Activists, former homeowners say 'MORATORIUM NOW!'

They were loud and angry. They demanded justice.

Victims of racist, predatory mortgages and foreclosures opened the rally at the Capitol on Jan. 29 to demand Michigan’s Gov. Jennifer Granholm declare a state of economic emergency and a moratorium to stop all foreclosures. The protesters gathered outside as Granholm prepared to deliver her annual “state of the state” address.

Rosendo Delgado from Latinos Unidos in Lansing, Mich., on Jan. 29. WW photo: Cheryl LaBash

Doreen Bey, a Detroiter in the process of having her home foreclosed, declared, “Unemployment, no water, all the tax departments, MichCon [gas company], mortgage foreclosures, utility companies—these are our pressures at this time. And it must stop! In order to be a great leader, the governor must help the people and remove the tyranny that’s in their hands. She must do it!” Bey led the protesters, who loudly echoed her chant, “Moratorium now!”

Sandra Hines spoke movingly to the crowd about being evicted in December, when the home that had been in her family for decades was foreclosed on. “They came and started taking out all our things. They manhandled my mother’s antique furniture and threw it out onto the curb. ... It was criminal. If it wasn’t for my nephew, we’d be homeless.”

The majority of the 125 demonstrators were African Americans who came from Detroit on a bus sponsored by the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice. MECAWI had called the demonstration to pressure Gov. Granholm to use her authority to ease the unprecedented foreclosure crisis devastating cities throughout Michigan. More than 87,000 new foreclosures were filed by lenders in Michigan in 2007, according to Realty Trac, Inc.

The protesters marched in a spirited picket line at the steps of the state Capitol building. On a powerful PA system, activists led militant chants of “No housing, no peace!” and “Housing is a right! We’re going to fight, fight, fight!”

More than 20 youth from the Lansing area, as well as students from nearby Michigan State University, participated. Speakers made links between the fight for a moratorium on foreclosures and the fight against racism and for social justice.

After an hour the protestors marched to the Central United Methodist Church for refreshments and another rally. Members of the NorthStar Center, a radical youth resistance collective, provided doughnuts. The group is starting a community campaign in Lansing for economic justice, including stopping foreclosures, evictions and utility shut-offs.

Rosendo Delgado of Latinos Unidos of Michigan told how many of the banks and corporations responsible for the foreclosure crisis are the same ones who wreaked economic destruction in Mexico and Latin America, forcing workers to come to the U.S. looking for jobs. “Our fight for social justice must include the struggle for immigrant workers and all workers fighting racism and injustice,” Delgado stated.

A legislative aide told the crowd he might lose his job because he chose “to be outside with the people instead of inside with the dignitaries” during Granholm’s speech.

Gov. Granholm did not even use the word “foreclosure” during her address. MECAWI organizers had delivered a letter to Granholm the week before, urging her to abandon her usual “fairy-tale” speeches and deal with the real crisis in the state: “It was one year ago that our organization first raised to you the critical necessity for a moratorium on foreclosures in Michigan, and pointed out to you the legal basis and precedent for you to take such action to protect the right of poor and working people to their homes. Your inaction in the face of the unprecedented crisis facing poor and working people in Michigan borders on criminality.”

Several days before the protest, a state senator informed MECAWI organizer and people’s attorney Jerry Goldberg that he had received MECAWI’s sample resolution on a moratorium and spoke to the governor about it. The senator informed him: “Gov. Granholm said it couldn’t be done. It violates the Constitution on contracts.” Goldberg told the senator that Granholm knows that isn’t true, that she was provided Michigan statutes and case law from the U.S. Supreme Court.

MECAWI’s press release before the demonstration stated: “While Gov. Granholm has claimed that a moratorium on foreclosures would violate the contract clause of the U.S. Constitution, this is a cynical lie. ... The Michigan Moratorium Act in the 1930s was upheld by the Michigan Supreme Court. ... In that case, the U.S. Supreme Court specifically held that a moratorium on foreclosures did not violate the contract clause, because the people’s right to survive was paramount.”

Participants were uplifted and vowed to continue the struggle with direct actions to stop foreclosures. Another mass meeting will be held in Detroit on Feb. 9 at 1:00 p.m., at a location to be announced, to strategize on how to continue the fight for a moratorium. To get involved or to make a donation, call 313-319-0870 or visit www.mecawi.org.