City host to economy talk

Bloomington was host to a forum Tuesday night in City Hall on the subject of economic justice for all on Tuesday.

The city’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission sponsored the forum, which aimed to encourage a discussion of the causes and consequences of the current economic crisis the nation is facing.

The panelists included some Bloomington heavyweights in community leadership: Sheldon Gellar, a research associate at the IU workshop in political theory; Martin McCrory an associate professor of the business law department in the Kelley School of Business; Warren Henegar from the Monroe County Council, and Jeremy Gilmore, an academic advisor of the Office of Mentoring Services and Leadership Development and associate pastor at the Second Baptist Church.

Charlotte Zietlow, economic development coordinator from Middle Way House and the first female elected to a Bloomington city council, moderated the event.

David Hummons, vice chair of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, presented the event and explained the commission’s goal in Bloomington, which is to celebrate King’s birthday, support diversity in the city and reach out to the community to create dialogue with the Bloomington residents.

The event’s target is to put King’s idea of economic equality on the table for Bloomington citizens to discuss justice for the poor during this economic downturn.

“People forget that Dr. King did not just fight for racial equality, he was a big proponent of equality in economic quality of life for all Americans,” Gellar said.

McCrory discussed public safety and possible projects to save money and engage the less fortunate in Bloomington to get involved in education and regulation in the community with more outreach programs that will encourage discussion.

“When we host events like these, our goal is to encourage our citizens to speak and state the problems we are encountering as a community,” McCrory said.

Gilmore said he thought the event was ideal because it compared today’s economic crisis to what took place in the 1920s.

The forum brought to the table King’s theory on general economic justice for all and received a positive feedback from everyone present.

“We need events like this if we want to create discussion,” Gilmore said. “By understanding what happened in Dr. King’s life and what he fought for, we can use that information regarding our current prospective situation and how the economy will effect Bloomington’s progress during these times of economic strife.”

The “open-floor” event allowed citizens to step up and ask questions or give their own opinions on the matter.

“I want more of these discussion forums,” Gellar said. “We want the public to understand what is going on and to bring the problems to the table like we did tonight. We can do it if we keep working hard and improving our community like Dr. King wants. God Bless, and yes we can.”