Emergency protest builds for organizers’ conference in Michigan

Activists with the Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures and Evictions called an emergency demonstration in downtown Detroit on Sept. 25 to protest the trillion-dollar bailout of the financial industry and demand an immediate moratorium on home foreclosures nationwide.

Detroit, Sept. 25. WW photo: Alan Pollock

Some 50 protesters gathered at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center and marched through the financial district with banners and signs declaring, “Bailout the people, not the banks!” Protesters stopped and rallied outside Comerica, National City and Charter One banks, all of which participated in the subprime mortgage fiasco perpetrated on workers and the poor in Michigan and throughout the U.S.

Detroit City Councilperson JoAnn Watson told the demonstrators: “The banks are getting bailed out. The auto companies want a $50 billion federal loan to help them regain market share. What about us? What we need is a bailout for Detroit, for the people!”

Protesters chanted, “The people need jobs and relief—not one more penny for Wall Street!” and “Stop foreclosures and evictions—moratorium now!” During the protest, motorists honked their horns continually and raised their fists in support of the demand to bailout the victims of the financial crisis, not the bankers who caused it.

The demonstration was covered widely on local media, including CBS-affiliate WWJ news radio, the Detroit Free Press, Fox affiliate TV2 and ABC affiliate channel 7. On Sept. 26 the Free Press reported that many Congressional representatives from Michigan have been flooded with calls and emails against the bank bailout.

Coalition organizers Vanessa Fluker and Abayomi Azikiwe spoke at a rally of the Gray Panthers during their national conference in Detroit on Sept. 27.

At a coalition meeting Sept. 27, plans were made to continue the struggle in Michigan, including a statewide organizers’ conference after the November elections.

Coalition activists plan to meet with Detroit Mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr. to request that he declare a state of emergency in the city and formally apply to Gov. Jennifer Granholm for a foreclosure moratorium.

The next meeting of the Moratorium NOW! Coalition will be on Oct. 11 at the Central United Methodist Church, 23 E. Adams, 4th floor, Detroit, MI 48226. For more information or to send a donation, call 313-887-4344, email [email protected], or visit www.moratorium-mi.org.