Leaders with Saginaw’s newest citizens action group are aiming to move forward by starting with a look back.
The history of Daniels Heights public housing was the focus of a forum hosted by Community Alliance for the People, C.A.P., which drew more than 40 participants to offices at the downtown SVRC Marketplace.
New State Sen. Kristin McDonald Rivet attended, along with City Council members Bill Ostash and Monique Lamar Silvia, and new County Commissioner Lisa Coney. Notables included Saginaw NAACP President Terry Pruitt and long-time leaders Omowale Art Smith, John Pugh and Darlean Carpenter. Joyce Harvin with KISS-107’s “Community Connections” and Pastor Kareem Bowen with “Straight Talk” took part.
Alliance organizers assert the historic view that inner-city decline in Saginaw and across the nation, past and present, is the intentional result of oppression. They assert that people in power either enact or ignore structural racism in order to maintain self-interest profiteering.
C.A.P.’s main case-in-point is the 365 subsidized Daniels Heights apartments that were sandwiched between the C&0 railroad yard and General Motors’ Grey Iron Foundry during the second half of the 20th century.
“The Projects” and “Brick City” were parlance in cities, large and small, for public housing across the nation. The ultimate demise of Daniels Heights, razed and dead in 1997 at only age 39, mirrored the pattern. Across Norman Street, the still-active railroad yard has grown into a forest along the chain-link border fences.
Jeff Bulls and Carly Hammond from the Alliance aim to schedule more forums on housing history, including mortgage redlining, as a basis to recommend a future action plan that will not repeat the oppressive patterns of the past.
C.A.P. broke ground in spring 2021 with the initial public forum when the American Rescue Plan Act first was unveiled, drawing nearly 100 citizens to the First Ward Center. Most recently, Denita Dorsey has joined the advocacy to budget more ARPA funds for direct anti-poverty programs, instead of for infrastructure like City Hall HVAC or for a multi-million-dollar mental health behavioral center. However, a City Council majority has sided with the recommendations of Manager Tim Morales and his team.
Offices for C.A.P. are on the second floor at SVRC Marketplace, 203 South Washington at Federal.
