped and taken to Children’s Hospital and Hawthorn. This has happened many times before. I promised I was coming for her, and I cannot enter that building now unless I can take my daughter home with me.”

At one point, she walked over to the facility with the intent of taking her child back, and collapsed in tears in the arms of a friend, crying, “She told me I want to come home, Mommy. I want my baby now!”

A parent told the protesters, “Follow the money. Get investigators to find out how much the system is getting in administrative fees and rewards for adopting out children away from their families.”

Vigil participants

Adams said that Mia Wenk, the CPS worker who initiated the seizure of Ariana and went to the home to get her, had only been on the job for a few weeks, with a degree not in social work, but in criminal justice. According to the state’s website, they are currently hiring “Social Services Specialists” for CPS and other positions, who are required only to have bachelor’s degrees in one of several fields, including criminal justice.

VOD contacted Carla Coleman, Hawthorn’s Recipient Rights Advisor, to ask for a list of complaints against the institution over the last five years. Hawthorn informed Godboldo the previous week that Ariana was being transported to Children’s Hospital because she had contracted a sexually-transmitted disease (STD). Since she received a physical at Children’s before being incarcerated at Hawthorn, the family believes she contracted the disease at Hawthorn.

Deirdre Thompson, Hartford's choir director, said Ariana is a "wonderful, enthusiastic girl," who was active in the choir and swimming. She said Ariana played Mary in their Christmas play, singing a solo.

Coleman was to get back to VOD with the list, but two days later, had not called back. Private inpatient care facilities in the state are required to maintain lists of all complaints for public inspection on site. However, state facilities are not even required to be licensed, according to an official with the Department of Community Health (MDCH).

Deborah Garcia-Luna, an MDCH communications office, deflected a Freedom of Information Act request about the matter to an FOIA email inbox. Questions directed to the Department of Human Services regarding Wenk’s qualifications went unanswered as well.

The Godboldo family and their supporters were expected to be in Juvenile Court Wed. Apr. 13 at 1:30 p.m. for another custody hearing. During the last hearing, dozens of people turned out in support, including students from the Nsoroma Institute, who protested in front of the court, located on E. Forest at the 1-75 service drive.

Supporters with Hawthorn in background

The Justice4Maryanne Committee is also conducting a calling campaign to State Representatives to demand an investigation of CPS practices, as follows:

“Please call the following elected officers EVERY DAY and tell them that you want them to investigate the Department of Human Services, Ms. Mia Wenk, and the procedures of Child Protective Services.   Tell them that you want these policies and procedures to change.  Let these elected officials know that it is in their best interests to satisfy the demands of the people of the community.  Let them know that Child Protective Services cannot get away with treating our law-abiding citizens in this cruel and unconstitutional way.” 

STATE REPS FOR DETROIT:  Fred Durhal  517.373 0844; Shanelle Jackson   517.373 1705; David Nathan   517.373.3815;  Jimmy Womack  517.373.0589; Lisa Howze  317.373.0106 

The family also needs legal and medical professionals to assist Godboldo’s attorneys, Allison Folmar and Wanda Evans.  

For further info, call 313-867-4841,  email justice4maryanne@gmail.com or visit website at www.justice4maryanne.com.

Vigil prayer circle at Hawthorn

Robert Bobb, joined at hip with Anthony Adams, announces "Renaissance 2012" plan

District will fire teachers, staff, break unions, hand schools over to unelected charter boards

By Diane Bukowski

DETROIT – Detroit Board of Education President Anthony Adams is clearly “joined at the hip” with Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Robert Bobb, as Mayor Dave Bing said he (Bing) is joined with Michigan Governor Rick Snyder.

On April 5, Adams presented what he called a “joint” board-EM charter school plan for DPS to the Detroit City Council. It was virtually identical to the “Renaissance 2012” plan announced earlier by Bobb. (See VOD articles at http://voiceofdetroit.net/?p=5584 and http://voiceofdetroit.net/?p=5724.)

2011 DPS closings, charter conversions proposed by Adams/Bobb

The plan involves the closure of at least 40 DPS schools for the year 2012, with an additional 18 scheduled for closure if charter operators are not found for them. Another 27 schools not scheduled for closure will be put on the charter auction block. (See blue box listing schools.)

