The classic film about the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, one…
Taking Back Detroit
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
In the 1970s and early 1980s Detroit was the setting for an unusual development in U.S. urban politics, as voters elected two socialists to citywide office. TAKING BACK DETROIT examines these people and their organization against the backdrop of a city in extreme economic crisis.
The film profiles City Council member Ken Cockrel and Recorders Court Judge Justin Ravitz. They discuss the challenges they face, and the vision they bring to their work.
Cockrel and Ravitz and their political organization, DARE, opposed the accepted agenda for Detroit - tax abatements for industry, federal money for developers, cuts in city services, abandonment of older neighborhoods. They emphasize that the city could be made to serve its residents first - though not surprisingly the film shows that promoting this idea was no simple task.
'Outstanding potential for use in social studies classes and in college urban studies courses. Excellent for defining issues and provoking debate.'-EFLA Evaluations
'Given the revived interest in the global history of socialism... coupled with the encroaching financial and urban crisis 'Taking Back Detroit' is a film that can be surprisingly relevant and up-to-date... It fills an important lacunae in the typical boom-and-bust narratives of Detroit.... It shows that Detroit's decline was also largely 'beyond the color line.' [And] it is a viable addition to the typical accounts of American socialism that tend to paint it as merely 'cultural' and eschew the questions of economy.'-Anthropology Review Database (December, 2010)
'Some of the most fascinating sequences of Stephen Lighthill's marvelous documentary--aspects that make it an uplifting, inspiring vision of Detroit when it could've easily been depressing--are when Cockrel and Ravitz recognize their constituency isn't inside City Hall: it's ordinary folks on the outside, in the redlined and block-busted neighborhoods.' -Andy Merrifield, Antipode
Citation
Main credits
Lighthill, Stephen (filmmaker)
Welch, Kristopher (narrator)
Jacobs, Alan (interviewer)
Other credits
Edited by Kristine Samuelson; music by Sam Sanders.
Distributor subjects
African-Americans; Economics; Law; North America; Urban Planning and Design; Urban StudiesKeywords
WEBVTT
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[sil.]
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Good afternoon. This is
Cliff Russell with WJBZ,
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Detroit Renaissance News. Coleman
Young has announced this afternoon
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the laying off of 907 city employees in an
effort to ease the city’s budget deficit
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by approximately $16 million.
Among those being laid off
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are 182 Detroit General Hospital workers,
26 firefighters and 400 police officers.
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The Mayor says the layoff
will take effect next Monday.
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Record high prices for foreign oil and a surge in
automobile imports, helped push the US trade deficit
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$2.4 billion.
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When I said to you that the system isn’t designed to work
either, when I said to you that you’re a mere functionary,
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you’re a cog in the wheel. And I should add
quickly, so are the judges, so are the police,
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so are the wardens. And all across the
board, we’re all little functionaries.
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We’re cogs in a wheel that isn’t
designed to turn forward,
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and that at best, we’ll just spin in place.
We can’t begin to address
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the problems of the society we live in by
dealing in the criminal justice system.
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By the time they get to us, it’s too late.
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I like to organize. I like to make things…
take an idea, and then make it happen.
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I particularly like ideas, not like socialism, they have a beginning
a middle and the end, and you can see something complete socialism
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sort of takes forever apparently.
But as a Marxist or a pure Marxist,
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the assumption would be
obviously anti-capital. Uh…
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No, anti-private property. What I’m concerned
with… When I find myself as a Marxist,
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I’ll say it very, you know, succinctly, what I
mean is that the uh… central process in this
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or any other society is the economic process, the process of
organizing production to meet the needs of the people, okay.
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I’m saying that under a Marxist government,
if you will, we would be seeking
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to organize a process of production to meet the needs of
the people who are producing and not to benefit those
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who, in the name of private property, own and
control the means production and get the profit.
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Now, what that translates into uh… running a city, I mean,
becomes very complicated. You’re talking about an effect
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in a raciest of socialism in a gigantic sea, if you
are an island of socialism in a sea of capitalism.
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[music]
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[music]
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Detroit is the only major American city with
elected socialists in local government.
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Ken Cockrel, Sheila Murphy, and Justin
Ravitz have a long political history.
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In the 1960s, Sheila Murphy was
one of the leaders of Ad-Hoc -
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a civil rights group organizing
against police brutality.
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Ken Cockrel was active in DRUM, the insurgent workers
group that fought racism in the auto plants and unions.
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Ravitz was part of the Motor City Labor League,
an organization that helped coordinate
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the activities of many radicals. Ravitz and
Cockrel began practicing law together,
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winning a string of
well-known criminal cases.
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Banking on public recognition of Cockrel and Ravitz,
the radical community decided to broaden their attack
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on the power structure by running
candidates for public office.
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In 1972, Ravitz was elected judge
on the Criminal Court bench.
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In 1977, Cockrel campaigned for
and won a seat as City Councilman
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on the Detroit Common Council. Cockrel
ran seventh in a field of nine,
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the only person elected to the City Council
without the endorsement of the UAW
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or the Democratic Party. Both campaigns
were managed by Sheila Murphy,
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who is now the Chief of Staff
in the Cockrel Council Office.
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We’re not running to educate, we run to win and educate.
If we can’t win, uh… it doesn’t make a bit of sense
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to run somebody. It costs too much money, and
more than it, it costs too much energy and time
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when you tie up, you know, too many people, because if
you do it, you gotta do it right. And for us that means,
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since we don’t have the ton of money,
mobilizing large numbers of people,
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which really stretches your infrastructure, you know, I
mean, your people, your key people really get pushed hard,
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uh… if you’re trying to, as we did in Ken’s general
election, we had 800 people in the streets.
