Just hours after General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Rev. Jesse Jackson led a rally of more than 1,000 people at Michigan's state Capitol Monday, demanding that the government and industry join forces to save jobs for U.S. auto workers and that laws be enacted to stop the avalanche of home foreclosures.

“We demand better,” the civil rights icon said at the gathering. “We demand an even playing field.”

The rally drew the likes of U.S. Rep. John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee; U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, a Detroit Democrat; U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, a Brighton Republican; State Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, an East Lansing Democrat; State Rep. Mike Huckleberry, a Greenville Democrat; Michigan State University Board of Trustees Chairman Joel Ferguson were present at the event as well. They were joined by the mayors of Lansing, Battle Creek, Saginaw, Hamtramck, East Lansing, among other local officials.   Many of those in attendance came to Lansing by bus.

“Enough is enough!” said U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat from Lansing. “We’ve had it. This is about our way of life. Today is a day to recommit to a strategy that matters. The job won’t be done until we have fair trade in this global economy.”

Jackson said that it will take more than a rally to change things, and he urged that those in attendance take the momentum back home by holding voter registration drives and protests.