After an initial trial year and based on feedback from the group of youth who participated in the initial trial summer program, the DAY Project decided to continue meeting throughout the year with its framework becoming more accommodating to students who have school commitments. Their theme/mission states “Detroit Asian Youth Project is a group of Asian Americans in Detroit developing leadership skills and awareness for social justice, by engaging the participants in community service learning and other programs that foster greater appreciation towards Detroit and its Asian American community”

“It is very important that EMEAC's members recycle their electronics and not put them in the trash,” Maxey added. “Electronics contain many materials that are toxic, environmental contaminants which must be properly disposed of. These include materials such as cadmium, mercury, and lead. So in addition to your everyday recycling, please be sure to recycle your old electronics. For more information about recycling your waste and e-waste in Detroit you can go to the following website.

DETROIT -- On April 28th, Michigan Round Table and Detroit Future Youth (DFY) hosted over one hundred students from five area schools for a day of workshops, live performances and youth leadership skill building. Michigan Roundtable, a youth centered civil rights organization whose mission is to overcome discrimination and racism by crossing racial, religious, ethnic and cultural boundaries, is one of twelve organizations that participate in DFY.

The gathering also saw launched DFY network's Road to the Allied Media Conference fundraising campaign, organized primarily by youth from Michigan roundtable. http://www.indiegogo.com/detroitfutureyouth?c=home

The day began with an opening ceremony, where youth were invited to give live performances. Afterwards, youth from recent DPS walkouts spoke and held a Q and A about the media organizing process. Many youth in the audience identified with the multitude of reasons youth walked out and asked for advice on conducting their own walk outs.

The gathering then shifted into workshops where organizations involved with DFY practiced and perfected popular education workshops that will be used to create a curriculum mixtape that will serve as a comprehensive guide to youth led media organizing for organizations and youth throughout the US. All of the workshops were run by youth leaders and reflected the work each individual organization is doing within Detroit. Youth participants in the workshops were surveyed for feedback on how they felt the workshops were run and applied to their lives.

Workshop topics included: Value Added Products, Interviews and Storytelling, How to Create and Run your own Event, Sexism and Gender Justice, and more.


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Through every single aspect of the day, youth were centered as leaders and learners. "I felt ready when I came into the gathering and qualified when I left," said Anthony Grimmett, a youth leader who ran the Eastern Michigan Environmental Action Council's workshop with youth leaders, Roger Boyd, Shabrine Salam, and Malik Harris. "I came to the gathering with intelligence and questions and gained wisdom and more questions."

Photo courtesy Erik Howard

 By Greg Pratt
 Read original the blog here.

