Grand Rapids, MI – The Grand Rapids Coalition to Oppose Trump called a protest in coordination with the National Day of Action to honor the late civil rights leader John Lewis. The coalition formed a week before, with a dozen community organizations and leaders united to oppose the Trump agenda. The entire event was planned and executed in less than a week after the coalition was founded.

Starting at Ah-Nab-Awen Park, the crowd of over 300 community members overlooked the concrete stage at the bank of the Grand River. Several speakers honored John Lewis and spoke of his important contributions to the civil rights movement and voting rights.

“Where would America be without our civil rights leaders?” asked Israel Siku, the spokesperson and translator for the family of Patrick Lyoya, who was killed by Grand Rapids Police Department Officer Christopher Schurr in April 2022.

Julian Cortez of the Grand Rapids chapter of the National Alliance Against Racists and Political Repression stated, “This struggle has only intensified under the Trump administration, and our organization is on the front lines of the fight against deportation and ICE repression. One of our national members from Los Angeles, Alejandro Orellana, was recently arrested by the FBI for having provided assistance to the community being teargassed, all this in the context of the surge in resistance to ICE taking place. We view this as a case of racist and political repression, and demand that Alejandro’s charges be dropped.”

The Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression is a founding member of the coalition.

Andrica Cage, the mother of Samuel Sterling, told of unity after her son was murdered by Michigan State Police Officer Brian Keely. Cage stated, “We have to stand; if we don’t stand we stand for nothing. Let’s stand together, all this racism, all this stuff that doesn’t make any sense. The only way is to stand, not against each other, but with each other.”

“More and more people are waking up to the injustices being committed by the United States,” said Emerson Wolfe, a co-chair of Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids. They continued the call for unity and endorsed the coalition by saying, “We need to create a mass movement for real change over the next three years and beyond.”

The rally then transitioned into a march through the streets of downtown Grand Rapids. The crowd crossed a pedestrian bridge to honor Lewis' legendary march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The chants focused on immigrant, Black, student and queer rights. “When immigrant rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!”

The march ended at Calder Plaza, situated between the Federal Building and Kent County Courthouse, where several more organizers were given a chance to speak.

An organizer from Movimiento Cosecha emphasized that ICE raids did not start with the Trump administration, “It doesn’t matter who is in the White House, ICE was still kidnapping our loved ones and neighbors.” They emphasized the demand that the Grand Rapids City Commission grant the city “sanctuary status.” The City Commission has been avoiding this topic, as well as rumors regarding Grand Rapids Police Department cooperating with ICE after leaked documents showed license plate readers installed around the city were being searched for Immigration-related warrants.

The event concluded without harassment or arrests from the local police. The crowd engaged with organizers and table volunteers for another hour to get more information on groups belonging to the new coalition.

#GrandRapidsMI #MI #PeoplesStruggles #ImmigrantRights #Feature