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And you gotta feed and get literature
to and just generally be responsible
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for and take care of 800 people
between the hours of 7am and 8pm,
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umm… you know, throughout the entire city
of Detroit, that’s… that’s a lot of effort.
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It takes money. And we’re not…
We can’t do that. Winning helps.
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You know, I mean, it’s part of… part
of our mystique is that we win.
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Socialism has been part of
Detroit politics for many years.
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In the 1920s and 30s, many socialists were among
those working to unionize the auto plants.
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The Reuther brothers and other
organizers of the UAW were socialists.
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Despite the auto companies continuing
opposition, the late 30s saw many socialists
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inspired reforms enacted into
law, providing new protections
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for working people. With the 1940s
came federal laws blocking socialists
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from union leadership. But the radical
heritage of this period gives Detroit
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an unusual political character.
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[sil.]
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Welcome the Mayor in his
annual visit to us to present
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uh… the budget and in effect the state of the
city as well as a projection for the future.
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The budget I brought to this
table for your consideration
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a year ago was stretched to the limit.
As you will recall,
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I described it to you as a budget
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that took a highly optimistic view of our potential
revenues. We do have a balanced budget, to be sure.
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But does the budget balance the
$40 million of revenue items
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which require action by either the state
or the federal legislature to that extent
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are entirely beyond our control.
It is no exaggeration to say
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that the sum of our solutions
do not seem likely to equal
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the sum of our problems. How did we
get into this situation at a time
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when things seem to be going so well?
How can we be so cash poor
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when we are surrounded by hundreds of millions
of dollars worth of new construction?
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In the 1950s, Detroit’s tax
base steadily declined.
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Normal migration to the
suburbs became a stampede.
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Of a population near two million,
half a million whites fled.
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For every two businesses that could
be convinced to stay, 20 moved on.
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The burdens of Detroit’s decline were felt
most by poor people, who couldn’t leave.
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In 1967, the city experienced what the federal
government called a ‘civil disturbance’.
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In Detroit, this disturbance is
remembered as the great rebellion.
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It was stopped with the largest
military force ever assembled
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in the United States against citizens.
We will not endure violence.
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It will not be tolerated.
This nation will do
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whatever it is necessary to do to suppress
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and to punish those who engage in it.
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According to the Commission
on Civil Disorders,
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the military often used their force with little
discretion firing its snipers that never could be found.
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At the end of the week that
began on July 23rd, 1967,
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43 people were dead.
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We’ve come a long way in our
city from a few years back
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being regarded as the murder capital of the
world to the city that is now seen as the model
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uh… to which you go if you’re
interested in urban revitalization.
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Urban revitalization that is essentially key to an elaborate
combination of schemes that marry the public sector
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and its powers of licensing, taxation, regulation,
zoning and so on. Marries those powers
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and subordinates those powers to the interest of enhancing the
profit-making potential of various private entrepreneurs.
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We do it with tax abatements. We do it with tax
increment financing. We do it with the bond schemes.
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All the upscale educated affluent young types who
really can make a contribution to the tax base
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being brought back to eat quiche while
the poor are taxed out of their homes.
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[sil.]
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To stem Detroit’s continuing decline,
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Mayor Coleman Young has combined private developers
with federal grants to nurse a building boom
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to life in the downtown area. This
strategy has become controversial.
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Many citizens argue that the developments do
not create lasting solutions to unemployment,
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that they often displace poor people for
corporations and the wealthy, and that they receive
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unnecessary tax breaks. In opposition
to these development policies,
00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:14.999
Murphy, Ravitz, and Cockrel joined with
other Detroit activists to form DARE,
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the Detroit Alliance for
a Rational Economy -
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a group organizing around economic issues.
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Okay, Cockrel fights tax breaks.
Detroit Councilman Kenneth V. Cockrel
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is starting his most ambitious attack against
city tax breaks for large corporations by picking
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as its targets two of Detroit’s biggest
developers Max Fisher and A. Alfred Taubman.
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Cockrel, backed by an
organization called DARE,
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hopes to build political pressure that will
keep the City Council from granting a tax break
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estimated at $12 million for Riverfront
West, a $224 million Riverfront Apartment
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and Condominium Complex. Taubman and Fisher
proposed to build west of the Joe Louis Arena.
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A flyer prepared for the petition drive
declares ‘Tax Max and his pal Al’.
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The line is drawn in some very basic ways
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with the administration. And it’s gonna get
a little heavy. And, I think, we just…
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we need to be clear about that. And we need to… to
be really clear that this petition campaign at this…
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cannot not succeed. And when I say
succeed, I mean, we have got to produce
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between 15,000 and 20,000 signatures.
And I think we can do it.
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Okay, let me tell what’s happening, okay.
They got all these land down (inaudible)
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and Joe Louis Arena all the way up. No.
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Right, no. All I want you to do is sign this petition.
We’re sending these petitions to the City Council
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to tell them that the citizens
of Detroit do not like
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their tax money being given away for luxury
apartments. (inaudible). Okay. Thank you, sir.
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We got people being laid off. Yeah.
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From the different departments. And people like Max Fisher
are coming in and saying they shouldn’t have to pay taxes.
00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:09.999
If you wanna look this over and you
give us your signature that might help.
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[sil.]
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Give… Give us your signature or maybe we can let you know
when there’s gonna be a hearing at the City County Building,
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and… with some folks down there.
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All right, thank you.