A few days ago, I posted something here on the site about a mass walkout that took place last week at Western International High School in Southwest Detroit. As you may recall, several hundred students left their classes, demanding an end to the seemingly-endless cutbacks that are adversely affecting their educational opportunities. Well, the students who walked out, many of whom were expelled for having participated in the initial protest, have now created a school of their own, in Clark Park, called the Southwest Detroit Freedom School. Their objective, it would seem, is to create for themselves the kind of nurturing environment they haven’t been able to find within a criminally-underfunded public school system of Detroit. And, as you might expect, this vision is resonating with progressive adults across the state, who want to help them in this quest to build a school from the ground up that offers relevant, compelling, hands-on coursework that awakens their curiosity and passion. Among those to drive out on Monday, in hopes of helping, was a a contingent of supporters from Ypsilanti.
What follows is a report from Greg Pratt, who organized the trip.
First, here’s some context. This video was shot three years ago outside Western International High School in Southwest Detroit, after a meeting in which Detroit’s Emergency Financial Manager, Robert Bobb, refused to reverse course and reconsider the reassignment of popular Principal, Rebecca Luna. Bobb had, as you may recall, just prior to that meeting, announced that, in an effort to contain costs, 49 public schools in Detroit would be closed, and 900 teachers and staff would be fired, including 33 principals. And, now, after almost three years of Emergency Manager rule, the students are walking out. I am in awe. The students at Western International High School in Detroit, and those who joined them from Southwestern High, are showing us how to do it.
They’re showing us how to reclaim the commons, and start taking ownership over our public spaces, our education, and our lives. They walked out, as student Raychel Gafford has said in their press materials, to fight “for a quality education for us at Western, and at all DPS schools.” These student are not the only members of our community who have had it with autocratic government officials telling them there is no solution to the crisis but to continue the cutting of services and the limitation of rights. But they’re the first, that I can recall, who have taken the leap, and opted out of the corrupt system. And there’s much that we can learn from them.
What the students add to our collective response to this creeping totalitarian that is taking over our urban municipalities, is a sense of agency and empowerment. They’re demanding that the assault on Democracy end now, and that people regain control over their community resources. I cried as I watched the video that these students produced, documenting their walkout. Take a look again, and watch how Gafford calls for her fellow students to come out of the school and join them in the streets. It’s truly inspiring. The students are showing the way. And I intend to follow their lead. I showed up at 11:30 AM on Monday, at the Freedom School rain site (an after-school community facility). Raychel Gafford and Freddie Burse, both students at Western, were getting off the air with Craig Fahle on WDET FM. There were about 15-20 adults there, and only a few students. They’d made the decision to postpone the first class of the day, in order accommodate the radio show. The morning, we’d heard, had been spent preparing. A media literacy workshop had been held at 8:30, in preparation for the interview with Fahle at 11:00. And, it’s a good thing they prepped. Fahle ended the interview by grilling them about how they expect to solve the budget issue to keep Southwestern and other DPS schools open. They answered his questions and added information, about the disparity between athletic funding and funding for school materials and new books, for example. When asked if they will walk out again, Raychel said, “We are not giving up this fight. We have a list of demands. Those demands will be met to whatever extent we have to take.”
You can listen to the entire interview here.
The day, from then on, went really well, with students choosing, among other things, to learn about the history of hip hop in Detroit, and how to refine and expand upon their song, “10:55.” They also learned about the history of Freedom Schools in Mississippi and the similarities between what their walkout and the walkout in 1966 at Northern High School in Detroit. The workshop on the history of Freedom Schools was facilitated by Stephen Ward. Stephen talked with the students about the history of Freedom Schools in the South as a means of reclaiming, and directly engaging in the education process. The primary difference between a Freedom School and our current version of school, according to Ward, is that, in a Freedom School, all community members involve themselves in all aspects of the learning process (creating curriculum, creating knowledge, teaching, learning). Having observed for a day, I’d say the students and their adult community supporters are still in a “capacity-building” stage. That is to say, the students, community members, and outside supporters, like myself, are learning how to build power, share and create common knowledge, and take back education from the legislators, lobbyists and business leaders who are presently foisting this scheme upon us, like it’s our only choice. (note: One of their 29 demands is the removal of the Emergency Manager to give control of schools back to the Detroit School Board.) The students’ suspensions end on Wednesday. Will they go back to school and play by the rules? That remains to be seen. Regardless, we will continue to build bridges from Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor. What is happening in Detroit is not a far cry from what students at Ann Arbor’s Roberto Clemente are experiencing. Information needs to be shared, and alliances need to be built across our communities. I know many of you want to come and learn with the students, facilitate classes and help them stay on track in their studies. All the classes they want, however, are currently full, with plenty of teachers to support them. That said, they are keeping the Freedom School open to the public for support, and they’ve welcomed us to join them as they build it. In the meantime, we can quickly and directly help them by calling the DPS administrators, who need to know that we have the students’ backs. Here is the list of individuals who need to have their phone lines flooded with calls of support for the students. First, however, the students are asking that we echo the following demands during our calls:
1) To have all suspensions removed
2) To keep public schools in Detroit open
3) To demand a seat at the table for students when decisions are being made about their futures, and their schools

• Roy Roberts, Emergency Manager for DPS Phone: 313-870-3772 FAX: 313-870-3726 
• Steve Wasko, DPS Chief Communications Officer steven.wasko@detroitk12.org Phone: 313-873-4892 FAX: 313-873-4565 
•  Rebeca Luna, DPS Assistant Superintendent (Directly over Western Int’l HS) rebeca.luna@detroitk12.org Phone: 313-873-7966 
•  Karen Ridgeway, DPS Superintendent of Academics karen.ridgeway@detroitk12.org Phone: 313-576-0050 FAX: 313-873-6446 

