PEOPLE'S SUMMIT and TENT CITY June 14 - 17, 2009
Grand Circus Park, (Woodward and Adams), Detroit
* Bailout the people! * Jobs, healthcare, housing and education for all * Moratorium on foreclosures, evictions and utility shutoffs – housing is a right * Stop budget cuts and restore social services funding * Stop tuition hikes and school closings * Moratorium on layoffs, plant closings, pension thefts and union busting – A job at a living wage is a right * End racism, sexism and anti-LGBT attacks * Stop attacks on immigrants * Bailout youth and students * No more police brutality * Jobs not Jails - For prisoners and ex-prisoners' rights * Save the natural environment and stop global climate change * U.S. troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan * Money for jobs and human needs, not war *

Thursday, May 28, 2009

SURE YOU'RE PISSED, BUT WHAT ARE YOU PREPARED TO DO ABOUT IT?

from Cleveland Scene Weekly

Are you just generally pissed off about everything and think we’ve got to get back to the way it was done in the ’60s — getting out in the streets and making fiery speeches? Then the Bail Out People Movement might be just the thing for you. Founded this spring in New York and headquartered at the Solidarity Center there, the group is sponsoring a “People’s Economic Summit” in New York May 31, prior to the UN Summit on the World Economic Crisis, and a “People’s Summit and Tent City” in Detroit’s Grand Circus Park June 14-17 to counter the National Business Summit taking place at the Detroit Economic Club. Among the things they’re aiming to address: providing jobs, health care, housing and education for all, stopping foreclosures, restoring social-services funding, demanding moratoriums on layoffs and plant closings, ending racism, sexism and attacks on LGBT people and immigrants, stopping police brutality, getting U.S. troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and probably a whole bunch of other stuff too (though probably not the college football's controversial bowl championship series).

The Cleveland chapter of Bail Out People Movement is holding a community speak-out at noon this Saturday at Market Square Park across from the West Side Market. On the agenda: to assemble a Cleveland delegation to the Detroit event and to spotlight its main theme, “bail out the people not the banks.” The press release adds, “The speak out will also raise demands against racism; sexism, gay, bisexual and transgender community; raids on immigrants; police brutality; time limits on public assistance; cutbacks, plant closings and layoffs.”

Among the sponsors listed are the Peoples Fightback Center, Cleveland Jobs With Justice, the Baldwin Wallace Food Justice Council, Fight Imperialism — Stand Together and Abdul Qahhar of the Cleveland Chapter of the New Black Panther Party. Power to the people, right on! Call the Cleveland BOPM at 216.531.4004 for more information. — Anastasia Pantsios

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Conference for Comprehensive Migratory Reform

Detroit, Michigan - Saturday, June 13 to Sunday, June 14
Organizers of May 1st from the cities of Los Angeles, San Antonio, New York, Chicago, Detroit, etc.

Dear Activists:

After the great success of the May 1st marches which were held in over 100 cities, Latinos United in Michigan invites all activists of the migratory movement to participate in the Conference for Comprehensive Migratory Reform, which will be in Detroit, Michigan on Saturday, June 13 and Sunday, June 14. The purpose of the conference is to democratically discuss the steps to be followed in order to accomplish objectives for comprehensive migratory reform and which are suitable to the needs of immigrants. Taking into account the expectations created by President Barack Obama in his declarations about comprehensive migratory reform and the actual political-social-economic conditions, we need to know of the necessity of continuing to democratically pursue the fulfillment of our objectives.

For those activists who wish to attend the "People's Summmit" (national event), on Sunday June 14 we will have a tour of the city of Detroit. Detroit has been devastated by the financial, energy, environmental, economic, crisis. ( Ironically, this crisis was caused by the same forces that oppose the comprehensive migratory reform.) At the end of the tour, we will join the "People's Summit". In this event we will state our position with respect to the comprehensive migratory reform before other groups of activists who will meet here in Detroit to participate in this event.

For more information call or write to Latinos United of Michigan: Ignacio 313 575 4933 laborexchange@aol.com, Rosendo 313 580 5474 rosendo@luum.org

Attentively,

Rosendo Delgado (313) 580 ? 5474
Ignacio Meneses (313) 575 ? 4933
Latinos United of Michigan


“Conferencia por una Reforma Migratoria Amplia”
Detroit, Michigan Sabado 13 y Domingo 14 de Junio, 2009.

Organizadores del Primero de Mayo de las ciudades de Los Angeles, New york, chicago Detroit, San Antonio,etc.