Adams passed out copies of a presentation on the plan to the council, which was obtained by VOD from the City Clerk’s office. The report has a “Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager” logo stamped on every page.      

Board member Ida Short said the board has not voted to approve the Adams-Bobb plan.

“We have not voted to accept the chartering plan even though our President and Vice-President [Tyrone Winfrey] have appeared in several places about it,” Short told the Council. “We have chartering in New Orleans, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and New York, but the data shows that on the whole the charters are not doing as well as public schools.”

School board member Ida Short

A March 13, 2011 article in the New York Times said, “Charter school students score about the same on state tests as Detroit district students, even though charters have fewer special education students (8 percent versus 17 percent in the district) and fewer poor children (65 percent get subsidized lunches versus 82 percent at district schools). It’s hard to know whether children are better off under these “reforms” or they’re just being moved around more.”  (Click on http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/education/14winerip.html to read entire article.)

Detroit's schoolchildren now being sold at public auction as were their ancestors during slavery days

Adams said he has favored charter schools at least since 1994, and has recently been involved in ongoing discussions with charter operators who are chomping at the bit to get DPS’ $7200 per pupil from the state of Michigan for an estimated 16,000 students.

That’s at least $115.2 million, if Snyder’s plan to cut per-pupil funds by $400 passes the state legislature. If not, the current per-pupil rate is $7600, bringing the total to $121.6 million. Bobb has said the plan would save DPS $70-$90 million.

“The irony of this whole movement is that when the state charter law was first enacted, I think  DPS was first school district to offer charters,” Adams said. He noted the first Detroit charters were “Afro-centered.”

“We should have taken advantage of that charter school opportunity then because it would have given us a different base of funding and a different prospect for how we handle education in city of Detroit now,” Adams told Council members.

He added later, “The state does not guarantee a PUBLIC SCHOOL education for every student, it just guarantees an education.”

In fact, the State Constitution DOES guarantee a free public education for every student without discrimination. (See yellow box). Charters won a court battle indicating they are “public schools,” but in the court of public opinion, there is certainly “reasonable doubt” about this issue.

 Adams did not explain why since 1994, years which included his term as DPS general counsel to state appointed-CEO Kenneth Burnley, he never advocated for African-centered education in the entire Detroit system. The vast majority of students attending DPS are Black. Additionally, many authorities believe African-centered education is historically accurate, unlike Euro-centered education, which begins the history of civilization with the Greek and Roman empires.

It should thus be advantageous to students of ALL races.

In fact, the nation’s PUBLIC school system was largely founded by Africans who broke the bonds of slavery during and after the Civil War, with the intention of educating ALL children regardless of race or economic status. To them, free PUBLIC education was a paramount RIGHT, since many had been whipped and lynched for learning to read.

Charter operators: "Give me your children at $7600 per head."

Michigan state law first authorized the opening of charter schools or “public school academies” as they are euphemistically termed, in 1994. These schools, while garnering the same state per pupil aid as public school districts, are not governed by elected school boards or subject to the same oversight requirements, as well as guarantees of teacher certification and union representation.

The charter schools proposed by Adams and Bobb will not be any different. Adams said the charter operators are averse to dealing with union contracts, and that the firing of teachers and staff in the schools will happen. He said the district will continue to own the schools and will provide a “menu of services” for the charter operators, including maintenance and transportation (which have already been privatized).

DPS parent opposes devastation of district Apr. 30, 2010

But he claimed the schools, which would be under district authority, would have ample “community involvement.” 

Adams said each charter school board would be required to have three members from the community, but would not specify if that meant DPS parents or even Detroit residents. He said board members will not be elected by the community, but selected by charter operators.

“As a part of this process, we will be taking applications from community people on a first-come, first-served basis, who will be given training at no cost, and become certified to be board members,” Adams said. “Their names will be provided to the charter operators who will select them from list. This will be a moment of empowerment—the community will now have the  opportunity to make a difference at the school level.”

City Councilwoman Brenda Jones

In response to questions from Councilwoman Brenda Jones about the logistics of implementing such drastic changes over the summer, Adams said, “This is very aggressive plan, it does require in a very short time line a two-phase approach. There are a number of schools currently in hopper scheduled to be closed,” Adams said.

He said the proposed closings allow the district to seek Requests for Proposals from charter operators, which have now been posted on the DPS website.

