Critical Moment Fall 2014

CRITICAL MOMENT Detroit By Detroiters

Fall2014

In this IssueU.N. Investigators Report on Detroit’s Water Crisis

Occult Murder Mysteries from the Motor City’s PastConnecting the Dots between Austerity and Structural Racism

Discrimination and Favoritism in Southeast Michigan’s Restaurant Industry From Detroit to Ferguson

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Keep Moving, Detroit!

Over the last four years, Michigan has been pushed over the edge into some very dangerous and crazy political territory. The rights of women, people of color, union members and even our democratic institutions themselves have all suffered under the lash our governor, the rabid GOP-led state legislature and willing accomplices in the Democratic party. Detroit has been the scene of some of their worst crimes, with the theft of pension funds, the looting of city assets and the elimination of Citizen District Councils.

This November state residents will have an opportunity to vote out the governor, attorney general and other members of Michigan’s GOP freak squad. We wholeheartedly encourage voting them out, but it can’t stop there. Even if Schauer gets elected, we need to hold his feet to the fire, pushing for changes that advance the real interests of regular people.

The same can be said for our local fights. We should celebrate real victories like bringing international attention to the water department’s shut offs by learning from them and using our experiences to increase our momentum forward.

We need to keep pushing and avoid getting entangled in the economic framework and off-base collective guilt tripping of our oppressors. To quote the old Crass song: “Do they owe us a living? Of course they do!” Emergency management and water shutoffs have never really been about fiscal responsibility. They are part of a larger design to advance the right-wing objectives of rich douchebags and corporations and we “Connect the Dots” on page three. For those of you not versed in the writing of Ayn Rand, here’s their value system in a nutshell: “The world is full of suckers, steal and exploit whenever you can get away with it!” Privatization, deregulation and a rollback of democratic rights are all very much part of the “by any means necessary” neoliberal game plan of Wall Street lawyers and morally-deranged politicians. Throughout this issue are articles on Detroit Public Schools, local hiring methods shedding light on the greed of the wealthy at the expense of the majority.

We’re in a period not only of crisis but of new social growth too. Issues like the water crisis bring us together and develop new ways of struggle and of community building and support; they provide an opportunity to push for a different city and society. We need to use this time to advance the human rights struggle for water and extend it to fight for access to affordable housing, accessible public transportation and the means to decently support ourselves and our families. It ’s not enough to merely respond to right-wing threats or to bring back the displaced regime of Detroit politicians. We need to fight for a visionary future based on OUR values!

Detroiters need to be pushing our own agenda. Everyone of us has it in us to be an organizer: to talk about what needs to be done for our families, co-workers and friends; to push for better local and regional policy, to organize on the job; to get the word out through independent media outlets; to think about and study the new reality together; to develop local networks and survival infrastructure; to make a difference in our neighborhoods. No matter what the haters say, YOU have the power to help bring about change. Nothing terrifies our adversaries more than us working together. So, let’s keep moving, Detroit. Despite all the perils we face, a better future is closer than we realize. The only real question is: Do we want it badly enough to fight for it?

- the Critical Moment Collective

by Mark Tucker

Manuel “Matty” Moroun is the local billionaire we love to hate. He’s an easy target. Unlike Gilbert and the Ilitch’s, poor unpopular Matty doesn’t own a sexy sports team to distract the masses from his selfish ways. Local media often malign Matty for a low likeability score in relation to his fellow hoarders, and play on his physical features with an “excellent” resemblance to the Simpsons’ Mr. Burns in their parodies of him. Matty is best known for monopolizing our border crossing with Canada vis-à-vis the Ambassador bridge, and for owning Detroit’s ruin porn crown jewel, a.k.a. the derelict Michigan Central train station. Matty is so unpopular, a federal judge recently threw the reclusive octogenarian in jail for a night. Arriving an hour late and smug probably didn’t help his case that day. But who is this “Matty” Moroun character, anyways?

Detroit’s own Mr. Burns was born in 1927 of Lebanese descent. Raised on Detroit’s east side, he was often working in the two gas stations his father owned while attending U of D Jesuit High School, graduating in 1945. Matty continued his education at the University of Notre Dame, graduating in 1949 with a bachelor of science degree in chemistry. He wanted to be a doctor. But, after he was denied admission to

medical school, Matty became more involved in his father ’s trucking business in the 1950s, taking full control in the 70s. During this time Matty married his wife Nora, when he was 42. They have two children and call Grosse Pointe Shores home. Him and his son Matthew own CenTra, Inc., ranked by Forbes as one of the largest 500 private companies in America, headquartered in an unmarked building in Warren. With a tidy $1.7 Billion, Matty finds himself on the Forbes’ list of wealthiest 400 Americans.

The Ambassador bridge is one of the few privately owned bridges spanning the US and Canada, and accounts for a full quarter of all trade between our two countries. Maroun purchased it 35 years ago, bringing in $60 million annually in tolls to the Moroun family empire. A new government controlled span has been proposed downriver of the Ambassador. Moroun wants to build a second bridge right next to his to maintain and increase his profits. Voices critical of the ability of a private individual to monopolize such a vital infrastructure artery grew louder after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, adding security concerns to the belief that an international bridge between two countries should be owned by the government. A competing bridge planned for

downriver has been in the works for years. In the 2009 -10 election cycle, the Moroun family pumped $1.5 million into local politicians hoping to defeat construction approval of a competing bridge. Matty spent another $33 million in 2012 trying to pass a statewide proposal blocking construction of any new, public border crossing without a popular vote. Harder to tally are the hundreds of properties strategically purchased through a maze of companies on both sides of the border to hedge their real estate bets and manipulate bridge decisions, letting many of the buildings seriously deteriorate and blight entire neighborhoods in the process.

In a rare interview ol’ Matty patriotically swooned “I will do the best thing for my country and I’ve done it all my life.” Fine bit of propaganda from an old border baron who may be worrying about his legacy with one foot in the grave. Truth is he has skillfully used his wealth and the court system to obstruct the economic well being of millions of people and an entire region for personal gain. You made your money man, let it go - you can’t take it with you.

The Editorial Collective Meg Marotte - writer/editor/logistics

Fred Vitale - writer/editor Sarah Coffey - writer/editor

D. Sands - writer/editorMichael Sabbagh - writer/editor/social media

Curtis McGuire - editor/designerMark Tucker - writer/editor

Acknowledgments Cover Art - Cho Thao

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Meet Your Local Billionaire, Matty Moroun

CRITICAL MOMENT – FALL 2014 - 3

By Fred Vitale The graphic demonstrates the important connections among the Bankruptcy Plan of Adjustment, Emergency Management, Detroit Public Schools, Water Shutoffs, Future Detroit and the Blight Task Force. They are all facets of Structural Racism and the Policy of Austerity. The slides are from a presentation by Dr. Peter Hammer, professor of law at Wayne State University and director of the Da-mon Keith Center for Civil Rights. Called “Connecting the Dots,” it was first presented at Blessed Sacrament Ca-thedral in September. Since the presenta-tion, there have been important develop-ments on all six fronts of struggle.

Bankruptcy Plan of Adjustment The purpose of the Bankruptcy trial is to decide whether Detroit’s Plan of Adjust-ment (in its 8th edition by attorneys working at $1000/hour and 441 pages long) is an acceptable plan for Detroit to emerge from bankruptcy. The plan should, in the eyes of Federal Judge Ste-ven Rhodes, prevent Detroit from being bankrupt again and allow Detroit to pro-vide basic city services despite the fact that there is nothing in the plan about creating jobs. Without money coming in, exiting bankruptcy will be near impossi-ble if the current 40% unemployment rate continues. Court testimony reveals how much we have lost and how much we are losing to pay off the banks on questionable loans.

Kevyn Orr, Emergency Manager of Detroit, testified that his biggest reason for taking Detroit into bankruptcy was the money owed city workers and retir-ees for non-pension benefits, primarily health care. According to Orr, the city had underfunded these benefits by $5.7 billion. Pension underfunding, was actu-ally much less, $3.5 billion. Under threats of deeper cuts, employees and retirees approved the Plan by accepting less severe cuts, no health care and by dropping a lawsuit against the EM law. Orr testified that the health care cut was by far the biggest “savings” to the city through the bankruptcy.