Estimado@s Activistas:

De spues del gran exito de las Marchas “Primero de Mayo” que se celebraron en mas de 100 ciudades en los EEUU.
Latinos Unidos de Michigan extiende una invitacion a todos los activistas del movimiento migratorio a participar en La
“Conferencia por una Reforma Migratoria Amplia” Esta se efectuara en Detroit, Michigan Sabado13 y Domingo

El Sabado 13 de Junio, 2009. La conferencia es con la finalidad de discutir democraticamente los pasos a seguir para lograr nuestros objetivos que comprenden una Reforma Migratoria Amplia y adecuada a las necesidades de los inmigrantes.
Tomando en cuenta las expectativas que ha creado el Presidente Barac Obama en sus declaraciones sobre una Reforma
Migratoria Amplia y las condiciones social-economicas-politicas actuales; debemos reconocer la necesidad de seguir
presionando democraticamente para conseguir nuestros objetivos.

Para aquell@s activistas que deseen asistir al “People's Summit” (evento nacional), el domingo 14 de Junio tendremos
una gira(tour) de la ciudad de Detroit que ha sido devastada por la crisis economica, social, energetica, ambiental, etc.
(Ironicamente, esta crisis fue causada por las mismas fuerzas que se oponen a la Reforma Migratoria Amplia) Al terminar
la gira, nos incorporaremos al “People's Summit” En este evento expondremos nuestra postura en lo que respecta a la
“Reforma Migratoria Amplia” ante otros grupos de activistas que se reuniran aqui en Detroit para participar en dicho evento.

Para mas informacion llame o escriba a Latinos Unidos de Michigan:
Ignacio 313 575 4933 laborexchange@aol.com, Rosendo 313 58 0 5474 rosendo@luum.org

Atentamente,

Rosendo Delgado (313) 580 – 5474
Ignacio Meneses (313) 5 75 – 4933
Latinos Unidos/United de Michigan

Continue the Legacy of Fred Hampton

Build the People's Summit: Continue the Legacy of Fred Hampton

Event: People's Summit Fundraiser/Discussion
Film: "The Murder of Fred Hampton", 1971 (88 mins.) Recently re-released on DVD
Date: Friday May 29, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Location: 5920 Second Avenue at Antoinette, Near WSU in Detroit
Suggested Donation: $5

Hampton Photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53911892@N00/3549015374/

Fred Hampton, a young leader of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party, electrified the African American and progressive movement in Chicago during 1968-69. He formed an alliance of street gangs along with organizations from the Puerto Rican, Chicano, student and working class white communities in the Chicago area in order to fight against repression and for food, free health care, quality education, housing and fundamental social change. His efforts prefigured the Rainbow Coalition of Jesse Jackson during the 1980s. Hampton's legacy as a young revolutionary organizer portends much for the challenges facing the people of the United States today amid the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brief background on film:

In The Murder Of Fred Hampton, currently in re-release on DVD, director Mike Gray and the Chicago Film Group Collective chronicle the brief but extraordinary life of 21 year old Hampton, executed as he slept on December 4th, 1969, along with other Panthers during a brutal home invasion by a special unit of Chicago police tied to the State Attorney's office. Despite an elaborate cover-up by police insisting that that they fired 99 bullets and left Hampton's brains splattered across his mattress in 'self-defense,' movement lawyers, as documented in this devastating film, proved otherwise. This people's investigation challenging at the same time Nixon Administration repression and Cointelpro, resulted in the indictment of several Chicago police, the State Attorney for Northern Illinois, and his assistants.

The Murder Of Fred Hampton illuminates the magnetic fervor, militant eloquence, and sheer infectious ideological energy of 'living high on the people,' that Chairman Fred embodied, much like Malcolm. And it was that threat to the state and the status quo, a combination of political rage transcending fear and the passionate pursuit of broad popular unity against social and economic injustice, that invoked Hampton's valiant iconic immortality and also abrupt victimhood. Rendering The Murder Of Fred Hampton a visual and oral blueprint of cautionary wisdom and mass inspiration.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

People’s Summit vs. National Business Summit

Detroit June 14-17

Published May 17, 2009 9:41 PM

Organizers of the People’s Summit, including a tent city, in downtown Detroit June 14-17 report momentum is building for the event. It’s billed as “four days of active resistance” to counter the National Business Summit held June 15-17 at the GM Renaissance Center.

On May 5 the Detroit City Council approved the People’s Summit application for a permit allowing the four-day demonstration based in Grand Circus Park on Woodward Ave. Organizers spoke at several meetings urging council members to override the police and other city departments that had recommended denying the permit. Councilwoman JoAnn Watson was instrumental in obtaining a unanimous vote granting a permit for the tent city.

