WEBVTT

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[sil.]

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Good afternoon. This is
Cliff Russell with WJBZ,

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Detroit Renaissance News. Coleman
Young has announced this afternoon

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the laying off of 907 city employees in an
effort to ease the city’s budget deficit

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by approximately $16 million.
Among those being laid off

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are 182 Detroit General Hospital workers,
26 firefighters and 400 police officers.

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The Mayor says the layoff
will take effect next Monday.

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Record high prices for foreign oil and a surge in
automobile imports, helped push the US trade deficit

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$2.4 billion.

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When I said to you that the system isn’t designed to work
either, when I said to you that you’re a mere functionary,

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you’re a cog in the wheel. And I should add
quickly, so are the judges, so are the police,

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so are the wardens. And all across the
board, we’re all little functionaries.

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We’re cogs in a wheel that isn’t
designed to turn forward,

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and that at best, we’ll just spin in place.
We can’t begin to address

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the problems of the society we live in by
dealing in the criminal justice system.

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By the time they get to us, it’s too late.

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I like to organize. I like to make things…
take an idea, and then make it happen.

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I particularly like ideas, not like socialism, they have a beginning
a middle and the end, and you can see something complete socialism

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sort of takes forever apparently.
But as a Marxist or a pure Marxist,

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the assumption would be
obviously anti-capital. Uh…

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No, anti-private property. What I’m concerned
with… When I find myself as a Marxist,

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I’ll say it very, you know, succinctly, what I
mean is that the uh… central process in this

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or any other society is the economic process, the process of
organizing production to meet the needs of the people, okay.

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I’m saying that under a Marxist government,
if you will, we would be seeking

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to organize a process of production to meet the needs of
the people who are producing and not to benefit those

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who, in the name of private property, own and
control the means production and get the profit.

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Now, what that translates into uh… running a city, I mean,
becomes very complicated. You’re talking about an effect

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in a raciest of socialism in a gigantic sea, if you
are an island of socialism in a sea of capitalism.

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[music]

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[music]

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Detroit is the only major American city with
elected socialists in local government.

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Ken Cockrel, Sheila Murphy, and Justin
Ravitz have a long political history.

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In the 1960s, Sheila Murphy was
one of the leaders of Ad-Hoc -

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a civil rights group organizing
against police brutality.

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Ken Cockrel was active in DRUM, the insurgent workers
group that fought racism in the auto plants and unions.

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Ravitz was part of the Motor City Labor League,
an organization that helped coordinate

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the activities of many radicals. Ravitz and
Cockrel began practicing law together,

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winning a string of
well-known criminal cases.

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Banking on public recognition of Cockrel and Ravitz,
the radical community decided to broaden their attack

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on the power structure by running
candidates for public office.

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In 1972, Ravitz was elected judge
on the Criminal Court bench.

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In 1977, Cockrel campaigned for
and won a seat as City Councilman

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on the Detroit Common Council. Cockrel
ran seventh in a field of nine,

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the only person elected to the City Council
without the endorsement of the UAW

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or the Democratic Party. Both campaigns
were managed by Sheila Murphy,

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who is now the Chief of Staff
in the Cockrel Council Office.

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We’re not running to educate, we run to win and educate.
If we can’t win, uh… it doesn’t make a bit of sense

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to run somebody. It costs too much money, and
more than it, it costs too much energy and time

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when you tie up, you know, too many people, because if
you do it, you gotta do it right. And for us that means,

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since we don’t have the ton of money,
mobilizing large numbers of people,

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which really stretches your infrastructure, you know, I
mean, your people, your key people really get pushed hard,

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uh… if you’re trying to, as we did in Ken’s general
election, we had 800 people in the streets.

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And you gotta feed and get literature
to and just generally be responsible

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for and take care of 800 people
between the hours of 7am and 8pm,

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umm… you know, throughout the entire city
of Detroit, that’s… that’s a lot of effort.

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It takes money. And we’re not…
We can’t do that. Winning helps.

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You know, I mean, it’s part of… part
of our mystique is that we win.

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Socialism has been part of
Detroit politics for many years.

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In the 1920s and 30s, many socialists were among
those working to unionize the auto plants.

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The Reuther brothers and other
organizers of the UAW were socialists.

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Despite the auto companies continuing
opposition, the late 30s saw many socialists

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inspired reforms enacted into
law, providing new protections

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for working people. With the 1940s
came federal laws blocking socialists

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from union leadership. But the radical
heritage of this period gives Detroit

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an unusual political character.

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[sil.]

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Welcome the Mayor in his
annual visit to us to present

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uh… the budget and in effect the state of the
city as well as a projection for the future.

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The budget I brought to this
table for your consideration

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a year ago was stretched to the limit.
As you will recall,

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I described it to you as a budget

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that took a highly optimistic view of our potential
revenues. We do have a balanced budget, to be sure.

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But does the budget balance the
$40 million of revenue items

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which require action by either the state
or the federal legislature to that extent

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are entirely beyond our control.
It is no exaggeration to say

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that the sum of our solutions
do not seem likely to equal

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the sum of our problems. How did we
get into this situation at a time

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when things seem to be going so well?
How can we be so cash poor

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when we are surrounded by hundreds of millions
of dollars worth of new construction?