The same week, a federal judge in California ruled that in the municipal bankruptcy of Stockton, California, pen-sions could be reduced like any other debt in bankruptcy. It was a sharp blow to the California state pension systems elevates the attack on public employee pensions across the country. It also un-derlines the importance of Detroiters continuing to resist these anti-worker policies.

John Hill, Chief Financial Officer for Detroit, testified that $1.2 billion of the $1.4 billion earmarked to improve city

services comes from “efficiencies” in city services and collecting more taxes. Detroit Free Press reporters Matt Helms and Tresa Baldas wrote: “Detroit clearly will be walking a tightrope in meeting terms of the Plan of Adjustment, with court monitoring and state-imposed oversight through a financial review commission that could last 13 years or more. The commission would have ulti-mate say-so over spending and contracts city officials approve.”

Federal Bankruptcy Judge Rhodes said that he approved Detroit entering bankruptcy because the city could not deliver basic services to its residents and pay its debts. Now we learn that the Plan has little new money. $1.2 billion arrives – magically – from cutting costs and improving collections of taxes. In other words, to the extent that the plan is successful, Detroiters will bear the costs doubly – key city services will be re-duced and residents will pay more taxes.

Mayor Duggan also testified about the Plan of Adjustment. He claimed that the Plan was reasonable but expressed con-cern about things beyond his control: “I can’t predict a national recession. I can’t predict a cut in state revenue sharing. I can’t predict other casinos being ap-proved. Those are the risks I signed up for as the mayor. I believe within this plan are the resources we need to be suc-cessful.” Commenting on the fact that the plan depends largely on more effi-cient collection of funds by the city, Duggan said, “this is going to be tight, and it’s not without risk.”

The Bankruptcy Plan – deep cuts of wages and pensions, seizing city re-sources and giving them to banks and financial institutions – will not improve Detroiters’ lives. Such plans have an unsavory history around the globe by not helping people improve their lives any-where. The assumptions of Orr and Snyder that poor leadership, bad deci-sions and corruption by Detroit’s leaders are the causes of our financial problems are a falsehood. The causes instead are structural racism, fiscal austerity and enormous job losses. The plan does not address any of these real causes.

Water Shutoffs Update The city started an aggressive water shut-off campaign in the spring of 2014 in an effort to get more people to pay their outstanding bills. Rhodes called the ef-forts a “bold, commendable and neces-sarily aggressive plan,” because “Detroit cannot afford any revenue slippage.” He conceded that, “It cannot be doubted that water is a necessary ingredient to sus-taining life, but that doesn’t mean there is a right to free and affordable water.” Rhodes said residents do not have a right

to receive water service “let alone ser-vice based on an ability to pay.” Nearly 22,000 homes lost water due to shutoffs from March through August, according to the Detroit water department, though 15,251 had service restored in that same period. A moratorium on shutoffs de-manded by grassroots organizations is a bad idea, says Rhodes. “The last thing Detroit needs is this hit to its revenues.”

The Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA), another misshapen creature born of the Bankruptcy Plan like the new Lighting Authority, has seized key com-ponents of the Detroit Water System: intake plants, treatment plants and large interceptors that connect with suburban systems. The GLWA Board will be stocked with political appointees select-ed by county executives, the governor, the mayor and Detroit’s City Council. The appointees will know nothing about water and water systems and will not respect the human right to water. They are already ignoring the needs of low-income people.

In 2013, the US Conference of Mayor raised an alarm that the high cost of nec-essary local government investment in aging water infrastructure and services in many cities disproportionately affects elderly, poor, and middle class house-holds. According to its research, public water spending between 2001 and 2010 topped $850 billion, largely financed through water rate hikes and increased long-term borrowing. They also lament-ed that the burden of higher charges “borne disproportionately by households with low, moderate or fixed incomes” because a greater share of their income is spent on necessities like water. They called for “a fresh look at local afforda-bility and a national water policy.” No such fresh look is occurring in Detroit.

At the request of local and national grassroots organizations, two Special Rapporteurs from the United Nations; Catarina de Albuquerque, Clean Water and Sanitation Specialist; and Leilani Farha, Adequate Housing Specialist, came to Detroit October 18-20 on a fact-finding mission. (See their statement on pages 6 and 7.)

Emergency Management Kevyn Orr, the EM over Detroit, reached an agreement with Mayor Duggan and Detroit City Council in late September to leave office as his term ended. Neverthe-less, he will remain to “handle” the Bankruptcy and Plan of Adjustment. The city budget will be controlled by Kevyn Orr until the trial ends and the state fi-nancial board takes over for the next 13 years. Orr, it should be noted, issued several recent orders including the reor-ganization of city government in the im-

age of the Bankruptcy Plan and overrid-ing the Detroit Charter, the revised city constitution recently approved by voters.

Detroit Public Schools Following the vote to remove Kevyn Orr, the Detroit School Board voted to terminate the third Emergency Manager over DPS, Jack Martin. Not surprisingly, he refused to leave. Ingham County Cir-cuit Judge Joyce Draganchuk ruled the state has the right to appoint EM after EM as long as the governor deems nec-essary. There is, in fact, no guaranteed return to democracy for schools or cities. See more on the Detroit Schools in this issue.

Detroit Future Cities The Bankruptcy Plan includes seizing valuable Detroit assets in order to ap-pease banks and financial institutions. Two of them, Syncora and Financial Guaranty Insurance Company, had pro-vided insurance for the loans, likely ille-gal, made in 2005, ostensibly to make payments to the pension funds. In order to end their opposition to the Bankruptcy Plan, Syncora agreed to take some of our parking garages, the Windsor Tunnel, riverfront land to the east of Woodward and cash. FGIC agreed to take riverfront land west of Woodward – Joe Louis Are-na and cash. It also agreed to build a hotel, expensive condos and shops on the property. In addition to ceding this valu-able riverfront land, the city also is on the hook to demolish Joe Louis Arena to prepare the land for the FGIC. The bil-lionaire Mike Illitch will move the Red Wings hockey team out of Joe Louis Arena by 2016 into his new stadium, built on city properties he obtained for one dollar.

Blight Task Force Instead of providing homes to the thou-sands of homeless, including the tens of thousands who are losing their homes through foreclosures, the Detroit Land Bank has been auctioning homes that buyers are responsible for rehabbing. Many of the individuals who are trying to buy homes cannot get mortgages from banks and the homes are returning to the auction block. Instead of a Blight Task Force that destroys homes, Detroit needs a Rehabilitation Task Force that finances programs to keep people in their homes, teach necessary and marketable skills and grow viable communities.

Fred Vitale is active in Detroiters

Resisting Emergency Management, Green Party of Michigan and Michigan Welfare Rights Organization. He is also an editor of Critical Moment.

Connect the Dots in Detroit

Structural Racism &

Fiscal Austerity

4 - CRITICAL MOMENT - FALL 2014

Glass Ceiling, LowFloor, Locked Door

DPD Cop Gets Second MistrialIn Aiyana Jones Death CaseMore than three years after shooting death ofa seven-year old Detroit girl killed in abotched police raid, there's still no closurefrom the court system. Detroit officer GeorgeWeekley shot Aiyana Jones in the head whileshe was sleeping on a couch during a chaoticDPD SWAT raid May, 2010 that was beingfilmed for an A&E police documentary show"The First 48." The death came after a flashgrenade ignited. It later turned out that thesuspect police were looking for, ChaunceyOwens, was staying on a different floor of theduplex home. With a jury unable to reach averdict for Weekley, Wayne County CircuitJudge Cynthia Gray Hathaway declared amistrial on Oct. 10. Although a manslaughtercharge was thrown out, the jury could notcome to a unanimous decision for themisdemeanor of careless or reckless firing ofa weapon causing death, which carries up toa two year prison sentence. It was Weekley'ssecond mistrial related to Jonesí death. It isnot clear whether the Wayne CountyProsecutor's office will pursue a third trial.There will be a hearing to determine the futureof the case on Nov. 21.