‘Big business doesn’t speak for us!’

The National Business Summit Web site shows an array of 99 percent white and mostly male speakers at their event, which will be co-chaired by Ford Motor Company executive head Bill Ford and Dow Chemical chief executive Andrew Liveris. They call it a national gathering “to define America’s future” and exhort other corporate giants to “Make your voice heard–stand up for your country, your company, and your future!” (nationalsummit.org)

Former Michigan Governor John Engler, who is hated by workers and the poor throughout the state for his legacy of racism, welfare gutting, cutbacks and attacks on unions, will be among over 40 speakers at the big-business event. Engler is now the president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers.

Richard Dauch, the chairman and CEO of American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc., is also a slated speaker. Dauch recently announced that the AAM plant in Hamtramck, Mich., the site of a bitter strike by union workers in 2008, will be closed and operations moved to Mexico. About 3,000 AAM workers already had their jobs eliminated last year.

Because of lower-than-expected registrations—at $1,495 a pop!—the business summit was moved from Ford Field and the registration fee slashed to “only” $695. It seems the conveners of the event, sponsored by the Detroit Economic Club, realized late in the game that the capitalist economic crisis was even affecting some rich folks. The reduced registration fee, however, is still too exorbitant for poor people and workers, including laid-off and unemployed workers, to have a “voice.”

‘Bail out the people!’

Literature for the People’s Summit declares: “How dare these big-business honchos come to Detroit to plot how to enrich themselves further while we struggle against home foreclosures and evictions, homelessness, mass layoffs and plant closings, utility cutoffs, school shutdowns, budget cuts, record-high unemployment, racism and every other kind of outrage!” Organizers say their event will allow the true voice of the people to be heard.

The People’s Summit will include a tent city, marches, demonstrations, rallies, cultural programs, meals and town hall meetings to discuss a “People’s Stimulus Plan and Economic Bill of Rights” so that poor and working people can define their own vision of a future free of social and economic injustice and inequality.

“Bail out the people!” has become a rallying cry for the People’s Summit, which will protest the multi-trillion-dollar give-away to the big banks and corporations that have caused the very economic crisis facing working-class people today.

Many issues will be taken up during the four-day event, which is seen as an all-inclusive demonstration linking the many struggles challenging the war on poor and working people. The People’s Summit will put forward a program for jobs, universal health care, a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions, and full rights for oppressed nationalities, immigrants, people with disabilities, women and the lesbian/gay/bi and trans communities, along with other demands.

Endorsers of the People’s Summit include the national anti-war group Code Pink, U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., the Toledo Foreclosure Defense League, the national Bail Out the People Movement, Latinos Unidos de Michigan, Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, Auto Worker Caravan, United Auto Workers Local 909 Executive Board, the Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures and Evictions, and many other groups and individuals.

People’s Summit organizers are doing intensive outreach and leafleting. Already the event has received media attention from the Detroit News, Crain’s Detroit Business, Michigan Citizen, Detroiter, Metro Times and other outlets. Activists from Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio, Chicago, Atlanta, New York City and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., are planning to attend.

Donations of food, supplies and funds for the People’s Summit are being solicited. Checks or money orders payable to the Moratorium NOW! Coalition/People’s Summit can be sent to 5920 Second Ave., Detroit, MI 48202. Call 313-887-4344 or visit www.peoplessummit.org for more information or to endorse, get leaflets and volunteer.

http://www.workers.org/2009/us/peoples_summit_0521/
Articles copyright 1995-2009 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

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Protest the G20 Summit
in New York City!

Sept. 19 & 20

Another world is urgently necessary –
BUT WE MUST FIGHT FOR IT!


Bail Out People–Not Banks
Money for Social Needs–Not War & Greed
Jobs, Housing, Healthcare & Education are a Right
Organize-Mobilize-Resist-Unite-Fight Back!

The third G20 summit is going to be in NYC on or around September 20, 2009. The G20 summits are held in response to the greatest worldwide economic crisis since the 1930s. But these high-level meetings of governments and bankers are not held to rescue the people of the world from depression level unemployment, evictions, homelessness, poverty, social and economic inequality and war.

These summits are about fixing the economic and financial order that puts profits before people – and fixing that system by creating more poverty, misery and suffering.

The last G20 Summit held in London in early April was met with massive protests both in London and throughout Europe.
Now that the G20 is coming to the U.S., it is up to activists and organizations here to take up the challenge of uniting and working together to organize the biggest protests possible. BOPM urges activists and organizations to endorse the call for protest at the G20 Summit in the fall, and to begin organizing for it.

