Fighting back in Detroit.

• Author: Azikiwe, Abayomi
• Position: Essay

The tension began to rise in the Detroit courtroom of federal bankruptcy judge Steven Rhodes on July 15. More than eighty workers, retirees, homeowners, and community residents submitted statements to the court decrying the draconian "plan of adjustment" ostensibly designed to provide an economic roadmap for exiting the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Kris Hamel, a Detroit homeowner and member of the Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions, and Utility Shutoffs, urged Judge Rhodes to halt the thousands of water shutoffs taking place per week.

Rhodes noted that the policy of mass termination of water services was indeed "bad for the bankruptcy." And he added that the shutoffs have created adverse publicity for the city worldwide.

That was putting it mildly. Experts cited by the United Nations said the policy of large-scale terminations enacted by the emergency manager was a possible violation of human rights.

The struggle for water in Detroit is a struggle about human rights, democratic control, and a just economy.

Beginning in July of 2013, Detroit cut off water to more than 42,000 residents who were behind on their water bills.

One year later, Darryl Latimer, deputy director of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, under the administrative control of the unelected emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, announced a fifteen-day suspension of the massive water shutoffs.

On July 29, Orr granted more power to the mayor of Detroit, Mike Duggan, to manage the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. This appeared to be another concession to protesters, but Duggan has indicated that he has no plans to turn people's water back on. And when he was CEO of the Detroit Medical Center, he privatized it. He might do the same with the Water and Sewerage Department.

The weekly "Freedom Friday" demonstrations, modeled somewhat on the "Moral Mondays" in North Carolina, have been picketing the Water and Sewerage headquarters in downtown Detroit for more than two months.

On July 10, protesters blockaded the entrance to Homrich, the firm hired by the emergency manager to conduct the water shutoffs. Ten people were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.

Then, on July 18, thousands of people from Detroit and around the country gathered in the streets and marched through the financial district to denounce the water shutoffs and the privatization of the city.

The march took place in conjunction with the Net-roots National...