And, finally, here’s a message from the Freedom School that was sent to supporters on their email list, concerning their plans to celebrate the one-week anniversary of the walkout with a party at 5:30 PM on May 2, at Clark Park. And, here’s their message. Thank you for your interest in helping with our Southwest Detroit Freedom School (SWDFS).
Sign our petition. Right now, we are asking supporters to FLOOD THE LINES (and emails) of DPS officials… TELL 5 OF YOUR FRIENDS TO DO THE SAME!!! SWDFS classes are full, at least until the duration of our suspensions, but we will be looking for more teachers once we decide on a schedule to continue Freedom School beyond our suspension period.
 http://markmaynard.com/2012/05/greg-pratt-reports-from-the-southwest-detroit-freedom-school/

This week, I'm honored to be writing from Albuquerque, New Mexico while attending the 13th annual White Privilege Conference. "The WPC is a conference that examines challenging concepts of privilege and oppression and offers solutions and team building strategies to work toward a more equitable world". This year's conference was extremely well attended by a diversity of peoples from all over North America and the world. My personal intention in attending is to continue to learn, study and reflect upon what it means to be a white male anti-racist/anti-oppression ally to the majority Black and People of Color communities, organizations and individuals that I share with in Detroit. I attended the conference with my partner, Angela Newsom, who serves as the program director for People’s Kitchen Detroit.

We haven't left Detroit very often since we began sharing here six years ago, so rather than fly we decided to drive to Albuquerque with our three year-old. As we traveled across the country I reflected upon this weeks' environmental justice principle. EJ principle #6 states that "Environmental Justice demands the cessation of the production of all toxins, hazardous wastes, and radioactive materials, and that all past and current producers be held strictly accountable to the people for detoxification and the containment at the point of production." The extreme proliferation of environmental toxins that are rampant in our city, due to the collapse of the auto industry, the dishonorable departure of business and industry that left behind hazardous wastes, and the continued operation of the Detroit Incinerator and the catastrophic effects of toxic industries in and around zip code 48217.

The week before we left, local news reported the water department and hazardous materials crew was flushing the sewer system around the Detroit Medical Center due to what was most likely massive quantities of illegally dumped paint products. As the miles pealed away on our odometer, I reflected upon my own family’s exposure to toxins since we moved to Detroit in 2006. Last year, due to a cracked-opened "manhole" in the basement of a home we were renting in North Corktown/Briggs, we were slowly poisoned by sewage gas. Unaware, over a couple of months we found ourselves slowly become more and more sick. Thanks to a knowledgeable friend, we eventually discovered the leak, sealed it and began the process of detoxification.

Due to our destination being focused on privilege and oppression, as we drove, I thought upon our own privilege when confronted with the inescapable toxins we are exposed to daily and how other families in Detroit, who have been exposed over generations to hazardous materials by eating, breathing and living in the Arsenal of Democracy’s dumping ground must be effected. I also thought about the privilege of being able to leave Detroit for close to two weeks as we began to breathe easier in the noticeably fresh air outside of the city.

We began to breathe easier, sadly, until we reach the so-called heartland of US. As we traveled through increasingly rural areas, we began to pass by large industrial farms and started to see Monsanto signs everywhere. Monsanto is the world’s largest producer of genetically modified seeds and the chemicals farmers use to grow them. Being food justice activists, I admit that we may have been looking for these signs, but what we didn’t expect to see was just how prolific Montsanto is and how daunting it was passing by large chemical storage facilities and industrial spraying machines.

Dismayed and slightly depressed by the corporate domination of the landscape even here, we pulled into our first motel for the night. Exhausted and simply looking forward to rest, we entered our room and were immediately hit by the intense chemical smell of disinfectant and an over-the-top sickly-sweet scent that I can only assume was intended to cover up the disinfectant. Being too tired to load everything back into the car and find another, less toxic room, we laid our heads on pillowcases washed in chemical-laden industrial detergent. Waking with a massive headache, Angela’s first words in the morning were “we need to get out of here as soon as possible!”

