A red helicopter hovered low overhead, and police officers were at every intersection, as over 800 protestors, armed with signs and microphones, marched from Parker Mill Park to Governor Snyder’s home on a windy and overcast Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Protestors opposing Public Act 4, a bill that gives the governor the power to appoint emergency financial managers to cities, marched on Gov. Snyder’s home in Superior Township on Monday.
The protest included numerous activist groups and union members as the crowd of over 800 people blocked off westbound Geddes Rd. for over a quarter mile, walking from Parker Mills Park to the subdivision Gov. Snyder owns a house in.
Groups participating in the rally included Jobs With Justice, United Auto Workers, Michigan Education Association, Young Democrats of Michigan, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, as well as elected officials from across the state and clergy groups from Detroit, Highland Park, Flint, Benton Harbor, Lansing, Inkster and Muskegon.
Protestors were not just against Public Act 4, but some were there to support the cause against Gov. Snyder entirely.
Angela Taber, of Grass Lake, Mich., is a staff representative of AFSCME, and came to support the protestors.
“He’s destroying a way of life,” said Taber of Gov. Snyder. “He’s destroying the momentum unions had.”
The marchers ranged in ages from the very old to the very young, including children walking with their parents.
Many of the clergy groups donated the use of their church vans, and buses were also provided for transport.
Zachary Steve, 22, president of Young Democrats of Michigan and member of Occupy Detroit, helped organize the rally.
“The problem with Public Act 4 is it’s un-American, unconstitutional and undemocratic,” Steve said.
Public Act 4 gives the governor the ability to institute emergency financial managers for cities in need of economic guidance. Although the scope is not limited to just control of the cities, Detroit’s emergency financial manager controls the public schools as well.
According to the Michigan Legislature website, Act 4 was created to safeguard and assure the fiscal responsibility of units of local government.
The governor is allowed to replace elected officials with appointed ones “to provide for review, management, planning and control of the financial operation of units of local government and the provision of services by units of local government.”
The governor’s ability to replace an elected official with an appointed one is one of the most criticized aspects of the bill, which essentially removes the right to vote in a district with an emergency financial manager.
Frances Gilcreast, president of the Flint NAACP branch, came to the rally because Flint was appointed an emergency financial manager.
“Our democracy has been taken away, our rights as voters have been taken away,” Gilcreast said.
Many groups involved in the rally have claimed the bill has racist undertones.
The cities that have been placed under control of an emergency financial manager all have significant minority populations.
Detroit, Flint, Benton Harbor and Ecorse are under emergency financial manager control.
“As the NAACP has been fighting to get people to vote, every election we’re out trying to protect that vote, trying to educate that voter and motivate that voter, and when we turn around and take that vote away… it is a slap in the face of the Voting Rights Act of 1965,” Gilcreast said.
Members of the Frederick Douglass Society also appeared at the rally, but in contention to the main body of protestors. The members of the society were there to show support for the governor.
“The truth is, the governor is not a racist, and the accusations that racism has anything to do with the manager appointment in Detroit is a lie,” said Stacey Swimp, a member of the society.
Even with dissenting opinions in the crowd, there were no violent outbursts or any need for police action, although there was a large contingent of officers present from start to finish.
Derek Jackson, Director of Community Engagement at the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s office, said the 30 to 40 officers were there to protect the protestors.
“With the sun going down and getting dark it’s not a very pedestrian-friendly walkway, so we knew we would have to shut down part of the road,” Jackson said.
The marchers arrived at the gate to Gov. Snyder’s community and chanted phrases like “What does democracy look like? This is what democracy looks like,” and, “People united will not be defeated.”
After a short while outside the gates, protestors began filing back down Geddes Rd., and buses and vans were there to shuttle them back to their cars.
Many protestors hoped this march would raise awareness and garner new support against Gov. Snyder’s policies.
“Today was definitely a success,” Steve said. “Our goal was to make the statement that Michigan is going to stand united on behalf of not just the citizens of this state, but the citizens of this country.”