Detroit City Council MemberSaunteel Jenkins ResignsDetroit City Councilwoman Saunteel Jenkinsis bowing out of city government. On Oct.17, she announced she was departing the citycouncil to serve as the chief executive of TheHeat and Warmth Fund (THAW) a nonprofitthat helps low-income people with theirheating bills. We do not trust her to have thecompassion for low-income people that thisposition requires. An ex-chief of staff forMaryann Mahaffey, a former city councilpresident beloved for her progressive votingrecord, Jenkins came into office with a lot ofgoodwill. She earned the ire of Detroitprogressives by voting to support the decisiveconsent agreement between Detroit and theState of Michigan which served as a dressrehearsal for emergency management. She hascontinued supporting the austerity demandsof the EM Kevyn Orr.

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Southeast Michigan RestaurantIndustry Study Finds Shocking

Patterns of Discrimination

Metro Detroit restaurants may not have "ColoredPeople And Women Need Not Apply" signs intheir windows, but there's a de facto pattern ofdiscrimination and favoritism in the industry herethat's crying out for change.

On Oct. 22, the Restaurant Opportunities Center(ROC) of Michigan released their 2014 report,"The Great Service Divide" documenting racialand gender disparities at fine diningestablishments in Southeast Michigan.

Among ROC's troubling findings:

� Workers of color with equal qualifications aregranted living wage opportunities only 75 percentof the time compared to white workers.

� Sixty-three percent of workers of color whowork as bartenders and servers earn below twicethe poverty rate, compared to 44 percent of whiteworkers. This results in 33 percent lower earningsthan their white counterparts.

� Fifty-two percent of Black workers and 46percent of Latino workers are unemployed,compared to 18 percent of white workers, amongbartenders and servers currently on the job market.

The study used matched pair testing, meaningpairs of white testers and testers of color withequal credentials, at 88 local restaurants alongwith demographic canvassing of 48establishments to reach their conclusions. ROCísbacked up this analysis with census data, surveysand focus group interviews with workers andemployers.

Casual observation through canvassing found thatwhite workers monopolized the majority ofmanagement and non management front-of-thehouse positions. Matched pair testings determinedtesters of color were only 75 percent as likely astheir white counterparts to get a job offer and hada lesser chance of getting an interview.

ROC also noted that workers of color and womenin lower-level positions often could not getpromoted to living-age jobs, despite having

qualifications, experience and seniority.

Building on these findings the report concludedthat the local restaurant industry is built on aculture of favoritism thats lacks the infrastructureto guide hiring training and promotion tochallenge this pattern of discrimination. What'smore this atmosphere results in a workenvironment that is hostile to women and workersof color and often expresses itself in top-downsexual harassment.

Restaurant worker Aisha Thurman participated ina panel organized by ROC to discuss the studyheld at COLORS restaurant in Detroit.

"It doesn't surprise me," she told Critical Moment,speaking of the report. "I know these people first-hand. My main thing is Black women, mothers,we should expect change. Customers are onething, but we should expect to be treated withrespect by our employers."

To rectify this situation ROC-United, the groupísnational organization, recommends employerscreate career ladders to offer opportunities forpeople of color and women in the industry to moveinto the best paying positions. Its advice topolicymakers is to get rid of the sub-minimumwage for service industry workers and enact a fairminimum wage while pushing for other legislativemeasures that help deal with these inequalities.

Graham Kovich, another restaurant worker whospoke on the panel, suggested worker-runcooperatives as a way to address these issuesthrough democratic accountability at theworkplace. Dr. Alicia Renee Farris, ROC-Michigan’s state director told Critical Momentrestaurant patrons also need to be part of thesolution.

“We cannot wait to do this," she said. "The wayto change this is for each person, when they gointo a restaurant, to observe whoís in thesepositions and even inquire [of workers]: 'Are youbeing treated right?'”

Learn more about ROC of Michigan on facebook;on the web at rocunited.org/michigan-2/ or reachthem at: Restaurant Opportunities Center ofMichigan (ROC-Michigan): 311 E Grand RiverAve, Detroit, MI 48226. Tel: (313) 962-5020.Email: [email protected]

ROC-Michigan’s state director Dr. Alicia Renee Farris talks about the findings of their new“Great Service Divide” study at Colors-Detroit restaurant.

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People, Planet and Peace over Profits

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Chris Wahmhoff, U.S. Senate Paul Homeniuk, Governor Stephen Boyle, U.S. Congress, 14th Dist. Margaret Guttshall, WSU Bd. of Governors Latham T. Redding, WSU Bd. of Governors Fred Vitale, Wayne County Comm., Dist. 1 See your ballot for more candidates.

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Ask A Local Farmer

By Meg Marotte

Get a bunch of Detroit farmers in a roomand you’ll hear more tips and tricks of thetrade than you could ever imagine.Farming is experiential learning in itspurest form. Those of us who work theearth learn by trying new things, readingabout new techniques, and from each other.We have so much to learn in sharing. Sucha wealth of knowledge exists in thiscommunity. Although this column isstarting its life as an advice column I wouldrather it be a collaborative sharing of ideas.

From the novice backyard gardener to the career urban farmer, I want to hear from you. What tipshave helped you along the way? Are there some things you still can’t get right, no matter how manygardening books you look at? Send me your inquiries and I’ll do my best to find you helpfulinformation, even if I have to call every last farmer I know.

Since this is my first column and I haven’t received any questions or comments from my soon-to-beadoring audience, I’d like to discuss a topic very much on my mind. Once the last of the squash hasbeen harvested and the mornings grow darker and darker, I start thinking about how to tuck my bedsto sleep for the long cold winter.

For those of you who do not know what “tucking your beds to sleep” means, allow me a quickexplanation. Once you’ve gotten all that you can out of your garden beds and a heavy frost isapproaching, clear out the soil of all weeds and former crops and cover the soil with some kind oforganic covering. There are a few techniques I’d like to talk about each with their own set of benefitsand setbacks.

LeavesLast fall I covered the whole farm in leaves and had mixed results.

Pros: Leaves are easy to find and free for the taking. If you don’t have enough in your yard, stealsome from your neighbors when they put them in those huge paper bags on the curb or go a local parkon the day after they collect them and load up your vehicle. The dry leaves will break down over thewinter and early spring and will add their nutrients to your soil. You may need to push them aside inthe spring, but they will have kept the soil good and covered over the harshest parts of the winter.

Cons: When applying dry leaves to your beds, you have to lay them on extra thick. For best results,you need at least a foot. For even better results, soak dry leaves (and I mean soak) with water to keepthem in place. This is because they easily fly up in even the slightest bit of wind.

The dry leaves picked up off of lawns contain a lot of weed seeds. I had everything from ornamentalgrasses to mulberry trees sprouting in my garden this year. For this reason, this year I am choosing adifferent mulch. Which leads us to our next method:

StrawPros: Relatively cheap and easy to find. You can get several bales of straw at your local feed store orbuy in bulk from a farmer. It is easy to work with and heavier than leaves. You also cut down on thechance of introducing pesky plants into your beds.

Cons:Because the straw is sturdier than the leaves it doesn’t break down as readily. However becauseit is a stronger material you can pull it off the beds in the spring and reuse it to mulch your newlyplanted crops.

Green ManureI have yet to try this method. The idea behind green manure is to plant a cover crop in the fall,allowing it enough time to get to seedling size. Leave it over the winter and till it back into the soil inthe spring. Some good cover crops include buckwheat, winter rye, alfalfa, and clover.

Pros: These plants add nitrogen into the soil in the spring while protecting it in the winter from beingscorched or blown away. White clover has even been successful in repelling aphids and other gardenpests.

Cons: This takes a lot of forethought and planning. It also requires you to buy seed from a seedcompany. Also, if you are a no-till farmer I’m not quite sure how this works since tilling is a necessarystep.