I agreed and we got back on the road immediately. Passing by more industrial agricultural spraying equipment, I began to notice how “blown-out” the small towns we passed through were. Trying to find solace in the fact that these small town ruins somehow reminded me of home, it struck me that while our country’s urban areas are vilified due to their poor populations and environmental hazards, many rural areas seem to be in the same situation.

I returned to this week’s environmental principle and mourned over the immense and seemingly impossible idea of cessation of chemical production. While our privilege affords us the opportunity to attempt to reduce our family’s exposure to toxins and hazardous wastes, it appears that communities, not only in urban but rural areas as well, are under attack by companies like Monsanto, whose website lies that they are “meeting the needs of today while preserving the planet for tomorrow.”

With the US government’s strings being pulled by corporations, the idea of their being held accountable to people brings more frustration. The idea that these companies would implement detoxification or that they would be honest with us in any way seems nearly impossible. Our entire culture, oppressed and privileged, urban and rural alike, has become dependent upon the very products that are killing us. While corporations dominate the government, media, production and distribution of goods, from food to cleaning products, we are all threatened and literally under their control.

As my family and I enjoyed Albuquerque and learned and shared at the White Privilege Conference, Detroit’s city council was negotiating a loose/loose agreement with the State, the outcome of which will most likely be known by the time this prints. While I don’t want to be a naysayer and strongly support the efforts of those who labor to block it, this agreement and the push to put more of our resources, including our water and our children’s education, on the auction block for profit, often appears unstoppable. As I tuned into the local news and social media while away, my personal frustration over the impossibility of not only the cessation, accountability and detoxification from toxic and hazardous waste, but also from the corporate domination of our lives continued to grow.

Thankfully, this frustration shifted towards the end of the conference. Two days before our departure, we were extremely honored to share in a traditional community healing ceremony. This indigenous ceremony, called a Tezmacal, shares some common ground with a Native American sweat lodge. As Angela and I sat in the extreme heat and purged many of the toxins from our bodies I finally found some resolve to my frustration and a slight release from the overwhelming oppressive systems we are all connected to and co-implicated within.

As the community that gathered in the Tezmacal released their pain and anger through songs and screams that seemingly reverberated across and through our diverse generations of both privilege and oppression, I found solace in the fact that, while at the moment these massive systems and corporations would deny accountability, each of us can reframe our relationships so that we can grow an accountability to one another. Through singing, screaming and sweating out our pain, depression, anxiety, anger and loss… through the healing many of us already know we need, we can learn more about each other and, what’s more, we can overcome. As I back out of the small door of the Tezmacal, I suddenly looked forward to returning home, even in the face of the toxic politics and environment, to learn more, share more, sweat more and heal more.

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Mrs. Regina Smith resident of The Hole

YFJTF Coordinator Anthony Grimmett at Soul Training

Over 20 participants came together to build their skills, exchange lessons learned, and strategize to fight to win justice for their respective communities. They developed a solid and systematic orientation to the fundamentals of organizing, including base-building, campaign strategy, and leadership development. Rooted in current youth struggles, the SOUL training provided a unique space for emerging leaders to engage with the challenges and opportunities of the current moment, to advance their organizations and build a stronger movement across the globe.
“There were people from Cali there and New York but the only people from outside the states was Guam,” Grimmett said. “They were explaining about deculturizing in their area where the government was trying to take their land and do what they wanted to do with it. They were basically occupying their land.
“I think the youngest person there was like 15 and the oldest was like in their 40s. There were two or three people in their 30s and 40s who came with students. What stood out most to me was just the people. That was a really dope group.”
The SOUL staff said that Anthony's presence and experience was most welcome at this year's training. 
"Anthony arrived to the Institute with an incredible amount of enthusiasm, excitement and gratitude that a space was created for him to absorb, apply, discuss and engage in organizing skills and movement building in the most tangible sense," said SOUL Lead Trainer Nefertiti Altan. "He was consistently and actively listening to the numerous points brought up by participants and the training team, and connected concepts back to his important work with EMEAC. Anthony's love for the work and his commitment to social justice shone through, and I was always so appreciative of the few moments he took to run up to me and offer the biggest and warmest hug of gratitude for being a part of this training. 'This is so awesome and amazing, thank you so much for everything,' he would say after the day's workshops."



