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THE GRPD ARREST OF A BLACK MAN GOING TO A FAMILY WAKE WAS On Friday, MLive ran an article entitled, GRPD training being questioned after Black man forcibly arrested despite police stopping the wrong vehicle. The article details a recent arrest by the GRPD of a Black man who was on the way to his his mother-in-law’s wake. Several GRPD officers forced the man to the ground, put HOW DOES THE CEO OF A CHARTER SCHOOL CONGLOMERATE NOT KNOW A few days ago, there was a video of a late April meeting of the Board of Directors for the Grand Rapids Promise, which you can watch here.. The Grand Rapids Promise was created in 2019, just as Teresa Weatherall Neal was stepping down as the Superintendent of the Grand Rapids Public Schools. What grabbed people’s attention about this board meeting, was a question asked by board member JC ONE OF THE BIGGEST LOOTERS IN GRAND RAPIDS HAS A PROBLEM One of the things I learned from Noam Chomsky, was the value of reading the business press. According to Chomsky, the business press if often more honest in the sense that it provides a forum for the wealthiest people to speak freely. This happened in a Grand Rapids Business Journal article on June 1st, where JENNIFER GRANHOLM AS SECRETARY OF ENERGY: WHY I’M NOT It has been less than 24 hours since the Biden camp has announced that former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has been nominated as Secretary of Energy. So far, the liberal establishment has been celebrating this news. This celebration includes many establishment environmental groups, like GreenPeace, which said: “We’re glad that President-elect Biden is listening to GOP PROPOSES ANTI-TRANS LEGISLATION IN MICHIGAN: EVERY CO On March 10th, GOP Senators in Michigan introduced legislation that is anti-trans. The proposed bill, Senate Bill 0218, was introduced by Michigan Senator Lana Theis and was sponsored by the following GOP Senators: Tom Barrett, Jim Runestad, Roger Victory, Jon Bumstead, John Bison, Kevin Daley, Rick Outman, Aric Nesbitt, Kimberly LaSata, Michael MacDonald, Dale Born THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF DORITOS: DEMYSTIFYING THE AGRO This afternoon’s session of the 2011 Socialism Conference gave us a chance to hear Arun Gupta, a writer for the Indypendent. He began his talk by giving out Doritos to everyone in the room, in order to de-construct this so-called food item. According to Arun Doritos corners 32% of the corn chip market. Doritos are GRAND RAPIDS INSTITUTE FOR INFORMATION DEMOCRACYABOUTDOCUMENTSGRIID CLASSESMEDIA LITERACYVIDEO ARCHIVESJEFF SMITH The sixth story that was aired by WOOD TV8, was an interview with Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Payne. This story was 9 minutes and 42 seconds long, with one soft ball question after another. Chief Payne adamantly defended his officers in the interview HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE THE POLICE KILLED IN 2021 SO FAR As I am accustomed to doing on a regular basis, early this week I checked the Voice for the Badge Facebook page. On March 13th, the founder of Voice for the Badge, Johnny Brann Sr. made the following post: 2021 to date Nationally 62 police officers died/killed 8 suicides Ya feel good about that - THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS 5/11/2021: MORE RECREATIONAL This is our latest installment of The Devil is in the Details, which takes a critical look at Grand Rapids politics and policies, based primarily on the public record, such as committee agendas and minutes. In this installment we look at recent recreational cannabis operations likely to be approved by the Grand Rapids Planning Commission during WEST MICHIGAN FOUNDATION WATCH: THE EDGAR & ELSA PRINCE This will be our first installment of Foundation Watch for 2021, since West Michigan Foundations are beginning to submit their 2019 990 documents. The 990 documents are legally required to provide some transparency for foundation contributions, but it also provides us with a window into how the area’s largest foundations are spendingtheir money to
THE GRPD ARREST OF A BLACK MAN GOING TO A FAMILY WAKE WAS On Friday, MLive ran an article entitled, GRPD training being questioned after Black man forcibly arrested despite police stopping the wrong vehicle. The article details a recent arrest by the GRPD of a Black man who was on the way to his his mother-in-law’s wake. Several GRPD officers forced the man to the ground, put HOW DOES THE CEO OF A CHARTER SCHOOL CONGLOMERATE NOT KNOW A few days ago, there was a video of a late April meeting of the Board of Directors for the Grand Rapids Promise, which you can watch here.. The Grand Rapids Promise was created in 2019, just as Teresa Weatherall Neal was stepping down as the Superintendent of the Grand Rapids Public Schools. What grabbed people’s attention about this board meeting, was a question asked by board member JC ONE OF THE BIGGEST LOOTERS IN GRAND RAPIDS HAS A PROBLEM One of the things I learned from Noam Chomsky, was the value of reading the business press. According to Chomsky, the business press if often more honest in the sense that it provides a forum for the wealthiest people to speak freely. This happened in a Grand Rapids Business Journal article on June 1st, where JENNIFER GRANHOLM AS SECRETARY OF ENERGY: WHY I’M NOT It has been less than 24 hours since the Biden camp has announced that former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has been nominated as Secretary of Energy. So far, the liberal establishment has been celebrating this news. This celebration includes many establishment environmental groups, like GreenPeace, which said: “We’re glad that President-elect Biden is listening to GOP PROPOSES ANTI-TRANS LEGISLATION IN MICHIGAN: EVERY CO On March 10th, GOP Senators in Michigan introduced legislation that is anti-trans. The proposed bill, Senate Bill 0218, was introduced by Michigan Senator Lana Theis and was sponsored by the following GOP Senators: Tom Barrett, Jim Runestad, Roger Victory, Jon Bumstead, John Bison, Kevin Daley, Rick Outman, Aric Nesbitt, Kimberly LaSata, Michael MacDonald, Dale Born THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF DORITOS: DEMYSTIFYING THE AGRO This afternoon’s session of the 2011 Socialism Conference gave us a chance to hear Arun Gupta, a writer for the Indypendent. He began his talk by giving out Doritos to everyone in the room, in order to de-construct this so-called food item. According to Arun Doritos corners 32% of the corn chip market. Doritos are GRAND RAPIDS INSTITUTE FOR INFORMATION DEMOCRACY The sixth story that was aired by WOOD TV8, was an interview with Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Payne. This story was 9 minutes and 42 seconds long, with one soft ball question after another. Chief Payne adamantly defended his officers in the interview MONITORING WEALTH & POWER IN WEST MICHIGAN: A DEVOS FAMILY We try to update the DeVos Family Reader about every 6 months. We hadn’t updated the DeVos Family Reader since the beginning of December, but we now have an updated version, which puts the DeVos Family Reader over 500 pages. Just go to this link and the DeVosFamily Reader is
MORE EVIDENCE THAT THE DEFUND THE GRPD MOVEMENT IS AN On Monday, we posted a story about the new online efforts of the Grand Rapids Police Officer's Association (GRPOA) to lobby city officials to not Defund the GRPD. In response to that post a couple of GRIID supporters said they saw a billboard using the same visual theme as the online GRPOA campaign to oppose RADICAL DEMOCRACY OR MANAGED DEMOCRACY: THE GRAND RAPIDS Last week, the City of Grand Rapids announced that it was going to pilot a participatory budgeting project, using some of the money the city received from the federal government’s American Rescue Plan Act. It is instructive that the City of Grand Rapids will be piloting this project just weeks after they received several hundred PROPOSED BILLS WOULD MAKE HOUSING STABILITY FOR THOSE It is bad enough that Michigan will not allow rent control at the state or municipal level, now there is legislation in both the House and the Senate that further takes away the ability of city governments to regulate the length of rental agreements. The business publication MiBiz, recently reported: A last-minute substitute to House LONGTIME DEVOS FAMILY OPERATIVE, GREG MCNEILLY, IS Last Friday, Greg McNeilly, Chairman of the Michigan Freedom Fund, posted a comment on the organization’s blog, entitled, Party Like It’s 1979. The blog post was making a cheeky remark about the Colonial Pipeline shut down and that Michigan might also be experiencing a rise in gas prices, especially if Gov. Whitmer “getsher way.”