What I think we can do
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is build a mobilized community. I want to say it
that way, ‘cause… ‘cause part of that is building
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a mass-based community organization
named DARE, but it also means
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building with other organizations, who… people who may
not join there, who may not have DARE’s politics,
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who may, you know, be opposed
to DARE’s politics, but…
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but being part of the creation of a context
wherein people become increasingly convinced
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that they should and… and have the ability
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to make many more of the
decisions about their lives.
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The conference that DARE
is sponsoring has like,
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a number of objectives. The information that we
have found, we think, is vital for people to have
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is around economic development
strategy that is being employed
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by the economic elite and the city government.
It’s a strategy that doesn’t lend itself
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to particularly interesting presentation
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in the sense of a meeting or a classroom.
One of the things
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that we came up with was a bus tool.
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There were about 400 of them, and they were just people
from all walks of life who happen to live in Detroit.
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Their primary interest is their own welfare in the
decade ahead, hence the title of the conference
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’City Life in the 80s’. They say they are just as vitally
interested in Detroit’s Renaissance as city leaders.
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They are concerned that the term may be too
narrowly defined in downtown development
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and the interest to those
responsible for that development.
00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:09.999
Their organizer Sheila Murphy says it’s primarily a
question of what direction the future will take.
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Currently set down directions appear to be set
down for the interests of ah… people with,
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you know, high economic interests, the economic elite,
and the regular people and the neighborhoods of cities,
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uh… you know, poor people, working people,
the people who get laid off from Chrysler
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as opposed to Mr. Iacocca and folks like that, that
the strategies aren’t there for their interests.
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The ultimate goal of DARE is to ensure that Detroit’s
Renaissance reaches beyond tall buildings,
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tax bases, and the interests of the wealthy, to
ensure that it reaches out to embrace the needs
00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.999
of all the people in the city. I’m Ron
from the TV2 Eyewitness News in Detroit.
00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:49.999
The first and most important thing is
that, you know, downtown is engaging in…
00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:54.999
in what’s called a Renaissance. And that Renaissance has
been highly touted and publicized all over the world,
00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:59.999
Detroit Coming Back. We think it’s an important
development, but we wanna call people’s attention
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to a couple of things. First, a great deal of that
Renaissance is being based on the use of taxpayers’ money.
00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:09.999
Very little of the money that actually you’re gotta see
in these various projects comes up in private capital.
00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:14.999
If the money comes up to the investified
private capital is generally guaranteed
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through some kind of federal
loan, or housing, or grant.
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Second thing that’s important to keep in mind is the process
that is a series of organizations have been established
00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:29.999
in part with city government officials on them,
in part with corporation executives on them.
00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:34.999
And they are responsible for the construction of
the various projects that we’re going to see.
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Literally what’s happening is we’re seeing the carving
out of an area with a great deal of taxpayers’ money
00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:44.999
primarily for the benefit of business.
Now we’re not opposed.
00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:49.999
We’re not against the development of Downtown Detroit. Or we’re
not opposed to progress. But we are opposed to the use of things
00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:54.999
like the Community Development Block Funds, which are money which
is designated by the federal government for use in the communities
00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:59.999
to pay for low and moderate income housing,
for community development facilities,
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and a number of other things in the areas of neighborhoods where
we live. The Renaissance Center was basically constructed
00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:09.999
with private capital, over a $120 million
was put up by the Ford Motor Company.
00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:14.999
Two new towers are being constructed on the Renaissance Center. And
they’re being constructed by the Rockefeller Investment Corporation.
00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:19.999
Those two new towers are being
constructed under a special program
00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:24.999
which allows for the construction of those
towers to receive a property tax abatement,
00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.999
a loss of $7 million. When asked whether
they would build the construction
00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:34.999
if they didn’t get the tax break. They said, yes, they
would still build it and would still be profitable than
00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:39.999
to… to build those two towers if they didn’t get the tax
back but they got the tax break anyway by the City Council
00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.999
on a vote of seven to two.
00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:49.999
Now, you have to just slow down a little bit. This
area here, is the area of the Riverfront West.
00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.999
Riverfront West is one of the key
projects of the Downtown area.
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.999
The river will be sealed off from public
access. They’re building a seawall
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with the urban development money to stud… to stop
(inaudible) from coming in. Despite the fact that
00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:09.999
they have all these other grants, they wanna
ask the city of Detroit to give up the
00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.999
property taxes for 12 years to pay for that new
building. Again, these departments are gonna go for
00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.999
between 500 to $650 a month a bedroom.
We think it’s kind of outrageous
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.999
that on top of all the other government programs and all
the other grants that they have that they’re gonna,
00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:29.999
you know, hit it to the city again for some more tax uh…
write-off. And we’re trying to organize the people of Detroit
00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:38.000
through the petition drives etcetera to put pressure on
the City Council so they don’t get that tax abatement.
00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.999
[sil.]
00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.999
On the one hand we’re
real close to observing
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:54.999
the backroom deals that are
cut between the politicians
00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.999
and the real wealthy capitalists.
And we see that
00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.999
with the Downtown Development Authority.
We see that
00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:09.999
with the Economic Growth Council. We see that with
Riverfront West and the tax skills that they’re making.
00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:14.999
And juxtaposed against
that is the cutting edge
00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:19.999
of those things that are
scarring the public and that…
00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.999
that just real obvious in terms
of declining city services,
00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:29.999
in terms of hunger, in terms of
inadequate housing, in terms of the costs
00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.999
of urban renewal to the people who
are displaced by General Motors
00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:39.999
wanting to uh… bring about a Renaissance
and promote the gentrification program.
