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Detroit’s
Pastors
Unite to
Oppose
Emergency
Manager
Appointment
By Karen
Hudson
Samuels/Tell
Us
Detroit
DETROIT
(Tell Us
Det) -
The
Council
of
Baptist
Pastors
of
Detroit
has come
out in
fierce
opposition
to the
appointment
an
Emergency
Manager
for the
city
calling
it an
“assault
on the
constitutionally
protected
rights
of the
people
the law
purports
to
benefit.”
The
President
of the
Council,
the Rev.
Dr.
Michael
Andrew
Owens,
spoke on
behalf
of
dozens
of
pastors
who
flanked
him
during a
Tuesday
morning
press
conference
to
explain
their
position.
Owens
said
there
was no
denying
that a
state of
emergency
exists
in
Detroit
pointing
out that
the
Council
of
Baptist
Pastors
supported
the
Consent
Agreement
implemented
last
year,
however
he said
the
model
should
have
been
given
more
time and
sincere
effort
to prove
itself.
“Whatever
the
negative
evaluation
of the
progress
achieved
by
Consent
Agreement,
we will
not
support
a
hostile
takeover
of the
City of
Detroit
by the
State of
Michigan”
said
Owens.
The City
Council
was
commended
by the
Baptist
pastors
for
going to
Lansing
with a
plan to
halt the
appointment
of an
EM;
however,
harsh
criticism
was
leveled
against
Detroit’s
mayor.
Owens
said “We
decry
the
sheepish
surrender
of Mayor
Bing who
refused
to join
those
final
efforts
because
was all
to
‘happy’
to have
the
Governor’s
appointee
as his
new
partner
and
teammate.”
Close to
100
church
pastors
are
members
of the
Council
of
Baptist
Pastors,
an
organization
that has
a
history
of
advocating
for
justice
and
speaking
truth to
power.
Owens,
in his
statement
said
that
given
the
current
political
climate
of voter
suppression
and
intimidation
of
African
American
voters,
Detroit
can ill
afford
to be a
success
story
for
those
forces
determined
to
disenfranchise
and
disregard
voting
rights.
The
Council
says
they
will
partner
with the
NAACP,
AFSME,
the UAW
and
other
organizations
that
have
launched
or have
plans to
undertake
legal
action
to
challenge
the
Emergency
Manager
Law. If
all
efforts
fall
Owens
said
there
would be
wiliness
to work
with the
Emergency
Manager.
The
Council
of
Baptist
Pastors
is
planning
a mass
Rally
for the
Resurrection
of Hope
on April
9th at
6:00p.m.
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