FOUNDATION WATCH: HOW THE JANDERNOA FOUNDATION FUNCTIONS Michael Jandernoa is one of the lesser-known members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure. Jandernoa is the former president of Perrigo. In recent years, Jandernoa has been involved with 42 North Partners, which he created with his wife Sue. In addition, Jandernoa serves as General Partner at Bridge Street Capital Fund I, L.P, where he sits on DEVOS FAMILY HISTORY 0 June 10, 2021 Monitoring Wealth & Power in West Michigan: A DeVos Family Reader – We’re Rich and We Do What We WantMANAGED DEMOCRACY
Posts about managed democracy written by Jeff Smith (GRIID) DEVOS INFLUENCE IN WEST MICHIGAN 0 June 10, 2021 Monitoring Wealth & Power in West Michigan: A DeVos Family Reader – We’re Rich and We Do What We WantSkip to content
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INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY IN GRAND RAPIDS HOSTS VIGIL/PROTEST TO HOLD THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ACCOUNTABLE FOR GENOCIDAL ACTS PERPETRATED AGAINST INDIGENOUS CHILDRENJune 4, 2021
tags: Catholic Church complicity, forcibly removing
native children is genocide,
residential schools , trauma experienced by indigenous children by Jeff Smith (GRIID) Last night, about 150 people came out to participate in the Every Child Matters Vigil/Protest that was organized by local Indigenous women who had recently organized a protest against the disappearance/death of Indigenous girls/women in recent years throughout the so-called United States. The gathering of mostly indigenous people was a direct response to the recent news about the remains of 215 indigenous children that were discovered in British Colombia near a boarding school. The vigil/protest took place at Ah-Nab-Awen Park in downtown Grand Rapids, which began with drumming and included traditional dancing, an honor song and several speakers. Many of the people who spoke talked about the historical trauma that occurred with indigenous children being forcibly removed from their community and sent to the so-called boarding schools. For years, First Nations communities have been uncovering new information and providing space for people to share their lived experience at these schools that existed all across the country. The United Nations Convention on Genocide names the forcible removal of indigenous children who were placed in so-called boarding schools as a form of genocide. Shannon Martin, who is the director of the Ziibiwing Center in Mt. Pleasant, said that people need to grieve and people need to be angry about the recent discovery of the remains of 215 indigenous children. Martin said that the residential schools that were created in the US, were duplicated in other countries, like Australia, which have also used the forcible relocation of indigenous children to schools that have been operated by either governments or by churches, particularly the Catholic Church. Another speaker, Joe Cadreau, talked about how we need to stop calling these places schools and start referring to them as extermination camps. Cadreau also spoke about the need to purge Christian and Catholic elements from their tribes, especially considering how much harm these religious groups have perpetrated against indigenous people, particularly indigenous children. The vigil/protest organizers then invited people to march with them over to St. Mary’s Catholic Church, which was just a few blocks west of Ah-Nab-Awen Park. Almost everyone who was at the park marched to the church, where people were invited to place children’s shoes, stuffed animals, flowers and signs that demonstrated the awful crimes that were committed against indigenous children at these boarding schools. Again, prayers were offered and songs were sung. It was a powerful moment when the items were laid in front of the church’s front door. It was a collective action of accountability, and it sent a strong message to the Catholic Church about their role in committing these acts of genocide. In many ways, what the local indigenous community did last night was historic. We shall see what sort of response the Grand Rapids Catholic Diocese will have, if any.Leave a comment
from → Indy News
WHAT IF WE SHUT DOWN THE MEIJER GOLF TOURNAMENT: DEMANDING FOOD JUSTICE, NOT FOOD CHARITYJune 2, 2021
tags: Food Charity Industrial Complex, food
insecurity in Grand Rapids, Food Justice
, Meijer family wealth , Meijer Golf Tournament by Jeff Smith (GRIID) In two weeks, the Grand Rapids-based Meijer Corporation will be hosting their annual LPGA Golf Tournament at the Blythefield Country Club in Belmont, MI. This event will feature some of the best female golfers, with $2,300,000 going to the winner. In addition, the Meijer Corporation has been using this event as an opportunity to massage their company’s image by donating some of the money “to fight hunger.” The annual event is called the Meijer LPGA Class for Simply Give, where Meijer is asking for donations for people who are “in need.” Who knew it, that golf tournament’s with multi-million dollar prize money can also help in the fight against hunger…….NOT. This annual event is not only insulting and offensive to anyone who has a conscience, it actually perpetuate food insecurity. People are not going hungry in this community because they are in need, they are going hungry because of much larger social inequities that the Meijer Corporation and the Meijer family are directly connected to. Here are just a few reasons why this approach to “fighting hunger” willnever work.
* Food Charity is not Food Justice. No amount of donated food will solve the problem, because the issue is not a lack of food but the absence of equity, If people were making a just and living wage, there would not be a need to food pantries or food charity, except maybe during a natural disaster. The problem is what researchers call the Food Charity Industrial Complex, with includes pantries, larger food charity entities like Feeding America and the corporations that donate to them. The Food Charity Industrial Complex doesn’t really want to end hunger, they want to only provide temporary relief for people who are not only food insecure, but who are experiencing poverty. * If we were being honest, we would name the Meijer Corporation as a Food Cartel, which works with an Agribusiness system, within the larger economic system of Capitalism. (See our Food Justice Workshop for more details.) For example, Meijer has partnersfor this golf
event, which interestingly enough includes other major corporations, specifically other Food Cartels, which benefit from contributing to the Food Industrial Complex as a tax write off, while making billions off of food trafficking, while millions in the US are food insecure. * Meijer is running ads on TV and radio stations in this market about their charitable event and the local news media is playing right along, since they do not question the merits of the Simply Giveevent.
