Follow workers.org on
RED HOT: TRAYVON MARTIN
CHINA,
AFGHANISTAN, FIGHTING RACISM, OCCUPY WALL STREET,
PEOPLE'S POWER, SAVE OUR POST OFFICES, WOMEN, AFRICA,
LIBYA, WISCONSIN WORKERS FIGHT BACK, SUPPORT STATE & LOCAL WORKERS,
EGYPT, NORTH AFRICA & MIDDLE EAST,
STOP FBI REPRESSION, RESIST ARIZONA RACISM, NO TO FRACKING, DEFEND PUBLIC EDUCATION, ANTI-WAR,
HEALTH CARE,
CUBA, CLIMATE CHANGE,
JOBS JOBS JOBS,
STOP FORECLOSURES, IRAN,
IRAQ, CAPITALIST CRISIS,
IMMIGRANTS, LGBT, POLITICAL PRISONERS,
KOREA,
HONDURAS, HAITI,
SOCIALISM,
GAZA
|
|
‘We have to hit the streets’
People’s coalition mobilizes to win passage of moratorium bill
By
Bryan G. Pfeifer
Detroit
Published May 24, 2008 7:54 AM
In an ongoing effort to win passage of a two-year moratorium in Michigan, the
Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures and Evictions met May 17 to
continue building a fighting mass people’s movement.
The multinational meeting at the Central United Methodist Church in downtown
Detroit included participants from a wide range of labor, community, religious
and student organizations.
Rep. John Conyers stressed the seriousness of the moratorium struggle, saying
it’s a crime for poor and working people to be foreclosed on and evicted,
or have their water and lights cut off due to inability to pay. “We have
to nationalize this moratorium movement. This is a global situation,” he
said.
Conyers and all other participants pledged to continue mobilizing to win
passage of the two-year moratorium bill, SB 1306, recently introduced in the
Michigan legislature by state Sen. Hansen Clarke.
SB 1306 would allow a homeowner facing foreclosure to go to court for an
automatic stay, which would delay a sheriff’s sale for two years or
extend the repayment period from six months to two years. The court would set a
reasonable repayment plan based in part on the borrower’s income and
ability to pay. The law would be in effect for three years, meaning that anyone
in foreclosure at the time the law is enacted, or is placed in foreclosure
during that three-year period, could take advantage of the moratorium.
Bruce Feaster of Sen. Clarke’s office told coalition participants that
“you are the lobbyists” for this bill. He described how the banks
pay millions to their lobbyists to get what they want, but that there are more
poor and working people than bankers. Feaster called for an all-out
mobilization to win passage of the bill, with tactics such as contacting
legislators, organizing town hall meetings, people’s delegations to
Lansing and much more to build pressure from below to build a movement that
can’t be denied.
In an effort to win passage of the bill, moratorium coalition members have thus
far spoken at numerous events and distributed thousands of leaflets throughout
Metro Detroit and throughout the state, including Upper Michigan. This work is
being conducted through rapid response, office and clerical staffing, visual
documentation, research, press and outreach, and speakers committees.
‘They can’t get away with this!’
At every moratorium organizers’ meeting, horrendous and heartbreaking
details of victims of foreclosures and evictions emerge.
At the May 17 meeting Diane Campbell, an African-American Detroit resident,
described how a longtime friend and neighbor of hers, Charlie, and another man
were recently blown up in a home in Detroit. Charlie had owned his own home for
more than 20 years, but when his home was foreclosed he was forced to sleep
wherever he could.
Eventually Charlie returned to his foreclosed home to rest one evening. When he
lit a cigarette, the house blew up because of a massive gas leak that was never
repaired by the gas company. A man sleeping upstairs also perished. According
to Charlie’s friend, the entire block shook from the explosion, which put
many more people at risk of serious harm or death.
After hearing this, Debbie Johnson of the Moratorium NOW Coalition said:
“We need a multipronged approach. We have to target the banks and Detroit
Energy. We can’t allow them to get away with this. They are
responsible.”
At the May 17 meeting two action proposals were unanimously adopted. On Friday,
June 6, from 4 to 6 p.m., a march and rally targeting banks and financial
institutions responsible for the moratorium disaster will be held in downtown
Detroit. More than 72,000 homes faced foreclosure in Detroit in 2007.
And on June 14 a statewide organizers’ conference from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
and a Town Meeting from 2 to 4 p.m. will take place, sponsored and chaired by
Sen. Clarke at the UAW Local 7 hall, 2600 Conner St. in Detroit. Sen. Clarke
will take testimony from foreclosure and eviction victims at this event and a
legal clinic will operate to assist victims as well.
These events and more over the summer are being organized with the goal of
having a mass action at the state Capitol in Lansing in early fall 2008.
In an effort to build the moratorium movement’s campaign coordination and
outreach, the Rev. Ed Rowe of the Central United Methodist Church has donated
office space for the Moratorium NOW! Coalition at his church at 23 E. Adams,
4th Floor, Detroit, MI 48226. Donations can be sent to this address.
Caleb Maupin, the moratorium coalition’s intern, announced at the meeting
that the office is now officially open, with hours from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Monday through Friday. Maupin said that this would be “an office of
action” where leaflets, outreach information and much more will always be
available. Leaflet delivery is also possible by calling the office at
313-964-5813.
Pastor Golliday in Benton Harbor has also endorsed the moratorium bill, and is
using his church as an organizing center in Western Michigan.
“We’re about action and we have to hit the streets to win this
moratorium,” said David Sole, an organizer with the Moratorium NOW!
Coalition and president of United Auto Workers Local 2334.
The next Moratorium NOW! organizers’ meeting is May 31, 2 p.m. at the
Central United Methodist Church.
See the coalition’s Web site for PDF leaflets, videos and more:
www.moratorium-mi.org.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: [email protected]
Subscribe [email protected]
Support independent news DONATE
|
|