The headline says it all. And guess who seems to be behind the effort? None other than my friends at the ACLU of Michigan, where I interned in 2002. A number of journalists and organizations, ranging from Christopher Hitchens to Greenpeace, have joined the lawsuit.
MCRI Spokesman and frequent commenter sent me this link — the Michigan Court of Appeals has overridden a vote of the Board of State Canvassers and ordered the Secretary of State to put the proposal on the ballot. MCRI opponents are expected to appeal the decision to the Michigan Supreme Court.
One United Michigan is reporting in an email that the Michigan Board of Canvassers voted not to add a controversial ballot initiative to the 2006 ballot that would eliminate affirmative action by the government, including at public universities. The board cited concerns about the validity of the signatures collected. Like in many BAM-N controversies, it’s difficult to untangle the politics from the tactics. Here’s one part of the email alert just sent:
In comments to reporters, David Waymire said that while One United Michigan did not support the BAMN tactics, we agreed with its members that there was substantial fraud used to collect the petitions, and that it is unfortunate Michigan law appears to allow fraud in the collection of signatures for a constitutional amendment.
This, thanks to the Gongwer News Service, a news company that covers Michigan politics. One of the many reasons mainstream groups should not work with them:
Special Update, Wednesday, December 14, 2005, 1:07 pm
PROTEST STOPS CANVASSERS MEETING
What was expected to a be a pro forma meeting of the Board of State Canvassers to comply with a Court of Appeals order became an extended lunch break late this morning after high school students brought to the meeting by By Any Means Necessary brought the meeting to a halt.
A motion by Republican board member Lynn Bankes to certify the proposal by the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative to end affirmative action in the state was met by loud chants from BAMN supporters. The chants evolved to dancing in the aisles and, eventually, the overturning of the testimony table.
After beating a hasty retreat, with police assistance, to a neighboring meeting room, the board agreed to attempt to reconvene at 2 p.m. to complete its action.
The protesting students and their leaders also vowed to return to the meeting.
This looks interesting, too bad I won’t be able to make it:
Michigamua EXPOSED!!!!!
An educational art exhibit sponsored by students from Art & Design 310
Thursday, December 15th
9 pm
Michigan League UndergroundWhat is Michigamua? Why are they called a “secret society”? Why is it called racist? Why did students occupy the tower of the Union for 37 days? Who is in Michigamua today??
Find out the answers to these questions and much, much more! See you at Michigamua Exposed on 12/15
Questions? Email michigamuaexposed at umich.edu
*Please forward to interested individuals/organizations
When I was in Michigan last week on vacation I took a trip to downtown Detroit with my girlfriend Libby to go ice skating at Campus Martius Park and dine in Mexicantown in the city’s Southwest side. Campus Martius park re-opened in 2004 after undergoing a major upgrade to coincide with the recent opening of a large new building overlooking the park — Compuware building which included Detroit’s first Hard Rock Cafe and a Borders book store, considered a good sign for the city’s downtown economic vitality.
In my opinion the park was an unqualified urban success. The crosswalks and curbing surrounding the park were pedestrian-friendly and not an afterthought, and the park contained not only the small ice rink but also Michigan’s only Au Bon Pain, both busy with customers, as well as a water fountain topped by a seasonal holiday tree. In the short time we skated a wedding party arrived for photos in front of the fountain and all sorts of people were there to skate, watch, or mill about. (Click the picture for the full site plan.)
While much of the rest of the city is an unfriendly environment for pedestrians (due both to deliberate planning decisions, depopulation and economic trouble), at its heart was a nucleus of vibrant, successful urbanism. (To quote one blogger on the park: “It just seems so “big city.” I mean, Borders, Hard Rock Cafe, Compuware World Headquarters and an ice skating rink–in Detroit. Pinch me.”) Whether or not a comprehensive tourism and development strategy can be built on pleasant urban spaces I have no doubt the small rink and park will eventually fully repay any public cost through the revenue from the skating ($7 for admission, $3 for skates) and taxes from the increased economic activity in the area.
In doing some googling I came across a quote by landscape architect Paul Friedberg in an article in Cornell’s alumni magazine about his life where he sums up his philosophy of successful urban space:
“People give space its energy,” he says. “Space by itself can be beautiful, but people give it excitement. Rockefeller Center without ice skating, without people hanging around it, would be very dull. Animate it with people and you’ve got a beautiful, dynamic space.”
This sentiment echoes many other urban theorists, and brings to mind for me Jane Jacobs, who argues in a chapter she calls “The uses of neighborhood parks” in her classic The Death and Life of Great American Cities that “people do not use city open space just because it is there and because city planners or designers wish they would,” urging city planners to fill their parks with activities to draw human activities and connect them to vibrant streets. She concludes “Every city district could probably enjoy rand use an outdoor park ice rink if it had one, and provide a population of entranced watchers too … city parks are not abstractions, or automatic repositories of virtue or uplift … they mean nothing divorced from their practical, tangible uses.”
It seems the park has also been well received by Detroiters, also. One blogger goes so far as calling it a ‘turning point’ for the city:
Sometimes those who live, work, or frequent downtown [Detroit] tend to forget how much has taken place these past few years. Todd’s visit was somewhat of a reminder to me on just how desolate things were just a few years ago. In all honesty, Campus Martius was the turning point for this city. It has become the central destination and proved just how significant when literally thousands turned out for the tree lighting a few weeks ago. I heard complaints from many about how crowded it was, it may drive some away in the following years. Yet people not coming around because its too damn crowded is definitely a problem new to Detroit and one I will gladly accept.
While I am not optimistic of any serious urban renaissance for Detroit as long as it is the largest city in a state with a stagnant economy and highest jobless rate in the nation, where the vast majority of urban development continues to be at the fringes of the metropolis due to racism and deliberate public policy choices. Yet the park should be celebrated as a constructive and pragmatic approach to revitalization. My only complaint: the music selection for the skating seemed a bit off. The Motown hits seemed appropriate, but some of the more recent pop tracks have not aged as well. Since it’s only their second winter, I suppose I should cut them some slack to fine-tune their selections.
See more of my photos of the Campus Martius skating rink.
Longtime Detroit journalist Jack Lessenberry, known in recent years for his acerbic Metro Times column Politics & Prejudice, has launched a new radio program on Michigan Radio called the Jack Lessenberry Show. In addition to the standard on-air broadcast the show has a comprehensive blog which features show audio and additional commentary from Jack and the show staff. With recent shows on Michigan’s racial divide, the decline of Michigan’s social safety net, Roe vs. Wade, and the impact of casinos on the City of Detroit, the program looks to be off to a strong start.
My only suggestion would be to encourage Jack and the program to not just use the blog as a vehicle for show audio and pre-prepared “essays,” but instead as a sounding board of news and ideas. A blog can be a powerful tool to build an online community which can serve not only to collaborate on developing show material, but also provide ideas and tips for future shows.
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