On June 30, activists in Kalamazoo held a solidarity action against the construction of I-69 in Indiana. While this happened some weeks ago, it’s important to highlight as there is continued organizing against the highway in Indiana and around the country. Organizers in Indiana have called for a national day of solidarity actions on July 28 as the groundbreaking date for construction looms.
A report from the Kalamazoo, Michigan action:
“We are everywhere.
On Monday, June 23rd at 1:30 PM the Kalamazoo residents opposed to I-69 visited the DLZ Corporation in Kalamazoo for an office demonstration. They entered the building prepared to read a statement but were instantly harassed by an employee. He screamed obscenities, shoved the woman reading the prepared statement, and insisted that there was no office manager or anyone to discuss the impact of I-69 with. The Kalamazoo residents opposed to I-69 marched through the office with drums and whistles and exited the building.
The office seemed to instantly be aware that they were being protested. They did not want to talk or hear a word of what the residents had to say. The following letter was left on several desks and at the main desk:
Dear Kalamazoo Neighbors,
We are writing to inform you of something that is of great importance. Though you maybe unaware of this, your current place of employment, DLZ is in league with some very dark and disturbing things that are happening to the world we live in. You might be aware of the fact that DLZ is one of many companies that is helping in the formation of highway development in Indiana, the extension of Interstate-69. Now though this may seem to be “Business as Usual” or “Just another development in a long line”, this particular project is so much worse.
Interstate-69 is part of a massive undertaking that is spreading across states, countries, and indeed continents. It has been talked about for decades and gone under many different names. The NAFTA Super Highway, the North American Corridor, and Plan Puebla Panama are only a few.This expressway is a small part in the globalization of our world. To explain this further, jobs here at home are being moved across borders, the products of which will be shipped here, via I-69, to those currently unemployed. These jobs of course are going to be exploiting the global South. Not only will this further harm some of the most super-exploited people on Earth, but miles upon miles of forests, wetlands, farms, and homes will be destroyed and/or displaced from the construction of this expressway.
Between jobs going over borders, products being shipped in, farms being destroyed and the utter destruction of the natural world here at home and abroad, it seems obvious to those of us in Kalamazoo that the completion of this expressway is an atrocious, repugnant act. It is opposed by those in its line of destruction, those in other countries, and now by us in Kalamazoo.
It is with this in mind that we write you. We want you to be aware of the fact that what DLZ is doing is wrong and under the watch of people throughout the country, and the world at large. Rather than just bear witness to this injustice, we demand that this project be stopped and that it be discarded. We stand in Solidarity with our brothers and sisters who will lose jobs because of this. We stand in Solidarity with those whose homes are being destroyed. We stand in Solidarity with those who are being exploited in Central and South America. We stand in Solidarity with the farmers who will now be putting down their tools and who will be left in the gutters of development because of the actions of DLZ.
We as residents of Kalamazoo, as friends, as neighbors, and acquaintances of yours demand that YOU stop this highway.
Sincerely,
And in Solidarity with those oppressed,
The Residents of Kalamazoo Opposed to I-69″
Related posts:
- Call to Action: Oppose White Supremacists in Kalamazoo, Michigan
- NAACP leads march and rally for affirmative action in Kalamazoo May 6
- Indiana Activists Call for I-69 Earth Day Solidarity Phone Action
- Letter Writing Calls for Kalamazoo to Pull Racists’ Rally Permit
- Protest White Supremacists Tomorrow in Kalamazoo