The potential for mass mobilization in September is truly infinite. So let’s begin the work required to realize that powerful potential.

www.BailoutPeople.org
Email: BailoutPeople@safewebmail.com
55 W. 17th St, #5C, NY, NY 10011 212-633-6646
NYC meetings every Wed at 6:30 Call or email for information, table reservations or to volunteer.

People's Economic Summit, New York City, Sunday, May 31

The Bail Out the People Movementinvites you to a

People's Economic Summit

New York City
Sunday, May 31

In conjunction with the June 1 -3
UN Summit on the World Economic Crisis
And organizing for protests at the G20

Starting Time 11 a.m.
Main Session 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Dag Hammerskjold Plaza,
47th & 1st Avenue
  • Join us Wednesday, May 20, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the Solidarity Center (55 W. 17th St. 5th Floor in Manhattan between 5th & 6th Avenues) for a Bail Out the People Movement Organizers' Meeting to help prepare for the People's Economic Summit
  • Join us Tuesday and Wednesday, from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. to help finish a large mailing to help spread the word about the People's Economic Summit. Even if you only have an hour or two to spare, drop by at 55 W. 17th St. 5th Floor.


Proposed Agenda
11 a.m. – 1 p.m. 47th St. & 1st Ave.
Special focus panels & breakouts, including:
Defending Immigrant/Worker Rights
Why do migrants leave their homelands? What is behind the anit-immigrant climate? How can we build a workers’ rights movement that includes legalization, EFCA, etc?

This and more will be discussed in a panel by members of May 1st Coalition, Bayan-USA, La Pena del Bronx, Pakistan-USA Freedom Forum, Million Worker March and others.
Building a Struggle of Youth & Students
Hear youth from member organizations – Anakbayan, FiRE, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, and FIST, along with students from Hunter College, BMCC, and others – join forces to deliver a perspective on combating not only the crisis of the capitalist system, but also the struggles against national, women and LGBT oppression, imperialism, etc.

Communities of Faith for Peace with Justice
As people of faith and conscience, we will discuss the failed economic system and its impact on our poor and oppressed communities, and how we can change it by denouncing the social sins of male supremacy, hetero-sexism/homophobia, classism, racism, ethnocentrism and xenophobia (to just mention a few). Participation of San Romero Church and others.

Capitalist Crisis, Racism, Political Repression & the Prisons
The lack of jobs or a future has resulted in the U.S. having the largest prison population in the world with majority Black, Latino/a and Native prisoners, and growing repression against youth, immigrant workers, and Arab and Muslim peoples. With participation of: NY Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, Millions for Mumia, Lynne Stewart, N.Y. Committee to Free the Cuba Five, N.Y. Friends of MOVE (9).
People’s Speakout in Two Parts:
A discussion of strategy and tactics from those who have lost jobs, homes, healthcare, and their future.

Workers’ Struggles in the U.S. – The fight for jobs; the EFCA and against layoffs; growing unemployment; foreclosures; evictions – with Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, Million Worker March Movement, NYC Labor Against the War, Picture the Homeless, Take Back Our Union.

Struggles Against U.S. Corporate Power Around the World – The impact of the capitalist crisis, militarism, environmental destruction and imperialist policies in Africa, Asia, Middle East, Caribbean and Latin America.
Full Plenary Sessions
Starts at 1 p.m.
Invited Speakers to Include: UN Delegates, Cynthia McKinney, Ramsey Clark, Howard Zinn, Nawa El Saadawi, Medea Benjamin, Ajamu Sankofa, Vinie Burrows, Nellie Bailey, City Councilperson Charles Barron, Chris Silvera, Brenda Stokely, Larry Hamm, Lynne Stewart, Rev. Lucius Walker, Sonny Africa, Paul Quintos, Dulphing Ogan, Curtis Doebbler

First Plenary – 1 to 2:30 p.m.

A NEW WORLD IS URGENTLY NEEDED…

Panelists examine the roots of the economic meltdown and present the case for alternatives to capitalism and imperialism.

Second Plenary – 2:30 to 4 p.m.

But We Must Fight for it!

Panelists discuss building the mass movement; formulating programs and strategies to force a struggle for jobs, an end to foreclosures and evictions, and new rights and powers for working and poor people.

Third Plenary – 4 to 6 p.m.

RESISTANCE!

Special session on preparing for the G20 Summit in September in NYC and plans for the Detroit People’s Summit and Tent City..