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.999
So it used to be that we
were involved in ways
00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.999
that were outsiders
protesting and being visible
00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.999
but essentially around uh…
different hits here and there,
00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.999
uh… each month there might be something else that was
real important but it didn’t have the sort of continuity
00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.999
and the sort of linkage
that it possesses now.
00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:13.000
[sil.]
00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:28.000
[music]
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.999
An application for a tax break by business has
never been denied by the Detroit City Council.
00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:39.999
At this session, the council will vote
on their willingness to hold hearings
00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.999
on a proposed tax abatement for the
Riverfront West apartment project.
00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.999
Number five would stand on its own.
You’re either part tax abatement
00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.999
and you’re against tax abatement. Now, that… that… that’s
why it needs to be… Well, yeah, Kenny’s right now Mr. Kuhn
00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.999
made it quite clear yesterday
that without the tax abatement
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.999
(inaudible) will not go. So
what we want is a resolution
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
where council members can express for or against
tax abatement. With reference to Riverfront West,
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
I’m opposed to it, because I
see a difference between the…
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.999
the city government attempting to participate
in the overall pot uh… on a federal level
00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
on something other than a random lottery basis, and
a private entrepreneur becoming a city government,
00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
a city government that has laid people off,
uh… a city government that is consistently
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
being asked to cut essentially in
quality of life affecting areas.
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
Uh… And to have us come in and say on the one hand you want us to
uh… get into this federal pot and give Max that awesome money.
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
And then come back and ask us in
addition to express ourselves favorably
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
on a 12-year tax abatement for the improvements to
that piece of real estate, that is reprehensible.
00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
I have not voted for uh… the tax abatements.
I have been opposed consistently
00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
uh… to the tax abatements where there is not an
affirmative showing of the need for the abatement
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
as an inducement for the investment. I don’t think
that that burden has been met or satisfied yet.
00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
We laid off ah… in January, in
departments such as Consumer Affairs,
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
and departments such as the Health Department, department such as
parks and recreation in quality of life affecting the departments
00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
Environment Protection and maintenance. We are laying
off people in those areas that direct… including
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
fire, public protection. But we find these
industrialists continually coming to us
00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
and asking us to subsidize our economic
expansion, which has the effect
00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
of increasing the demand on the local governmental unit
for public services. If I’ve got more industrial activity
00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.999
going on in Detroit, and that means I’m gonna need more
police, I’m gonna need more fire, I’m gonna need more water,
00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.999
I’m gonna need more services that I’m asking really to
like subsidize my development by abating the taxes,
00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.999
and thus reducing their ability to provide me
the services that I need in the first place.
00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
We will move to uh… A5.
Councilman Hood resolution
00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.999
presupposing support for a tax abatement
00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
for Riverfront West residential development phase one. Uh…
There’s a (inaudible) requested on this, Councilman Hood.
00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
Madam (inaudible) to the resolution.
Okay, we will probably
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
request the clerk will call the roll. Councilman
Cleveland? I. Councilman Cockrel? No.
00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
Councilman Eberhard? I. Councilman Hood?
I. Councilman Kelly? I.
00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
Councilman (inaudible)? I.
Councilman Macbeth? I.
00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
Madam President? I. There are seven
yeas and one nay. (inaudible).
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:38.000
[sil.]
00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.999
What we have with Ken on the
council is won an opportunity to
00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
uh… put forward as he does,
I think, extremely well.
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
Umm… A socialist or a left critique
00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
of the current set of arrangements uh… by
having the power in the sense of the position,
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
it lends legitimacy to the idea
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
umm… of… of a socialist. I mean,
there’s no people have any experience
00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
with socialists having power.
It’s sort of like, you know,
00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
the eccentric cousin or the, you
know, it’s something off to the side
00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
and for… I think, he’s been there
now a little better than a year.
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
He has not fundamentally compromised,
political or personal principles,
00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
and they basically, I guess, I would
venture are synonymous. He… We have made a
00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
uh… consistent left critique
00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:49.999
of administration policies. And
we are now beginning to see
00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:54.999
some public debate, discussion, umm…
and tying up of these… these issues
00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:59.999
that I know didn’t exist. Before Ken was on the council,
tax abatements have been given away in the city
00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
wholesaley since 1974.
00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
[sil.]
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
Politicians and activists can debate issues
of zoning and taxation, but have no control
00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
over the decisions of the privately owned
auto industry. The expansion of the industry
00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
into multinational status has hit the city hard.
Scores of factory buildings stand vacant,
00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
testimony to the jobs lost
in the last two decades.
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
Nationwide, 200,000 auto workers are
on indefinite layoff - and in Detroit,
00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
unemployment is officially at 13%. Line 11.
00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
Just give me your card, sir.
00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
Give it so when you get to
the window, sir, line 11.
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
The industry is facing
unprecedented challenges.
00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.999
Energy shortages and new pollution
control laws are forcing the industry
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.999
to produce more efficient autos. Competition from
imports require the industry to increase productivity,
00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
and in the USA, the industry is
approaching market saturation.
00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
There is now almost one auto for every two
people, so continued expansion of sales
00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
must be found elsewhere. The automakers’
solution for these challenges
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
is the world car - a car that can be
produced from parts made in plants
00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
in several different countries. If the
workforce of one plant goes on strike,
00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:35.000
the world car can be assembled elsewhere with
parts made from plants in other countries.
00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
Ford, when I was there, General
Motors, Chrysler, all over the world,
00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
we would pit Ohio versus Michigan.
We would pit Canada versus the US.
00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
We’d get outright grants and subsidies
in Spain, in Mexico, in Brazil...