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In the 1950s, Detroit’s tax
base steadily declined.

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Normal migration to the
suburbs became a stampede.

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Of a population near two million,
half a million whites fled.

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For every two businesses that could
be convinced to stay, 20 moved on.

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The burdens of Detroit’s decline were felt
most by poor people, who couldn’t leave.

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In 1967, the city experienced what the federal
government called a ‘civil disturbance’.

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In Detroit, this disturbance is
remembered as the great rebellion.

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It was stopped with the largest
military force ever assembled

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in the United States against citizens.
We will not endure violence.

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It will not be tolerated.
This nation will do

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whatever it is necessary to do to suppress

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and to punish those who engage in it.

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According to the Commission
on Civil Disorders,

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the military often used their force with little
discretion firing its snipers that never could be found.

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At the end of the week that
began on July 23rd, 1967,

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43 people were dead.

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We’ve come a long way in our
city from a few years back

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being regarded as the murder capital of the
world to the city that is now seen as the model

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uh… to which you go if you’re
interested in urban revitalization.

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Urban revitalization that is essentially key to an elaborate
combination of schemes that marry the public sector

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and its powers of licensing, taxation, regulation,
zoning and so on. Marries those powers

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and subordinates those powers to the interest of enhancing the
profit-making potential of various private entrepreneurs.

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We do it with tax abatements. We do it with tax
increment financing. We do it with the bond schemes.

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All the upscale educated affluent young types who
really can make a contribution to the tax base

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being brought back to eat quiche while
the poor are taxed out of their homes.

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[sil.]

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To stem Detroit’s continuing decline,

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Mayor Coleman Young has combined private developers
with federal grants to nurse a building boom

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to life in the downtown area. This
strategy has become controversial.

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Many citizens argue that the developments do
not create lasting solutions to unemployment,

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that they often displace poor people for
corporations and the wealthy, and that they receive

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unnecessary tax breaks. In opposition
to these development policies,

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Murphy, Ravitz, and Cockrel joined with
other Detroit activists to form DARE,

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the Detroit Alliance for
a Rational Economy -

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a group organizing around economic issues.

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Okay, Cockrel fights tax breaks.
Detroit Councilman Kenneth V. Cockrel

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is starting his most ambitious attack against
city tax breaks for large corporations by picking

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as its targets two of Detroit’s biggest
developers Max Fisher and A. Alfred Taubman.

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Cockrel, backed by an
organization called DARE,

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hopes to build political pressure that will
keep the City Council from granting a tax break

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estimated at $12 million for Riverfront
West, a $224 million Riverfront Apartment

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and Condominium Complex. Taubman and Fisher
proposed to build west of the Joe Louis Arena.

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A flyer prepared for the petition drive
declares ‘Tax Max and his pal Al’.

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The line is drawn in some very basic ways

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with the administration. And it’s gonna get
a little heavy. And, I think, we just…

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we need to be clear about that. And we need to… to
be really clear that this petition campaign at this…

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cannot not succeed. And when I say
succeed, I mean, we have got to produce

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between 15,000 and 20,000 signatures.
And I think we can do it.

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Okay, let me tell what’s happening, okay.
They got all these land down (inaudible)

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and Joe Louis Arena all the way up. No.

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Right, no. All I want you to do is sign this petition.
We’re sending these petitions to the City Council

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to tell them that the citizens
of Detroit do not like

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their tax money being given away for luxury
apartments. (inaudible). Okay. Thank you, sir.

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We got people being laid off. Yeah.

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From the different departments. And people like Max Fisher
are coming in and saying they shouldn’t have to pay taxes.

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If you wanna look this over and you
give us your signature that might help.

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[sil.]

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Give… Give us your signature or maybe we can let you know
when there’s gonna be a hearing at the City County Building,

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and… with some folks down there.

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All right, thank you.
What I think we can do

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is build a mobilized community. I want to say it
that way, ‘cause… ‘cause part of that is building

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a mass-based community organization
named DARE, but it also means

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building with other organizations, who… people who may
not join there, who may not have DARE’s politics,

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who may, you know, be opposed
to DARE’s politics, but…

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but being part of the creation of a context
wherein people become increasingly convinced

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that they should and… and have the ability

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to make many more of the
decisions about their lives.

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The conference that DARE
is sponsoring has like,

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a number of objectives. The information that we
have found, we think, is vital for people to have

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is around economic development
strategy that is being employed

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by the economic elite and the city government.
It’s a strategy that doesn’t lend itself

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to particularly interesting presentation

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in the sense of a meeting or a classroom.
One of the things

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that we came up with was a bus tool.

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There were about 400 of them, and they were just people
from all walks of life who happen to live in Detroit.

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Their primary interest is their own welfare in the
decade ahead, hence the title of the conference

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’City Life in the 80s’. They say they are just as vitally
interested in Detroit’s Renaissance as city leaders.

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They are concerned that the term may be too
narrowly defined in downtown development

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and the interest to those
responsible for that development.

