·1
Po weT to ·the . p-eotlle
1·
Dr. C
(Copyri;u crwo 1988)
(Dr. Chavis is Executive
Director of 1M United Oturch of
Quist's, Commission for R«uu
Justice)
I read, in the New York
Tunes, re some roughneck
intellectual aid, "There are
more grassroots groups than at
anytime· the history of the
country". After meeting
Tomica, I'm convinced more
than ever that's true.
Spending a summer knock­
. on doo may sound unexcit­
ing but to To . ca s e's had th
best vacati of her life, "I've
never felt more fulfilled." She's
involved and enriched. This
year, Tomica Ferguson, work­
ingwith two other interns for the
West Coast Contra Costa
Toxies Coalition, knocked on
door in Richmond, California's
Iron Triangle neighborhood as­
king: Ho is life affected by
living next to oil refineries?
Tomica w taking part in the
Minority Acti ists Appren­
ticeship Program (MAAP).
Of late, we've been hearing
more and more how young
people don't have a sense of
American history. Unsure
which centuryth ivil War was
fought, it' umcd, since th y
know lilll ut their past,
today's youth re n'" concerned
with their fu ur where they
are h d d. • n the case
with Tomica. plans to be a
communi rganizcr.
Ouic - . ted, Tomica, 16,
who hai from ew York City,
. got her grassr ts ctivist en­
thusiasm from her mother and
her godmother. For several
CITIZE
By
NOTE: The following repon is
part of an Ofl-going series to
conunemorate the first 20 years
of citizm district councils.
DETROIT - Chri topher C.
Alston is be t known for his
r in t Forest Par com-
munity, cas of Woodward in
Detroit.
Howe r, he h played an
important role in the history of
Detroit and even the history of
the country.
Alston rked as union or­
ganizer, arched with Dr. Mar­
tin Luther . and present
for e f speech, ere
King de I h ve a dream.·
He s one of several
Detroiter 0 stood with Paul
Robeso the famous Black
actor , orator, and inthllectual,
n Robeso being inves-
t
years, she's been tagging Hampton, shutting down iUepl
alongside; sort of learning the trash stations.
ropes. Last year, in He York, A Native of Birmingham,
she formed a youths organiza- Alabama, Tracey Hampton
tioa .. In �, tim summer, spent her summer MAAP inter­
she .mtemewed 400 people on . ship involved in successful cam­
environmental concerns and pa.igps to clean up v. cant lots
ether or not they were being and' have illegal trash transfer
harmed by emissio from near- stations shut down, In. ddition;
by factories and oil refineries. she wor ed on voter registration
MAAP· the bt:ain child of in Dorchester County, M -
Gary Delgado, Director of tbe sachusetts, neighborhOods. ·As
Center for Third World Or- a Black American, I want to be
ganizing (ClWO). Coaeerned able to utilize the legal system to
with the impeding doom of a hell? th e. the 'System' m t·
R� era, and its im� on often hurts", says Tracey. this
low-mcome commumties of faU she entered law school in
color', who would be hit the Michigan. .
hardest, a network of minority . The Center's apprenticeship
r�che organizers and ac- program, begun in 1985, has had
trvists set ?ut as the 80s ClWO a variety of victories. They:
� established; the first �P - Forced a major pharmacy
pilot project complete m to offer generic drugs to a low
1985. income Blac coDllJllunity in
. MAA P is . challenging Portland
eight- uk. su�mer .p�ogram - Organized tenants to
for young �onty acavists who force ew York City to release
want to build a ture for Emergency Repair Funds to 27
themselve a om- Brooklyn tenements.
munities. . - Increased the capacity of
Each year 50( interns are two low-income hou ing or­
recruited from college cam- ganizations in San Francisco to
puses and community organiza- address renter's rights issues.
tions, from across the U.S., go After meeting with MAAP
through a week's long orienta- interns, I've become a firm
tion, followed by six weeks of believer in how planning ahead
field ric or if you will, on-the- pays off. Otherwise, you might
job training, at a community or- be left out, like hearty MO others
ganization. who waited too late to apply.
They learn how to ho Id Each year, as more and more
hou. emcetings and other direct people hear about MAA P,
action strategies like m mber- competiti n grows stiffer. If you
ship recruitment, fundraising are interested in experiencing a
and campaign development. rewarding summer; and, dis­
Thcy gct paid, too, in addition to covering who you are, as Tracey
room and board. and Tomica did, call or write:
So far, interns have been . Minority Activists Appren-
placed in 12 states where they' , iceship Program
organize Black, Latino, Asian' The Center for Third World
and Native American peoples Organizing
around such issues as South 3861 Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Africari divestment battles; Way
minority voter registration; bet- Oakland, CA 94609
ter working conditi or (415) 654-9601
janitors; or, like T
I
Alfredo DeAvila
:
AAP Interns
I
HISTORIES: J
Par Community Builders
tigated and (as AI on strongly
believed) harrassed by the u.S.
Congress during the Mc Carthy
Era for his policitcal vie .
Alston also played a role in
the history of all the district
councils.
In 1968, after community
protests and demonstrations
gainst Detroit urban renewal
policies and much community
lobbying, the Michigan State
Legislature passed two laws
creating citizen di tri d. coun­
cils. These advisory bodies gave
gr r re 'd nt input into.
te and federal" programs af­
fecting the' .
Alston got the legi lature to
ma e provision for a special
coordinating council with rep­
. re entatives of every district
oouacil i the city.
Also included in the la was
an unprecedented pro
that on the central board city
housing commission ,there had
to be two representatives of the
coordinating council repre­
senting urban ren wal areas and
two representatives of the
Tenant .Affairs Board repre­
senting public h using residents
as weU as five appointees of the
mayor.
Thi gave citizens a strong
minority voice in deciding basic
policy questions. In the future,
mayoral appointees publicly d­
milled they had not known
about conditions within the
neighborhoods they supervised
until citizen representatives sat
on the commission.
In 1972, they unaminously
vo d to dvise Mayor Roman
DISTRICT COUN
Foe
Gribb to extend this ystem of
citizen participation to ther
departments --- a requc t that
went totally ignored.
After passage of the. tate
law, the Detroit City Council
now h d to set up a system for
creating such citizen district
councils and making them a part
of the established ructure of
city encies.
Since citizen district councils
were meant to afeguard the
rights of area residents against
abuse of power by the city ad­
ministr ti· recognized
that the las of b . hing such
bodies could DO( be left solly to
the mayor's dminstrators.
So the council tho Alston
• I
as a community representat
to war with the Director of the
Detroit Housiog ommrissioD,
Robert Kno in creating district
councils.
In 1972, Roman Gr bs, then
the Mayor of Detroit, changed
the system that Alston helped
set up. Ignoring a resolution un­
aminously approved by his own
housing commission appoin­
tees, Gribbs forced through a
plan taking away respon­
sjbiliti c. from the Detroit Hous­
ing Commissi ( ere citizens
h d a trong minority input) and
putting the power in a new
.. uper agency called the Cor;n-
munity -Development Co -
. sion, com d of aPO(nJ· atees
that the m "j r could hire
fire at will.
Deeply angered, Al tOD
created a super communi
)
"
. -