There are many different types of mulch out there. I chose to highlight these three because of myexperiences and my ambition. I am very interested to hear from folks out there. Have you tried amethod mentioned above? Do you swear by one that I have not listed? Share your thoughts, yourquestions, and your disdain. Contact me at [email protected] and put “Ask a Local Farmer” inthe subject line.

For my next installment, along with addressing your comments, I will be explaining indoor propagation.When the winter is at its bleakest, it always makes me feel hopeful to start planning for the seasonand that starts with getting your crops started early. Tell your stories and keep dirty Detroit.

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Detroit Council ContemplatingCommunity Benefits Ordinance

Community benefits agreements have been ahot topic in Detroit over the last few years,coming up in conversations around threedevelopments: Whole Foods in Midtown, M-1 Rail in the city’s North End neighborhoodand the New International Trade Crossing(bridge) in Delray. No agreements were everput into place for the first two and benefitshave yet to materialize for the communityaround the bridge. Future developments couldbe a lot more neighborhood-friendly if ameasure now making its way through the citycouncil gets approved. The UrbanDevelopment Agreement ordinance, still information, would require developersembarking on large projects to establish anagreement with local communities that wouldhave the weight of the law behind them. Thesedocuments would cover issues like the hiringof local workers, giving contracts to localfirms and other perks. Naturally, the ordinanceis causing folks like Detroit News columnistNolan Finley and Detroit Economic GrowthCorporation CEO Rodrick Miller to foam atthe mouth, but Michigan Citizen writer SheaHowell has praised it as legislation that givesa “systematic, legal basis to some of the bestpractices of our community.” We encourageour Detroit readers to call their city councilmember’s office to share their feelings aboutan ordinance that could have an importantimpact on the future of our city.

Detroit Water Stations

If you’re suffering from the city’s watershut offs, here are some locations where youcan pick up free water.

Dexter Elmhurst Center11825 Dexter Ave.Detroit, MI. 48206Monday thru Friday10 AM to 2 PM

St. Peters Episcopal Church1950 TrumbullDetroit, MI. 48216TBD

Mathis Community Center19300 Greenfield Rd.Detroit, MI. 48235Monday thru Friday12 Noon to 3 PMSaturday 10 AM to 3 PM

Trinity St. Mark9315 Fort St.Detroit, MI. 48209TBD

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United Nations Special Rapporteurs on Clean Water and Sanitation and Adequate Housing Report and Recommendations on Their Visit to Detroit October 18 - 20, 2014

Upon invitation from civil society or-ganizations, we visited the city of De-troit (Michigan - USA) from 18 to 20 October 2014. The purpose of this in-formal visit was to learn more about the impact of water disconnections on the living conditions of individuals and households and on their human rights to water, sanitation and housing, and to discuss international standards on hu-man rights.

During the visit, we went to differ-ent parts of Detroit and met with people whose water had been shut off and oth-ers who are struggling to pay expensive water bills to avoid shut-offs. We lis-tened to stories from single mothers with low income, older persons, people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. We also discussed the situation with Mayor Duggan, City Council, Con-gressman Conyers, civil society organi-zations, Detroit water department work-ers, and with lawyers.

Detroit is undergoing large-scale water disconnections. This year alone, at least 27,000 households have had their services disconnected. While it is not the first time in recent decades that city residents are confronted with such a critical situation, the scale of water shut-offs carried out by a contracted company since last year is an unprece-dented level. The utility has passed on the increased costs of leakages due to an aging infrastructure onto all remain-ing residents by increasing water rates by 8.7 percent. This, combined with the decreased number of customers, and increased unemployment rate, has made water bills increasingly unaffordable to thousands of residents in Detroit living under the poverty line. In addition, re-peated cases of gross errors on water bills have been reported, which are also used as a ground for disconnections. In practice, people have no means to prove the errors and hence the bills are impossible to challenge.

Without water, people cannot live a life with dignity – they have no water for drinking, cooking, bathing, flushing toilets and keeping their clothes and houses clean. Despite the fact that wa-ter is essential for survival, the city has no data on how many people have been and are living without tap water, let alone information on age, disabilities, chronic illness, race or income level of the affected population.

Denial of access to sufficient quan-tity of water threatens the rights to ade-quate housing, life, health, adequate food, integrity of the family. It exacer-bates inequalities, stigmatizes people and renders the most vulnerable even more helpless. Lack of access to water and hygiene is also a real threat to pub-lic health as certain diseases could widely spread.

In addition, thousands of house-holds are living in fear that their water may be shut off at any time without due notice, that they may have to leave their homes and that children may be taken by child protection services as houses without water are deemed uninhabita-ble for children. In many cases, unpaid water bills are being attached to proper-ty taxes increasing the risk of foreclo-sure.

Disproportionate effects on vulnerable people and low income African Americans About 80 percent of the population of Detroit is African American. According to data from 2013, 40.7 percent of De-troit’s population lives below the pov-erty level, 99 percent of the poor are

African American. Twenty percent of the population is living on 800 USD or less per month, while the average monthly water bill is currently 70.67 USD. This is simply unaffordable for thousands of residents, mostly African Americans.

We were deeply disturbed to ob-serve the indignity people have faced and continue to live with in one of the wealthiest countries in the world and in a city that was a symbol of America’s prosperity.

We were also distressed to learn from the low-income African American residents of the impossible choices they are being compelled to make – to either pay their rent or their medical bill, or to pay their water bill.

It was touching to witness mothers’ courage to strive to keep their children at home, and the support people were providing to each other to live in these unbearable circumstances. And it was heartbreaking to hear of the stigmatiza-tion associated with the shut-offs – in particular the public humiliation of hav-ing a blue mark imprinted on the side-walk in front of homes when their wa-ter was shut off due to unpaid bills.

In line with the mandates entrusted to us by the Human Rights Council, we would like to underline that the United States is bound by international human rights law and principles, including the right to life as well as the right to non-discrimination with respect to housing, water and sanitation and the highest attainable standard of health. These obligations apply to all levels of Gov-ernment – federal, state and municipal. Moreover, they also extend to the vari-ous functions of State, including the judiciary.

The rights to non-discrimination and equality are core principles of in-ternational human rights law. Govern-ments are obliged not only to refrain

from discrimination in the design and implementation of laws and policies, but must strive to ensure substantive equality for all. The United States has ratified the United Nations Convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimina-tion which explicitly prohibits and calls for the elimination of racial discrimina-tion in relation to several human rights directly affected by water disconnec-tions, including the right to housing and the right to public health.

The human rights to water and sanitation and to adequate housing The human rights to safe drinking wa-ter and sanitation and to adequate hous-ing both derive from the right to an ad-equate standard of living which is pro-tected under, inter alia, article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which is fully applicable to the United States. In addition, adequate housing and access to safe water are clearly es-sential to maintain life and health, and the right to life is found in treaties the United States has ratified, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Ensuring freedom from discrimina-tion does not mean that everyone should be treated equally when their circumstances are different. Water and sanitation does not have to be free. It must rather be affordable for all. The price cannot put a household in debt or limit access to essential services such as food or medicine. A human rights framework provides that people should not be deprived of these rights if they cannot pay the bill for reasons beyond their control. Disconnections of water due to non-payment are permissible if it can be shown that the resident is able to pay but is not paying. When people are genuinely unable to pay the bill, it is

the State’s obligation to provide urgent measures, including financial assis-tance, a specially low tariff or subsi-dies, to ensure access to essential water and sanitation for all. Not doing so amounts to a human rights violation.

Similarly, the human right to ade-quate housing means that housing must be affordable, including the costs of water, sanitation and other housing-related services. Houses without water and sanitation are unsafe and uninhabit-able. They expose residents to disease, exacerbate existing health conditions, and threaten the security of tenure of residents. If costs associated with hous-ing are not in line with income levels, housing is rendered unaffordable for many low-income residents, leading to accumulated arrears which in turn cre-ate real risks for foreclosure, eviction and homelessness. This contravenes the State’s obligation to ensure tenants and owners enjoy secure tenure.

