The Socialist Equality Party, International Youth and Students for Social Equality and the Detroit Workers Committee are sponsoring a public meeting on Wednesday, August 27 at Wayne State University in Detroit on the lessons of recent events in Ferguson, Missouri and their connection to the bankruptcy of Detroit.

The meeting will feature a report from Andre Damon, who covered the shooting of Michael Brown and the protests that followed for the World Socialist Web Site.

The immense social inequality that exists in the United States, the ruthlessness of the financial aristocracy and the breakdown of democracy—all are expressed in the execution-style slaying by police of unarmed Ferguson teenager Michael Brown and the brutal crackdown of protests that followed.

These events point to the nature of the capitalist system, with vast resources diverted to the police and military apparatus while it is claimed that there is no money available for jobs, health care or education.

In Detroit the same issues are posed, with a trial date looming for the plan of adjustment proposed by Detroit’s unelected Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr. The plan includes the wholesale privatization of city assets and the slashing of retiree pensions. The utter disregard by the ruling elite for the health and safety of the population is expressed in the mass shutoff of water service to residents.

What is taking place in both Detroit and Ferguson is a fundamental attack on the rights of working people. The same brutal methods employed by the ruling elite against the populations of Iraq and Afghanistan are being brought home.

We encourage readers and supporters to attend the August 27 meeting to discuss a socialist strategy to mobilize the working class in opposition to police violence, the assault on jobs and living conditions and imperialist war.

Meeting Details:

Wednesday August 27, 7:00pm
Wayne State University
State Hall, room 101
5143 Cass Avenue
Detroit, Michigan
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