  Terryh Member Username: Terryh Post Number: 816 Registered: 11-2006 |
Not sure what the synonym stands for,but the organization is involved in housing for poor and moderate income families. They held the annual convention at Cobo hall this weekend. John Edwards and Representative Maxine Waters were scheduled to speak. An aquaintance of mine was the DJ and our mutual friend invited me to stop by after I left the Arab festival. I caught a couple of speakers, and got to enjoy the music and watch a very mixed crowd on the dance floor. Two ACORN directors -volunteers or whatever they were sat next to us and shared some interesting stories. I found out about a history of, and witnessed, some mild tension and antagonisms between Latino and Black members over the types of music played. Latinos wanted more Salsa and Meringue, older blacks wanted more soul and r&b,youngsters demanded more rap & hip hop. Whites were neutral, happy to flop and jerk around with no rythm or sense of beat to all types of music. There was some serious tenion over the music selection, blacks mocking Latino dancing and music, Latinos mocking 'black' music and dancing.Overall though, it was a fun interesting experience. Helped load the Dj equipment on the dock, got a good view of the waterfront and Canada. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 7051 Registered: 08-2004 |
The ACORN members were given a tour of Downtown, Midtown and New Center, set up by Detroit tour extrordinaire Jeanette Pierce. I helped her with the 10 bus loads of ACORN members, being the tour guide for 2 busloads of members. We stopped at the Fisher Building, where their jaws dropped at the "spare no expense" beauty of the Fisher Arcade. We also stopped at Hitsville USA, where some performance was taking place on the front lawn. THEY LOVED IT! Then a bus tour around downtown and midtown. The ACORN folks absolutely loved Detroit! | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 5024 Registered: 02-2005 |
Sounds pretty cool. Except for the stupid squabble over music. | ||
Dougw Member Username: Dougw Post Number: 2116 Registered: 11-2003 |
Here's an article about what was discussed at the conference: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs .dll/article?AID=2008806230318 | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1686 Registered: 12-2005 |
From that Freep article: ACORN is a liberal-leaning grassroots organization with more than 400,000 members who gather to address issues such as funding for urban schools and affordable housing. The truth is that ACORN is a "liberal-leaning" organization that is more than just "grass-roots". ACORN and its affiliates "take in millions of dollars in government grants under the guise of ‘consumer advocacy’ to line their own pockets", according to a report by the Consumer Rights League. They go on to say that "ACORN has reaped substantial financial gains by misusing taxpayer dollars for political ends and attacking lending corporations for the same ‘predatory’ lending practices it regularly engages in." ACORN has a tax-exempt affiliate called "The ACORN Housing Association" (AHC), which in addition to receiving over 40% of its funding from government sources, also uses "under-the-table" funds from undocumented sources for processing loan applications from low-income individuals. The AHC "housing counselors" have been pushing their low-income clients into ten-year interest-only loans and reverse mortgages (which tend to work against the interests of low-income homeowners), yet they have the audacity to criticize Countrywide's lending practices! Read more about this "grassroots" organization in the Consumer Rights League's report titled "ACORN's Hypocritical House of Cards - How One "Community" Group Helped the Housing Crisis Harm Taxpayers". | ||
Oldredfordette Member Username: Oldredfordette Post Number: 4879 Registered: 02-2004 |
Oh lordy, read up on the Consumer Rights League. They love every corporation in the U.S. Hilarious website. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 7052 Registered: 08-2004 |
Thanks for the link Mikeg... but you could least have found a source with some credibility! That Consumer Rights League doesn't even acknowledge that there's a major mortgage problem going on in this country right now! DUH!! They sound like the type of conservative website that get mentioned as Gospel in the Non-Detroit Issues forum. | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1687 Registered: 12-2005 |
The purpose of my post was not to ignite a "non-Detroit" type flame war, it was to point out that ACORN is a multi-dimensional, $35 million per year organization that is more than a just bunch of dancing do-gooders. The CRL link is no less credible than the Freep link, which reads like an ACORN press release and totally ignores recent allegations that ACORN has steered its clients into the same sort of exotic loans that it criticizes others about. As for the CRL, I can't guarantee the credibility of their report any more than you can the Freep article. My guess is that the truth lies somewhere in between. But I find it interesting that the only responses to my post both attacked the source, not the allegations. | ||
Oldredfordette Member Username: Oldredfordette Post Number: 4885 Registered: 02-2004 |
The source is full of shit. A right wing corporate diversionary site. Here's an idea, find out for yourself. Go down to ACORN and talk to the people there. The Detroit branch is located in the AFSCME Building on Lafayette across from the News. They were in the Book Building but present circumstances drove them out and they couldn't afford digs anywhere else. Big money! Ha. | ||
Pam Member Username: Pam Post Number: 4202 Registered: 11-2005 |
Did you pick up any chicks at the dance Terry? | ||
Terryh Member Username: Terryh Post Number: 819 Registered: 11-2006 |
lol@Pam. I tried but but one of her female companions butted in and made a negative comment. I used the you look familiar routine. I did a lot of looking as many of the ladies were dressed nice and sexy for the dance. A hope the sound system was working better when John Edwards spoke on Friday? night. I couldnt make out what the speakers were saying. The music was clear and crisp. |
