Democracy in Detroit is in trouble. As we approach this primary season vote, the efforts of the corporate power to distort and destroy democratic impulses are intensifying.

The latest instance is the effort to get voters to authorize a revision of the City Charter. Proposal R should be voted down.

Vincent Harding has been on my heart these last few days. July 25 marks the passing of 87 years since he was born. Many know him as a theologian, an historian, a friend and collaborator of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was the primary author of the 1967 speech delivered at Riverside Church where Dr. King denounced the war in Vietnam, identified the U.S. as the greatest “purveyor of violence” on the globe called for a “radical revolution in values against racism, materialism and militarism.” Vincent thought it was that speech that marked King for destruction by the white power structure. Its vision was too expansive, too challenging, too inclusive, to be allowed to stand.

Water seeks connections. Over this last week we were reminded of the essential role of safe, clean, affordable water for human life. While Donald Trump drew attention for his destruction and destabilization of international relationships, his new hometown was suffering from a water crisis. Tens of thousands of people in Washington D.C. were warned not to drink their water. For over a week, a temporary drop in water pressure due to an infrastructure failure resulted in a boil water advisory to much of the city. When water pressure drops, the possibility of toxins entering the water system soars.

Over the last few weeks the word fascism has entered the public conscience. In part this is thanks to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. In the midst of the horrific caging of immigrant children, public officials and ordinary people found themselves comparing the detention centers to Nazi Germany’s concentration camps. Sessions took to Fox News to defend the policy saying the comparison was “a real exaggeration.” His reasoning for this claim was chilling. He argued that Nazis “were keeping Jews from leaving the country” and he is trying to keep people from coming in. Then he said, “Fundamentally, we’re enforcing the law.”

People rallied across the country to fiercely denounce the horrific immigration policies of Donald Trump and his administration. New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, and Detroit saw large rallies. Smaller towns gathered as well. Here in Maine, Portland saw so many people come to the steps of the City Hall that streets had to be closed down to traffic. I went with friends to the tourist town of Bar Harbor where about 250 gathered on the Village Green.

Many of us hold a vision of a world without borders. We do this in the face of a reality where everything we call sacred is defiled. Only money and military might move freely. People and ideas are controlled and confined. Our lives are distorted and disrupted by the effects of corporate money. People and places we love are desecrated and destroyed by bombs and guns.

Walking down Cass Avenue this weekend felt like a slip in time. It felt like I had found a way into a joyful future. The streets from Wayne State, the Detroit Institute of Art, to the Cass Café and Avalon Bakery were filled with Allied Media Conference goers. Together, they managed to create a vision of what our world could look, feel, and taste like if we put justice and care in the center of our lives.

There is a new sign about town sparking a lot of controversy. In bold white letters on a black background, it proclaims “Majority-Black Detroit Matters.” For some this simple statement captures the growing concern that we are not only becoming two Detroits, but increasingly a Detroit dominated by and for white elites.

The business and political elite gathered on Mackinac Island last week to determine ways that will advance their interests and solidify their political control. As reported, “Nearly 1,700 business leaders, politicians, and philanthropists headed to Mackinac Island to rub elbows, and discuss issues in the state ranging from education to transportation.

Last week Dan Gilbert received the largest tax subsidy in Michigan history to support his private developments. The board of the Michigan Strategic Fund in Lansing approved $618 million for four linked projects that are estimated to cost $2.2 billion. For perspective consider that the Little Caesars Arena cost $863 million, of which $329.1 million was in subsidies. Or consider that the city gave Belle Isle to the State because it could not afford the $6 million in annual upkeep. Or the $7.8 million the City Council approved for Homrich Wrecking to shut off the water.

This week Eastern Michigan Environmental Action Council (EMEAC) hosted a conference of activists concerned about creating a future based on regenerative principles of a just economy. People from around the country and several First Nations gathered to share ideas and practices. This was the gathering that Siwatu-Salama Ra worked tirelessly to bring to Detroit. It was the gathering she could not see from her prison cell. She is serving two years in prison for pointing an empty gun at a person who threatened to run over her mother and child. Those of us who came together to think about a different future were reminded how urgently we need to change our ways of living, and how much pain and destruction we have come to accept as normal in our daily lives.

Shortly after Mother’s Day, three Nestle semi-trucks will roll into Flint with free bottled water. Between Mother’s Day and Labor Day Nestle will donate 100,000 bottles a week to three service centers where people can pick up the bottled water. The Mayor of Flint has graciously thanked the company for its “willingness to help the people of Flint.”

This week the Rev, Edward Pinkney was vindicated by the Michigan Supreme Court. In 2014, the Benton Harbor activist was accused of election forgery and making false statements in a petition drive to recall Mayor James Hightower. Pinkney was accused of changing the dates on some signatures and allowing 6 people to sign the petition twice. He was found not guilty of making false statements, but he was convicted of changing dates and was sentenced to 30 to 120 months in prison.

Early this week people in and around Wayne State University were evacuated because of a gas leak. Across the campus and in nearby residents, the smell of gas was overpowering. The leak was caused by a construction accident. By Friday we were told all is well, classes reopened and people returned to homes. No one was injured. We are back to normal.

More than 120 people gathered together for a community dialogue on education and Black Male Achievement this Thursday at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. The stage was set by the student co-hosts Lauren Danzy, the leader of the Detroit Independent Freedom Schools youth group, and Xavier Clemons, an 11th grader at Frederick Douglass Academy. Sharing their concerns about the importance of thinking together about education, they asked the gathering to focus on central questions. These included: How do we engage Black male youth in our schools and communities? What has worked for us collectively and individually? What is our vision for our schools and our communities? What is the importance of understanding ourselves, our cultures, and our histories?

It should be obvious to everyone that those in control of the State of Michigan oppose democracy, distrust the wisdom of people, and are determined to strangle cities and municipalities that are the home of our most progressive thinking.

Governor Snyder has persisted with his decision, and his alone, to stop free bottled water distribution in Flint. Both the citizens and their elected Mayor have asked the Governor to continue making free water available until all lead pipes are replaced throughout the city.

The past week exposed the vulnerability of people and the waters on which life depends throughout the Great Lakes region. We have seen extraordinary disdain from elected officials about our responsibilities to one another and our earth.

Last week we had an opportunity to reflect on the legacies of Emergency Management. Two schools of architecture, Taubman College of the University of Michigan and the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture of Columbia University brought together scholars and activists from Detroit and around the country to probe what the experience of Emergency Management has meant to our city.

This week we learned that Friends School will be torn down to make way for a wealthy housing development. Friends School was a valued community resource. It offered an educational experience for young Detroiters based on Quaker values of peace and social justice. Detroit Friends was started in 1965 by Judge Wade McCree Jr. in response to his daughter being turned away from a white private school. Until 2015, when it was forced to close, Friends developed children in the city as responsible, thoughtful, creative citizens.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan delivered his fifth State of the City speech at Western International High School on the Southwest side last Tuesday evening. He gave a nearly hour-long power point, getting appreciation from the packed house. Mainstream commentators approved as well, noting his emphasis on neighborhoods rather than downtown development. Most lauded his ideas to improve schools, transportation, housing, and job training. The Mayor talked about reducing crime and improving access to higher education. His basic theme was that those Detroiters who “stayed” should now benefit from neighborhood initiatives. Under the banner “building one Detroit for all of us” he said, “We’re going to do it with the Detroiters who stayed.”