As we go keep it moving, and we gotta move this legislation. So one more time before I call up our first speaker for the day. How's it not? Let's go Booker.
Good afternoon, everybody. We are here today to fight this bill and get it introduced. hB 4878. Everyone deserves fair housing. We live in America, land of the free, home of the brave. They say we have 5% of the world's population. And we have 70% of the world's incarceration. That's pretty crazy. That ain't right. So when we talk about housing, let's talk about housing for a minute when we talk about a system that prejudice against some folks, the Black and Brown in impoverished communities. We have been black Boozer, and we've been white boozled. On any given night, 8000 pretrial detainees are incarcerated in a county jail. Now we can find people to lock up but we can't find people to get there give them housing and incarcerate system, but we can't do it in a free city system. We live in a society to serve unforgiven. All right, we got point pinpoint some. Why is fair housing, the Fair Housing Act 4878 important. It reduces discrimination against people who they point out to look like me. They look like yo. When it comes to the human factor. There's only one race the human race. We're not talking about the Indy 500, or the king or the Kentucky Derby. Or the Boston Marathon, I seen the turtle race too, and it wasn't too spectacular. But that's a race when it comes to people. There's nothing but the human race. We need equal opportunities. It's been way too long. Let me tell you something personally to happen with my family. In the early 60s, I said the early 60s Yes, I'm a little age. I'm mature. My, my mom and dad were working in the factories. We were living in public housing, and the Jeffrey's projects in Detroit. They wanted to move because my dad was the house was getting bigger. The family was growing and we were in a two bedroom apartment. They move to limonoids in six months to a predominantly Jewish community, by the University of Detroit, after going through a bunch of stumbling blocks, and going through a bunch of hoops. Now this is in the 60s, they wanted to move to Rosedale Park, which was about 20 minutes away. But they wouldn't take them. So what we're talking about the same crap that was going on in the 60s, we're still talking about fair housing, the same way we did when Martin Luther King, Malcolm met, and so many, many other martyrs in our history, who were fighting for this, for fairness for everybody. You can look across the waters over in Ontario. And you have so much diversity right across the Detroit River, separating America and those people flourishing and getting along with one another. And I look at this right here with a rainbow of people right now to date. We are coming to stand for each other. But how come the United States we have so many separate citizens when it comes to housing where you live in your community. And we feed into it oftentimes to some our communities that we live in when we know when you don't see too many folks like mean speak up. Ask your neighbors you know don't be afraid. This air bill also helps with the second chance. It gives productive law abiding citizens an opportunity Add, like me, who served 25 and a half years in the institution, came home 12 years ago and got in college, got a degree, but getting still, I'm being prejudiced against because of housing. Right? When we look at it, the only reason why I'm fortunate today is because of groups like nation outside St. Joseph, Michigan liberation.
name because we're all in coalition, teamwork, make the dream work. We have all been impacted, but it takes organizations like this to give us that opportunity. But what we have, we still don't have fair, equitable housing before the tough. This year has to change. And that's why we're all here. And we're gonna keep on talking about it. Because we're gonna keep talking and walking and we didn't march and we didn't talk about how are we going, are we going to overcome and all that we're coming here to the capitol today, and we're gonna demand that our legislators pass this bill, so that we can move on with our lives, and we can thrive with our communities, and we can live in a safe just Michigan.
Y'all get Booker round of applause real quick. That was amazing. Thank you, for sharing with us, and he's passionate about this. And now we're going to call up our champion, somebody who's been fighting for this legislation for the past two years shoulder to shoulder when they sit outside alone with all of us. So please give rep. Abraham is a warm round of applause.
All right, we got Detroiters in the house. Speaking, speak in the house, some folks came to me and said, Ah, you look crazy. I said, why is that? They say you want to put homeless people into homes. You're trying to give returning citizens second chances. Is that what do you do? And I say we're doing the people's work. Because that's what we were elected to do.
Now, I read
somewhere that we live in the richest and most powerful country in the history of the world. Can someone confirm that for me? So why in America, in the Lord's year of 2023, that we still have people that they some folks don't deserve the right to have a roof over their head, the right to lay their head down on a pillow in the warm in the winter.
So
no matter what the naysayers will tell us, no matter how hateful they're gonna try to be with their rhetoric, no matter how angry they're going to try to be and how much you're gonna try to scare people. Our message is simple. If you believe in the criminal justice system in America, and I think it needs work, but if you if you claim to be a person that believes the criminal justice system in America, and somebody served their time and they did the work, that our justice system said they must do to atone for their problems in their sins. Then you do not punish them once they are out. You do not punish them. Because you think they still gotta prove something to you. Because all they got to prove is they can pay the rent. All they got to prove is they got to pay stuff to show you they got employment. Oh, they gotta prove they can be a good neighbor. Anything else is ball. I can't swear anymore. They said your leadership you got to behave. But I I want to remind everybody housing is a human right. And everybody deserves housing. Regardless of what mistakes you may have made in the past, regardless if you can, if you can pay the rent, then you should be able to rent the damn house. It is that simple. So today we stand on the steps of the Capitol and we say housing Have you heard we say what? One more time for the people in the band. Housing not hurdles. Everybody deserves a home. God bless everybody
Whoa, did he bring it, bringing it looking like we ready to go see that Senate. We're going into so cool, we don't talk. We don't preach the truth. We don't speak the truth. You're saying housing not. All right, I'm gonna bring one more person up here. And the reason that I'm bringing this person up here is because I want us to understand how serious this fight is. And how this fight impacts everyday people is their pursuit of trying to find somewhere to live. Now I'm gonna bring Adam Grant up here, and y'all give him a warm round of applause. So Adams love
I'm not in leadership, that's a bullshit. Tony, who set these speakers up, because I realized there's a cord coming out here. So it's probably set up by the people that run this place. The speakers are headed in the wrong direction. I know you all are on board with this. I know you guys know what this is about. It's housing what? The speakers need to be turned around so they can hear it in there. Hey, oh, God, housing. They all made mistakes. The only difference is ours are documented. So I don't have a lot of statistics, but I got a story. I spent 27 years in the Department of Corrections. That's on one bid that was on my beat. I did two before that I've done a year and a half in the county. I know I look good, but I'm 53 years old. So those numbers add up. So I came home January 8 of 2020. After serving those 27 years, I paid my price I paid my price out here. I'm the executive director of a brighter way now. I've got nearly an 800 credit score. And the rain is still dude damn high and I can't get on the damn lease. What they don't understand behind this is is anytime you're talking about people, you're talking about psychology. I'm listening to Booker talk and think about the psychology of generations of oppression. And being told somehow you don't measure up and you don't get to just prove I can pay the damn rent. I can be a good damn neighbor. You got hundreds of years of incarceration, if not 1000s of years of incarceration right now. Making a Difference making more of a difference than the people that are in here a lot of times who think they're important and dare make decisions about other people that they can't relate with. So I propose the next time we hold a rally here we bring our own speakers and facing towards the people who need to hear it's housing what and what are the people in this house? Damn string
Russell fire
weekly as everybody knows, we got Senate hearings. Next, we're going to be going back to here which is Hall is getting some work done there. We got some tours in the Capitol building with us. We got to sell your wares to say yet tours in the Capitol Building Senate meetings. Oh, we got to raffle today. Keep your raffle tickets. Keep your raffle tickets and we're going to close this rally out with some love. First and foremost. Why are we here? How's the map? Lousy now is our power is our power. This our house. Let's go
