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Wednesday, 23 June, 2010 1:05 AM
'We
Have a Dream': U.S. Social Forum now underway at Cobo Center
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PHOTO
BY GARRETT GODWIN / ©AMERICAJR.com
The
MLK Freedom March passes by Cobo Center in downtown Detroit
on Jan. 18, 2010.
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DETROIT
-- This year marks two anniversaries
in Detroit: the National People's Summit with Tent City and the
anniversary that the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke
his "I Have a Dream" speech months before the legendary
August 22, 1963 in Washington, D.C., which coincides with the "We
Have a Dream" rally as the kick-off for the 2010 U.S. Social
Forum. The march went from Woodward and Jefferson to the Cobo Center,
where the forum will be at from Tuesday to Friday.
The Restaurant
Opportunities Center (ROC) United (www.rocunited.org),
Alliance for Democracy (www.thealliancefordemocracy.org;
www.defendingwaterforlife.org),
Working America (in affiliate to the AFL-CIO), and the People's
Freedom Caravan are several of the coalitions, community outreach
and grassroots campaigns/non-profit organizations dedicated to have
an economy for Main Street, not Wall Street; advocating a democratic
government based on and for the people; defending the rights of
all; focusing on corporations as people, not as business; having
a real establishment of the workers being importance; creating jobs
and schools, the police having a humble attitude of being servants
of the people, and more.
The purpose
of this march remains the same as the National People's Summit last
year: bailout the people, not just the banks and Wall Street. "Ain't
no power like the power of the people 'cause the power of the people
don't stop!" the People's Freedom Caravan chanted during the
march.
According
to Jose Oliva of the ROC, the march is a celebration of honoring
past civil rights leaders besides Dr. King that includes Ella Baker
and Mother Jones, as they have a vision of what the future should
be: better wages, affordable housing, ending discrimination, end
corporate greed, and more. ROC, Lanysha Adams states, believes in
the high road philosophy -- unlike the owners because they think
it is more profitable for the workers to get minimum wage. Or in
this case, that is their low road philosophy, which leads to a power
imbalance. Laws in this country and this economic system benefits
the rich, said Jeff Mansfield of the New York chapter.
"What
do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!" the ROC chanted.
For
more info on the U.S. Social Forum, visit www.ussf2010.org.
PHOTO
BY GARRETT GODWIN / ©AMERICAJR.com
The
Tent City rally took place at Grand Circus Park in June 2009.
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