* This golfing event (and the Charity Industrial Complex as a whole) is normalizing the way in which society solves problems, which is through charitable efforts for the “less fortunate.” We are not allowed to ask the question, “why are so many people going hungry in our community.” We just have to accept that those who are “in need” are struggling because of some misfortune. We cannot be allowed to have any discussion that seeks to understand the root causes of hunger and the systemic forces that are the beneficiaries of hunger and poverty, like the Meijer Corporation. The normalization of food charity is particularly offensive during the COVID pandemic, which has seen a rise in people utilizing food charity services. * According to a recent study by the Institute for Policy Studies, Hank &
Doug Meijer’s wealth went from $10.2 Billion at the beginning of the pandemic to $12.6 Billion today. This means that Hank & Doug Meijer’s wealth increased by $2.4 Billion in the past year.The reality
is that the Meijer family could redistribute equally the $2.4 billion to the people in West Michigan and effectively eliminate food insecurity for the thousands of individuals and families that are experiencing poverty. This would still leave Hank & Doug Meijer with $10.2 Billion, which should be more than enough to live on. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we can’t be content with getting back to normal. Getting back to normal means we are ok with thousands of families being food insecure in Grand Rapids. Getting back to normal means we should accept working at low wage jobs, many of which are in the food industry. We cannot and should not want to get back to normal. Instead, we need to fight the massive wealth gap that exists in this community and demand redistribution of wealth. We should shut down the Meijer LPGA Golf Tournament with people who are food insecure and demand they give the purse money to people here who would really benefit from it. We should stop accepting food charity and start demanding food justice.Leave a comment
from → Indy News
REFLECTIONS ON ONE YEAR AFTER THE MAY 30TH REBELLION IN GRAND RAPIDSJune 1, 2021
tags: Defund the GRPD , May 30th rebellion in Grand Rapids, May 30th
riot in Grand Rapids, white
supremacy in grand rapids by Jeff Smith (GRIID) It has been a year since the May 30th Rebellion in Grand Rapids and there are three overarching narratives that are competing for what happened then and where Grand Rapids is now. Before we look at these narratives, it is important for me to state why I use the term rebellion for what happened on May 30th of 2020, as opposed to the term riot. What I saw and what I experienced on May 30th was thousands of people expressing their collective anger towards the ongoing brutalization of Black people by cops. It is rare for Grand Rapids to see thousands of people take to the streets against systems of power and oppression, but this is exactly what happened on May 30th. The speeches that were given in Rosa Parks Circle, the thousands marching in the streets of Grand Rapids, the confrontation between the community and the GRPD, the burning of cop cars and the smashing of windows in the downtown area was a big fuck you to those with economic and political power who have ignored, dismissed or tried to minimize the amount of suffering and hardship that people have experienced in this city. This is particularly the case for how those in power have ignored the Black community; have invested in all their shiny development projects while not giving a shit about Black people being subjected to poverty; for dismissing the constant calls from the Black community to end the GRPD’s harassment, targeting and abuse of Black residents; and for maintaining a system of White Supremacy, which is the real meaning behind the phrase West Michigan Nice. NARRATIVE #1 IS THE NARRATIVE OF SYSTEMS OF POWER With all of the collective anger, frustration and cries for justice that took place on May 30th, how did systems of power and oppression respond? First, it must be said that the GRPD, with all their riot gear, their tear gas and their use of 40mm chemical weapons they fired at civilians, they were the ones doing the real harm and violence on May 30th…….all in the name of protecting economic and politicalpower.
Secondly, the Mayor of Grand Rapids called in the Michigan National Guard to further militarize the city, with heavily armed soldiers, and then threaten to arrest people who violated a newly imposed curfew inthe city.
On Tuesday, June 2nd, 2020, the Grand Rapids City Commission unanimously adopted a resolution that condemned what the resolution referred to as unlawful assembly and civil disorder, giving the Mayor authority to bring in the Michigan National Guard and imposing a curfew to deal with the “state of civil emergency.” Mind you this resolution was adopted unanimously, by a group of locally elected officials that many consider to be progressive or liberal or whatever other term white people like to use. To me, it is very instructive that they refer to civil unrest, what I call a rebellion, as a state of emergency. It is an emergency because people are not playing by the rules that are dictated from those who have the most to lose. Equally instructive is the fact that 1 in 4 Black children in Grand Rapids is living in poverty, with substandard housing and ongoing food insecurity, yet the City of Grand Rapids doesn’t declare this a fucking emergency??? Another aspect of the narrative presented by political and economic systems of power in Grand Rapids was the notion that what happened on May 30th, “wasn’t the Grand Rapids I know.” This was one of the comments that Mayor Bliss gave to the news media the day after the rebellion. This sentiment, was also shared by one of the economic power brokers in the city, Sam Cummings. As the Grand Rapids BusinessJournal reported
on June 1st:
_“THAT IS NOT WHO WE ARE, AND THAT WAS CONFIRMED BY TALKING TO SOME FOLKS ON THE POLICE FORCE,” CUMMINGS SAID. “WHO WE WERE WAS(SUNDAY).”_
What is so instructive about the comments from the Mayor and Sam Cummings is that it reflects a reality that says they are either in denial about the tremendous inequality that exists in this city or they don’t really know or don’t care. Again, the rebellion was not just about people articulating their collective rage against how Black people are being policed, it was also about the disgusting wealth gap that exists across the country and in Grand Rapids. Within days of the May 30th uprising we also saw a tremendous amount of sustained organizing and resistance, particularly around the issue of Defunding the GRPD. The Grand Rapids Police Department and the Grand Rapids Police Officer’s Association have responded to this call for defunding the police budget by attempting to control the larger social narrative in Grand Rapids,
by engaging in an escalation of copaganda – where the cops take pictures of themselves in the community attempting to show how much they care, developing a new strategic plan that is filled with reformist rhetoric, having supporters put up over a dozen anti-defunding billboards, co-opting the language of the Defund movement, while at the same time escalating their repression of theDefund movement.
