#mecawi

Detroit says: No War on Russia & Donbass! U.S./NATO Out of Ukraine!

Friday, February 11 - 5:00 p.m.

Hart Plaza, Jefferson and Woodward, Detroit, MI

Hosted by by Moratorium NOW! Coalition

Moratorium NOW! Coalition and the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice join the national call for actions against the threat of war.

From the national call:

We call for antiwar, workers’ and people’s organizations across the U.S. to hold rallies, pickets, mass leafleting, banner drops and other activities from Feb. 4-12. We must act now to stop another war before it starts.

By David Sole

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has announced plans to open a “Global Center for Urban Transformation” in Detroit in October 2021. This won’t be the first time the capitalist corporate, banking and political power-brokers have focused on the Motor City to promote their plans to strengthen their exploitative system on the backs of poor and working people.

Detroit: Stop Trump From Stealing the Election! Every Vote Must Be Counted!

Wednesday, November 4 

Rally at 2 p.m., March at 4 p.m.

A Call for A National Conference to Organize a Fightback to Defeat Austerity!

Detroit - Saturday, March 24

We want to extend an invitation to all progressive activists and organizations to participate in the National Conference to Fight Austerity in Detroit on Saturday March 24.  

The purpose of the national conference is to map out a strategy for defeating the war being waged by the banks, corporations and government against the workers and oppressed.  

Capitalism cannot continue unchallenged while our very lives are being jeopardized by the ruling elites who are determined to grow richer and more powerful at our expense, whipping up white supremacy, an anti-immigrant offensive attacks on women and anti-LGBTQ bigotry to keep our class divided.

Detroit along with colonized Puerto Rico has been at the epicenter of bank imposed austerity against the workers and oppressed in this hemisphere. But every U.S. city from Chicago to Baltimore to Cleveland to Baltimore to Milwaukee, from New York City to Oakland and Seattle, has felt the brunt of this attack in the form of cutbacks, school closings, mass transit cuts, water shutoffs, gentrification and destruction of public service unions.

The Trump tax plan and Pentagon War build-up continues the massive transfer of wealth to the rich at the expense of the poor.  This war by the banks and on the workers and poor is an international phenomenon spanning every continent. On March 24, we will hammer out a program on how to fight back against the war by the corporations, the banks and their lackeys in government at all levels on the workers and poor.

The conference will take up topics such as:

* The Destruction of our Communities by the Banks. * Tax giveaways to Dan Gilbert and the Ilitch business empire and gentrifiers everywhere.* The Trump Tax plan — A declaration of war by and for the rich on the workers and the poor.* The Pentagon War Buildup — funded by destruction of social services.* Continuing Water Shutoffs and Mass foreclosures. *The Destruction of public educations through defunding and privatization.* Mass layoffs at retail stores, restaurants, business offices and plant closings* Fighting for a real living wage for all workers* Challenging racism, sexism and LGBTQ oppression* Defending Immigrant Rights* Challenging mass incarceration and prison slave labor * Defending Puerto Rico where much the population remains without electricity because of mass robbery by the banks* The need for a universal healthcare program* Public transportation and accessibility for all within the urban and rural areas. *The growth in extreme poverty and homelessness.* Environmental Justice and the end to the poisoning of the poor. *Full rights for persons with disabilities.

The Conference will discuss these issues in depth from the perspective of how they all are products of a capitalist system where profits are everything and people mean nothing.  We will mobilize support for making May Day 2018 an anti-Austerity Day, as well as lending solidarity to the Poor Peoples Campaign. We will outline a program of action in solidarity with all movements working for social change and transformation.

Initiated by the Moratorium Now! Coalition. For information or to endorse:  contact 313-680-5508 – moratorium-mi.org — [email protected] 

United against capitalism: Detroiters speak truth to power

By Workers World Detroit bureau

A people’s assembly in Detroit on Oct. 26 brought together a broad array of community organizations and activists united in their vision to rebuild this city, which has been hard hit by the ravages of capitalism. The meeting, billed as “Real Detroiters Speak Out,” was held to counter the message of Detroit as a model for “urban revitalization” being touted at the World Conference of Mayors, which took place at the MGM Grand Hotel that week.

Detroit May Day 2017

Monday, May 1 - 5:00 to 8:00 pm

Grand Circus Park, Woodward and Adams, Detroit, MI 48226

Detroit / Dearborn, Michigan: March for Justice along Vernon Highway, April 2, 2017. 

The march and rally was held in response to the escalation of detentions and deportations against immigrant communities and the efforts by the administration of Donald Trump to ban entry to the United States by nationals from several African and Middle Eastern states. 

People from various backgrounds attended, including Mexico, Central America as a whole, the predominantly Muslim countries of the Middle East, among others. Members of the Michigan Peoples Defense Network, Moratorium NOW! Coalition and MECAWI were there carrying banners and distributing literature for May Day. 

Protest held outside racist restaurant

By Kris Hamel

Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. – When three African-American women went on their monthly social outing on a Saturday evening, they were served up with some ugly racism in the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.

TaNisha Prater, Adrienne Savage and Kimberly Hudson were dining at the Blufin Sushi restaurant on Feb. 18 when the general manager asked the women to vacate their seats at the bar to accommodate other patrons. The women believe they were singled out because they are Black. The Blufin is located on Mack Avenue just across the street from the Detroit city border.

In a courageous act, the women decided to speak up and be heard right then and there. Prater began a Facebook Live video which went viral, receiving close to 85,000 views. The manager could not offer a policy about sitting at the bar, and Prater called her a racist. Then the manager called the police, claiming the women were intoxicated, which they weren’t. The cops arrived and proceeded to question the women in a way that defended the manager.

It was the resolve of the women not to let this racist incident be swept under the rug. Since going public, former employees of Blufin have come forward, stating the racism they experienced or witnessed by Blufin management.

With the support of the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice, the Moratorium Now Coalition, the Michigan People’s Defense Network, Workers World Party and others, Prater and the other women called a demonstration outside the Blufin on Feb. 22, during the evening rush hour. Some 150 people of various ages and nationalities came out to denounce Blufin’s racism and show their solidarity with the women and all those facing racist attacks.