City residents have been fighting against water bills, which are higher than the national average, for many years. The 2006 Water Affordability Plan, for example, was the result of community mobilization, intending to avoid the recurrence of widespread shut-offs due to inability to pay, but it was unfortunately not implemented. In re-cent months, the local government has taken some measures. However, such initiatives are insufficient to ensure af-fordability of water and sanitation and adequate housing. The Mayor’s 10 point plan, for instance, does not seem to take into consideration the ability of chronically low-income persons to pay water bills and arrears, unlike more reasonable affordability models found in other states in the United States.

We have heard of a number of households who have been “constructively” evicted from their homes due to the water being shut-off

and are now homeless. We also learned that as a result of a law adopted in Sep-tember 2014, those who are homeless will be subject to criminal sanction if they are found to be living in a dwell-ing without a valid lease, which threat-ens those who choose to live in aban-doned or foreclosed homes and may threaten evictees harbored by friends or family.

These issues did not come as a sur-prise, even if the magnitude of people affected deeply startled us. In recent years both our mandates have officially visited the United States of America at the invitation of the United States Gov-ernment. In 2011, the Special Rappor-teur on the human right of water and sanitation encouraged the United States Government to adopt a mandatory fed-eral minimum standard on affordability for water and sanitation, to ensure due process guarantees and to provide pro-tection against disconnections for peo-ple living in poverty. In 2009, the Spe-cial Rapporteur on adequate housing raised concerns about the housing con-ditions of African Americans and other low-income population groups. She noted the lack of affordable housing, substandard conditions of existing housing units and their experiences of discrimination.

Due process and access to justice We also heard testimonies from resi-dents about the lack of information about the shut-offs, confusion regarding water bills and notices of unpaid bills, lack of due process in the way some disconnections have been carried out, and lack of effective remedies to chal-lenge decisions.

Suggested Recommendations We suggest that the City of Detroit restore water connections to residents

unable to pay and vulnerable groups of people, stop further disconnections of water when residents are unable to pay, and provide them the opportunity to seek assistance that must be made available through social assistance schemes.

We also urge the City of Detroit, the state of Michigan and the national

government to adopt a mandatory affordability threshold. In addition to this, specific policies should be adopted to ensure specific support to people who live in poverty.

We suggest that the City of Detroit provide urgent measures, including

financial assistance, to ensure access to essential water and sanitation (minimum amount of water necessary for personal and domestic uses, which should be about 100 liters per person per day) and to housing when people are unable, for reasons beyond their control, to cover the costs themselves. In such measures, protection of vulnerable groups of people (those with disabilities, chronic illnesses, with children, etc.) must be prioritized.

We recommend that the authorities make an urgent assessment of the public

health consequences for the individual, schools and community of the water shut-offs, and take steps to mitigate adverse impacts.

We recommend Governments make every effort to ensure that the most

vulnerable, including those who reside in Section.8 housing, are not evicted from or lose their housing as a result of water shut-offs or water bill arrears.

We recommend that the city of Detroit stop converting delinquent water

bills to property liens for collection and enforcement through the tax foreclosure process. We further recommend that the Government advertise and make accessible property tax exemption programs for those living in low-income.

In the event that an individual or family is rendered homeless due to water

shut-offs, the city of Detroit must have in place emergency services to ensure alternate accommodation with running water is available. Immediate and urgent steps must be taken to find long-term viable housing solutions for these residents.

We recommend that the Federal Government immediately undertake an

investigation into the water shut-offs to determine if they are having a disproportionate impact on African Americans and other groups protected against discrimination.

Federal and state agencies with relevant authority should require water and

sanitation utilities, as a condition for funding and permits, to collect data and report annually on water shut-offs by age, income level, disability, race, and chronic illness. This information should be made publically available. Any practice that has a discriminatory impact must be addressed and discontinued.

In our view, residents of Detroit should be ensured access to administrative

and legal remedies, in particular those who are unable to pay current water bills and/or arrears or who want to challenge the amount of their water bills or the cutting-off of their water supply. These procedures must be made public and accessible, and adequately resourced.

Detroiters testify at the Town Hall meeting held with the Rapporteurs and a panel of distinguished Detroiters and supporters at WCCC.

More from the UN at: http://sr-watersanitation.ohchr.org/

4620 Cass Avenue →Detroit →313-831-1400 →casscafe.com

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Black Lives Matter : Detroit to Ferguson By Isis Smith

This is not the story you think it will be. Perhaps the beginning will not surprise you. My growing awareness of the realities of Black life in this country has been punctuated by my own encounters with police officers on dark, deserted Georgia back roads and metropolitan Detroit courtrooms. But also in other moments, when I am overwrought with tears seated in front of my laptop or TV screen, and I hear another tale that feels too tragic and heavy to bear. I remember the moment I found out about the Zimmerman verdict. It was July of 2013. I was in, of all places, Louisville Kentucky, at a backyard barbecue, with my then-boyfriend and one of his best friends. Conversational points of interest were Egyptian history and the rules of corn hole. We are millennials, constantly logged into multiple social media accounts. Most of us there were keeping tabs on what was going on in the trial of George Zimmerman between bites of baked chicken and pasta salad. After dark had fallen, I got a simple text message “not guilty”. Tears came easily. I was heartbroken. My then-partner and his friend shook their heads, asked me “Are you surprised?” “What did you expect?” “This is America.” But the sink in their shoulders and tension in their faces revealed a certain heartbreak of their own.

It is important to acknowledge that Trayvon Martin is not Michael Brown is not John Crawford is not Oscar Grant is not Rekia Boyd is not Aiyana Jones is not Ezell Ford is not Renisha McBride is not Jonathan Ferrell is not Amadou Diallo is not Kaijeme Powell.

But what must also be understood is that these people are me. Context is important.

On August 10th, 2014, my Instagram feed began becoming flooded with disparate details about an 18 year-old boy named Mike Brown, from a St. Louis suburb I had never heard of. There were hundreds of re-tweets of a man holding a cardboard sign saying that police had just shot his son down in cold blood. What struck me most was the imagery of his body lying on the ground, blood visible on the concrete, while his mother stood yards away, grieving in the arms of relatives, begging police to identify his body (and being denied). I watched, enraged, as I learned of his body being left in the Missouri summer heat for four and a half hours, before being carted off, not in an ambulance, but in an unmarked, black SUV.

As fact and falsehoods concerning this boy and his death emerged, a witch hunt ensued. But not for the still-at-large

killer of an innocent human being; a hunt to justify the murder itself, to dishonor and discredit. There was the myth of the stolen ’rillos (cigarillos), substantiated by incomplete footage of a person who may or may not have been Mike Brown, in an altercation with a store-clerk, but ultimately appearing to reach into his pocket and pay for the items in his possession. There were inquiries into Michael Brown’s non-existent juvenile records.

I cried along with Michael Brown’s mother as she begged the world to understand that she had raised her son to be a different type of Black man—one who graduated from high school and continued his education. They called him “Mike-Mike”. He could have been the “Mike-Mike” I grew up with. What people from outside of our communities may not understand is that we do not watch apart, with detachment or disbelief.

Before my tears could dry, I learned of John Crawford, shot dead in Walmart just for holding a pellet gun he planned to purchase. I learned of Ezell Ford, a developmentally delayed man shot and killed by LAPD for not complying with orders, and another “officer-involved shooting” of a young Black man in New Orleans.

The stormed that surged in the aftermath of Trayvon Martin’s murder seemed to be raging again. It seemed time for something. I was heartened by the demonstrators in Ferguson, appalled the military-level repression, and the media blackout. I was moved by the tweets and posts from people in Ferguson thanking activists in Palestine for information on how to counteract the tear gas being dispensed by the police conglomerate comprised of Ferguson, St. Louis County, Missouri Highway Patrol, and other local law enforcement agencies. When I was to eventually make my way to Ferguson, local residents would emphatically remind me that tear gas was being dispensed in their neighborhoods, not while they were protesting police or curfews, but while they occupied their own private property, on front lawns and in their driveways.

