People vs. the powerful - People’s Summit takes shape

By Eric T. Campbell
The Michigan Citizen

DETROIT — Hundreds of America’s most powerful businessmen and CEOs will convene inside Ford Field on June 15 to discuss the future of the U.S. economy. In fact, the National Summit is described on its website as, “A Gathering to Define America’s Future.”

Area activists have determined that any discourse on the path of the economy should include those who are most affected — the working class and poor of America who have endured the brunt of the current economic upheaval. In response, the Moratorium Now! Coalition has applied to the City of Detroit for a permit to stage a corresponding People’s Summit in Grand Circus Park from June 14-17.

The People’s Summit is hoping to assemble citizens from all over the region to strategize for a People’s Stimulus Plan and an Economic Bill of Rights. Organizers say that the rally will be an opportunity to confront big business with the realities of the economy.

“It was our view that people should be allowed to be out there and discussing their own economic agenda,” Moratorium Now! Coalition member David Sole told the Michigan Citizen. “We believe we have the right to meet, especially with the way the economy is now.”

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