“We can’t in good conscience continue to operate in same way in the same manner, if our kids are not becoming very proficient in what they do,” Adams said. “We must embrace the notion of academic excellence. Academic failure will no longer be tolerated.”

Adams claimed only five percent of Detroit school children are proficient in reading as compared to the national average.

Studies to support this allegation are not included in the report.  Adams was likely using the 2009 Trial Urban District Assessment, a national test developed by the Governing Board of the National Center for Education Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education, and the Council of  Great City Schools. The test only sampled students, using categories of Advanced, Proficient, Basic and Below Basic.

Detroit children have the highest poverty rate in the country

Crain’s Detroit Business said of the test, “Detroit’s fourth graders received an overall score of 200 on a scale of 0-500, putting the city dead last among the other 17 large central U.S. cities grouped together in the NAEP test. The national average of districts of all kinds was 239.”

In fact, 20101state “report card” grades accorded to schools on the chopping and/or auction block for 2011 show only three with “D alert” grades. The remainder have B or C grades, and there are even several with A grades. (See list of schools.)

Adams neglected to say that Detroiters also come in dead last in the rate of poverty among “large central U.S.cities,” ranking highest at 33.6 percent in 2004, with a whopping 45.8 percent of its children living in poverty, according to the U.S. Census. Current breakdowns from the 2010 U.S. Census are not available on that website, which has been drastically altered.

The U.S. Constitution still includes the three-fifths compromise

Detroit children also receive about three-fifths the amount of state per-pupil aid as do children from wealthy suburbs like Bloomfield Hills and Birmingham, according to Michigan Department of Education figures. That unquestionably violates the non-discrimination clause of the state’s constitution, but has NEVER been challenged by any Detroit official or state politician.

In other words, Detroit is back to slavery days, when Africans were considered three-fifths of a person.

 To make things worse, 86 percent of that minimal per-pupil aid goes to pay off the district’s debt to the banks. (Go to VOD article    )

Councilwoman JoAnn Watson

Councilwoman JoAnn Watson told Adams, “The state of Michigan led a takeover initiative in 1999, and since then huge deficits have been garnered under the state’s watch. It is unconscionable to leave DPS with this debt—it’s their debt. Detroit citizens voted overwhelmingly in a referendum to excuse that debt. The district had a $93 million surplus in 1999, and was right in the middle academically. It was all about money, power and politics and it still is.”

Adams showed a slide of enrollment projections for the district. The district expects a school population of 50,617 in 2016 as compared to an actual population in 168,213 in 2000, he said. That’s 30 PERCENT of pre-state-takeover figures.

Detroit parents are fleeing to charters and to suburban districts, as schools close, he said. Reports show seventy thousand Detroit children now attend charter schools, causing the loss of $533 million in school aid ANNUALLY to the Detroit Public Schools.

Adams claimed that under the Renaissance 2012 plan, no student will be relocated from their current school, if the school is selected for charterization.

He said charters will be required to take special education students. But the actual language in his presentation is “Charter operators will be contractually required to meet all special education needs of enrolled students,” a rather different statement.

In response to questions from Councilwoman Brenda Jones, Adams defended the closing of the Day School for the Deaf and other Special Education programs. He said the Day School’s students will be merged into Edmonson and Schultz schools and questioned the validity of separating deaf and special ed students from the general population.

Gallaudet students blocking entrance to university to protest appointment of hearing president in 2006

“Kids must understand they don’t live in a world by themselves, deaf children should be accepted,” he said. “The district keeps special needs populations in their own world, but some with moderate challenges should be merged, so they have a broader understanding of what the world is all about.”

He claimed all programs for deaf and special ed students would transfer with them.

“Whether society will be sensitive to their needs could be very questionable,” Jones responded.

Council members Gary Brown, Saunteel Jenkins, Charles Pugh 9 22 10

There is a national movement in the deaf population that manifested itself in uprisings at the country’s only university for the deaf, Gallaudet in Washington, D.C., in 1988 and 2006. Students demanded a president who is deaf. Many in the deaf community still prefer to use sign language, which they consider a language as valid as English or Spanish, as opposed to “blending in” to the community at large by learning to speak vocally and reading lips.

Councilwoman Saunteel Jenkins congratulated Adams on working closely with Bobb despite the board’s earlier adversarial relationship with him. Adams himself sued Bobb at one point for slander because Bobb claimed Adams wouldn’t show up for hearings on shady DPS real estate deals because he was involved in them.