The training took place inside the Center for Third World Organizing mansion in Oakland. Grimmett, who made his first trip out of the United States during a recent trip to Canada as a member of EMEAC's Young Educators Alliance to help teach a series of workshops during the Seventh Annual High School Social Justice Forum at the University of Windsor, came away even more impressed by his first trip to California.

“It was wild. They really made me feel at home,” he said. “It's a lot like (Detroit) obviously. It was in a really big old house. We stayed there for the entire time for four days. It was very intensive work. We woke up each day and had a really tight schedule. I think our days started at like eight in the morning and then went to nine o'clock at night some times.
“California was beautiful. It was like our first four hot days here in Detroit. It was really sunny. The temperatures were kind of warm but there was a nice cool breeze. I've never seen leaves that green and everything was in bloom. They let us be young adults. It wasn't too uptight. I just really enjoyed myself all together.”

By Ahmina Maxey
EMEAC Associate Director
Stand Up! Speak Out! Coordinator

In 1986 the city of Detroit constructed the world's largest municipal incinerator. It was lauded by the city's government and citizens as it was expected to bring economic prosperity to Detroit. It was thought that industries would be attracted to the city because at the time incineration was viewed as the safest, most cost-effective waste disposal method. Although many Detroit residents were in support of the incinerator, there were some citizens and environmental groups that were not. This group, largely made up of suburban environmental groups, was known as the Evergreen Alliance. They felt that the incinerator was a major environmental and health risk, and actively protested against its construction. Their campaign however was unsuccessful.

The concerns the Evergreen Alliance had about the Detroit incinerator unfortunately rang true. The incinerator is one of the worst polluters in Wayne County for criteria pollutants. It emits nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and lead into the atmosphere - pollutants which can be toxic to human health. Nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide both contribute to the formation of ozone which is harmful to respiratory health. In addition the toxins emitted by the incinerator are particularly harmful to children’s health. Particulate matter emissions have led to asthma hospitalization rates for children living around the incinerator to be 3 times the national average.

The Detroit incinerator has also proved to be a money pit for the city of Detroit. The expected economic benefits of the incinerator were never realized. The incinerator was sold in 1991 to private investors to pay off city debt, and although the city no longer owned the incinerator citizens were forced to continue paying bonds owed on it. In total Detroit's residents have paid over $1.2 billion in debt because of the incinerator.

Since the incinerat­or’s opening in the late 1980’s it has caused nothing but environmental, health, and economic strife in the city of Detroit. Recently the the incinerator was bought and renamed Detroit Renewable Energy in an effort to “green wash” the facility although it remains a toxic, polluting facility. Zero Waste Detroit (ZWD), a coalition of organizations advocating for the City of Detroit to move toward a waste recovery system and away from incineration, work hard to hold Detroit Renewable Power accountable for their actions. When residents in the neighborhood began to complain of odors coming from the incinerator in the fall of 2011, ZWD engaged the community to report this information to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). As a result, Detroit Renewable Power received three notices of odor violation. Zero Waste Detroit has worked for over 7 years to push the City of Detroit to stop sending their trash to the incinerator, and although City Council seems receptive to the idea the Mayor does not. However, with continued community engagement and education on the environmental, health, and economic benefits of recycling our efforts will not be for naught.

EMEAC is a member of the Zero Waste Detroit coalition, a group of organizations advocating for curbside recycling, a materials recovery system that would bring jobs and economic development to city, and an end to waste incineration. The coalition is made up of over 15 organizations representing the environmental, environmental justice, faith-based, civic, and legal communities of Detroit. If you would like to support Zero Waste Detroit and their work, or report odors coming from the incinerator, please visit their website at www.zerowastedetroit.org.

