Detroit Research Volume 1

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an opportunity that our foremothers and forefathers
in social justice did not have: we are
the turning point that is the catalyst for horizontal
power structures in the forthcoming Age
of Information. The signifi cance of this point
cannot be overstated, so let me say that again.
Occupy, the Indignados, the Arab Spring, the
fi ght against SOPA and PIPA, all the efforts
and burgeoning movements of the last few
years are the writing on the wall: a global will
exists to transition from power-over systems
to power-with systems, and we currently have
the tools to bring that dream to fruition.
Detroit’s current political state is ripe for this
fi ght. It is unique in its geographical location,
being the only industrial city alongside the
greatest source of fresh water on the planet,
with an international boarder with Canada. It is
also unique in its lack of functioning infrastructure
and law. In the 2012 general election,
Michigan faced and surprisingly defeated the
Emergency Manager Law PA4, which would
have taken away our ability to publicly elect
offi cials. That would be dictatorship, plain
and simple. There are blatant corporate land
grabs occurring around the city. The Huffi ngton
Post reported that Detroit is considering
a one billion dollar proposal to turn Belle Isle
into a commonwealth, with its own currency,
its own laws, and could house up to 35,000
people. A more recent land grab was Hantz
Farms, which purchased one hundred and
seventy acres of Detroit land for $586,800.
Then there is the Detroit Fairgrounds, which
sold for a whopping $1.00 for a shopping mall.
world positively change around us by our
friends and neighbors every day.
And here, among these challenges, Occupy
still exists, doing what it has done in the past:
Getting in gear, doing the groundwork. Fighting.
This year the National Occupy Gathering
will be in Kalamazoo, Michigan on August
24-26. I, and others in the movement, will be
there, determined to carry on.
Eviction Defense Ralley -
Eviction Homeowners, Defense Mr. Rally and – Mrs. Homeowners, Garrett. Mr. and Mrs. Garrett.
Jan. Jan. 31st, 31st, 2012, Detroit, MI MI
Detroit is also the city where residents are
turning to their own communities to solve
problems such as access to affordable healthy
food through urban community farms, owned
by the neighbors who work them, locally organized
neighborhood watch programs, and
crime fi ghting organizations like The Detroit
300. Those of us who live in Detroit see the