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Their organizer Sheila Murphy says it’s primarily a
question of what direction the future will take.

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Currently set down directions appear to be set
down for the interests of ah… people with,

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you know, high economic interests, the economic elite,
and the regular people and the neighborhoods of cities,

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uh… you know, poor people, working people,
the people who get laid off from Chrysler

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as opposed to Mr. Iacocca and folks like that, that
the strategies aren’t there for their interests.

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The ultimate goal of DARE is to ensure that Detroit’s
Renaissance reaches beyond tall buildings,

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tax bases, and the interests of the wealthy, to
ensure that it reaches out to embrace the needs

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of all the people in the city. I’m Ron
from the TV2 Eyewitness News in Detroit.

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The first and most important thing is
that, you know, downtown is engaging in…

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in what’s called a Renaissance. And that Renaissance has
been highly touted and publicized all over the world,

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Detroit Coming Back. We think it’s an important
development, but we wanna call people’s attention

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to a couple of things. First, a great deal of that
Renaissance is being based on the use of taxpayers’ money.

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Very little of the money that actually you’re gotta see
in these various projects comes up in private capital.

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If the money comes up to the investified
private capital is generally guaranteed

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through some kind of federal
loan, or housing, or grant.

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Second thing that’s important to keep in mind is the process
that is a series of organizations have been established

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in part with city government officials on them,
in part with corporation executives on them.

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And they are responsible for the construction of
the various projects that we’re going to see.

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Literally what’s happening is we’re seeing the carving
out of an area with a great deal of taxpayers’ money

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primarily for the benefit of business.
Now we’re not opposed.

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We’re not against the development of Downtown Detroit. Or we’re
not opposed to progress. But we are opposed to the use of things

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like the Community Development Block Funds, which are money which
is designated by the federal government for use in the communities

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to pay for low and moderate income housing,
for community development facilities,

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and a number of other things in the areas of neighborhoods where
we live. The Renaissance Center was basically constructed

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with private capital, over a $120 million
was put up by the Ford Motor Company.

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Two new towers are being constructed on the Renaissance Center. And
they’re being constructed by the Rockefeller Investment Corporation.

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Those two new towers are being
constructed under a special program

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which allows for the construction of those
towers to receive a property tax abatement,

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a loss of $7 million. When asked whether
they would build the construction

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if they didn’t get the tax break. They said, yes, they
would still build it and would still be profitable than

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to… to build those two towers if they didn’t get the tax
back but they got the tax break anyway by the City Council

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on a vote of seven to two.

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Now, you have to just slow down a little bit. This
area here, is the area of the Riverfront West.

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Riverfront West is one of the key
projects of the Downtown area.

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The river will be sealed off from public
access. They’re building a seawall

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with the urban development money to stud… to stop
(inaudible) from coming in. Despite the fact that

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they have all these other grants, they wanna
ask the city of Detroit to give up the

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property taxes for 12 years to pay for that new
building. Again, these departments are gonna go for

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between 500 to $650 a month a bedroom.
We think it’s kind of outrageous

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that on top of all the other government programs and all
the other grants that they have that they’re gonna,

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you know, hit it to the city again for some more tax uh…
write-off. And we’re trying to organize the people of Detroit

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through the petition drives etcetera to put pressure on
the City Council so they don’t get that tax abatement.

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[sil.]

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On the one hand we’re
real close to observing

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the backroom deals that are
cut between the politicians

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and the real wealthy capitalists.
And we see that

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with the Downtown Development Authority.
We see that

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with the Economic Growth Council. We see that with
Riverfront West and the tax skills that they’re making.

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And juxtaposed against
that is the cutting edge

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of those things that are
scarring the public and that…

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that just real obvious in terms
of declining city services,

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in terms of hunger, in terms of
inadequate housing, in terms of the costs

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of urban renewal to the people who
are displaced by General Motors

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wanting to uh… bring about a Renaissance
and promote the gentrification program.

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So it used to be that we
were involved in ways

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that were outsiders
protesting and being visible

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but essentially around uh…
different hits here and there,

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uh… each month there might be something else that was
real important but it didn’t have the sort of continuity

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and the sort of linkage
that it possesses now.

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[sil.]

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[music]

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An application for a tax break by business has
never been denied by the Detroit City Council.

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At this session, the council will vote
on their willingness to hold hearings

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on a proposed tax abatement for the
Riverfront West apartment project.

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Number five would stand on its own.
You’re either part tax abatement

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and you’re against tax abatement. Now, that… that… that’s
why it needs to be… Well, yeah, Kenny’s right now Mr. Kuhn

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made it quite clear yesterday
that without the tax abatement

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(inaudible) will not go. So
what we want is a resolution

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where council members can express for or against
tax abatement. With reference to Riverfront West,

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I’m opposed to it, because I
see a difference between the…

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the city government attempting to participate
in the overall pot uh… on a federal level

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on something other than a random lottery basis, and
a private entrepreneur becoming a city government,

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a city government that has laid people off,
uh… a city government that is consistently

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being asked to cut essentially in
quality of life affecting areas.