Grand Rapids City officials have also played a signifiant role in supporting the GRPD. Beginning in late June of 2020, there where an estimated 4,000 messages (based on several media sources referencing messages that commissioners had received) send to City officials demanding a reduction in the GRPD. That level of public communication around a specific issue is rarely seen in Grand Rapids, especially considering that if 10% of the voting population shows up for a Grand Rapids City election the clerk’s office is euphoric. However, despite the high number of public participation in the call for defunding the GRPD, Grand Rapids City officials have not only put a stop to any possible vote on the GRPD budget, they have fundamentally ignored the high number of calls and comments from people during City Commission meetings, comments that have overwhelmingly call for defunding. In fact, every public comment portion of City Commission meetings since the May 30th Rebellion has been dominated by defunding comments, apart from calls around ShotSpotter technology, the use of helicopters during Operation Safe Neighborhoods or the eviction of unhoused people from Heartside Park – all of which involved the GRPD. No issue has dominated City Commission meetings in recent memory, like the call for defunding the GRPD. However, despite the historic public input, Grand Rapids City officials have refused to defund the Grand Rapids Police Department, have adopted the GRPD’s Strategic Plan and has unanimously approved a 2022 budget that actually provides additional funds to the GRPD budget. NARRATIVE #2 IS THE NARRATIVE OF LIBERALISM AND NORMALCY A second major narrative that we have heard over the past year is a narrative of liberalism and normalcy…….which, if we are honest is a narrative of whiteness. White people made the biggest stink about property damage during the May 30th Rebellion. White people are the ones who are calling for “peaceful demonstrations”, even though they fully want to cooperate with the GRPD. White people are the ones who kept saying that defunding the police really doesn’t mean abolish the police, it just means to make the cops get more training so they can be nicer while they beat you or spray you in the face with pepper spray. White people are the ones that kept saying “we need to police, otherwise there will be chaos” or “police violence is just a few bad apples.” White people are also the ones that wanted to redirect the energy of the May 30th Rebellion away from resistance and into electoral politics. White people are the ones that have stop saying Black Lives Matter and have stoping showing up for Black-led organizing, because it just got too hard, or it’s enough already and besides there are less COVID restrictions so I just want to have fun and not be bothered by the fact that the condition of Black people in Grand Rapids has not improved in the past year. This narrative, a white liberal narrative, also believes that what we need is unity. Well, when has there ever been unity? Calls for unity is just another way of saying, “can’t we all just get along. This notion of unity is naive, because it completely ignores the fact that there are systems of power and oppression that will never willingly giving up their power and wealth. Lastly, this white liberal narrative also believes that in terms of the police, when the GRPD doesn’t something “bad”, then the system is broken. On the contrary, when cops beat someone repeatedly with claims that the suspect was reaching for the officer’s gun, then this is a demonstration that the system works, because the cops were trained to do this, thus the system is working when the GRPD brutalizes Black people. In other words, this system of policing in Grand Rapids was and has always been designed to do exactly what they have been doing. NARRATIVE #3 IS ORGANIZED RESISTANCE AND A CALL TO DEFUND THE GRPD To be transparent, this third narrative is the narrative that reflects the ongoing movement to Defund the GRPD, a movement that this writer is part of. The call for defunding the GRPD began within days after the May 30th Rebellion in Grand Rapids. This call for defunding was what was happening all across the country, because it was part of the larger platform of the Movement for Black Lives and had been part of their platform since the beginning. Calling the for the defunding of police departments didn’t begin with the police murder of George Floyd, although the commercial news media would have us believe that this is where it began. The Movement for Black Lives has referred to defunding of police departments as a Divest/Invest strategy, in their A Vision for Black Livesdocument.
As was stated before, the call to defund the GRPD began with days of the May 30th Rebellion. This call to defund the GRPD has followed the Divest/Invest strategy, whereby reducing the funding for the GRPD would be step one, with a re-directing of those funds into the Black community as step two. This call for defunding the GRPD has involved social media education, the creation of magnets that offer community resources that people can contact without calling the cops, protests, marches, press conferences, numerous action alerts throughout the past year, regular summaries of the Grand Rapids City Commission meetings, phone zaps and a great deal of behind the scenes by volunteer Black organizers. The most recent efforts were centered around the City’s 2022 budget. It is also important for people to know that what Defund the GRPD is calling for is a radical reimagining of what community safety looks like, particularly what it would look like without cops. If we have real equity in this community and if we can create models of community safety, then there will be no need for the GRPD. What this movement is ultimately calling for is the abolition of policing as we know it. Miriame Kaba, the prison abolitionist organizer writes: _Demands for arrests and prosecutions of killer cops are inconsistent with demands to #DefundPolice because they have proven to be the source of violence not safety. We can’t claim the system must be dismantled because it is a danger to Black Lives and at the same time legitimize it by turning to it for justice. As Angela Davis points out, “we have to be consistent” in our analysis and not respond to violence in a way that compounds it. We need to use our radical imaginations to come up with new structures of accountability beyond the system we are working to dismantle._ This narrative, the abolitionist narrative of defunding the police, is the narrative that I want to embrace. I invite you to join this movement by liking the Defund the GRPD Facebook page and then asking how to getinvolved.
Leave a comment
from → Indy News
GROUP CALLS FOR BOYCOTT OF THE ALLENDALE SUMMER CONCERT SERIES: AN INTERVIEW WITH MITCH KAHLE WITH THE MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF CIVILRIGHTS ACTIVISTS
May 27, 2021
tags: Allendale Summer Concert Series, Confederate
statue in Allendale
, Michigan
Association of Civil Rights Activists,
racism in Allendale
by Jeff Smith (GRIID) On Tuesday, May 25th, the Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists (MACRA) sent an e-mail to bands that are scheduled to play at an outdoor concert series being hosted in Allendale. The outdoor concert series will be held in the same park that the Confederatestatue is located.
The e-mail sent to the bands read as follows: Dear Artists and Performers: _We ain’t gonna play Allendale Concerts in the Park!_ You may have heard about the ongoing controversy in Allendale Charter Township, Michigan, concerning the public display of a statue honoring Confederate soldiers and another depicting an enslaved biracial child, half-naked, picking cotton, at the feet of their oppressors. (See attached photos below.) These racist and offensive statues are located approximately 100 yards from the bandstand and grassy area used by the township to hold the “Concerts in the Parks” series. Just as many anti-apartheid protests in the 1980s were led by musicians and artists—e.g., Artists United Against Apartheid (see info below)_—_we are asking you and your band to join our anti-racism boycott by declining to perform for event sponsored by or hosted by Allendale Charter Township, at least until the racist statues have been removed or covered. _Artists United Against Apartheid: “Ain’t Gonna Play Sun City”_(See links to audio, song lyrics, and Wikipediaarticle below.)
