Dozens of protesters marched on government buildings in Detroit on Thursday to oppose the appointment of emergency managers across the state. The rally came one day after a coalition of civil rights and religious groups filed a lawsuit challenging emergency managers in Detroit and five other Michigan cities. The managers are granted broad powers, including overruling elected officials, in a bid to turn around struggling finances. The new lawsuit accuses Michigan’s controversial emergency manager law of imposing “a new form of government” in the state. The emergency manager law has disproportionately effected African Americans, with over half of African Americans in Michigan now living under unelected leadership. Speaking at the federal courthouse in Detroit, the Reverend Al Sharpton called the Michigan issue a national struggle.

Rev. Al Sharpton: “This is a local issue, but a national struggle. What Governor Snyder has done is nullify the voters of this city, interposed his own will, something that Dr. Martin Luther King spoke against 50 years ago this year.”

Detroit’s new emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, began his tenure this week