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Uh… And to have us come in and say on the one hand you want us to
uh… get into this federal pot and give Max that awesome money.

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And then come back and ask us in
addition to express ourselves favorably

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on a 12-year tax abatement for the improvements to
that piece of real estate, that is reprehensible.

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I have not voted for uh… the tax abatements.
I have been opposed consistently

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uh… to the tax abatements where there is not an
affirmative showing of the need for the abatement

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as an inducement for the investment. I don’t think
that that burden has been met or satisfied yet.

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We laid off ah… in January, in
departments such as Consumer Affairs,

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and departments such as the Health Department, department such as
parks and recreation in quality of life affecting the departments

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Environment Protection and maintenance. We are laying
off people in those areas that direct… including

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fire, public protection. But we find these
industrialists continually coming to us

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and asking us to subsidize our economic
expansion, which has the effect

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of increasing the demand on the local governmental unit
for public services. If I’ve got more industrial activity

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going on in Detroit, and that means I’m gonna need more
police, I’m gonna need more fire, I’m gonna need more water,

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I’m gonna need more services that I’m asking really to
like subsidize my development by abating the taxes,

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and thus reducing their ability to provide me
the services that I need in the first place.

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We will move to uh… A5.
Councilman Hood resolution

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presupposing support for a tax abatement

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for Riverfront West residential development phase one. Uh…
There’s a (inaudible) requested on this, Councilman Hood.

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Madam (inaudible) to the resolution.
Okay, we will probably

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request the clerk will call the roll. Councilman
Cleveland? I. Councilman Cockrel? No.

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Councilman Eberhard? I. Councilman Hood?
I. Councilman Kelly? I.

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Councilman (inaudible)? I.
Councilman Macbeth? I.

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Madam President? I. There are seven
yeas and one nay. (inaudible).

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[sil.]

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What we have with Ken on the
council is won an opportunity to

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uh… put forward as he does,
I think, extremely well.

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Umm… A socialist or a left critique

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of the current set of arrangements uh… by
having the power in the sense of the position,

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it lends legitimacy to the idea

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umm… of… of a socialist. I mean,
there’s no people have any experience

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with socialists having power.
It’s sort of like, you know,

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the eccentric cousin or the, you
know, it’s something off to the side

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and for… I think, he’s been there
now a little better than a year.

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He has not fundamentally compromised,
political or personal principles,

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and they basically, I guess, I would
venture are synonymous. He… We have made a

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uh… consistent left critique

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of administration policies. And
we are now beginning to see

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some public debate, discussion, umm…
and tying up of these… these issues

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that I know didn’t exist. Before Ken was on the council,
tax abatements have been given away in the city

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wholesaley since 1974.

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[sil.]

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Politicians and activists can debate issues
of zoning and taxation, but have no control

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over the decisions of the privately owned
auto industry. The expansion of the industry

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into multinational status has hit the city hard.
Scores of factory buildings stand vacant,

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testimony to the jobs lost
in the last two decades.

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Nationwide, 200,000 auto workers are
on indefinite layoff - and in Detroit,

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unemployment is officially at 13%. Line 11.

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Just give me your card, sir.

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Give it so when you get to
the window, sir, line 11.

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The industry is facing
unprecedented challenges.

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Energy shortages and new pollution
control laws are forcing the industry

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to produce more efficient autos. Competition from
imports require the industry to increase productivity,

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and in the USA, the industry is
approaching market saturation.

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There is now almost one auto for every two
people, so continued expansion of sales

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must be found elsewhere. The automakers’
solution for these challenges

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is the world car - a car that can be
produced from parts made in plants

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in several different countries. If the
workforce of one plant goes on strike,

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the world car can be assembled elsewhere with
parts made from plants in other countries.

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Ford, when I was there, General
Motors, Chrysler, all over the world,

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we would pit Ohio versus Michigan.
We would pit Canada versus the US.

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We’d get outright grants and subsidies
in Spain, in Mexico, in Brazil...

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All kinds of grants. Well,
I’m not gonna theorize,

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but I’ve had great experience in this. I have played
Spain versus France and England so long I’m tired of it,

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and I have played the states against each
other over here. …if you could give a litany

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of these kinds of things.

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Thirty-five percent of the
auto sold in the United States

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are produced in Detroit and Michigan, but the strategy of the
automakers means this percentage will continue to decline.

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[sil.]

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The courtroom reflects the suffering and frustration
which result from urban economic crisis.

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Justin Ravitz has worked as a judge in
Detroit’s Criminal Court for eight years.

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He administers the laws of
the state as he sees fit,

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and his decisions have seldom been reversed.
State law prohibits filming in court.

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[sil.]

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I never harbored an ounce of desire

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or ambition to be a judge. I’m
sure that can never used to dream

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that someday he would be a city council
member. But it’s been real important

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for us to do battle with those
who still very much dominate

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by cutting into their power and
by dealing on a daily basis

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with the real importance
of those positions.

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And say pardon the mess except
it’s neater than usual.

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Hi, (inaudible) okay.

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[sil.]

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So thousands of people come through
one courtroom that I occupy each day.

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Decisions that I make in there are
important to them individually.

