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DETRorr- People in
Detroit's Forest Par area who
prote ed city plans' to put a
Pepsi plant on land set aside for
10 and middle income hous­
ing, have accepted a com­
promise solution uring that
De land to the east would be
pro . ded for homes.
Originally protesters from
the For Park Development
Corporation opposed putting
the Pepsi plant OD the 38 acre
site, be een Dcquindre and
Russell, Ganfield _d M
Forest Par Vice Pr . dent
Cicero Love no ed that thi
meant giving up "valuable land
set . de for housing for poor
people, not the Pepsi Gener -
tio •
. RccalJjng the recent history
of the neighborhood, Love
urged people not to forget the
. gb of 7,000 people that were
moved, uprooted, and pre. d to
the four' inds" by urban
renewal programs.
ot everyone in the Forest
Par Citize District Council,
h ver, shared the same view.
Tb Council, a body elected by
ea residen to protect their
Interests in the wake of city
developments, voted to upport
the . de for Pepsi.
SAYS 0 HOUSI G LIKELY
District Council Director
Richard Latimore ated that
under the conserv tive leader­
ship of onald Reagan nd
Ocorge Bush it seemed unlike­
ly that the federal government
would provide "deep u . dies"
�forlo and middle in­
come people. He ed that the
Pep i plant ould eliminate
vacant land and might provide
jobs. . .
Love countered that CitiZens
are orking to per uade the
president and congress to make
ho· a priority, adding that
n they arc vittorio i will
be necessary to have land for
�Iopment. .
The Forest Park Develop­
meQt Corporation also ex­
pre ed concern about the
daager of heavy traffic going to
the Pepsi plant down Russell,
particularly for re dent of the
Paul Robe on International
Settlement bich· just cross
the street from t e proposed
Pepsi plant.
Reprcseotatives from Pepsi­
nd the Detroit City Com­
munity and Eco omic Develop­
ment Department, (CEDD)
hich appr� the plan, re
n available for comment.
co P 0
The Detroit City Planning
Co arm of the City
Council, propo ed a com-
promise po ition, which was
aeepted by all parties.
Terms of the settlement
were:
- The Pepsi plant would be
built on the site, but the Plan­
ing Commission and the
CED would "chec the
process of extending the boun­
daries" of Forest Park to an area
between Warren, Mack, the
Grand Trunk Railroad and St.
Albans. The area would be
designated for housing.
Rav z
land firm:
o Job, no
tax break
ByRon
Correspondoat
DETRorr - Councilman
Mel Ravitz is trying to in­
sure that the Pepsi Plant
proposed for Detroit's
Forest Park area provides
guarantees that it will live
up to its promises of
providing jobs before
council gives it a tax abate­
ment.
Ravitz states that in the
past many businesses have
gotten the city not only to
give tax abatements, but
pick up the tab for com­
pany debts and land
clearance at a cost of
hundreds of millions of
dollars with "nO way to pay
for them if the facilities in
these business areas close."
He noted that' General
Motor , which promised
6,000 jobs in exchange for
public dollars in develop­
ing the Poletown Cadillac
- Remaining parcels in the
present Forest Park area would
remain designated for housing
with a committment from
CEDD to work with community
grou in ttracling developers.
- Russell would be closed to
all traffic except Pepsi trucks
and these would not come near
the playfield
- A walkway would be con­
structed on Russell from Can­
field to Superior.
plant, only provided 3,400.
"In fact, corporations
that have received tax
abatements have reduced
their overall employment
in the City of Detroit by
over 45,000 jobs," he said.
"The people who pay
the cost are the people of
Detroit," he said.
, Ravitz stated that the
City Council passed a
resolution he proposed
earlier this year dealing
with the question of abate­
ments. The resolution
asked that the Young Ad­
ministration negotiate con­
tracts with companies
seeking tax breaks.
Measurable employement
goals would be established
and the company would be
required to pay back a por­
tion of the abated taxes if
those goals were not
reached.
Ravitz s . d the resolu­
tion has no force of law and
the Young administratio
did not negotiate such a
contract with Pepsi.
The question, he said,
was whether the council
members who voted for the
resolution would stand be­
hind its princip .