ENDORSING ORGANIZATIONS

for MAY 31 Peoples Summit

(partial listing)
Action Center for Justice, NC
Al Awda, NY Palestine
Right to Return Coalition, NYC
Anakbayan
Arab Muslim American Federation
Arab Women’s Solidarity Assoc.
Artists & Activists United for Peace;
Asia Pacific Alliance
Bayan USA– National Alliance
for Filipino Concerns
Code Pink
FiRE– Filipinas for Rights
& Empowerment
FIST– Fight Imperialism
Stand Together
Guyanese American Workers United
Haiti-Liberté
Harlem Tenants Council
Int’l Action Center
Int’l League of Peoples Struggle
Int’l Migrants Alliance
Jersey City Peace Movement
Katrina-Rita Diaspora Solidarity, NYC
La Peña del Bronx
League of Filipino Students–SFSU
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
May 1st Coalition for Worker
& Immigrant Rights
Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice-MECAWI
Million Worker March
Millions for Mumia
Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures & Evictions
Movement in Motion, Bronx NY
Network to Stop Foreclosures
& Evictions
New Abolitionist Movement, NYC
NYC Labor Against the War
Nodutdol for Korean Community Development
Nord Sud XXI
Pakistan USA Freedom Forum
Peoples Organization for Progress
Phil Berrigan Inst. for Non-Violence
Picture the Homeless
Resist!
San Romero de Las Américas Church
Take Back Our Union Movement
U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange
Womens Fightback Network


www.BailoutPeople.org
Email: BailoutPeople@safewebmail.com
55 W. 17th St, #5C, NY, NY 10011 212-633-6646
NYC meetings every Wed at 6:30 Call or email for information, table reservations or to volunteer.

To Autoworker Caravan and Autoworker Supporters:

The People's Summit and Tent City,
June 14-17 in Detroit to Counter the National Economic (Corporate CEO)
Summit taking place at the Ren Center in Detroit

Dear Autoworker Caravan and Autoworker Supporters,

On behalf of the Autoworker Caravan I attended an organizing meeting April 12 for a "People's Summit" scheduled for mid-June in Detroit to coincide with a major corporate confab taking place at Ford field.

The next meeting is this Friday, May 22 at 6 p.m. - Michigan Center for High Technology (aka MCHT) near Masonic Temple, 2727 Second Ave. (on TEMPLE between 2nd and 3rd) Detroit , MI (Wheelchair entrance is on Second south of Temple. Call 961-3390 from the ramp just south of stairs. For people who can negotiate stairs, enter through the door off the parking lot on the SE corner of Temple and 3rd. - one block west of Masonic Temple.)

The corporate event describes itself as a gathering to "define America's future in a global economy." The likes of John Engler, head of the National Association of Manufacturers, American Axle's CEO Dick Dauch, Nardelli and Mulally of Chrysler and Ford, etc. will pontificate about the future that the global capitalists have in store for us. If you are able and willing to pay the registration fee of $1,495 you too can have a voice. The International Union UAW is one of
the "Change Agent" sponsors, although no union representatives appear on the speakers' list. More information can be found here: www.nationalsummit.org/

The coalition for a "People's Summit" is organizing a counter event to give organized expression for the people who have been at the receiving end and left out of the corporate vision of America's future - the thousands of neighbors who've lost their homes through foreclosures, workers who have lost their jobs, families which have no access to adequate health care, families and communities which stand to lose everything in the face of bankruptcies of corporations which apparently are not too big to fail, the victims of deportations and wanton police brutality, the young people who face prison-like conditions in the schools, the people who are tired of war after war,
etc., etc..

The focus of this organizing effort will be a tent city erected for the occasion at Grand Circus Park in downtown Detroit. Many activities and events are planned to enable the people to articulate a different future and to have their voices heard. More can be found here: peoplessummit.org

The organizers are seeking to expand the coalition, broaden the agenda, bring in new activists, and add to their organizational co-sponsors. The Autoworker Caravan should participate on all fronts.

One idea that we may want to consider is to organize a tour of all the shuttered workplaces dotting our metro region to bring to light the waste laid to our communities by the profiteers gathering at the Ren Center.

Feedback is welcomed, and participation invited. The next planning meeting is Friday, May 22 from 6-8 p.m. at the Michigan Center for High Technology, 2727 Second Avenue, Detroit.

In solidarity,

Frank Hammer

www.autoworkercaravan.org

more: What we are fighting for

Sunday, May 17, 2009

"Shuttin Detroit Down"

Written by John Rich and John D. Anderson
"Big John" played by Kris Kristofferson



Video Source: John Rich

My daddy taught me in this country everyones the same.
You work hard for your dollar and you never pass the blame,
When it dont go your way.
Now I see all these big shots whining on my evening news,
About how their losing billions and its up to me and you
To come running to the rescue.