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They’re exposed to a person who uh…
may be, you know, most of the people

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had heard of previous lives of socialism they might have thought
I had horns and they come in court and see that I don’t.

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One’s in a position to try to affect the
institution in a way that will have

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greater impact than just the
impact upon individual cases

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in one’s own courtroom. That’s a real different
perspective I think in most other judges hold.

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[sil.]

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Ravitz has become well-known for making the
atmosphere in his courtroom less intimidating.

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He refused to wear the traditional robes until the
Michigan Supreme Court passed the Ravitz rule

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requiring judges to wear
the robe in the courtroom.

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Ravitz requires that the entire court stand
for the jury rather than for himself.

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It gets a little clumsy to stand for
the jury when the first coming in.

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But after we’ve selected a jury and I’ve
excused and thanked the rest of the panel,

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then the jury usually goes into the jury room
for the first time unless it’s been a prolonged

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jury selection process, and
then when we call them out

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in order to begin opening statements, I
first ask that everyone please rise.

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And everybody rises for the jury.
And it’s really often funny.

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The jury will come in and more often than
not, the jurors will all be standing there,

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and will be standing looking at one
another. And I’m sort of smile and say,

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\"We’re standing out of respect for you and as soon
as you wish to be seated we’ll be seated also.

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And sometimes remark that we often
stand here looking at one another

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for very long period of time.\"

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Uh… But that’s not… You know, in act,
that’s an important representation

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to this jury of what we think of them,
a cross-section of our community

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taking time out of their
busy individual lives

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come down here and decide something of
the greatest importance to all of us.

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I guess, I am those one of the people
within law enforcement uh… in Detroit

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who did not anticipate a massive social
revolution growing out of his ascendancy

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to the… to the bench. I knew Ravitz

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and his cohorts Cockrel,
Ted Spearman, Jeff Taft,

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as all being, you know, radical,
leftist, lawyers but pretty careful…

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careful legal scholars. And I… I felt that

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with that kind of a background in the
law, they probably had a leg up,

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or Justin had a leg up on some of the judges
over there who I don’t feel (inaudible) all.

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He is a good trial judge.
He’s fair to both sides.

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He works hard. He’s very
meticulous about the law,

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and on that score I’d have
to give him a good rating.

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The only thing is that he doesn’t
move the cases as quickly

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as we’d like him to. The reason for
that is because he is meticulous

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and he does not really have
the administrative mind.

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He’s more of a legal mind. When
you’re moving 30,000 cases a year,

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you also judge a judge by how
well he can move the cases.

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I think most of them who came
in were surprised at his age

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because he is… he was a younger jurist.

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And I think they were surprised in a sense because a
lot of times he had repeaters. And they were surprised

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uh… that he would… might let them make a phone
call, or asked us to make a phone call for them,

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or he might take time to sit down
and talk of them personally,

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although there might be incarcerated. He’s to sit down and
listen to him. And I think that really surprised them.

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I think, people feel comfortable
there whether they are

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not college trained or even high school graduates,
that he is going to make them understand

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and if he does not umm…
he will not allow a…

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a case to proceed until they do. I think
that’s important that sometimes defendants

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and witnesses are not totally aware
of what it’s about in that courtroom.

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And they should know. You see one of the things
that frightened the law enforcement system

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about Ravitz and… and his cohorts is that

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their entire… the thrust of their… their
argument, their attack, if you will,

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on the… the establishment was aimed at the most visible
part of the establishment, which was the police,

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you know, quite candidly. So Ravitz
wasn’t a Marxist taking the bench,

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Ravitz was an anti-police uh… communist

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who… who was going to take every
opportunity to… to score the police

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at every turn in the road. In other words,
nothing the police were going to do

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was gonna be right. And obviously
since that hasn’t happened,

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uh… it probably hasn’t changed a lot of minds
but made the issue kind of go away as an issue.

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I quite frankly have heard the rank-and-file
police officers say that they would rather appear

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before Ravitz simply because they feel
that… that… that he knows the law.

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And he knows how to apply the law
in the court. And he’s consistent.

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When you were an attorney, you were always
conscious of the point you wanted to score,

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and the defense’s you wanted to maintain.
When you’re a judge, you have to put yourself

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in the mind frame of the juror, saying this person doesn’t
know any more than that which they have elicited.

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And you have to think of two things. You have to think of
one, what hasn’t been brought out that’s really important?

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And two, how can I go about bringing
it out that won’t be prejudicial?

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And sometimes when you think it’s inherently
prejudicial to one side or the other,

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you call counsel to sidebar and you say, “Look,
this is an area that you just haven’t covered.

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And it’s darn important. And I wanna cover it. And I’m
gonna cover it myself if you don’t fairness to the jury.

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But it’d be preferable if you did so
that I don’t interject that way.”

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There are situations where some
days the courtroom is full.

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And people are interested. And there’re
days where someone will go to trial

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on what could even be a capital case where they might go up
for a life or something. There’s no one in the courtroom.

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Nobody there, not a single human
being there who would like events

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even a presence to show some
concern about that person’s faith.