The Detroiter visiting Ferguson will easily be reminded of sections of Oak Park or Southfield. Like many former industrial centers in this country, it is a town in which residents have not been treated kindly by the economic downturn. But Ferguson does not fit into the trope of the violent, urban ghetto. By contrast, it is a suburb of 21,000 people and Mike Brown’s death was the first killing this year.

Those of us who have followed the stories of Mike Brown and Ferguson, Missouri have been well-aware of these facts for awhile. But you may, perhaps, be unaware of another aspect of this story.

Surely there are those who went to Ferguson

aiming to be part of history. I and others in my group certainly went prepared for a certain type of “war”. But we were provoked by a modest sentiment: Black Life Matters.

When I heard that people around the country were organizing a “Black Life Matters Ride” to Ferguson, I was immediately interested in joining the Detroit contingent. I was quickly informed that if I wanted a group from Detroit to go, I would have to organize it myself—with support from the national group. Again social media takes prominence, as the Facebook group became the central organizing platform and meeting place.

With just a week’s notice, we met, used an online fundraising site, raised $2000, rented a van, found places to stay, made the drive, and arrived in St. Louis shortly before dawn. We had come expecting the worst.

What we got was more than I ever expected. On Saturday morning, we gathered in the sanctuary of a Lutheran (?) church, with stained glass windows depicting Heaven as beautiful and God as white. Having parted ways from a Christian theology over a decade ago, and understanding the way Christianity has been used to justify the enslavement of African and indigenous American people, oppression of women, and exclusion of queer people, I could not quite feel comfortable staring at the wooden cross in front of me.

Fortunately, I was in for a wonderfully affirming surprise. There was not one, but three sermons calling upon everyone there to show one another love and affirmation. Multiple times, the falsity of the singular Black narrative as being one of male, Christian, heteronormativity was dissected. James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and Bayard Rustin were referenced as examples of beloved queer activists. In the pews of a church, we were told that queer, transgender, atheist, muslim, educated, gold-teethed, with dredlocks, our natural curls, or perms, whether we were latin@, multi-racial, continental or diasporic Africans, whether we were most fluent in Ebonics or perfectly articulated English, from cities and suburbs, that we were ALL welcome, that ALL of our experiences were valid, and that ALL of our struggles were a part of “the struggle” for Black liberation.

Before leaving, Black Lives Matter: Detroit had had a few uncomfortable conversations regarding the fact that this particular ride was explicitly and exclusively reserved for Black people, with specific skill-sets. That this was necessary was something most of us (of all ethnic backgrounds) easily recognized. However, there was a young, white couple who expressed hurt at this exclusion.

It was an experience that I had never had before. I cannot remember the last time I was so affirmed, and it is an experience I seek to duplicate, over and over again.

October 10th, 2014. Saint Luis, MO. Photo by Shanna Morela August 16th, 2014. Ferguson, MO. Photo by Curtis McGuire

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4620 Cass Avenue →Detroit →313-831-1400 →casscafe.com

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Just several weeks ago, about a dozen Detroiters met at Nandi’s Knowledge Cafe to discuss the tragedy of the Mike Brown case. Mike Brown was an 18 year old Black youth from a small city called Ferguson outside of St. Louis, Missouri - a place that, honestly, many of us hadn’t heard of prior to Brown’s murder. We weren’t long lost extended relatives that moved North or family friends. We had no direct connection to this case outside of unjust Black death at the hands of systemic oppression being all too familiar. As such, a group of working class educators, healers, graduate students, alternative media makers, and former Quicken Loan employees fundraised and left on short notice to ensure that Brown’s loss wouldn’t only be a moment, but would help spark a movement.

The killing of Mike Brown reminded us Detroiters about the killings of our slain who made headlines like Renisha McBride & Aiyana Jones, and those who didn’t. Black solidarity meant that we saw ourselves in the families and friends of those who not only loss Mike Brown, but also Rekia Boyd, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Oscar Grant, and countless others. Black solidarity meant coming together against state violence, systemic racism, and other forms of racialized oppression.

Although many expressed interest in the trip, just eight of us made it due to time constraints and limited resources. We figured out our living arrangements while on the road, half of us staying in a shared hotel with a friend of a friend and the other half staying with local activist, Reverend Osagyefo Sekou.

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) Ride (August 29th - September 1st) was organized by Patrice Cullors and Darnell Moore, two young, Black, and queer activists who ensured that all those coming from outside of Ferguson had relevant skills to assist the community, not to lead it. Also, they set the tone that this movement would be a safe space for ALL Black

people. This meant that homophobia, misogyny, transphobia, ableism, classism, and other forms of marginalization would not be accepted in this space. To fight with Ferguson fully and healthily meant challenging our assumptions about acceptance, activism, and radical love of not just some Black people, but all of us. This entire initial conversation happened at St. John’s United Church of Christ when again upon short notice, Reverend Starsky Wilson opened his church doors for the Black Lives Matter riders. And here we had another element of diversity, interfaith-based social activism. The tone was truly set to activate all of the senses: intertwining social justice, human rights, & spirituality.

Community members, like the artist Tef Poe, informed us about the ways that liberal and conservative media had distorted narratives around Mike Brown and how the community responded to his killing. News media didn’t acknowledge the widespread civil disobedience and peaceful protests that existed since the first day. They didn’t mention how rival gangs called a truce to keep killer cops out of their neighborhoods. During Tef Poe’s account of police aggression against protesters, he explained to us the logistics of protecting ourselves from tear gas. So, we Detroiters eventually found a local store to purchase gear in case we were met with military force during the weekend.

Volunteers came from all US regions, as well as Africa. There was collective, intergenerational armor against state violence, advocating for the recognition of Black humanity, and calling for the indictment of Mike Brown’s murderer - Officer Darren Wilson.

Volunteers were separated by skill set, which meant I would spend a lot of my time away from the Detroit crew. As a healer & crisis counselor, I joined the group of doctors, mental health therapists, and spiritual workers. We were responsible for ensuring that those who marched, stayed

as healthy as possible. From a healing justice framework, we understood that our passion to march and organize through changing weather conditions meant that our stress levels would rise, our immune systems were at risk of weakening, and that self-care needed to be thoroughly integrated into the movement. With this goal, we built a healing justice clinic inside of St. John’s Church. The clinic was headed up and inspired by SoularBliss’s “Harriet’s Apothecary” out of Brooklyn, NY.

The Black Lives Matters Healing Justice clinic was housed within the basement of St. John’s Church. We provided a venue to cradle and transmute our collective rage. It included stations for a variety of free services: counseling, massage therapy, homemade teas for sickness, essential oils for relaxation, dream pillow materials, and tarot readings. Although services were extremely important, so was the environment’s setting. Candles, incense, and sage filled the room. ‘Florida Water ’ was sprinkled for cleansing and inviting our ancestors - African and Indigenous. It was beautiful. People came in for healing towards the end of the weekend to recharge and return to their homes. Like many other volunteers, the Detroiters returned with the intent of maintaining contact with Ferguson networks while also centering pressing issues in Detroit.

Black Lives Matter-Detroit has had three meetings thus far and plan to continue. Information on meetings can be found within our Facebook group called, “Black Lives Matter-Detroit” and on our Twitter page: @blmdet. We wish to continue creating inclusive environments that combat inequality while valuing our mental and emotional health in the process.

Some will attend the Ferguson October weekend and those who cannot, will support in other ways.

Photographer: Jessica Marie Johnson, PhD

Detroit to Ferguson: Social Activism & Healing JusticeBy Violeta Donawa

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Hex & ViolenceHex & Violence


Hex & ViolenceBy Zoe Villegas

Pistons were grinding and gears were turning inthe plants of Detroit’s automotive factories.

The world looked to Detroit as a place of wonderthat represented the peak of the industrial era.Mass production was no longer merely a meansof simplifying tasks once done by manual labor— it was a new way of life being exported for aglobal population. Automobiles meant thatAmericans could travel down unseen windingroads, could reach the unreachable; imaginationcould be surpassed by experience. Theopportunity this presented lead thousands to thiscity to find work. They left miles and continentsbehind them to be a part of the industrialrevolution. But along with the wave ofimmigration to Detroit, traditions and secrets ofthe Old World quietly settled like a change ofseasons in the homes of many who brought withthem magic and witchcraft.