00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
All kinds of grants. Well,
I’m not gonna theorize,
00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
but I’ve had great experience in this. I have played
Spain versus France and England so long I’m tired of it,
00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
and I have played the states against each
other over here. …if you could give a litany
00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
of these kinds of things.
00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
Thirty-five percent of the
auto sold in the United States
00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
are produced in Detroit and Michigan, but the strategy of the
automakers means this percentage will continue to decline.
00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:33.000
[sil.]
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
The courtroom reflects the suffering and frustration
which result from urban economic crisis.
00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
Justin Ravitz has worked as a judge in
Detroit’s Criminal Court for eight years.
00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
He administers the laws of
the state as he sees fit,
00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
and his decisions have seldom been reversed.
State law prohibits filming in court.
00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
[sil.]
00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
I never harbored an ounce of desire
00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
or ambition to be a judge. I’m
sure that can never used to dream
00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
that someday he would be a city council
member. But it’s been real important
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
for us to do battle with those
who still very much dominate
00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
by cutting into their power and
by dealing on a daily basis
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
with the real importance
of those positions.
00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
And say pardon the mess except
it’s neater than usual.
00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.999
Hi, (inaudible) okay.
00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.999
[sil.]
00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.999
So thousands of people come through
one courtroom that I occupy each day.
00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
Decisions that I make in there are
important to them individually.
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
They’re exposed to a person who uh…
may be, you know, most of the people
00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
had heard of previous lives of socialism they might have thought
I had horns and they come in court and see that I don’t.
00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.999
One’s in a position to try to affect the
institution in a way that will have
00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
greater impact than just the
impact upon individual cases
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
in one’s own courtroom. That’s a real different
perspective I think in most other judges hold.
00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.999
[sil.]
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.999
Ravitz has become well-known for making the
atmosphere in his courtroom less intimidating.
00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
He refused to wear the traditional robes until the
Michigan Supreme Court passed the Ravitz rule
00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.999
requiring judges to wear
the robe in the courtroom.
00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.999
Ravitz requires that the entire court stand
for the jury rather than for himself.
00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.999
It gets a little clumsy to stand for
the jury when the first coming in.
00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
But after we’ve selected a jury and I’ve
excused and thanked the rest of the panel,
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
then the jury usually goes into the jury room
for the first time unless it’s been a prolonged
00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
jury selection process, and
then when we call them out
00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
in order to begin opening statements, I
first ask that everyone please rise.
00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
And everybody rises for the jury.
And it’s really often funny.
00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
The jury will come in and more often than
not, the jurors will all be standing there,
00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
and will be standing looking at one
another. And I’m sort of smile and say,
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
\"We’re standing out of respect for you and as soon
as you wish to be seated we’ll be seated also.
00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
And sometimes remark that we often
stand here looking at one another
00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.999
for very long period of time.\"
00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:49.999
Uh… But that’s not… You know, in act,
that’s an important representation
00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.999
to this jury of what we think of them,
a cross-section of our community
00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:59.999
taking time out of their
busy individual lives
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.999
come down here and decide something of
the greatest importance to all of us.
00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.999
I guess, I am those one of the people
within law enforcement uh… in Detroit
00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.999
who did not anticipate a massive social
revolution growing out of his ascendancy
00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.999
to the… to the bench. I knew Ravitz
00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.999
and his cohorts Cockrel,
Ted Spearman, Jeff Taft,
00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
as all being, you know, radical,
leftist, lawyers but pretty careful…
00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:34.999
careful legal scholars. And I… I felt that
00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.999
with that kind of a background in the
law, they probably had a leg up,
00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.999
or Justin had a leg up on some of the judges
over there who I don’t feel (inaudible) all.
00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.999
He is a good trial judge.
He’s fair to both sides.
00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.999
He works hard. He’s very
meticulous about the law,
00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:59.999
and on that score I’d have
to give him a good rating.
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.999
The only thing is that he doesn’t
move the cases as quickly
00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.999
as we’d like him to. The reason for
that is because he is meticulous
00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.999
and he does not really have
the administrative mind.
00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
He’s more of a legal mind. When
you’re moving 30,000 cases a year,
00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.999
you also judge a judge by how
well he can move the cases.
00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
I think most of them who came
in were surprised at his age
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
because he is… he was a younger jurist.
00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
And I think they were surprised in a sense because a
lot of times he had repeaters. And they were surprised
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
uh… that he would… might let them make a phone
call, or asked us to make a phone call for them,
00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
or he might take time to sit down
and talk of them personally,
00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
although there might be incarcerated. He’s to sit down and
listen to him. And I think that really surprised them.
00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.999
I think, people feel comfortable
there whether they are
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
not college trained or even high school graduates,
that he is going to make them understand
00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
and if he does not umm…
he will not allow a…
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
a case to proceed until they do. I think
that’s important that sometimes defendants
00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.999
and witnesses are not totally aware
of what it’s about in that courtroom.
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
And they should know. You see one of the things
that frightened the law enforcement system
00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
about Ravitz and… and his cohorts is that
00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
their entire… the thrust of their… their
argument, their attack, if you will,
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
on the… the establishment was aimed at the most visible
part of the establishment, which was the police,
00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.999
you know, quite candidly. So Ravitz
wasn’t a Marxist taking the bench,
00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:49.999
Ravitz was an anti-police uh… communist
00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.999
who… who was going to take every
opportunity to… to score the police
00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
at every turn in the road. In other words,
nothing the police were going to do
00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.999
was gonna be right. And obviously
since that hasn’t happened,
00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.999
uh… it probably hasn’t changed a lot of minds
but made the issue kind of go away as an issue.