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And that’s, you know, really depressing, must
be an awfully, lonely, horrifying situation.

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It’s an institution that inherent in.
And it is a ton of sadness.

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When you have massive poverty and we do in this
country. There are 25 million people living in poverty.

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And you have all the materialism

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that is heaped upon us. Just look at the ads,
that we’re all subjected to from day one

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around the clock and, you know, billboard.
I mean it’s relentless.

00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
Uh… The materialism, the violence and all those things, that’s a
breeding ground for crime. That’s why we can call the society

00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
in the system itself criminogenic. And what
they do is, one, they manufacture criminals

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uh… like they manufacture cars.
I would think

00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.999
it would be a very difficult position to
be in to be a Marxist or an avowed Marxist

00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
judge in a capitalistic society with…
with what I would have to view

00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
and he would have to view as
capitalistic laws. Uh… I don’t think

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it’s very cognitively a very comfortable
position for him to… to be in.

00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.999
And I’m really rather surprised
that he’s lasted six years.

00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.999
My ability to cope with this
job is directly proportional

00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:54.999
to the way in which things are going
that transcend this limited work

00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
like work that, you know, I’m sort of engaged in…
in terms of trying to deal with the heroin problem

00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
and get it at a higher level, so we see the real criminals.
The profiteer is brought in here rather than the addicts.

00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
And if that’s going good that gives me
inspiration and makes the rest of this,

00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
something that I can handle a lot more
comfortably, you know, in a lot better I suspect.

00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
Uh… In beyond the institution,
you know, their work

00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
and when those sorts of uh… political activities
are going well, that gives one the strength,

00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
and sustenance, and the outside
support that you need.

00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:38.000
[music]

00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
There are 27,000 vacant
buildings in Detroit.

00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
Many of these buildings
are usable structures

00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
for which there are no tenants and no money for
renovation, others have been abandoned by their owners.

00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:49.999
Every Friday the City Council meets to
decide which buildings will be demolished

00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
as health and safety hazards. The
city has no other alternative

00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
than destruction of its own assets.
There’s anyone here

00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
on item G8, 9, 10, 11, or 12?

00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
There’s no one here on items G8 through 12, we will
concur in the recommendation of the department.

00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
There’s someone here on
item G13, 82, 39 Olympia,

00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
(inaudible).

00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
[sil.]

00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.999
82, 39, Olympia is a one and a half
story framed, single dwelling,

00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
buildings over the trespass. There’s a big,

00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
there’s a naughty commandment was feasible.

00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
Taxes are doing the amount of 300…
$381 dollars. We recommend demolition.

00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
Sir, would you identify yourself? My name’s
Patrick Stephens. I live at 2505, Iroquois,

00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
the house and question belongs to my
89-year-old mother-in-law. You can live there.

00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
The last tenant when they
moved out demolished the home

00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
as they moved out. And we have a tenant who’s ready
to move in as soon as it’s fixed up sufficiently

00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
so that if someone is living there, we can fix up
the balance of the house. It’s a two flat house.

00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
Okay. It’s a matter of having someone
there of the every time you do something

00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
it’s torn out. I don’t know how many times we bought
it… it up. I imagine you spend $1,000 the last year

00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
just boarding it up and have your going back
down. We’ll give you two weeks to board it up.

00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
And as you know from being here, if you can keep it boarded, there’ll
be no problem. Thank you. Thank you. You could watch him fixing it up.

00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
Thank you very much. All
right, on the G14, 15, 16, 17

00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
and 18, is there anyone here on those item?

00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
When I moved here, there was house there.
Two houses stood there on that vacant lot.

00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
[sil.]

00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
And that lot was vacant when I moved in here. There
was house there next to the house that’s burned now.

00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
Umm…hmm… And over there was three houses.

00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
And that… that’s a triple lot there.
Three houses stood there.

00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.999
Two was here.

00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:18.000
[sil.]

00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
We have had a series of

00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
fires down this way in the KS Quarter, the neighborhood,
they’re gonna throw up the uh… apartment itself

00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
got kind of hard. People that
had some means or some way of

00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
trying to get out, they would move the families out. And that’s
when, you know, we got some fires were started in there.

00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
And it just was a process. You could see
it coming. You could see it coming.

00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
And the building just became unsafe.

00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.999
Twenty blocks from that
gutted apartment building

00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
is General Motors world headquarters.

00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
This is the largest manufacturing corporation
in the world. In 1978, GM earned

00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.999
$9nine million in profit every day.
GM is located

00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
in the new center area of Detroit,
10 minutes from Downtown,

00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
once rows of neat working-class and the
middle-class houses surrounded the GM building.

00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
Although the new center neighborhood still houses
4,000 residents, many of the homes are rundown.

00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
GM has bought up all the properties,
closing off the streets

00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
and building a modern and
protected suburb within the city.

00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
Opponents of the project see it as gentrification
- the driving out of low-income residents

00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
and bringing in of well-off professionals.

00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
The community met with General Motors executives and city
officials at a public meeting to discuss the new center project.

00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:54.999
There’s really no

00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.999
housing problem in Detroit in terms of
available houses that people could live in.

