We'll use civil disobedience if needed to oppose Detroit emergency manager, coalition says

By Steve Neavling/Detroit Free Press

The Rev. Jesse Jackson joined a coalition of pastors, civil-rights leaders and elected officials today in Detroit to pledge strong opposition — including civil disobedience, if necessary — against the state’s new emergency manager law.
Jackson and others likened emergency managers to dictators who wipe out the democratic process with unilateral authority to gut union contracts, sell cherished assets and slash essential services.
“We are prepared to go from education, mobilization, litigation, legislation, demonstration and civil disobedience,” Jackson said during a press conference at Bethany Baptist Church on the city’s west side. “We want a positive commitment to restoring democracy and economic justice for all citizens.”
Jackson’s comments come one day after the city moved closer to the appointment of an emergency manager following the release of a state financial report that painted a bleaker-than-expected picture of a city digging deeper into debt just to pay for its everyday bills.
The coalition acknowledged the city was in a crisis but didn’t offer financial solutions.
The point, they said, was to underscore the recklessness of an emergency manager bill that allows the state to remove elected officials.
Asked whether civil disobedience is a possibility, leaders didn’t hesitate.
“We are prepared to utilize all of the measures afforded to us citizens to protect democracy,” said David Bullock, president of the Michigan Chapter of the Rainbow Coalition, a civil-rights group led by Jackson. “We aren’t going to take it any longer. We marched, fought and died for our right to vote. Enough is enough. We will not allow democracy to be dismantled.”
One by one, speakers vowed to do whatever it takes to end state takeover of the city’s finances.
“This is bigger than Detroit,” said Herb Sanders, a leader in the petition campaign to repeal the emergency manager law. “This is bigger than Michigan. This is about democracy. We are sending a message that we will have demonstrations in Michigan and nobody will be allowed to trample our rights.”
As the possibility of an emergency manager in Detroit appears to increase, leaders of a demonstration outside Gov. Rick Snyder’s house in Superior Township on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 16 said the cause is gaining momentum and more people.
“The country and the world will be watching as the governor continues to send dictators throughout the state,” said the Rev. Charles Williams II, of the Historic King Solomon Baptist Church in Detroit. “We won’t stand by and let that happen.”
Mayor Dave Bing and a majority of the City Council also are opposed to an emergency manager and are working throughout the holiday and on weekends in hopes of gaining major concessions from labor unions to save more than $100 million a year.
Reducing the long-term costs of pension and health care benefits is the top priority of the governor and city.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson calls on Michigan residents to fight what he calls Gov. Rick Snyder's 'draconian policies'

By: Tom Perkins

The Rev. Jesse Jackson made a stop in Ann Arbor this afternoon to urge residents to organize and fight back against what he labeled Gov. Rick Snyder’s “draconian cuts” and policies.

It was one of Jackson’s three stops in Michigan throughout the day and he is scheduled to meet with state legislators in Detroit tonight. His purpose, he said, is to develop a coalition against Snyder’s policies like that in Wisconsin opposed to Gov. Scott Walker's policies. 

Jackson told an audience of about 50 gathered at the New Hope Baptist Church to pay close attention to Benton Harbor, which recently had its elected officials' power stripped by an emergency financial manager.

It was one of the first cities to be affected by a new state law allowing emergency financial managers to dismiss locally elected officials. City leaders in Benton Harbor can now only call meetings, adjourn them and approve minutes. Jackson questioned why the United States is fighting a war against "one-man rule" in Libya, but allows it in Michigan.

“We don’t like one-man rule, except in Benton Harbor,” he said. “The government in Michigan government is training one-man rule. We are setting up here what we are fighting there. Your vote for elected officials doesn’t count, and that is decimating democracy.“

He said he doesn’t see the level of organized opposition that he saw while working with protesters in Wisconsin and warned the audience that Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Detroit could be taken over by an emergency financial manger next if there isn’t a legal and political fight. He called Benton Harbor a test ground to see how people will react.

“The only difference between Michigan and Wisconsin is they’re fighting back,“ he said. “What’s happening here is worse than Wisconsin, but here there is no resistance."

The difference between Michigan and Wisconsin, Jackson said, is that Michigan lacks Wisconsin's political drama and national media attention. He said Walker is “the poster child for pervasive state rights” and “attacks on collective bargaining,” while Snyder is more of a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

Jackson said Snyder proposing cutting taxes for the wealthy and businesses while shifting the burden to the poor is unacceptable and called on residents to act. He zeroed in on student loan debt, which he pointed out is now greater than credit card debt in the United States. Jackson called the issue “credit slavery.”

The Rev. Jesse Jackson greets Ypsilanti Council Member Ricky Jefferson.

Tom Perkins | For AnnArbor.com

When asked what he proposed doing about student loans by an audience member, Jackson said the government needs to consider debt forgiveness. He said raising tuition and cutting public schools' budgets makes receiving an education more difficult, which he likened to what was done to slaves and poor people prior to the Civil War.

In response to a question about how to get African Americans to vote more, Jackson said they are voting, but not “on the levels that are corresponding to our needs.”

He said people of all races must fight as they did during the civil rights fight of the 1960s and form an “activist alliance" in opposition to Snyder.

“What can we do? We can fight legally. This must stand the test of constitutional challenge,” he said.

Voter turnout key to Detroit's revival, Rev. Jackson says at Ford plant Read more: Voter turnout key to Detroit's revival, Rev. Jackson says at Ford

BY BRENT SNAVELY Rev. Jesse Jackson and UAW President Bob King greeted about 800 Ford workers this morning at the Dearborn Truck Plant in an effort to drum up support for a march in Detroit on Saturday.

Called “Rebuild America,” the campaign’s goal is to convince Congress to provide stronger support for the creation of manufacturing and middle class jobs in America rather than on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Detroit will determine the outcome of the course of Michigan and maybe even industrial America,” Jackson said. “We intend to go door to door and church to church and to bring the spirit of Detroit back alive.”

Jackson, a Democrat, said his goal is to increase voter turnout in Detroit and other cities in Michigan in the general election in November when Virg Bernero takes on Republican Rick Snyder.

“We can’t win with 12% turnout. If Detroit moves from 12% to 60%, we will determine the course of the state,” said Jackson, who is leading a 10-city, statewide bus tour.

The march on Saturday also commemorates Martin Luther King’s march in Detroit in 1963 and builds towards a larger march scheduled for Oct. 2 in Washington, D.C., to commemorate King’s “I Have a Dream,” speech in Washington D.C.

The UAW’s King said the union is stronger when it is marching not just for better wages and benefits for its own members, but for all working people.

“We want working people treated like Wall Street bankers,” King said. “We want them to get a bailout on their homes. They want to pay for their homes, but they need a job to pay for their homes. So we’ve got to get back people back to work.”

While workers were surprised to see Jackson and King on their way to work, and many declined to comment, others said they support the cause.

Qi Beamon, 37, of Wayne said she was leaving work at 5 a.m. but decided to remain at the Dearborn Truck Plant when she learned that Jackson and King were at the plant.

With America’s economy still struggling to emerge from a recession, Beamon said the country needs to invest more resources in the state.

“I think if you can’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of anybody else,” Beamon said.

M.C.L comment: That's what the Michigan White Power party and Rick Snyder fear if the city turns out and vote the tough nerd will be in for a long night.