Detroit Day Of Action

June 26th 2010.

It’s a gray morning in down town Detroit. After five days of meetings, workshops, sharing stories, creating art, and tons of tons of planning people were ready to hit the streets and  take action. Although thousands of people went to Detroit to take part in the 2010 U.S. Social Forum to discuss matters of all types of justice (Social, Economic, Environmental) hundreds stuck around and joined the people of Detroit in taking part on the march and actions that took place after the Social Forum.

Zero Waste Detroit, a local Environmental Justice Organization, has been fighting for years to shut down the giant trash incinerator that pollutes their city and is one of the biggest contributors to respiratory and health issues for the city of Detroit. The Incinerator itself is located in between two low-income communities of color and only a few blocks away from the elementary school that serves both communities. Zero Waste Detroit along with the Teamsters Union and a large part of community residents have been pushing to shut down the giant incinerator and have Detroit transition to a greener more sustainable economy. Unfortunately the city has not been receptive even going as far as shutting down the recycling program because the incinerator “needs more garbage to burn”.

Hundreds of Activists from all around the country marched in solidarity with the city of Detroit and called for the mayor and the city council to shut down the Trash Incinerator. A wave of people and art marched through the streets of Detroit as people carrying over a hundred giant Sun Flower signs, including one four story tall sunflower, chanted for “CLEAN AIR, GOOD JOBS, AND JUSTICE”. Although the march was the main focus of the day of action plenty of activists went all out with the actions which included: Guerrilla Gardening (where every so often people would diverge from the march and plant small trees next to old and abandoned buildings) Floating Signs (indicating the fumes from the incinerator was poison) Giant Banners (hung from abandoned buildings promoting Clean Air and Good Jobs) and wrapping it up with some street theater at the end of the march.