Detroit People’s Summit for jobs, economic justice

The Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures and Evictions has announced plans for a People’s Summit at Grand Circus Park from June 14-17. The four-day demonstration will coincide with the June 15-17 National Business Summit occurring two blocks away at Ford Field in downtown Detroit. Corporate heads, economists, academic leaders and politicians from around the U.S. will be meeting there to discuss business, energy, technology and the environment. President Barack Obama and cabinet members have been invited.

Coalition activists are asking community organizers from around the country to attend the People’s Summit. They hope “a tent city of the jobless, underpaid, foreclosed-upon, homeless and all who struggle for economic and social justice” will galvanize others into demanding an economic bill of rights for poor and working people.

Activists are fighting for “a people’s stimulus program” that provides jobs and real economic relief to the millions of workers and oppressed people now bearing the brunt of the capitalist economic crisis, instead of the government’s continued giveaway of trillions of dollars to the banks and corporations.

Organizers say it’s “outrageous” that the National Business Summit will be held in a city with record-high unemployment and poverty rates, layoffs, budget cuts, school closings, utility cost hikes and shut-offs and massive home foreclosures.

With a registration fee of $1,495, it is unlikely that any victims of foreclosures and evictions, let alone laid-off workers, will be able to attend the National Business Summit. No one at this event will be speaking in the interests of those most affected by the capitalist collapse.

Because of the foreclosure epidemic which has devastated the city, the median home value in Detroit is now just $7,000. The official unemployment rate in this primarily African-American city now stands at 22.2 percent. Michigan overall has the highest unemployment rate in the U.S. at 12 percent. These rates leave out workers who have stopped looking for a job and those who can only find part-time work.

The People’s Summit is being seen as a place for political discussion and strategizing, a base for directly confronting the big-business summit through marches and demonstrations, as well as a center for resistance.

Every day in Detroit bailiffs are tossing people out of their homes after foreclosures. During the People’s Summit, organizers hope to implement a moratorium on these evictions by going into the neighborhoods and supporting homeowners who are willing to confront the bailiffs. Summit participants will go out during the day to support a critical petition campaign for affordable water rates in Detroit, where 45,000 households have had their water cut off. If there is a strike, the People’s Summit will join workers on the picket lines.

The People’s Summit is already receiving attention in the progressive movement in Detroit. Members of the MLK Day Committee have volunteered to coordinate the task of providing food to the participants. The owner of a music café is planning entertainment and music.

The Moratorium NOW! Coalition will host an organizing meeting for the People’s Summit on April 11, 1 p.m., at 5920 Second Ave. in Detroit. Visit www.moratorium-mi.org or call (313) 680-5508 for more information.