FLINT, MI -- Rev. Jesse Jackson said plans are underway what for he termed a "major national march" in Flint.
During a Tuesday afternoon press conference where a new class-action lawsuit was announced calling for $150 million to help cover water bill refunds to residents and replacing pipes, Jackson said the march is in the works.
"We just had a meeting of about 50 ministers at the church. We intend of Friday the 19th (of February), we're planning for a major national march in Flint on the issue of end the violence and plan for urban reconstruction," he said, making the announcement alongside Alfred Harris, president of the Concerned Pastors for Social Action.
Jackson has appeared at several recent events in Flint, including a Jan. 17 rally during which he called a "disaster zone" and a "crime scene."
He said he's been in contact with Doctors Without Borders to have every home in the city tested and is working on a "broad-based coalition" for action that includes the concerned pastors and Water You Fighting For? groups.
Harris said the group is partnering up with Jackson who will be with them "shoulder to shoulder" in the days ahead.
"We're out of the comfortable pulpit. We are demanding that the citizens of Flint be made whole," he said. "It's time to stop talking, stop chucking and jiving, excuse my language, it's time to make the citizens whole."