Hidden on St. Aubin Street on Detroit’s east side,was a charismatic Italian healer who honed hisown brand of voodoo. Benedetto Evangelistaregularly served many members of the Italianimmigrant community. In 1926, he wrote a 200-page bible of his own titled "the Oldest Historyof the World: Discovered by Occult Science,"which proclaims it was written by Evangelista"only between the hours of 12 a.m.-3 a.m.," whilehe was receiving visions dictated by anamalgamation of Christian biblical figures andfictional deities. Based on this bible, he formeda cult which he dubbed the Great UnionFederation of America. Services were held at theSt. Aubin home. Italian immigrants from all overthe midwest followed his religion and sought theremedies Evangelista prescribed at a smallfortune. Within three years, BenedettoEvangelista's voodoo cult had built a steadyclientele of patrons.

But on July 3rd of 1929, a friend foundEvangelista at his home beheaded, he and hisfamily were victims of a grisly and bizarremassacre —the family of six daughters Eugeniaaged 4, Margaret aged 5, Angelina aged 7, wifeSantina, and son Mario aged 18-monthsbutchered with an axe and all beheaded. Leftbehind were no explanations, but a morbid trailof occult mania that only got more confusing witheach development.

Through investigation the police found a seriesof notes and coded death threats that seeminglycounted down to Evangelista’s death, but a sourcewas never pinpointed. An extremely large altarin the basement to Evangelista’s fictional deitieswas found along with voodoo paraphernalia andphotographs of corpses but BenedettoEvangelista’s normal life was just too strange toilluminate anything out of place.

In 1932, Robert Harris, a leader of anothervoodoo cult in Detroit with over one hundredmembers, confessed to murdering Evangelista.Harris had previously been found guilty ofbrutally stabbing a man named James Smith inthe heart atop a sacrificial altar for refuting hisreligion. Police had every reason to believe Harriswas capable of committing the St. AubinMassacre; they had a confession, a pattern and amotive. How likely was it that the two separatevoodoo-cult-related murders had nothing to dowith each other? But just to add to the labyrinthof confusion that surrounds the deaths of theEvangelista family, fingerprints did not match thecrime scene. Eighty-five years have passed andthe St. Aubin home is no longer standing, but the

terrible murders of the Evangelista family remaina mystery.

The St. Aubin Massacre as strange as it was, wasnot the only paranormal conspiracy makingheadlines at the time in Detroit. Two years afterthe Evangelista family murders, one of Detroitísmost notorious serial killers was tried for murder.Not only was she a woman, but she was also aself-proclaimed witch.

Hungarian immigrant Rose Veres was age 48when she was tried for the murder of 68 year-oldStephen Mak, who was pushed from a ladder ather boarding house on Medina Street in Delray.The first witness willing to testify against Vereswas an 11-year-old named Marie Chevalia, thoughthe entire neighborhood knew Veres to bedangerous for a long time. According to theDetroit News, Veres had taken out insurancepolicies on nearly every boarder that stayed at herhome, and when questioned, she told police thatit was protocol in Hungarian boarding homes.

The death of Stephen Mak was actually theseventh death that neighbors suspected Rose Verescommitted but they were all terrified of herprowess in witchcraft. The Hungarian populationof Delray was one which had invested a lot offear in the notion of magic and hexes. Veresthrived off of her neighbors’ fear in order toprevent witnesses from coming forward, tellingthem that she was a shape-shifter and threateningwith the evil eye. At least one inexplicable death

occurred after Veres threatened with hexing, andneighbors claimed to have seen her shape-shiftinto a beast on dark nights.

In the end, Veres confessed to just one of at leasttwelve murders she was believed to havecommitted in her House of Horrors, but she wasexonerated in 1945. Veres may have been aruthless mercenary and murderer but what drewthe most fear and mention from headlines washer nickname, "The Detroit Witch." In a citywhere we had mastered the science of technology,the unexplainable caused a frenzy.

Detroit is famous for a legacy of innovation andindustry which had an integral role in nationalprogress. But a shroud of mystery covers thenuanced local histories where neighborhoods wereharboring dark secrets full of the archaic practiceof magic. Hidden in the shadow of a newmetropolis were witches, prophets and murderers— and there are surely more skeletons yet to bediscovered in Detroit’s closet.

Illustrations by Stretch Adams, contact him at:[email protected].

Occult Murder in Depression-Era Detroit

CRITICAL MOMENT - FALL 2014 - 11

1515 Broadway1515 Broadway, Detroit

(313) 965-1515www.1515broadwaycafe.biz

A Host of PeopleVarious locations

www.ahostofpeople.org

Abreact1301 West Lafayette #113, Detroit

(313) 454-1542www.theabreact.com

Bonstelle Theatre (Wayne StateUniversity)

Peter Pan by J.M. Berrie/adapted byJanet Allard, Nov 14 to 23

3424 Woodward Ave., Detroit(313) 577-2960

www.bonstelle1.com

Carrie Morris Arts Productions2221 Carpenter, Detroitwww.carriemorris.com

Detroit Broadcasting Companywww.detroitbroadcastingcompany.com

Detroit Repertory TheatreWorld Premiere: Buzz by Richard Strand,

Nov. 6 to Dec 2813103 Woodrow Wilson St, Detroit

(313) 868-1347www.detroitreptheatre.com

Elizabeth Theatre2040 Park, Detroit

(313) 454-1286www.elizabeththeater.com

Extra Mile Playwrights GroupVarious Locations

www.facebook.com/pages/The-Extra-Mile-Playwrights-Group

Hillberry Theater (Wayne StateUniversity)

Romeo and Juliet by WilliamShakespeare, Oct 24 to Dec. 13

4743 Cass Avenue, Detroit(313) 577-2972

www.hillberry.com

Living Arts’ Teatro Chico8701 W. Vernor, Suite 301, Detroit

(313) 841-4765www.livingartsdetroit.org/category/teatro-

chico/

Magenta Giraffe Theatre CompanyTo Save One by Elizabeth Dembrowsky,

Fall 2014Various locations

www.magentagiraffe.org

Although perhaps better known for our hardworking residents, industrial decay andlove of Faygo, Detroit’s also got a reputation as a heck of a place to catch a play ormusical. In fact, our fair city has the second largest theater district in the country afterNew York City, according to the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. In addition toour multitude of venues, thereís a strong theatre legacy in this town as well. In the1960s and 70s, Detroit became a hotbed for the Black Theater movement with venueslike Concept East and companies like Spirit of Shango and the Ira Aldridge Players.Over the years, the Motor City has also produced a wealth of playwrights — folks likeRon Milner, Neil LaBute, Brenda Perryman and surrealist Ron Allen — to name just afew.

In the hopes of keeping this tradition alive, Critical Moment has assembled this list ofDetroit theater venues and production companies for you to enjoy. We’ve skipped anumber of the more well-known locations like the Gem, Fisher and the newly reno-vated Garden Theatre in Midtown, in order to spotlight the local scene’s independentcompanies and venues along with college and community theater. Think of this as our“Off-Woodward” guide to Detroit theater in spirit if not always in actual location.Hope to see you on opening night!

Marygrove Theatre8425 McNichols Rd. West, Detroit

(313) 927-1545

Matrix Theatre CompanyRapture, Blister, Burn by Gina Gionfriddo,

Nov. 14 to Dec. 72730 Bagley St, Detroit

(313) 967.0599www.matrixtheatre.org

Mosaic Youth Theater2251 Antietam Ave., Detroit

(313) 872-6910www.mosaicdetroit.org

Planet AntAnt Process Show 2, October 31st to

November 8thInvasion by Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Nov.

