The City of Detroit for years now has been on a terrifying mission. The Depression-era miseries that affected the city after the collapse of the auto industry made the once-thriving city into a wasteland, with the remnants of political leadership hanging on mostly to pick the city’s bones dry. The city went way down, but it wasn’t out. There were vast tracts of available land, real estate interests appreciated the city’s excellent location and its “good bones,” and it was ripe for “reimagining.” One requirement: A totally clean slate. The people, mostly people of color, have to go. They won’t fit into what’s being planned for “new” Detroit.

Abayomi Azikiwe, editor in chief of Pan-African News Wire and a Detroit organizer for the Workers World Party and Moratorium Now!, has been reporting on the aggressive plan to retake Detroit and the devastating consequences and havoc it continues to cause. He tells Leid Stories today that the contagion has spread to other predominantly Black cities.