We know that it may be difficult or go against your principles to decline a paying gig (however modest the compensation), but the circumstances in Allendale are unique and call for empathy and compassion for Black, Indigenous, people of color, and other minorities, who have suffered far too long from abuses of the majority in this small community. Allendale is known as the “Confederate Capital of Michigan” and one of the few remaining “sundown towns” in the state. This summer (as with last), Allendale will likely be the site of numerous protests. If you are not familiar with the ongoing controversy there, please see the many media stories linked below formore information.
And as if the overt racism in Allendale weren’t enough reason to decline this meaningless gig, the township recently reduced compensation for bands from the higher amounts paid in previous years. In fact, the lowered pay for musicians was somewhat of a joke at the March 22 meeting of the Board of Trustees. When the Rotary Club, which produces the concert series, requested approval to expand from 6 to 10 concerts—with no commensurate increase in funds to compensate musicians—Garry Murphy told the Trustees: “All the bands are hungry and willing to work for less money than normal. It’s a good time to expand. We’ll get more bands for our bucks.” These comments were received with chuckles from board members. On average this year each band is being offered $200 less compensation than in 2019. (See the township’s proposed band compensation chart below for comparison.) Is it true? Are you all “hungry” for this gig? Is the very low—some might say insulting—$50 to $100 pay worth the stigma of appearing to support a township that demonstrates overt racism toward minorities and a clear disrespectfor musicians?
There is one more thing to consider as you weigh whether to accept or decline: protests are being planned that may coincide with some of the “Concerts in the Park.” Which particular dates are chosen for protests this summer will depend on which (if any) bands agree to perform for the apartheid government of Allendale Charter Township. We appeal to your conscience in this matter. _We ain’t gonna play Allendale Concerts in the Park — and neither should you!_ Please contact MACRA if you have any questions.Sincerely,
Mitch Kahle
Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists (MACRA) GRIID decided to do an interview with Mitch Kahle, with MACRA, who promptly responded to our questions here below. GRIID – The Allendale Charter Township continues to ignore pleas from those in West Michigan to remove the Confederate Statue that stands in the main park within the township? MACRA just issued a call for people to boycott the summer concert series being hosted in the same park that is home to the Confederate statue. How did you come to make the decision to use this tactic with the Allendale CharterTownship Trustees?
MACRA: Artists and musicians have always been involved in the struggle for civil rights. The idea for a performer boycott of “Concerts in the Park” seemed right from the first suggestion. GRIID – In the letter you send to all of the bands, you include information about how musicians and artists were instrumental in the South African Anti-Apartheid Campaign, since many of them refused to play in South Africa because of the system of Apartheid that existed then. Do you believe that local bands, many of whom are not known outside of the area, have an obligation to not support systemic racism, which the statue represents? MACRA: Artists and musicians are typically aware of social injustices and sensitive to issues like racism. This isn’t a call to boycott the performers; it’s a call for performers to boycott the venue or sponsor in this case. If the concerts go on, those dates will be considered for more anti-racism protests directed at the Allendale Board of Trustees. GRIID – Do you have any concerns about potential backlash to the call for the concert boycott, especially considering that so many people are dying to hear live music again after more than a year of restrictions because of COVID? MACRA: Live music venues are opening all over the state. There will be plenty of opportunities for people to enjoy live music again without endorsing or supporting a racist venue like Allendale. GRIID – Why do you think the Allendale Charter Township officials have been so resistant to the calls to remove the Confederate statute, considering it has now been a full year that this campaign has beengoing on?
MACRA: The Allendale trustees have made no secret of their unanimous desire to maintain the status quo. Left to follow their own moral compass, the trustees would be happy to leave the statues as they are. GRIID – How important is it for people to understand that these kinds of campaigns often don’t result in quick victories and that ongoing organizing and pressuring systems of power are necessary for social movements to be effective? MACRA: Patience and persistence are the keys to successful activism. It’s easy for the average person to get frustrated or burned out and abandon a cause because the prospects of winning may seem long and remote. Look at the struggle for LGBTQ equality, same-sex marriage, same-sex parenting and adoption, gender identity, etc.—we’ve been fighting these battles for 40 years. GRIID – Beyond removing the Confederate statue, how else can municipalities like Allendale Charter Township come to terms with their own perpetuation of racism/White Supremacy or their complicity in racism/White Supremacy? MACRA: Allendale is a tough case. It’s place where the majority of racists don’t think they are racist, yet virtually every word they speak or write has racist overtones. For now, we’ll be happy to see the offensive statues removed. GRIID also sent messages to the bands that were invited to play in Allendale, asking if they were aware of the Confederate statue that is in the park where they will be playing, and it they had were willing to boycott the concert series.Leave a comment
from → Indy News
IN THEIR “ONE YEAR AFTER THE RIOT STORIES” WOOD TV 8 DOESN’T HOLD POWER ACCOUNTABLE, FAILS TO ADDRESS STRUCTURAL RACISM AND CONTINUES TO CENTER WHITENESSMay 26, 2021
tags: centering whiteness , May 30th rebellion inGrand Rapids
, not
holding power accountable, one year after
the riot news coverage by Jeff Smith (GRIID) As we approach the one year anniversary of the May 30th rebellion in Grand Rapids, the commercial media has been regurgitating the same awful narratives about what happened during the protests that took place in the aftermath of the police murder of George Floyd. I use the term regurgitate, because one week after the May 30th rebellion, GRIID conducted a 5 day study of the dominant local news sources – MLive, WOOD TV8, WZZM 13 and WXMI 17 – to see how these news sources were reporting on the rebellion.
Our conclusion was that the local commercial news sources we looked at hijacked the narrative, whereby they: 1) diverted attention from the root causes of the rebellion and framed the news around rioting & looting; 2) gave more space for City Officials and the GRPD to have an opinion, and; 3) the four news agencies demonstrated that they have internalized the values of systems of power and privilege, through their failure to seriously questions structural racism and White Supremacy in this community. In the past few days, there have been numerous 1 year anniversary stories in the local news, but most of those stories have aired on WOOD TV 8. In fact, on May 25th, channel 8 ran a total of six stories for their 1 – year after series, all of which continue to HIJACK A NARRATIVE AWAY FROM BLACK LIVES MATTER AND A NARRATIVE THAT CENTERSWHITENESS.
The six stories cover the following themes: * People involved in the downtown Grand Rapids cleanup the day afterthe rebellion.
* The art that was produced on the boarded up windows after therebellion.
* Those arrested and charged for property damage during therebellion.