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:14.999
I quite frankly have heard the rank-and-file
police officers say that they would rather appear
00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
before Ravitz simply because they feel
that… that… that he knows the law.
00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
And he knows how to apply the law
in the court. And he’s consistent.
00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
When you were an attorney, you were always
conscious of the point you wanted to score,
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
and the defense’s you wanted to maintain.
When you’re a judge, you have to put yourself
00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
in the mind frame of the juror, saying this person doesn’t
know any more than that which they have elicited.
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
And you have to think of two things. You have to think of
one, what hasn’t been brought out that’s really important?
00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
And two, how can I go about bringing
it out that won’t be prejudicial?
00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
And sometimes when you think it’s inherently
prejudicial to one side or the other,
00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
you call counsel to sidebar and you say, “Look,
this is an area that you just haven’t covered.
00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
And it’s darn important. And I wanna cover it. And I’m
gonna cover it myself if you don’t fairness to the jury.
00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
But it’d be preferable if you did so
that I don’t interject that way.”
00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
There are situations where some
days the courtroom is full.
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
And people are interested. And there’re
days where someone will go to trial
00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
on what could even be a capital case where they might go up
for a life or something. There’s no one in the courtroom.
00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
Nobody there, not a single human
being there who would like events
00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
even a presence to show some
concern about that person’s faith.
00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
And that’s, you know, really depressing, must
be an awfully, lonely, horrifying situation.
00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
It’s an institution that inherent in.
And it is a ton of sadness.
00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
When you have massive poverty and we do in this
country. There are 25 million people living in poverty.
00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
And you have all the materialism
00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
that is heaped upon us. Just look at the ads,
that we’re all subjected to from day one
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
around the clock and, you know, billboard.
I mean it’s relentless.
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
Uh… The materialism, the violence and all those things, that’s a
breeding ground for crime. That’s why we can call the society
00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
in the system itself criminogenic. And what
they do is, one, they manufacture criminals
00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.999
uh… like they manufacture cars.
I would think
00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.999
it would be a very difficult position to
be in to be a Marxist or an avowed Marxist
00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
judge in a capitalistic society with…
with what I would have to view
00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
and he would have to view as
capitalistic laws. Uh… I don’t think
00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.999
it’s very cognitively a very comfortable
position for him to… to be in.
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.999
And I’m really rather surprised
that he’s lasted six years.
00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.999
My ability to cope with this
job is directly proportional
00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:54.999
to the way in which things are going
that transcend this limited work
00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
like work that, you know, I’m sort of engaged in…
in terms of trying to deal with the heroin problem
00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
and get it at a higher level, so we see the real criminals.
The profiteer is brought in here rather than the addicts.
00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
And if that’s going good that gives me
inspiration and makes the rest of this,
00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
something that I can handle a lot more
comfortably, you know, in a lot better I suspect.
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
Uh… In beyond the institution,
you know, their work
00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
and when those sorts of uh… political activities
are going well, that gives one the strength,
00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
and sustenance, and the outside
support that you need.
00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:38.000
[music]
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
There are 27,000 vacant
buildings in Detroit.
00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
Many of these buildings
are usable structures
00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
for which there are no tenants and no money for
renovation, others have been abandoned by their owners.
00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:49.999
Every Friday the City Council meets to
decide which buildings will be demolished
00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
as health and safety hazards. The
city has no other alternative
00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
than destruction of its own assets.
There’s anyone here
00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
on item G8, 9, 10, 11, or 12?
00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
There’s no one here on items G8 through 12, we will
concur in the recommendation of the department.
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
There’s someone here on
item G13, 82, 39 Olympia,
00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
(inaudible).
00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
[sil.]
00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.999
82, 39, Olympia is a one and a half
story framed, single dwelling,
00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
buildings over the trespass. There’s a big,
00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
there’s a naughty commandment was feasible.
00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
Taxes are doing the amount of 300…
$381 dollars. We recommend demolition.
00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
Sir, would you identify yourself? My name’s
Patrick Stephens. I live at 2505, Iroquois,
00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
the house and question belongs to my
89-year-old mother-in-law. You can live there.
00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
The last tenant when they
moved out demolished the home
00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
as they moved out. And we have a tenant who’s ready
to move in as soon as it’s fixed up sufficiently
00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
so that if someone is living there, we can fix up
the balance of the house. It’s a two flat house.
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
Okay. It’s a matter of having someone
there of the every time you do something
00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
it’s torn out. I don’t know how many times we bought
it… it up. I imagine you spend $1,000 the last year
00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
just boarding it up and have your going back
down. We’ll give you two weeks to board it up.
00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
And as you know from being here, if you can keep it boarded, there’ll
be no problem. Thank you. Thank you. You could watch him fixing it up.
00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
Thank you very much. All
right, on the G14, 15, 16, 17
00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
and 18, is there anyone here on those item?
00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
When I moved here, there was house there.
Two houses stood there on that vacant lot.
00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
[sil.]
00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
And that lot was vacant when I moved in here. There
was house there next to the house that’s burned now.
00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
Umm…hmm… And over there was three houses.
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
And that… that’s a triple lot there.
Three houses stood there.
00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.999
Two was here.
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:18.000
[sil.]
00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
We have had a series of
00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
fires down this way in the KS Quarter, the neighborhood,
they’re gonna throw up the uh… apartment itself
00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
got kind of hard. People that
had some means or some way of
00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
trying to get out, they would move the families out. And that’s
when, you know, we got some fires were started in there.
00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
And it just was a process. You could see
it coming. You could see it coming.
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
And the building just became unsafe.