Well pardon me if I dont shed a tear.
There selling make believe and we dont buy that here.

Because in the real world their shuttin Detroit down,
While the boss man takes his bonus paid jets on out of town.
DCs bailing out them bankers as the farmers auction ground.
Yeah while there living up on Wall Street in that New York City town,
Here in the real world their shuttin Detroit down.
Here in the real world their shuttin Detroit down.

Well that old mans been working in that plant most all his life,
Now his pension plans been cut in half and he cant afford to die
And its a crying shame, cus he aint the one to Blame.
When I looked down to see his calloused hands,
Well let me tell you friend it gets me fightin mad.

Cause in the real world their shuttin Detroit down,
While the boss man takes his bonus paid jets on out of town.
DCs bailing out them bankers as the farmers auction ground.
Yeah while there living up on Wall Street in that New York City town,
Here in the real world their shuttin Detroit down.

Yeah while there living up on Wall Street in that New York City town,
Here in the real world their shuttin Detroit down.
Here in the real world their shuttin Detroit down,
In the real world their shuttin Detroit down.

READ HIS BIO AND MORE ARTICLES BY AXIS OF LOGIC COLUMNIST, RAMÓN SANTIAGO

© Copyright 2009 by AxisofLogic.com

This material is available for republication as long as reprints include verbatim copy of the article in its entirety, respecting its integrity. Reprints must cite the author and Axis of Logic as the original source including a "live link" to the article. Thank you!


We can do better! Begin to fightback. Join us at the People's Summit and Tent City, June 14-17.

Comment from Greg Shotwell, Soldiers of Solidarity:

No revolt, just pity the victims.
I was really appalled when the fired worker put his
aw shucks hand on the boss's shoulder in
comradely understanding, "It's just policy"
no hard feelings, boss man.
And when a fellow worker protests, the boss
gives us the moral of the story,
"There's nothing I can do about it."
There's something really subversive about a video
that emphasizes powerlessness, pity, and
there's nothing you can do about it
while trying to convince us that the producers
of the video are on our side.
I suppose it was followed up with some
buy American schmaltz and write a letter to Obama
but don't do anything real
like shut down the docks
and surround the banks with rank & file autoworkers,
steelworkers, ironworkers, and retirees.

sos shot

Sunday, May 10, 2009

What We are Fighting For

by the autoworkercaravan

  1. No further loans to GM and Chrysler without stopping the flow of jobs performed by U.S. autoworkers to countries overseas - whether they’re employed by the OEMs or their suppliers. Why should U.S. taxpayers be made to subsidize the industry while the CEOs are eliminating jobs and hurting the U.S. tax base? Restructuring must be aimed at saving jobs, not just corporate profits.

  1. Expedite the production and marketing of the electric car for mass consumption – The Federal Government must subsidize the introduction of the electric car so that it is widely affordable at $10,000-$15,000/vehicle and give consumers tax credits for converting to electric or hybrid automobiles. This will put workers back to work, and help reduce the carbon footprint escalating global warming.

  1. We must convert our industrial capacity, and the auto plants specifically, for green products of the future, be they energy components like wind turbines or solar panels, components for mass transit, etc. The emergency represented by (a) global warming, (b) massive autoworker unemployment, and (c) “peak oil” requires that this conversion be initiated with the same approach as was used at the beginning of World War 2 when the auto plants were converted overnight to war production.

  1. Single payer universal healthcare: US industry, and especially the “Big 3,” has been crippled by their own blindness when they insisted 60 years ago that the unions negotiate company by company to win health care benefits for union members. They got their way in the 1950s but we now live in a globalized economy where many other nations support their industries by providing nationalized health care. The logical solution for the auto industry, autoworkers and retirees – and the rest of the nation – is single payer, “everyone in,” national health care per Congressman John Conyers bill, HR 676. Today mounting health care costs are the #1 reason for personal bankruptcy. By extending Medicare to all, administrative costs and high CEO salaries will be curtailed. We will have better health care that will not be dependent on where we work.

  2. Employee Free Choice Act: It is no coincidence that, as unions declined from 35% of the workforce in the 1950s to less than 8% in the private sector today, so has the “middle class” vanished. The attack on unions has been the tool used by the corporate elite as part of a massive “redistribution of wealth” upwards, distorting the US into a country of a tiny handful of mega billionaires and millions of the working poor. The financial crisis we face today is, in part, a direct result of the rich starving the rest of us. Passage of the Employee Free Choice Act needs to be enacted immediately as another part of the stimulus to get the economy going – so that union organizing and union bargaining can begin to put money in people’s pockets.