00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
There’s a problem of persuading people to live
in them is a problem of having that people

00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
have enough money to keep them in good shape so
that they can move into them. One of the byproducts

00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
is that some people are gonna have to
move, which is a very disrupting thing,

00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
which we wanna minimize. We certainly
don’t wanna move them out of Detroit.

00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
Our intention is to stabilize the area. And we hope
that some of the people can move back into the area

00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
and stay there. This
community does not like

00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.999
anything that General Motors has done
up to now, that’s number one phase,

00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.999
principally because you do not identify
with the community. You don’t identify

00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
with the whites nor the blacks in that
neighborhood. And one of the principal problems is

00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
why you’re not having success and why people came out
here tonight, because they don’t respect the way

00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
that you’re managing this project. Why
do you have to own all the property

00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
before you can contribute a penny to the revitalization,
and the growth, and the development of this city?

00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
And then I refuse to believe
that that little area of land,

00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
that you talked about, is all that
GM has designs on. So I wanna know,

00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
are there some long-range revitalization plans
that we don’t know about at this point?

00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.999
Like, are you gonna go to Virginia Park and
leave Euclid, which we know as rant Rome?

00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.999
Okay, you’re gonna leave all that the way it is and come
in and build these multimillion-dollar shopping centers,

00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.999
and homes, and everything else and
not go any further than that?

00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.999
I wanna know if the people across
Virginia Park need to be concerned

00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.999
about what may be happening or what might be showing
up on General Motors drawing boards? And I wanna know

00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.999
why before they can contribute anything to the
growth of this city, they have to own it?

00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
The properties of being
auctioned, purchased… Excuse me.

00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
May I finish? …renovated and resold
right back. The people who are in them

00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:59.999
have the first right to purchase them.
(inaudible) man. And have found them which is a

00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.999
low-income area be able to
move back into December

00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
and pay $40,000 for a house. Now
you care behind you go do this?

00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
I’m happy to see a corporation like General Motors
willing to stand up and take some heat to try

00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
and do something for the city. You know,
back again when I joined new Detroit,

00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
everybody was leaving Detroit. People were hitting
Eight Mile Road, and they weren’t looking back.

00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
Corporations were moving their
headquarters and their offices.

00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
General Motors is not only staying, and they
have headquarters in the new center area,

00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:39.999
they’ve cleaned up around it. And now they wanna try
and reach out and do some things in that community.

00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.999
I’m glad you offered me
an opportunity to talk.

00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
What you have going on in the
city of Detroit is a coalition,

00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
and it’s talked about quite a lot and everyone’s very proud of
that except those people are being screwed by the coalition.

00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:59.999
The coalition is uh… said to
be uh… this marvelous amalgam,

00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.999
this joining together of the so-called private sector that
would include for purposes of illustration General Motors.

00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:09.999
Uh… And the public sector and that would
be the Mayor, and in some instances

00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.999
been certainly the majority of the Detroit City
Council. What has happened in city government

00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.999
is that a lot of the responsibility for making decisions in city
government has effectively been taken from the legislative branch,

00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.999
us, and from the executive branch
and have basically been transferred

00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.999
through things like some of these coalition organizations that
I could name but the initials might not mean anything for you.

00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
How many have heard of DDA, Downtown Development
Authority? Not very many, some have.

00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
How many have heard of EDC, Economic Development Corporation?
How many have heard of Economic Growth Corporation?

00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
How many have heard of many of these initial
agencies that have a number of development speeds

00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
that are taking money and resources from poor people and
using them to make profit for private entrepreneurs.

00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.999
But I’m not here to attack GM, because every time… every time
I said at the council or someone came from the neighborhood.

00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:59.999
They say they support it. They
supported uh… the revitalization

00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.999
that General Motors has underway. And I support
that revitalization. Let’s be clear on that.

00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:09.999
The question then and now was what will be the terms
on which this revitalization will take place?

00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.999
I’m concerned the (inaudible) relocation but those who
will be displaced as a result of the project first of all.

00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.999
I am concerned of those individuals
who are desirous of continuing

00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.999
to occupy the geography in this area be given the right
to do so. I see subsidized housing as being a key

00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:29.999
to whether or not. In fact, people
will be able to… to move back in here.

00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
And uh… the solution to those problems don’t necessarily lie
in our standing up here and barber-shopping on each other

00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:39.999
or barber-shopping on these cats, maybe
they got jobs. They’re paid to be here.

00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.999
They are paid, you know, they’re paid… they’re paid
to take this heat. We should be very clear on that,

00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:49.999
you know. I mean, you know, the General
Motors is what they are and will always be

00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.999
the rationale of businesses… There everybody who
say that the ‘business of business is business’.

00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.999
Uh… It has been and will continue to be until such
time if there is a form of political organization

00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.999
that gives this society another reason to organize
economic resources other than making profit

00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.999
but to meet the needs of the people. We haven’t reached that state.
And that’s the state we’ve got to reach, because all of the problems

00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
that we face in housing, healthcare,
transportation and so on, flow from the fact

00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.999
that we, as working people, have no control at all over
investment decisions that are made in this country.