* Black-owned businesses that were impacted by the rebellion. * An interview with one activist on police reform. * An interview with Police Chief PayneIn the first story
,
the channel 8 reporter begins by saying, “_AN INCREDIBLE THING HAPPENED IN THE HOURS AFTER RIOTERS TORE OUR CITY APART_.” Never did channel 8 use the word incredible, referring to the thousands of people who took to the streets on May 30th, 2020. Also interesting is the fact that they said “OUR CITY.” The length of this news story was 3:01, with 1 Black woman and 2 white women being interviewed.The second story
aired by WOOD TV8, focused on the art that was created on the plywood of the boarded up windows on the downtown business and government buildings after the May 30th rebellion. The length of this story was 2:35 and CENTER THE VOICES OF TWO WHITE WOMEN.A third story
that
channel 8 aired focused on those who were arrested charged with property damage and/or looting during the May 30th rebellion. The channel 8 piece began with his comment, “_YOU’RE LOOKING AT THE FACES OF THOSE CHARGED WITH TORCHING AND TEARING APART OF THE HEART OF GRAND RAPIDS_.” The primary voice in this story was that of a white prosecuting attorney and the length of the story was 3:17. The reporter was Susan Samples, who had done an awful story last year that used far right sources to demonize anti-racists and anti-fascistorganizers
.
A fourth story
aired by WOOD TV8, focused on some of the Black businesses that were impacted by the May 30th rebellion. This news story ran for 3:33 and began with the reporter framing the story by saying, “_THERE WERE POLICE CARS BEING SET ON FIRE, PEOPLE WERE BEING HURT, BUSINESSES WERE DESTROYED_.” The story featured interview with two Black businesses owners in downtown Grand Rapids and comments from Jamiel Robinson, founder of the Grand Rapids Area Black Businesses.A fifth story
that ran on channel 8, featured a family member of Breonna Taylor, with a length of 3:53. The story was framed using the language of police reform and NEVER MENTIONED DEFUNDING, nor did it discuss other non-police forms of community safety. This was the only story that featured a Black activist, but this activist was not from the two prominent groups that have been organizing for the past year, which are Justice for Black Lives and Defund the GRPD. The sixth story that was aired by WOOD TV8, was an interview with Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Payne.
This story was 9 MINUTES AND 42 SECONDS LONG, with one soft ball question after another. Chief Payne adamantly defended his officers in the interview and touted the “new” neighborhood policing model. The reality is that there is nothing fundamentally new about this model, since there have been specific police officers assigned to specific neighborhoods for decades, specifically the cops assigned to neighborhood associations. However, the channel 8 reporter never questions Payne, instead asking him things like, “_WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF IN YOUR 35 YEAR CAREER?_” WOOD TV 8 once again demonstrated that they completely embrace the values of systems of power in this community, refuse to look at larger structural issues at play, will not hold those in power accountable and continue to center white voices and white feelings.Leave a comment
from → Dissecting the Local News, Indy News
KOCH FAMILY FUNDING HAS INFLUENCED HIGHER EDUCATION ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND IN WEST MICHIGANMay 24, 2021
tags: Koch Brothers and Right Wing Networks, Koch
Brothers influence , Koch family foundations , Koch family fundingof universities
by Jeff Smith (GRIID) The Koch Brothers have been a financial dynasty and the creator of right wing networks that is far reaching in the United States andaround the globe.
Over the decades the Koch Brothers have contributed millions to political candidates, spent millions on lobbying Congress, creating the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and a main driving force behind the State Policy Network, all of which is well documentedon SourceWatch
and in the
book by Christopher Leonard, _KOCHLAND: THE SECRET HISTORY OF KOCH INDUSTRIES AND CORPORATE POWER IN AMERICA. _ However, there is another arena that the Koch Brothers have also used their wealth and influence, an arena that is less know. The group UnKoch My Campus, has just released a new report which documents how the Koch dynasty has been funding universities all across the US. The report is entitled, Increased Funding, Increased Influence: Koch University Funding, May 2005 – 2019.
In its EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, the report states: As the epicenter of modern day lobbying veers farther away from Washington, D.C. and into our daily lives, college campuses are increasingly subject to the influence of private and corporate influence. There are many culprits we can point to in this arena, but one billionaire donor has distinguished himself for his aggressively coordinated spending and wielding of political influence throughuniversity grants.
Charles Koch, CEO of Koch Industries, has overseen over $458 million in grants to over 550 universities and higher ed adjacent non-profits since 2005. Unlike other philanthropists backing higher education, Koch gives to schools with the explicit goal of creating intellectual fodder for his network of political interest groups, and recruiting and training students to integrate into that network. Charles Koch himself admits that his funding of hundreds of universities across the country is intended to mainstream free market ideas and approaches to public policy that support the Koch network’s legislative goals at the state and federal levels: _“… __THERE ARE BASICALLY FOUR WAYS IN WHICH CAN FIGHT FOR FREE ENTERPRISE – THROUGH EDUCATION, THROUGH THE MEDIA, BY LEGAL CHALLENGES, AND BY POLITICAL ACTION… I DO MAINTAIN, HOWEVER, THAT THE EDUCATIONAL ROUTE IS BOTH THE MOST VITAL AND THE MOST NEGLECTED… WE SHOULD ONLY THOSE PROGRAMS, DEPARTMENTS OR SCHOOLS THAT CONTRIBUTE IN SOME WAY TO OUR INDIVIDUAL COMPANIES OR TO THE GENERAL WELFARE OF OUR FREE ENTERPRISESYSTEM.__” _
The report documents how the Koch family has used various family foundations and the Charles Koch Institute, to funnel over $458 million dollars to influence universities all across the country. There is also a database,
which provides an alphabetical run down of all the colleges and universities in the country that have received funding from the Koch dynasty between 2005 – 2019. Not surprising, there are several colleges and Universities in West Michigan that have been targeted by the Koch family with their wealth. Here is a run down of the West Michigan schools, including schools that have satellite campuses in West Michigan, and how much that havereceived:
AQUINAS COLLEGE $4,000 FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY $194,495 HOPE COLLEGE $328,900 MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY $417,842 UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN $423,596 WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY $280,004 While these numbers are not as large as what the DeVos Family has contributed locally, it is important to think about how this funding influences institutes of higher learning in West Michigan, both in terms of content and how members of the Capitalist Class are able to have significant access to students and faculty because of theircontributions.
Leave a comment
from → Uncategorized GRAND RAPIDS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SAYS THEY WANT EVERYONE TO BE PROSPEROUS, BUT THEY REALLY ONLY MEAN BUSINESS OWNERSMay 20, 2021
tags: GR Chamber lobbies Michigan Legislature,
Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, Grand
Rapids power structure, opposes
enhanced unemployment by Jeff Smith (GRIID) Restaurant owners and workers have been in the news a great deal recently, since many restaurants are looking for staff, but workers are generally opposed to returning, since the wages are ridiculouslylow.