  1. Explore other options to bankruptcy: There is an alternative to companies seeking reorganization through bankruptcy court – a tactic aimed at breaking up union contracts and taking back what workers have earned. There is a powerful argument for creating a public trust to take ownership of the companies that have so badly mismanaged the industry. Why shouldn't all those directly affected be able to participate in setting the priorities? .

  1. Strengthen the “safety net:” This crisis is not going to be undone overnight. Workers in high unemployment areas must have guaranteed extensions of their government-provided unemployment insurance as they – and the country as a whole - struggles to readapt to the changing industrial landscape. This especially applies to autoworkers who are losing negotiated unemployment protections (including the JOBS bank and Supplemental Unemployment Benefits-SUB) at a time of accelerated layoffs. And while we are at it, why – during massive layoffs and rapidly rising home foreclosures - shouldn't there be a cap on credit card and mortgage interest rates?

See http://autoworkercaravan.org/ for response to Obama’s viability plan:

Obama’s Plan for Auto a Bitter Pill for Auto Workers

Saturday, May 9, 2009

"Made in L.A". Documentary Film Showing

People's Summit Fundraiser and Get-Together
Friday, May 15, 2009
7:00 PM
5920 Second Ave., Detroit

suggested donation: $5

Made in L.A. follows the remarkable story of three Latina immigrants working in Los Angeles garment sweatshops as they embark on a three-year odyssey to win basic labor protections from a trendy clothing retailer. In intimate observational style, Made in L.A. reveals the
impact of the struggle on each woman’s life as they are gradually transformed by the experience.

Film showing of "Made in L.A." is the award-winning documentary about immigrant women workers fighting back!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Detroit City Council Grants Permit for the People's Summit and Tent City in Grand Circus Park, June 14-17, 2009

The People's Summit applauds the decision of the Detroit City Council in unanimously passing a resolution granting a permit for a People's Summit and Tent City to be convened at Grand Circus Park in downtown Detroit from June 14-17, 2009.

The Moratorium Now! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures and Evictions petitioned the City Council in February to establish a Tent City during the People's Summit at Grand Circus Park. Despite opposition from the Detroit Police and the Parks and Recreation Department and other city departments, the Honorable Councilwoman JoAnn Watson prevailed upon her colleagues to grant the permit.

The People's Summit is being organized to give a voice to poor and working and to counter the National Big Business Summit being held on June15-17 in the Renaissance Center. Sponsored by the Detroit Economic Club, the Business Summit will bring together some of the nation's largest corporations who are responsible for the massive layoffs and cutbacks, to plot the next round of attacks on our living standards, under the guise of discussing “innovation and policy ideas in technol­ogy, energy, environment and manufacturing.”

The National Big Business Summit will be held in a city with record-high unemployment and poverty rates, lay-offs, budget cuts, school closings, utility cost hikes and shut-offs and massive home foreclosures. With a registration fee of $695, it is unlikely that any victims of foreclosures and evictions, let alone laid-off workers, will be able to attend the National Big Business Summit. Certainly, no one at this event will be speaking in the interests of those most affected by the economic collapse.

The People’s Summit will be a dynamic event. During the People’s Summit, organizers will implement a moratorium on foreclosure evictions by going into the neighborhoods and supporting homeowners who are willing to confront the bailiffs. If there is a strike, demonstration or sit in, the People’s Summit will join it. The People’s Summit will confront the big-business CEOs and politicians gathering next door. Join us!

Detroit City Council Grants Permit for the People's Summit in Grand Circus Park, June 14-17, 2009

For Immediate Release

Media Advisory

Contact: Moratorium Now! Coalition/People's Summit
5920 Second Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202
Phone: 313.887.4344, 680.5508, 671.3715
E-mail: moratorium@moratorium-mi.org
URL: peoplesummit.org
Video: People's Summit Introduction

Event:
People's Summit & Tent City
June 14-17, 2009
Grand Circus Park, Detroit, Michigan

Detroit City Council Grants Permit for the People's Summit in Grand Circus Park, June 14-17, 2009

The Moratorium Now! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures and Evictions--along with the People's Summit--enthusiastically welcomes the passage of a resolution by the Detroit City Council on May 5 granting a permit for holding the planned gathering in Grand Circus Park next month.

Moratorium Now! petitioned the City Council in February to establish a tent city in downtown at Grand Circus Park. We are calling upon labor, community, youth, cultural, human rights, immigrant rights, women's rights, environmental and all other people's organizations and movements to join us in this endeavor that will strengthen the struggle to win against the corporations, banks and the war machine.