Here are Ten Top Reasons for opposing HB 4265 and 4266:

Why Yard Waste Doesn’t Belong in Landfills
10) More energy would be saved by composting and source reduction than would be generated by landfilling it.
9) Increasing organic material in landfills will increase greenhouse gas production and eventual release.
8) Landfills are an inefficient technology for energy production.
7) Organics make up a significant portion of the waste stream and have the potential to increase waste diversion dramatically.
6) Compost is valued for its nutrient content, is used as a soil amendment and for erosion control and stormwater management on farms, adjacent to roadways, and in environmental rehabilitation efforts.
5) Michigan has a well-developed infrastructure for composting yard clippings and yard waste provides an important bulking agent for the composting of other organics such as food waste.
4) Cost to municipalities and residents to dispose of yard clippings is likely to be more than composting yard clippings.
3) Composting yard clippings creates more jobs than landfilling.
2) Michigan has a very low recycling rate. Landfilling yard clippings will lower our ranking further.
1) The yard clippings disposal ban is one of the few tools Michigan has to limit solid waste importation.

The Senate Energy and Technology Committee will be considering HB 4265 and HB 4266, exempting yard waste from the landfill ban, which passed the Legislature last week. As members of Zero Waste Detroit, we urge you to contact members of the Energy and Technology Committee and urge them to oppose this legislation.

Zero Waste Detroit, among many, opposes these bills for numerous reasons—economic as well as environmental. These bills will not save collection costs, as source separation is still required for three years. The bills will greatly damage the composting industry. Job creation from composting yard waste is multiples of that from disposal (landfill or incineration).

Composting is a low-tech, environmentally sound, cost-effective, and decentralized method for managing yard clippings and other organic wastes, without the long-term impacts of disposal. Michigan’s compost industry provides jobs and a valuable soil amending end-product to farmers, landscapers, governments, and residents.

Please take the time as soon as possible to meet with Senators from your own district to help them understand the impact of these bills on you and/or your business or organization. Your Senators will be closer to home over the spring break, doing business at the in-district offices, holding coffee shop meetings, and more.

Find you Senator here.

Senate Energy & Technology Committee members are:

Mike Nofs (R) Committee Chair, 19th District
John Proos (R) Majority Vice Chair, 21st District
Rick Jones (R) 24th District
Jim Marleau (R) 12th District
Tonya Schuitmaker (R) 20th District
Howard Walker (R) 37th District
Hoon-Yung Hopgood (D) Minority Vice Chair, 8th District
Steven M Bieda (D) 9th District
Coleman Young II (D) 1st District
Committee Clerk, (517) 373-5307

You can find more information on the bills at the Michigan Recycling Coalition's website.

By Jeff Smith
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy

On March 27, there was a forum on fracking, organized by a student socialist group at GVSU on the Allendale Campus of Grand Valley State University. The group invited two speakers to present, a GVSU professor and Chris Williams, author of the book Ecology and Socialism.
Professor Peter Wampler, who presented first, works in the geology department at GVSU. His presentation was very clinical in that he showed slides and presented information that provided those in attendance with basics around where natural gas is and how it is being extracted around the US.
Wampler made some distinctions between shale-based natural gas and other forms of methane gas, such as the gas from human or animal waste or the methane created at landfills where organic material are breaking down.
The GVSU Professor then presented some basic aspects of what is fracking? and how the industry extracts it natural gas from shale. He stated that most shale is found at least 1000 feet below the surface.
Wampler then shifted his presentation to why there is such a big push for fracking now. He stated that this is a “trend” that really began in 2009. You can see from the graph here the current and projected trends with natural gas extracted from fracking.
Wampler continued with more information on how the industry extracts the gas from shale. He then identified consequences of fracking, such as micro-earthquakes, groundwater contamination, surface water contamination and increased dependence on fossil fuels. One thing he mentioned about contamination in groundwater is because of the chemicals that are pumped in with water to create the fracking necessary to extract the natural gas.

View the complete article

Watson and Kenyatta voted against Consent Decree