-C would
the Deq . dre road ed by
J Septembe 1, 1990 be ore the
school ye r begins" traffic
can be rer uted there ·
Two C uncil mem ers­
Erma He derson an John
Peoples - uggested dded
measures t protect r idents
following a ublic he' Oct.
16.
Headers n urged the Dept.
of Transpor ation to look into a
ne route f r the Russell bus, if
Russell is cI d.
Peoples uested Pepsi of-
ficials " rate citizens" to
adopt two s ools in the area,
Spain Mi die School and
Campbell; ovide security for
the area be nd its boundaries
covering Sa ed Heart Church,
Friendship urch and Warren
Avenue, w ich would help
young peopl walk to school.
\ People 0 expressed con-
cern about p Pepsi officials
revealed a t building a gras-
sy mound of ur feet to conceal
the plant fro the area. He sug­
gested this . t also hide at­
tacks on chil
'Colu
Whit
From Chica
AsChicag
to celebrate lumb Day Oc­
tober 9, acti . t Steve Co ely
was laboring 0 try to err dicate
the celebrati
"Columb s Day is a d y
which repr nts the promotion
of White Su emacy," declares
Cokely.
"How can person discover
something hat is lready
present. It's j like if group
of Winnetka laced a flag in the .
ground and eclared we dis-
Defen e Fund rallie
upport for
WASHINGTON, D.C.-A
grassroots effort to Judge
Alcee Hastings " cquitted a
second time" is unde y. Or­
aanized by the African
American Legal DefeDIC Fund
(AALOF), the move combines
a variety of activiti to pr ure
the Senate including a petition
drive, letter-writing and phone­
call blitz to Congress, and
fundraisers from reeeptio to
t- cs.
Judge Ha tings, the first
African American Federal
Judge in South Florida � f �
impeachment proceedings m.
the u.s. Senate.
Of the 14 judges who faced
ampeachment proceedings in
this country' history, 7 e im­
peached. The difference be­
tween all 14 and Judge
H ti all the others were
found guilty of criminal charges
prior to the impeachment
proceedings, said George Pope,
AALOF organizer.
"Within the next 30 days the
U.S. Se e will vote on whether
or not Judge Hastings will .be
impea ed, even though he was
found innocent of all charges in
a trial jury of . peers in
1983 , Pope said. .
. Pope . d the AALOF is at-
tempti g to rai e 600,000
before Oct. 28 in order to get
the tory out about the cir­
cumstantial evidence involved,
the historical aspects of the
Judge Hastin case and bow it
relates t� the i crease f r cism
in the U.S., P pe said.
He i ur ing co cerned
citizens to . e a statement or
resolution in upport f Judge
Hastings, to their Senator
now and . a copy of their
statement of suppor to the
AALD F, tt ntion George
Pope at 141 eniledy Street,
N.W OJ Washin on, DC 20011.
A petition ·ve has solicited
the signatures f 10,000 persons
among them elebritie like
Rev. Jes e J kso and Lou
Gossett Org . tions backing
Judge Hasti s include the
Black Lawyer , Kapp Alph
PSI, Laborer International
Union Local 4 8, National Bar
Association.
covered Winn tka. Would this
be true? 0, ca e it is al-·
ready inhabit . It' the arne
thing with the yth about him
discovering erica,"
Co ely says .. iration to .
repudiate the legally recog­
nized holiday, e from hear­
�ng noted re earcher and
uthor, Ivan Van Sertima
uring a Na '0 Of Islam lee-
ure in 1985.
"He was speaking from re­
arch he had gathered from his
book, They Came Before
Columbus, which documents,
among other things, that
Africans were involved in trade
relations with the so-called In­
di , long before Columbus'
alleged voyage."
• Cokely dds, "I thought It
was my duty to spread . re­
se ch through lectures d my
own probing, and prove that the
disortions of history th are
taught to our children, were not
accidental, but indicative of
�te Supremacy."
He bas since received a lot of
attention from white peope.
Co ely counters their co�- .
cems by stating, "To cknow­
ledge so-called Indian and
African presence in America
before he allegedly came, and
yet teach oui children ome­
thing different, sows the eds
of inferiority." He added that
tho e involved in school reform
should work to "right that
wrong."