28th to Dec. 20th2357 Caniff St, Hamtramck

(313) 365-4948www.planetant.com

Plowshares Theatre CompanyVarious Locations

3663 Woodward, Detroit(313) 744-3181

www.facebook.com/plowsharesthr

Puppetart DetroitTurtle Island, Nov. 1 to 30

25 E Grand River Ave, Detroit(313) 961-7777

www.puppetart.org

Puzzle Piece Theatre CompanyWhite People by J.T. Rogers, October 2014

Various Locations(313) 303-8019

www.puzzlestage.org

Rosedale Park Community House andTheater

18445 Scarsdale, Detroit(313) 835-1103

www.theparkplayers.com/about

Rumpusroom Theatre CompanyVarious locations

www.facebook.com/therumpusroomdetroit

SideBar Black Art TheatreVarious Locations

[email protected]/pages/SideBar-Black-

Art-Theatre-of-Detroit

U of D Mercy Theatre CompanyIt’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play by

Joe Landry, Dec. 5 to 7(313) 993-3270

Critical Moment’s Guide to IndependentTheater in Detroit and Hamtramck - Fall 2014

By Marianne Yared McGuireWhen Aliyah Moore and her colleagues at the Oakman School first learned it would close,the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) was under its second Emergency Manager and into itsthird state takeover. It has been a year and a half since that closing and the DPS system isnow under its fourth Emergency Manager. Moore and her colleagues put up a strugglethat could be considered anything but bashful to keep the school open and the EmergencyManager at bay. It was a fight that has been termed classic but doomed. Roy Robertsclosed the school in June of 2013 and then a month later resigned his position. Jack Martin,an accountant with no visible knowledge of children or education issues, took his place.

Oakman School was built in 1928 and was a state of the art school for special needsstudents. It has continued, almost unbelievably, to hold that ranking for the next 85 years.The school was designed in a circle with wide corridors so that children could maneuverwith ease. There were even private medical rooms where the children could receive helpfrom visiting doctors and nurses. After the school was permanently closed, Roy Robertsput a flimsy piece of wood across the front door before he walked away on a Fridayevening. By the following Monday morning the school was broken into and vandalized.Calls to Roy Roberts’ office produced no meaningful results. The once state of the artschool that had educated and been home to so many students was left to absorb the elementsand suffer the fates of just another empty Detroit building.

Kate Levy, the well-known filmographer, followed the saga of Oakman and Aliyah in atwenty minute film that made its debut at the Sept. 29 meeting of the elected DetroitPublic School Board. Attendees were overcome, finding it incredulous that such a beautifulschool with over 300 students could be closed without community input and in spite oftheir strong objections.

Marianne Yared McGuire is a retired teacher, former member of the State Board ofEducation and a member of the Education Task Force. See her article on Oakman Schools,Critical Moment, Fall 2013.

New Film Documents Struggle toKeep Oakman School Open

Hamtramck Free SchoolFrom skateboard classes and an

open youth studio to explorations ofabsurdist playwright Eugene Ionesco

the Hamtramck Free School offersan egalitarian “rhizomatic” educa-

tional environment for those curiousto learn and willing share their own

skills and knowledge. The OpenYouth studio takes place on

Saturdays from 3-5 p.m. at 11627Klinger in Hamtramck. For more info

about the project visit:hamtramckfreeschool.org.

OFF-WOODWARDOFF-WOODWARD

12 – CRITICAL MOMENT – FALL 2014

If you’re a long-time Detroiter, at some point you may have been lucky enough to have witnessed Tara Corrado or Markita Moore channeling their musical energies on stage. The duo recently performed for Critical Moment supporters at our summer hootenanny fundraiser at Food Field’s urban farm. Although they’ve earned their chops separately after many years of playing the local scene, the two are currently teaming up as members of the all-female soul/rock/jazz fusion band Soul Pepper.

Corrado sings and plays guitar for the group, while Moore keeps things moving with her lively trumpet playing. The band is rounded out by Nisha Stylez on keys and Charisse Hatton on drums. Soul Pepper is a high energy group that mixes rich lyrics with experimental but catchy instrumentals. If you’d like to get a taste of their sound, they’re currently hatching up a three-song EP that’s scheduled to drop this winter.

We recently reached out to Moore and Corrado to find out more about Soul Pepper and their thoughts on living and working as musicians in the Motor City.

CM: How would you describe your style? Tara Corrado: Rhythm and blues funky rock, a giant pulsating hybrid of all of our influences, feelings, and skill levels. CM: What role does improvisation play in your work? TC: We make the melody and words a true backbone and building ground, and build from there. Markita seems to pull from every influence shes ever bumped into! I'm talking jazz, classical, mariachi, soundtracks... everything. Me, myself, I tend to lead into a Ennio Morricone fit, classical or jazz guitar, or trying to squeeze in something King Crimson or early metal sounds. We get it in by leaving elbow room in our music. You

The largest climate march in history took place on September 21 in New York City. Over 400,000 participate — with another 2,646 solidarity events in 162 countries — in advance of the UN climate summit. Organizers focused attention on how climate change disproportionately affects frontline communities, in hopes pressuring leaders to take more decisive action.

can't fill up every line on the sheet when you compose, you gotta allow for happy interference, accidents,

beautiful spills. CM: How did Soul Pepper come together? TC: Mutual friends,emails, musical meetings, persistence, [and] attending each others shows. Markita Moore: A mutual friend of ours, Jon Kiner, had been telling me to meet with Tara for years. I finally decided to ask her if she needed a bass player for her all-female band project. I originally auditioned on bass, but it turned out, trumpet was the best fit for me in her band. CM: What can you tell us about your musical backgrounds? TC: I’ve been playing and performing music since 2005, all around downtown Detroit. This is my first true band! Prior to that I was a professional dancer. MM: I am a multi-instrumentalist and music educator from Detroit. I started playing trumpet at the age of ten and majored in it through college. I also play trumpet with the Detroit Party Marching Band. Two band projects I am working on include: an experimental-indie band called "Elemental Meaning" and a Police cover-band called "the5oh's". I have been teaching music in Detroit-area schools for the last three years. I am currently teaching at UPrep Science & Math High School. [I’m] also the conductor for Merry Tuba Christmas, a "tuba-palooza" celebration that takes place in Detroit. CM: What's your favorite song and why? MM: "Borrow Your Friends" because it's uptempo an exciting. The horn parts are a lot of fun. CM: What is your current project? MM:The current project of Soul Pepper is to create a network of women musicians who support each other in our various musical endeavors. Currently, Soul Pepper and Galexsea 6^ are collaborating.

S O U L PE

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Galexsea 6^ has an [October] record release where Soul Pepper musicians will be Galexia's backing band. TC: The new project with Galexsea 6^ is dark and sexy! Truly! So get ready. CM: Where does your music come from? TC: Social justice, oppression, eureka moments, joy, poverty, LOVE, anger, even death! It's all the stuff that makes up life and shifts social structures. The moments that give you celebrations, the cries, raising hell, praising your creator! People forget to express EVERY ounce and to use music as a platform for true conversations to their listener CM: What kind of role does Detroit’s environment play in your art? MM: We're all from Detroit and the surrounding areas so we have this city running through our veins fueling everything we do. I love the "Detroit Hustles Harder" motto. It's true no matter who you are examining in this city. Life ain't easy, but we continue to make it work in spite of less-than-favorable conditions. TC: Changes are always happening here, some positive, and some devastating. We are guerillas here. Being in such an industrial setting calls for us to be the fragrant flowers and the major protests we aren’t seeing enough of here! I think our music reflects the needs of the human soul here. Sometimes our songs are saying: "Enough is enough," "I need more." "Don’t worry," [and] "This is the time to be worried and take action." Detroits ups and downs pump through our veins. CM: What's your favorite venue to play in Detroit and why? MM: My favorite venue so far is the Tangent Gallery. The trumpet resonates so well within its walls. TC: Harbor House and the music hall. But my favorite sound guy practically lives at the Comet Bar. CM: What keeps you making music? MM: Music is my passion and release. I love and need to make as much music as I possibly can in this lifetime. I tried to live life without music, and didn't get very far. TC: The need is there! We mind the gap! We love creation.

Photo by Mark Tucker

Photo by Mark Tucker

Critical Moment Fall 2014

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Transcript of Critical Moment Fall 2014