00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.999
Twenty blocks from that
gutted apartment building
00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
is General Motors world headquarters.
00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
This is the largest manufacturing corporation
in the world. In 1978, GM earned
00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.999
$9nine million in profit every day.
GM is located
00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
in the new center area of Detroit,
10 minutes from Downtown,
00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
once rows of neat working-class and the
middle-class houses surrounded the GM building.
00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
Although the new center neighborhood still houses
4,000 residents, many of the homes are rundown.
00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
GM has bought up all the properties,
closing off the streets
00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
and building a modern and
protected suburb within the city.
00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
Opponents of the project see it as gentrification
- the driving out of low-income residents
00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
and bringing in of well-off professionals.
00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
The community met with General Motors executives and city
officials at a public meeting to discuss the new center project.
00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:54.999
There’s really no
00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.999
housing problem in Detroit in terms of
available houses that people could live in.
00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
There’s a problem of persuading people to live
in them is a problem of having that people
00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
have enough money to keep them in good shape so
that they can move into them. One of the byproducts
00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
is that some people are gonna have to
move, which is a very disrupting thing,
00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
which we wanna minimize. We certainly
don’t wanna move them out of Detroit.
00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
Our intention is to stabilize the area. And we hope
that some of the people can move back into the area
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
and stay there. This
community does not like
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.999
anything that General Motors has done
up to now, that’s number one phase,
00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.999
principally because you do not identify
with the community. You don’t identify
00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
with the whites nor the blacks in that
neighborhood. And one of the principal problems is
00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
why you’re not having success and why people came out
here tonight, because they don’t respect the way
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
that you’re managing this project. Why
do you have to own all the property
00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
before you can contribute a penny to the revitalization,
and the growth, and the development of this city?
00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
And then I refuse to believe
that that little area of land,
00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
that you talked about, is all that
GM has designs on. So I wanna know,
00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
are there some long-range revitalization plans
that we don’t know about at this point?
00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.999
Like, are you gonna go to Virginia Park and
leave Euclid, which we know as rant Rome?
00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.999
Okay, you’re gonna leave all that the way it is and come
in and build these multimillion-dollar shopping centers,
00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.999
and homes, and everything else and
not go any further than that?
00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.999
I wanna know if the people across
Virginia Park need to be concerned
00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.999
about what may be happening or what might be showing
up on General Motors drawing boards? And I wanna know
00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.999
why before they can contribute anything to the
growth of this city, they have to own it?
00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
The properties of being
auctioned, purchased… Excuse me.
00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
May I finish? …renovated and resold
right back. The people who are in them
00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:59.999
have the first right to purchase them.
(inaudible) man. And have found them which is a
00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.999
low-income area be able to
move back into December
00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
and pay $40,000 for a house. Now
you care behind you go do this?
00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
I’m happy to see a corporation like General Motors
willing to stand up and take some heat to try
00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
and do something for the city. You know,
back again when I joined new Detroit,
00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
everybody was leaving Detroit. People were hitting
Eight Mile Road, and they weren’t looking back.
00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
Corporations were moving their
headquarters and their offices.
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
General Motors is not only staying, and they
have headquarters in the new center area,
00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:39.999
they’ve cleaned up around it. And now they wanna try
and reach out and do some things in that community.
00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.999
I’m glad you offered me
an opportunity to talk.
00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
What you have going on in the
city of Detroit is a coalition,
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
and it’s talked about quite a lot and everyone’s very proud of
that except those people are being screwed by the coalition.
00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:59.999
The coalition is uh… said to
be uh… this marvelous amalgam,
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.999
this joining together of the so-called private sector that
would include for purposes of illustration General Motors.
00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:09.999
Uh… And the public sector and that would
be the Mayor, and in some instances
00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.999
been certainly the majority of the Detroit City
Council. What has happened in city government
00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.999
is that a lot of the responsibility for making decisions in city
government has effectively been taken from the legislative branch,
00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.999
us, and from the executive branch
and have basically been transferred
00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.999
through things like some of these coalition organizations that
I could name but the initials might not mean anything for you.
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
How many have heard of DDA, Downtown Development
Authority? Not very many, some have.
00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
How many have heard of EDC, Economic Development Corporation?
How many have heard of Economic Growth Corporation?
00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
How many have heard of many of these initial
agencies that have a number of development speeds
00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
that are taking money and resources from poor people and
using them to make profit for private entrepreneurs.
00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.999
But I’m not here to attack GM, because every time… every time
I said at the council or someone came from the neighborhood.
00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:59.999
They say they support it. They
supported uh… the revitalization
00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.999
that General Motors has underway. And I support
that revitalization. Let’s be clear on that.
00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:09.999
The question then and now was what will be the terms
on which this revitalization will take place?
00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.999
I’m concerned the (inaudible) relocation but those who
will be displaced as a result of the project first of all.
00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.999
I am concerned of those individuals
who are desirous of continuing
00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.999
to occupy the geography in this area be given the right
to do so. I see subsidized housing as being a key
00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:29.999
to whether or not. In fact, people
will be able to… to move back in here.
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
And uh… the solution to those problems don’t necessarily lie
in our standing up here and barber-shopping on each other
00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:39.999
or barber-shopping on these cats, maybe
they got jobs. They’re paid to be here.
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.999
They are paid, you know, they’re paid… they’re paid
to take this heat. We should be very clear on that,
00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:49.999
you know. I mean, you know, the General
Motors is what they are and will always be
00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.999
the rationale of businesses… There everybody who
say that the ‘business of business is business’.
