MOP's 2009 Nehemiah Assembly

Over 800 people from over 29 cities all over Western Michigan and Northern Indiana gathered at the Kalamazoo County Expo Center on Thursday night July 9, to press a set of grass-roots justice-oriented policy initiatives with 22 local, state, and federal public officials.

The diverse audience was made up of church members from local and suburban congregations, homeless people, ex-offenders, and documented and undocumented immigrants who work in a variety of local farms and businesses, who are desperately hoping that federal immigration policies will be changed and they will be able to unite their families and live in peace and security.

The spirit of the gathering was one of excitement and expectation, summed up in the Spanish slogan, “Si se puede!” which echoed through the auditorium throughout the night. There was also music from the praise band of Iglesia Evangelica Misionera, a local Hispanic immigrant church and member of MOP.

As a result of the pressure of being in front of over 800 people united on a common agenda, as well as the spirit and enthusiasm that were so powerful throughout the evening, the following advances were made toward a greater degree of justice:

* Three City of Kalamazoo Commissioners committed to focusing future tax abatements toward companies that make efforts to hire some of their new entry-level employees from among disadvantaged community, including ex-felons.
* State Representative Robert Jones committed to work for legislation that will automatically expunge criminal records 5-7 years after the individual returns to the community and lives with no further criminal offenses.
* State Wage and Hour Head Jack Finn committed to continued work with MOP and the Community Workers Center to clamp down on employers who steal wages and compel their employees to work in unsafe conditions.
* Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Chief Jeff Hadley announced a new policy forbidding any kind of racial profiling and assuring immigrants that they will not be identified to immigration authorities unless a serious felony is suspected.
* County Treasurer Mary Balkema pledged to use all the resources of the newly created Land Bank, which she heads, to create increased housing for the homeless.
* Five County Commissioners pledged to support doing research to determine whether a significant number of jail inmates could be diverted from the jail before committing to any expansion of the jail.
* Marc Muelman of the Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services and 5 County Commissioners committed to have a mobile dental clinic to serve school children up and running by January, 2010, and a major expansion of the fixed clinic by 2012.
* Representatives of Senator Carl Levin and Representative Fred Upton committed to work with MOP toward Comprehensive Immigration Reform based on the four MOP principles for reform.

MOP board chair Ericka Parkison-Kilbourne summarized the meeting outcome: “Last Thursday this huge crowd of people of diverse backgrounds came together from cities and rural areas with one common goal: to elevate the status of the poorest, most oppressed people in our communities, to guarantee them the rights and dignity they expect and deserve. We spoke with one voice, and all the public officials present realized that it is our common faith that unites us in the holy cause of justice.”

Michigan Organizing Project is a faith-based coalition of religious congregations and community groups who work together to build the power needed to bring about social and economic justice, especially for the poorest and most marginalized people in our society.