cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/19544
Since the murder of Renee Nicole Good and the U.S. attack on Venezuela, an emerging movement has taken the streets to oppose Trump’s reactionary and authoritarian agenda.
This weekend saw thousands of people mobilize across the country — including in Detroit — to demand justice for Good, no war on Venezuela, and for ICE to get out of our communities.
Detroit Will Breathe (DWB) brought together a coalition to organize a press conference and rally to bring the voice of the movement to the doorsteps of Detroit City Hall. The organization is hoping to turn up the heat on city officials while uniting different groups across the city.
The press conference and rally is supported by the People’s Assembly/Asamblea Popular, Detroit Justice Center, Black Lives Matter Detroit, the Metro Detroit DSA, We The People Dissent, The Coalition for Police Transparency and Accountability, Moratorium NOW!, and Anti-Fascist Organizing Committee.
The press conference also featured clergy, legal and civil right advocates, and elected officials who want an end to ICE activity in Detroit and across the state.
Throughout the speeches, political activists and elected officials described the fear that many in the immigrant community feel of ICE deporting their families. One notable example was from State Senator Chang, who tearfully described numerous instances of people being detained due not having the proper paperwork, being shuffled to different facilities to a point where families could not locate their family members and even those who have died while under ICE detention.
Labor, Churches, and Major Social Justice Organizations Must Act
A central aspect of the press conference was to call for action by labor, churches, and traditional civil rights groups in Detroit to mobilize to fight Trump. The only time Detroiters have made meaningful gains is when they have mobilized. It was workers fighting in Detroit that helped build the labor movement in the early 20th Century. And it was Black workers and community members mobilizing against police brutality that got the violently racist S.T.R.E.S.S. police squad disbanded in the 1970s.
Today, we need the United Auto Workers (UAW), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), The Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and others to mobilize their base to join the movement against Trump. As Left Voice member and SEIU member Julia Wallace from Los Angeles explains, we need the combativeness of BLM, the internationalism of the pro-Palestine movement, and the workers power of Italy’s “Block Everything” general strike.
Coalition Work Based on Class Independence
DWB believes the current moment calls for broad unity against Trump’s reactionary attacks. The group seeks to amplify anyone prepared to speak out against the president and call on people to mobilize, even progressive elected officials. However, the movement must have space where it can organize itself collectively, democratically, and on a politically independent basis — even when it shares space with politicians ready to speak out. Many have been frustrated by the Democrats’ failure to be a strong and consistent opposition to Trump.
The Democrats who run Detroit City Hall should have banned ICE from operating on city property, stopped sharing information and co-operating with ICE years ago. And it should do it now.
If ICE is kicked out of Detroit, it will be because of our organizing and mobilizing from the bottom up. That is why DWB is part of Detroit People’s Assembly/Asamblea Popular and is promoting mass meetings where organizations and individuals can get together to organize and discuss and debate strategy for the movement.
The next mass meeting is January 17, 3-5pm at Central United Methodist Church on 2026 Woodward Ave. in Detroit. For more information, follow DWB’s on Instagram.
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