00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.999
Hi, my kid… I’ve been delighted to sign
this autograph. Well, I have my own pen.

00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:29.999
What… What’s your name?
I’m thinking (inaudible).

00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.999
Hey, how are you doing? Which (inaudible).
You are already have.

00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:39.999
No, not yet, until we get something done about what’s…
what they’re talking about here. Take good care.

00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.999
Take care of your mom. Take care of your mom. I
thought a lot of city people around the building,

00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:49.999
but they may not did well.
They were doing our workshops,

00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
you know, like Malcolm Davis but that
number of city people had to (inaudible)

00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
not I’m supposed to wanna coalition politics. Yeah, without… without
it (inaudible). Yeah, it kind of wanted it to have that in mind.

00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.999
We are not gonna elect that way
to liberation in this society.

00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:09.999
And that’s just… I don’t think that that’s the
central place where powers gonna be taken.

00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
Secondly, when people control
investment decision-making

00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.999
is when people have economic power which is when people
have the… are then really controlling the society.

00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
And as long as, you know, as long
as we don’t control we cannot,

00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
investment decisions, we do not in that sense, you
know, in power. And one of the most important things

00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.999
that we have to do in the electoral arena

00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
is be very clear about the kind of power that we
do have and not get confused about the nature

00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
of the power that we hold. Apart
from screening cases more carefully,

00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
so you more often really do represent
the best interest of the people

00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:54.999
of the state of Michigan apart from trying
to do what you can to climb the ladder

00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:59.999
and get those who really are
engaged in heroin trafficking,

00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:04.999
to go after white-collar criminals, to alter the
dynamic that does exist that’s led to your image

00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:09.999
in… in the view that the
public has our prosecutors.

00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.999
I think the prosecutors have been victimized
by the process that has occurred historically

00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
and by the image that you’re all
burdened by, and I genuinely believe

00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
that it can be stood on its head.
I genuinely believe

00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.999
that we can have people’s prosecutors who really
do represent the best interest of the community.

00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.999
Just as I believe, we can have
people’s police officers.

00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:39.999
Just as I believe that we can have
or could have a prison system

00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.999
that dealt not just with warehousing and
dehumanizing people, that dealt with trying to build

00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:49.999
a better society for a better future.
Uh… Those are my comments to you.

00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:54.999
And I would welcome any questions or
comments that you might wish to make.

00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:59.999
What… Aren’t you advocating that we superimpose our
own value system of what we think our priorities

00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
as opposed to doing what the law
says to do? There’s nothing wrong.

00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:09.999
I mean, if there maybe… We’re having a value
system. And everyone ought to have a value system

00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:14.999
and ought to be able to stand up and defend it
and fight for it. And part of the trouble is,

00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
we’ve… we’ve established some
weird notion of neutrality.

00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
I’m not neutral on rape, nor are you.
I’m not neutral on murder.

00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.999
I’m not neutral on heroin trafficking.
Those things are bad.

00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
And in the process, we’d also train
prosecutors to have a different projection

00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:39.999
that jurors would be affected by also

00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.999
where you’re not on the defensive. Where you can
stand up, be proud of what you’re representing.

00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:49.999
Neutrality isn’t cool at all to
my mind uh… nor just, nor fair,

00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:54.999
nor anything else when the proper human,

00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.999
we actually not to be non-neutrality. Yes,
I think you should impose your values.

00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:04.999
And yes, I think your values ought to reflect those
of the people of the state Michigan, the real people.

00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:09.999
The point is I don’t think that everyone, you
know, the council represents the community.

00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:14.999
And I know that the community is constituted of disparate
elements, you know. We are not of one voice today.

00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:19.999
I’m a socialist, they are not. You’ve got feminist, and
every other string, you know, like on the council.

00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:24.999
So, for me, the task is to call it the
way I see it and try to make as reasoned

00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:29.999
than argument in support of a
position that I take as I can make.

00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:34.999
Uh… And hope that it will have some persuasive effect on my colleagues,
but I have to rely primarily on our ability to organize outside.

00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:39.999
So there it becomes important to me, you know, Detroit (inaudible)
economy, because the way we change the councilor list

00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:44.999
is to organize a constituency out there that insists,
uh… that it’s politics be reflected on the council

00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:49.999
but that might mean some change, you see.
So my job is really outside too.

00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:54.999
And maybe we can change this council, so I’m not gonna miss it. There was
a time when it would have been unheard of for someone like me to be here,

00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:59.999
and if the mayor had had it his way, I wouldn’t be here because
I was not on the slate. Okay, thank you. Okay, yeah. Sure.

00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.999
Back in (inaudible). Back in (inaudible).

00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:13.000
[sil.]

00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:34.999
Because people are from here
are committed to this city.

00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:39.999
We’re not gonna turn it over to the old lying
economic elite, the ruling class in this town.

00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:44.999
We’re just not gonna give it up. They don’t own it
really and fundamentally. And the people who built it

00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:49.999
who are the lifeblood of the city,
own this city. And sooner or later,

00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:54.999
we’re gonna take it back.

00:52:55.000 --> 00:53:03.000
[music]