While there have been some places that are beginning to increase wages, there is also movement from federal politicians to pressure Governors around the US to “end state’s enhanced unemployment benefits.” In Michigan, seven Republican members of Congress are leaning on Gov. Whitmer to end enhanced unemployment benefits, claiming that it’s contributing to a labor shortage. In addition, the US Chamber of Commerce is pressuring Congress to put an end to the COVID-induced unemployment benefits. The left publication, Jacobin, reported recently:
_As Washington’s __largest__ spender
on federal lobbying in 2020, the Chamber is widely considered the most powerful influence peddler for large corporations. Last week, the Chamber declared that “paying people not to work is dampening what should be a stronger jobs market” and called for “ending the $300 weekly supplemental unemployment benefit.” Sixteen Republican governors have followed that demand after the Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform dumped __$850,000__ into
the Republican Governors Association in the last few years._ Restaurant workers are getting more organized and more people are waking up to the exploitative nature of the food industry. We could find no concrete evidence on whether or not the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce is advocating for the same thing, although it seems like that they would endorse the same position that the national Chamber of Commerce is adopting. As was mentioned in the Jacobin article, the US Chamber of Commerce is one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington. The Michigan Chamber of Commerce, along with regional Chambers in Michigan, also make it a point to lobby State Legislators on matters of interest to them. The Grand Rapids Chamber has a monthly “breakfast with Legislators” gathering, plus they have several staff and subcommittees committed to lobbying for state policies that would benefit the business class. This is counter to what the Grand Rapids Chamber uses as part of their mission statement, which says, “The Grand Rapids Chamber continues to work toward cultivating a region that is thriving and prosperous for ALL.” This simply isn’t true. The Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce is committed to promoting and defending the interests of the business class in this city. The GR Chamber does an annual survey to find out what its members want the Chamber to make as its priorities. Just check out this short video , which lays out the 2021 legislative priorities for the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce. The video makes it clear that the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce is “working to shape the policies to support a vibrant business climate.” The video states that the GR Chamber wants: * Property tax deferment for businesses, which Whitmer has vetoedtwice
* Regulatory flexibility * A possible end to licensing fees * Eliminate or reduce business unemployment fees * Improve work research requirements to make people take jobs thatdon’t pay well
* Education testing to make sure that students are work ready. In other words, the GR Chamber sees education as talent production * Creating more childcare options to get people back into the workforce and improve productivity * Criminal Justice reform for the GR Chamber is about getting more formerly incarcerated people into the workforce, which the Chamber also sees as a Talent issue * Continuation of the Going Pro Program, which transfers public money to private businesses for training purposes * Wants more housing, but not housing justice You might remember in 2018, when there was backlash against the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce for endorsing Bill Schuette for Governor because of his anti-LGBTQ stance. We pointed out then that the GR Chamber of Commerce has a long history of endorsing policies that do tremendous harm, especially economic harm.
The Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce is part of the Grand Rapids PowerStructure
and we need to understand that they represent systems of power and oppression, regardless of what their mission statement might suggest about wanting everyone to be prosperous.Leave a comment
from → Indy News
LONGTIME DEVOS FAMILY OPERATIVE, GREG MCNEILLY, IS DEFENDING THE ENBRIDGE CORPORATION’S LINE 5May 20, 2021
tags: DeVos Political operative Greg McNeilly,
Enbridge Line 5 , GregMcNeilly , radical
environmentalists
by Jeff Smith (GRIID) Last Friday, Greg McNeilly, Chairman of the Michigan Freedom Fund, posted a comment on the organization’s blog, entitled, Party LikeIt’s 1979 .
The blog post was making a cheeky remark about the Colonial Pipeline shut down and that Michigan might also be experiencing a rise in gas prices, especially if Gov. Whitmer “gets her way.” McNeilly goes on to write: _THIS WEEK THE GOVERNOR BOWED TO THE RADICAL ENVIRONMENTALISTS IN HER POLITICAL BASE, AND ORDERED ENBRIDGE ENERGY TO SHUTTER THEIR LINE 5 PIPELINE. IT’S A MOVE THAT WOULD TAKE 540,000 BARRELS PER DAY OF LIGHT CRUDE OIL, LIGHT SYNTHETIC CRUDE OIL AND NATURAL GAS LIQUIDS OUT OF THE STATE AND AWAY FROM THE REGION. _ It’s unfortunate that McNeilly, and other commentators, use the term radical in a negative way. A more honest understanding of the term radical, means to get to the root of something. However, McNeilly uses the term radical to suggest someone who is an extremist. Not only does McNeilly misuse the term radical, his suggestion that Gov. Whitmer is bowing to radical environmentalists is simply ridiculous. Whitmer campaigned against Line 5 during her 2018 run for the office, plus virtually every mainstream environmental group in the state endorses the shutdown of Line 5. More importantly, indigenous communities throughout the Great Lakes area, which have been at the forefront of the campaign against Line 5, are not extremists. In fact, for Greg McNeilly to refer to Indigenous people as radical environmentalists is not only dead wrong, it is highly problematic. Does McNeilly, the Republican operative, really want to marginalize indigenous people in the Great Lakes area? If so, he is marginalizing the very people who have lived in harmony within the Great Lakes forthousands of years.
Such tasteless rhetoric from Greg McNeilly is not unusual for him. McNeilly is not only the Chairman of the Michigan Freedom Fund, he is the Chief Operating Officer for The Windquest Group , which is owned by Dick and Betsy DeVos. In 2006, McNeilly served as campaign manager for Michigan gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos. McNeilly was also Executive Director of CHOICES FOR CHILDREN, a Michigan-based group that was working to undermine public education. In addition, McNeilly currently serves on the Board of Directors of the DeVos-created GREAT LAKES EDUCATION PROJECT, which also seeks to undermine public education and replace it with privatized education. McNeilly is also on the Board of Directors of the GRAND RAPIDS DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, which is a non-elected entity that uses public tax dollars to promote downtown GR and fund development projects for the business community. Again, saying that Gov. Whitmer is bowing to radical environmentalists on the potential Enbridge Line 5 shutdown is nothing more than political theater. If there is anyone that should be considered extremists on this issue, it’s McNeilly, for his longtime work as a DeVos-family operative, and the Enbridge Corporation, which constantly puts the Great Lakes ecosystem at risk with their pipelines.Leave a comment
from → Indy News
LAST NIGHT’S CITY COMMISSION MEETING ON THE 2022 BUDGET WAS JUST THE LATEST EXAMPLE OF GOVERNMENT CONTEMPT OF PUBLIC INPUTMay 19, 2021
tags: City Manager Mark Washington, defunding the
GRPD , Grand Rapids 2022City Budget ,
participatory budgeting by Jeff Smith (GRIID) Last night, the Grand Rapids City Commission held their final opportunity for people to comment on the 2022 City Budget. As has been the case for the past year, the overwhelming number of people who called in were in favor of Defunding the GRPD to the City Charter mandated 32%. Those who favored reducing the GRPD budget also echoed the demands of the group Defund the GRPD,
which included a no vote on adopting the 2022 Budget as is and providing a participatory budgeting process so that the public has a real say in how their tax money is spent. There were some who called in to support the GRPD and the current proposed City Budget, which included former police officers, the head of Voice for the Badge, people (white) who didn’t live in Grand Rapids and someone representing the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce. You can draw these conclusions for yourself, by watching/listening to last nights City Commission meeting.