“We can continue to fight,” Adams said. “We won the battle on mayoral control, but where has that gotten us in terms of improving the quality of education for our children?

He said the community and the district’s EM should work together with private foundations, since the district’s status as a public school system had prevented the private foundations from contributing funds for the benefit of Detroit’s children.

Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow

 Law Professor Michelle Alexander says the shocking incarceration rate is due to the War on Drugs, a war waged almost exclusively in poor communities of color.  

By Dick Price, editor of LA Progressive

March 31, 2011    

 This article first appeared on LA Progressive.

“More African American men are in prison or jail, on probation or parole than were enslaved in 1850, before the Civil War began,” Michelle Alexander told a standing room only house at the Pasadena Main Library this past Wednesday, the first of many jarring points she made in a riveting presentation.

Former prisoners and allies support GA prison strike outside Detroit's Mound Rd. prison Dec. 14, 2010

Alexander, currently a law professor at Ohio State, had been brought in to discuss her year-old bestseller, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness . Interest ran so high beforehand that the organizers had to move the event to a location that could accommodate the eager attendees. That evening, more than 200 people braved the pouring rain and inevitable traffic jams to crowd into the library’s main room, with dozens more shuffled into an overflow room, and even more latecomers turned away altogether. Alexander and her topic had struck a nerve.

Growing crime rates over the past 30 years don’t explain the skyrocketing numbers of Black — and increasingly Brown — men caught in America’s prison system, according to Alexander, who clerked for Supreme Court Justice  Harry Blackmun after attending Stanford Law. “In fact, crime rates have fluctuated over the years and are now at historical lows.”

“Most of that increase is due to the War on Drugs, a war waged almost exclusively in poor communities of color,” she said, even though studies have shown that whites use and sell illegal drugs at rates equal to or above blacks. In some black inner-city communities, four of five black youth can expect to be caught up in the criminal justice system during their lifetimes.

As a consequence, a great many black men are disenfranchised, said Alexander — prevented because of their felony convictions from voting and from living in public housing, discriminated in hiring, excluded from juries, and denied educational opportunities.

“What do we expect them to do?” she asked, who researched her ground-breaking book while serving as Director of the Racial Justice Project at the ACLU of Northern California. “Well, seventy percent return to prison within two years, that’s what they do.”

Prison in California

Organized by the Pasadena Public Library and the Flintridge Center, with a dozen or more cosponsors, including the ACLU Pasadena/Foothills Chapter and Neighborhood Church, and the LA Progressive as the sole media sponsor, the event drew a crowd of the converted, frankly — more than two-thirds from Pasadena’s well-established black community and others drawn from activist circles. Although Alexander is a polished speaker on a deeply researched topic, little she said stunned the crowd, which, after all, was the choir. So the question is what to do about this glaring injustice.

Married to a federal prosecutor, Alexander briefly touched on the differing opinion in the Alexander household. “You can imagine the arguments we have,” Alexander said in relating discussions she has with her husband. “He thinks there are changes we can make within the system,” she said, agreeing that there are good people working on the issues and that improvements can be made. “But I think there has to be a revolution of some kind.”

Depiction of slave ship

However change is to come, a big impediment will be the massive prison-industrial system.

“If we were to return prison populations to 1970 levels, before the War on Drugs began,” she said. “More than a million people working in the system would see their jobs disappear.”

So it’s like America’s current war addiction. We have built a massive war machine — one bigger than all the other countries in the world combined — with millions of well-paid defense industry and billions of dollars at stake. With a hammer that big, every foreign policy issue looks like a nail — another bomb to drop, another country to invade, another massive weapons development project to build.

Similarly, with such a well-entrenched prison-industrial complex in place — also with a million jobs and billions of dollars at stake — every criminal justice issue also looks like a nail — another prison sentence to pass down, another third strike to enforce, another prison to build in some job-starved small town, another chance at a better life to deny.

Alexander, who drew her early inspiration from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., devotes the last part of “The New Jim Crow” to steps people can take to combat this gross injustice. In particular, she recommended supporting the Drug Policy Alliance. At the book signing afterwards, Dr. Anthony Samad recruited Michelle Alexander to appear this fall at one his Urban Issues Forums, typically at the California African American Museum next to USC.