Feed the cities, starve the Pentagon
By
Cheryl LaBash
Detroit
Published Sep 24, 2005 7:28 PM
Hurricane Katrina tore off
more than roofs when it slashed through the U.S. Gulf Coast. The cover-up
denying the depth of racism and poverty across the land was shattered, too. Long
before the billions of dollars authorized by Congress to fund the occupation of
Iraq became starkly linked to unrepaired levees, unavailable trucks, generators
and emergency equipment, Detroiters issued a call for a National Conference to
Reclaim Our Cities—Money for Our Cities. Not for War.
On Nov. 11,
12 and 13 at Wayne State University, representatives from across the U.S. will
plan actions. The Call to Feed the Cities—Starve the Pentagon says,
“It is time to launch a struggle to win our right to health care, quality
education, decent housing, food, utilities and a job. The money is there to
guarantee everyone a decent life. This is the richest country in the
world.”
In the U.S. Census report on Poverty published on Aug. 30,
2005, New Orleans tied with Cleveland for the 12th poorest major city. Detroit
was first - with more than one-third of its residents struggling to survive
below the federal poverty level. In between are El Paso, Miami, Newark, Atlanta,
Long Beach, Milwaukee, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Memphis and Baltimore.
(www.cleveland.com/poverty/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news)
The
conference is supported by Detroit City Council President Maryann Mahaffey;
Councilmember JoAnn Watson; Million Worker March leader Clarence Thomas; Marian
Kramer, Co-President of National Welfare Rights Union; Millie Hall, Pre sident
of the Metro-Detroit Coalition of Labor Union Women; Leslie Feinberg, co-chair,
LGBT caucus, National Writers Union/UAW, the Mich igan Emergency Committee
Against War and Injustice (MECAWI) and more.
On Labor Day, Sept. 5, in
Detroit, anti-war activists lining the parade route felt a new mood and unity
with the union mar ch ers. Although no union contingent carried official signs
to bring the troops home, the “No War,” “Money for Our
Cities— Not for War/Bring the Troops Home, Now!” signs were snapped
up, mounted on trucks and carried throughout the rest of the parade. Anti-war
chants like “Not the War Machine, We remember New Orleans!” echoed
from the union marchers’ sound systems. The National Conference to Reclaim
Our Cities can help bring together, focus and organize that new mood. What more
graphically describes the Reclaiming of Our Cities than the right of evacuees to
return to their homes and control the rebuilding of New Orleans?
For more
information contact: [email protected]. or call (313)
680-5508. The preliminary agenda and registration information can be found at:
home.earthlink.net/~national_conference_of_cities/
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