There was some local commercial news coverage of last night’s meeting, but not as much as one would think. Only MLiveand WZZM 13
ran
stories, as of this posting. The coverage from both of these dominant news sources was fairly standard as far as commercial news reportinggoes.
FIRST, both channel 13 and MLive did the whole both sides of the issue perspective. WZZM 13 had short comments from someone who is with Defund the GRPD and a neighborhood association representative. The headline for the Live article read, _OPINIONS FOR AND AGAINST ‘DEFUNDING THE POLICE’ VOICED TO GRAND RAPIDS CITY COMMISSIONERS_. However, the MLive writer even acknowledged in the second paragraph: _“about 30 people called in to the Grand Rapids City Commission’s virtual meeting, with t__HE MAJORITY__ of them telling city commissioners to defund the Grand Rapids Police Department.”_ This didn’t stop the MLive writer from providing equal comments from those who were demanding a defunding of the GRPD and those who supporter the GRPD. This is just dishonest reporting, all in the name of presenting both sides. SECOND, both news agencies never bother to provide any verification of the claims made by the public or City officials, instead they chose to act as stenographers on a topic that has far reaching implications forthis community.
THIRD, the MLive article then gave the most space to City Manager Mark Washington. Washington, who is appointed by the City Commission and not elected, stated that the examples of cities that are using participatory budgeting, “only allocate a small fraction of their budgets for residents to directly say where the money goes.” While this may be true in some cases, it is not so in all cases, as one can read on the Participatory Budgeting Project page. Such
dismissive comments from Washington miss the main point, which is the fact that there are cities all across the country and all across the world where the public has a say in how they want municipalities tospent public money.
Washington is then quoted at length, saying: _“There is no city, mid-size urban city that turns over the entire budget from which there are bond requirements, there are debt obligations, contractual obligations for the entire — there’s no government that, the state doesn’t do it, the county doesn’t do it, the federal government surely doesn’t do it,” Washington said. “But there are ways to engage community members in the budgeting process and I think this budget has done that prior to the post-budget adoption process and we are even willing to do it even more (after the budget is adopted).”_ FIRST, when Washington claims the city has engaged the community in this budgeting process WITHOUT providing clear examples of how that has happened is bullshit. The MLive writer should have questioned him or at least verified such a claim. SECONDLY, Washington’s comment about no local, county or federal government giving the public complete say in the budgeting process in simply stupid. No one else does it, so we shouldn’t? Let’s think about that for a second using the same logic. If no local or federal government has abolished slavery, we shouldn’t do it either. If no local or federal government every provided Black people the right the vote, we shouldn’t do it either. If no local or federal government passed laws or ordinances against lynching, we shouldn’t do it either. If no local or federal government made it illegal to practice red-lining, then we shouldn’t do it either…….hopefully, you getthe point.
Ultimately, what Mark Washington is saying is that the public is incapable of having an informed say in the “complexities” of the City Budget. Washington and the rest of the City Officials have made it clear that they do not believe in participatory democracy and that lots of people in this community – which is code for Black, Brown and poor – do not know what is best for themselves. Fortunately, many social justice movements in this community, specifically Defund the GRPD, fully believe in the value of letting people, particularly people most affected by police harm, have a say in how money should be spent in this community.Leave a comment
from → Dissecting the Local News, Indy News
WHAT CAN WE DO TO SUPPORT PALESTINIAN LIBERATION IN WEST MICHIGAN?May 18, 2021
tags: Christian Zionism , Palestinian struggle , Pro-Israeli PAC money , Solidarity with Palestine, US support of
Israel
by Jeff Smith (GRIID) * Get educated. See the list of books, films and online sources below. It is especially critical that we understand the history of US support for Israel, if we want to understand the Palestinian struggle. * Make sure you center the voices and lived experiences of Palestinians who live in West Michigan. Contact the Arab American Association of West Michigan. * Protest US Aid to Israel. Do actions at Senator Peters and Senator Stabenow’s offices, since both of them have consistently support Israel. Senator Peters is a major recipient of Pro-Israel PAC money. * Participated in the International Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Campaign, which is one of the most effective ways to be in solidarity with Palestinians. https://bdsmovement.net/ * In Grand Rapids, target groups like the Right Place Inc, which has lobbied to bring Israeli companies to West Michigan. https://griid.org/2016/04/06/israeli-apartheid-week-targets-the-right-place-inc-in-grand-rapids/ * Understand and Confront Christian Zionism, which is rampant in WestMichigan.
BOOKS
_Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights, by Omar Barghouti_ _Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics, by Marc Lamont Hill and Mitchell Plitnick_ _Hundred Years’ War on Palestine, Rashid Khalidi_ _The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, by Ilan Pappe_ _Popular Resistance in Palestine: A History of Hope and Empowerment,by Mazin Qumsiyeh_
_The Battle for Justice in Palestine, by Ali Abunimah_ _On Palestine, Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe_ _Against Apartheid: The Case for Boycotting Israeli Universities, Edited by Ashley Dawson and Bill Mullen_ _Inter/Nationalism: Decolonizing Native America and Palestine, bySteven Salaita_
_Ten Myths About Israel, by Ilan Pappe_ _Apartheid Israel: The Politics of an Analogy, by Jon Soske and SeanJacobs_
_Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, by John Mearsheimer and StephenWalt_
_Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians, byNoam Chomsky_
FILMS
_Occupation 101_
_The Occupation of the American Mind: Israel’s Public Relations War in the United States_ _Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land: US Media and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict_ _Al-Nakba: The Palestinian Catastrophe 1948_ _Waiting for Armageddon_ _With God on Our Side_ONLINE RESOURCES
https://electronicintifada.net/https://merip.org/
https://fpif.org/
https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/ https://bdsmovement.net/ https://www.btselem.org/Leave a comment
from → Indy News
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* Indigenous community in Grand Rapids hosts vigil/protest to hold the Catholic Church accountable for genocidal acts perpetrated against Indigenous children * What if we shut down the Meijer Golf Tournament: Demanding Food Justice, not Food Charity * Reflections on One Year After the May 30th Rebellion inGrand Rapids
* Group calls for boycott of the Allendale Summer Concert Series: An interview with Mitch Kahle with the Michigan Association of CivilRights Activists
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