King holiday: springboard for ongoing struggles

On Jan. 18 over 1,000 people gathered at the historic Central United Methodist Church for a rally and march in downtown Detroit to honor the 81st birthday of the martyred civil rights and anti-war activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This year’s was the seventh annual demonstration in the city which recognizes the peace and social justice legacy of Dr. King.

Detroit Photo: David P. Anderson/Matrix Theatre

One of the keynote speakers for this year’s commemoration was the Rev. Edward Pinkney, president of the Benton Harbor Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Rev. Pinkney is a recently released political prisoner who served one year in detention for quoting biblical scriptures that were falsely interpreted by a Berrien County judge as a threat to another jurist’s life.

Pinkney emphasized that the legacy of Dr. King is very much alive and well. He outlined the details of his case and its relationship to the struggle against racism and police brutality in Benton Harbor.

Another keynote speaker at the MLK rally and march was the Rev. Thomas Smith, pastor of the Monumental Baptist Church in the historic Hill District of Pittsburgh. Smith focused most of his speech on the humanitarian crisis facing Haiti, which was hit by an earthquake on January 12.

Smith is also a leading member of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organizations/Pastors for Peace. That organization challenges the U.S. blockade against Cuba every year by transporting material aid to the Caribbean nation located just 90 miles off the coast of Florida.

Smith, in conjunction with the Bail Out the People Movement, organized the National March for Jobs in Pittsburgh in September 2009 that kicked off the protests surrounding the G-20 Summit that was held in that same city.

Sponsors of this year’s MLK events included City Councilperson JoAnn Watson, who co-sponsored the MLK Day event along with the Detroit MLK Day Committee; Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice; Moratorium NOW! Coalition; UAW Local 2334; Matrix Theatre Company; Swords Into Plowshares; Catholic Pastoral Alliance; and  Detroit Wobbly Kitchen, among others.

The event was co-chaired by Sandra Hines of MECAWI and the Moratorium NOW! Coalition. Other speakers and participants included the Detroit Ludington Middle School Choir; Restaurant Opportunities Center organizers; Maureen Taylor of the United States Social Forum and the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization; the Blaq Inc. Poets; Big A; Latinos Unidos; and the Matrix Theatre puppets.

The Detroit Wobbly Kitchen served over 300 meals to the march participants after the demonstration through downtown.

Ongoing support for struggles

The MLK Day events promoted various labor campaigns taking place in the Detroit metropolitan area. The ROC organizers have a major struggle where they are picketing a well-known restaurant for its unfair wage and labor practices. The Moratorium NOW! Coalition is still pressing for the declaration of an economic state of emergency in Detroit and the state of Michigan, which has the highest unemployment rate in the country.

On Jan. 19, the Moratorium NOW! Coalition intervened in a tenants’ struggle where the residents were illegally locked out of their apartments because of the landlord’s failure to make electrical repairs on the building. The coalition is seeking to have the landlord pay damages to the residents and assist in their relocation.

During the course of this campaign, Moratorium NOW! took the residents to the Detroit City Council to demand action. On Jan. 26, the coalition went back to the City Council to request a resolution declaring an economic state of emergency in the city.

On Feb. 3, the Moratorium NOW! Coalition will be taking people to Lansing to keep the issues of unemployment, foreclosures and evictions in the forefront of the minds the state legislature and the governor. The coalition will also be a co-sponsor for a statewide tour featuring Fight Imperialism, Stand Together organizer Larry Hales during the week of February 1-5. The tour is designed to build the National Day of Action to Defend Public Education on March 4.