00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.999
Uh… It has been and will continue to be until such
time if there is a form of political organization
00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.999
that gives this society another reason to organize
economic resources other than making profit
00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.999
but to meet the needs of the people. We haven’t reached that state.
And that’s the state we’ve got to reach, because all of the problems
00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
that we face in housing, healthcare,
transportation and so on, flow from the fact
00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.999
that we, as working people, have no control at all over
investment decisions that are made in this country.
00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.999
Hi, my kid… I’ve been delighted to sign
this autograph. Well, I have my own pen.
00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:29.999
What… What’s your name?
I’m thinking (inaudible).
00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.999
Hey, how are you doing? Which (inaudible).
You are already have.
00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:39.999
No, not yet, until we get something done about what’s…
what they’re talking about here. Take good care.
00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.999
Take care of your mom. Take care of your mom. I
thought a lot of city people around the building,
00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:49.999
but they may not did well.
They were doing our workshops,
00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
you know, like Malcolm Davis but that
number of city people had to (inaudible)
00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
not I’m supposed to wanna coalition politics. Yeah, without… without
it (inaudible). Yeah, it kind of wanted it to have that in mind.
00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.999
We are not gonna elect that way
to liberation in this society.
00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:09.999
And that’s just… I don’t think that that’s the
central place where powers gonna be taken.
00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
Secondly, when people control
investment decision-making
00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.999
is when people have economic power which is when people
have the… are then really controlling the society.
00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
And as long as, you know, as long
as we don’t control we cannot,
00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
investment decisions, we do not in that sense, you
know, in power. And one of the most important things
00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.999
that we have to do in the electoral arena
00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
is be very clear about the kind of power that we
do have and not get confused about the nature
00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
of the power that we hold. Apart
from screening cases more carefully,
00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
so you more often really do represent
the best interest of the people
00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:54.999
of the state of Michigan apart from trying
to do what you can to climb the ladder
00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:59.999
and get those who really are
engaged in heroin trafficking,
00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:04.999
to go after white-collar criminals, to alter the
dynamic that does exist that’s led to your image
00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:09.999
in… in the view that the
public has our prosecutors.
00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.999
I think the prosecutors have been victimized
by the process that has occurred historically
00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
and by the image that you’re all
burdened by, and I genuinely believe
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
that it can be stood on its head.
I genuinely believe
00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.999
that we can have people’s prosecutors who really
do represent the best interest of the community.
00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.999
Just as I believe, we can have
people’s police officers.
00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:39.999
Just as I believe that we can have
or could have a prison system
00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.999
that dealt not just with warehousing and
dehumanizing people, that dealt with trying to build
00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:49.999
a better society for a better future.
Uh… Those are my comments to you.
00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:54.999
And I would welcome any questions or
comments that you might wish to make.
00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:59.999
What… Aren’t you advocating that we superimpose our
own value system of what we think our priorities
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
as opposed to doing what the law
says to do? There’s nothing wrong.
00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:09.999
I mean, if there maybe… We’re having a value
system. And everyone ought to have a value system
00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:14.999
and ought to be able to stand up and defend it
and fight for it. And part of the trouble is,
00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
we’ve… we’ve established some
weird notion of neutrality.
00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
I’m not neutral on rape, nor are you.
I’m not neutral on murder.
00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.999
I’m not neutral on heroin trafficking.
Those things are bad.
00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
And in the process, we’d also train
prosecutors to have a different projection
00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:39.999
that jurors would be affected by also
00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.999
where you’re not on the defensive. Where you can
stand up, be proud of what you’re representing.
00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:49.999
Neutrality isn’t cool at all to
my mind uh… nor just, nor fair,
00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:54.999
nor anything else when the proper human,
00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.999
we actually not to be non-neutrality. Yes,
I think you should impose your values.
00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:04.999
And yes, I think your values ought to reflect those
of the people of the state Michigan, the real people.
00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:09.999
The point is I don’t think that everyone, you
know, the council represents the community.
00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:14.999
And I know that the community is constituted of disparate
elements, you know. We are not of one voice today.
00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:19.999
I’m a socialist, they are not. You’ve got feminist, and
every other string, you know, like on the council.
00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:24.999
So, for me, the task is to call it the
way I see it and try to make as reasoned
00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:29.999
than argument in support of a
position that I take as I can make.
00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:34.999
Uh… And hope that it will have some persuasive effect on my colleagues,
but I have to rely primarily on our ability to organize outside.
00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:39.999
So there it becomes important to me, you know, Detroit (inaudible)
economy, because the way we change the councilor list
00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:44.999
is to organize a constituency out there that insists,
uh… that it’s politics be reflected on the council
00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:49.999
but that might mean some change, you see.
So my job is really outside too.
00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:54.999
And maybe we can change this council, so I’m not gonna miss it. There was
a time when it would have been unheard of for someone like me to be here,
00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:59.999
and if the mayor had had it his way, I wouldn’t be here because
I was not on the slate. Okay, thank you. Okay, yeah. Sure.
00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.999
Back in (inaudible). Back in (inaudible).
00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:13.000
[sil.]
00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:34.999
Because people are from here
are committed to this city.
00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:39.999
We’re not gonna turn it over to the old lying
economic elite, the ruling class in this town.
00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:44.999
We’re just not gonna give it up. They don’t own it
really and fundamentally. And the people who built it
00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:49.999
who are the lifeblood of the city,
own this city. And sooner or later,
00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:54.999
we’re gonna take it back.
00:52:55.000 --> 00:53:03.000
[music]
Distributor: Icarus Films
Length: 55 minutes
Date: 1980
Genre: Expository
Language: English
Grade: 10-12, College, Adult
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
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