On June 15-17, 2009, the National Business Summit, sponsored by the Detroit Economic Club, will take place at the Renaissance Center, General Motors Corporate Headquarters. Millionaire capitalists like the heads of Conoco-Phillips, Dow Chemical, General Motors, Chrysler, Humana Inc., Ascension Health, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, BNSF Railway Co., and PVS Chemicals, and well as the presidents of the National Council on Competitiveness and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, will gather at this summit. President Barack Obama and cabinet members have been invited.

These wealthy businesspeople will put their greedy heads together to discuss “innovation and policy ideas in technol­ogy, energy, environment and manufactur­ing.” In other words, they will be strategizing on how to further increase their profits at the expense of the ever-shrinking middle class, the vast working class and the growing millions living in utter poverty.

The National Business Summit will be held in a city with record-high unemployment and poverty rates, lay-offs, budget cuts, school closings, utility cost hikes and shut-offs and massive home foreclosures. With a registration fee of $1,495, it is unlikely that any victims of foreclosures and evictions, let alone laid-off workers, will be able to attend the National Business Summit. No one at this event will be speaking in the interests of those most affected by the economic collapse.

The People’s Summit will be a dynamic event. During the People’s Summit, organizers will implement a moratorium on foreclosure evictions by going into the neighborhoods and supporting homeowners who are willing to confront the bailiffs. If there is a strike, demonstration or sit in, the People’s Summit will join it. The People’s Summit will confront the big-business CEOs and politicians gathering next door. Join us!

RAISE YOUR VOICES TO DEMAND:

Bailout the people!
Jobs, healthcare, housing and education for all
Moratorium on foreclosures, evictions and utility shutoffs – housing is a right
Stop budget cuts and restore social services funding
Stop tuition hikes and school closings
Moratorium on layoffs, plant closings, pension thefts and union busting – A job at a living wage is a right
End racism, sexism and anti-LGBT attacks
Stop attacks on immigrants
Full rights for disabled people
Bailout youth and students
No more police brutality
Jobs not Jails - For prisoners and ex-prisoners' rights
Save the natural environment and stop global warming
U.S. troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan
Money for jobs and human needs, not war
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Initiated by the Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures and Evictions
www.moratorium-mi.org
Email: moratorium@moratorium-mi.org
5920 Second Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202
Phone 313-680-5508
Call today to endorse, volunteer, reserve your tent space and/or make a donation.
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Distributed By: THE PAN-AFRICAN RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION CENTER--
E MAIL: ac6123@wayne.edu

Saturday, May 2, 2009

May 1 March and Rally - Detroit

WWJ News: May Day March in Detroit drew 15,000 people this year!








Pictures by Alan

Friday, May 1, 2009

5,000 rally in Detroit for immigrant rights

Photo-BRIAN WIDDIS/Special to the Free Press
A rally for immigration rights flows down Vernor Friday morning, May 1, 2009. The march started at Patton Park and followed Vernor to Clark Park through Detroit's Mexicantown neighborhood.


By Niraj Warikoo
Free Press Staff Writer

from Detroit Free Press, May 1, 2009

Waving Mexican and U.S. flags, thousands of immigrants and their supporters rallied in southwest Detroit today for immigrant rights.

Rally organizers called for comprehensive immigration reform that would offer a path to citizenship for legal and illegal immigrants, and for an end to deportations that they say separate families.

Over the past four years, the number of deportations in Michigan and across the U.S. has sharply increased.

For fiscal year 2008, 7,514 illegal immigrants in Michigan and Ohio were deported, compared to 4,144 in fiscal year 2007, an 81 percent increase. Compared to 2005, when 2,243 illegal immigrants were deported, that’s a 235 percent increase.

The rally started at Patton Park and ended at Clark Park in the heart of the Mexican-American community. Ralliers held up placards that read “Stop the Raids,” “Legalize Hard Work,” and “No Human is Illegal.”

“We need a more humane approach to immigration reform,” said Rosendo Delgado, a co-organizer with Latinos Unidos. This is the fourth annual immigration rally in Detroit. It was smaller compared to previous years when Congress was considering bills that would crack down on illegal immigration.

Detroit police estimated today’s crowd at 5,000 to 7,000.

Jhonatan Ferrer, 19, of Dearborn Heights said many illegal immigrants “live in the shadows of society” and need a path to citizenship so that employers and others can’t take advantage of them. Right now, Ferrer said, “they have no rights.”

Others expressed concerns about deportations and its affect on immigrant communities.

Khaalid Walls, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the government agency that oversees deportations, said the government has “increased strategic enforcement efforts to identity and remove criminal and fugitive aliens.”

Contact NIRAJ WARIKOO: nwarikoo@freepress.com