News and Views from the People's Struggle
Grand Rapids, MI – The social hall at Fountain Street Church in the heart of downtown was packed to capacity with up to 300 people, February 1. While the folks inside listened intently to the dozen organizers speaking, over 200 people were outside in the freezing weather, patiently waiting to march.
Grand Rapids, MI – Facing snow and temperatures as low as 5°F, residents of Grand Rapids marched January 20 in support of immigrant rights and in opposition to the Trump administrations’ deportation plans.
Grand Rapids, MI – On Saturday, January 19, community members took refuge from the freezing weather outside to attend a discussion and group training on how to take action against the threat of heightened ICE activity. The event took place in the crowded social hall in Fountain Street Church, with nearly 100 participants.
Grand Rapids, MI – On December 14, 30 people gathered at Fountain Street Church, a non-denominational church and event space in downtown Grand Rapids, for a teach-in about the role greenwashing plays in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.
Hosted by the Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids (PSGR), the event educated community members on the struggle for environmental sovereignty and national liberation in Palestine. The teach-in also connected this struggle to similar struggles around the world, including here in the U.S.
Caledonia, MI - For 48 straight hours, from December 19 to 21, members of Teamsters Local 406 picketed outside the Amazon GRR1 Fulfillment Center in solidarity with the Amazon Teamsters on strike nationwide. Braving snow and temperatures as low as 23 °F, the trade unionists stayed outside passing out literature, leading chants and talking with community members from Grand Rapids, Muskegon and Caledonia.
Grand Rapids, MI – On December 7, 30 people gathered at Scorpion Hearts Club, a coffee shop near downtown Grand Rapids, to listen and sing along to folk and bluegrass performed by Carsten Forester and the Grand Industrial String Band.
Grand Rapids, MI – Around 25 community members gathered on Saturday, November 23, for a presentation with discussion by activist historian Jeff Smith. Smith has authored several books about the radical history of Furniture City, from the Furniture Strike of 1911 to the George Floyd uprising and the Occupy movement of 2020 and 2011.
Grand Rapids, MI – On November 6, the day after the U.S. presidential election, demonstrators gathered on Rosa Parks Circle to stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Gathering nearly 150 participants, they persisted through the cold and rainy evening delivering chants and speeches to the downtown community.
Grand Rapids, MI – En una poderosa muestra de solidaridad, los manifestantes pro-Palestina se reunieron en las dos ciudades más grandes del oeste de Michigan la semana pasada para condenar el apoyo de la vicepresidenta Kamala Harris al genocidio estadounidense/israelí.
Grand Rapids, MI – In a powerful display of solidarity, pro-Palestine protesters gathered across West Michigan’s two largest cities this past week to condemn Vice President Kamala Harris's support of the U.S./Israeli genocide.
Grand Rapids, MI – On October 7, roughly 80 people in more than 25 cars drove from Grand Rapids, Michigan to protest at Woodward Zeeland, an engineering firm with locations worldwide which has been connected to the genocide in Gaza.
After the U.S.-funded attacks on Lebanon and Palestine, and the escalation of the genocide, organizers led by Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids (PSGR) launched a campaign targeting local war-profiteers that culminated in the rally and die-in outside of Woodward Zeeland.
Grand Rapids, MI – Around 30 people gathered on the evening of October 6 at Rosa Parks Circle to mourn and remember the life of Khaliifah Ibn Rayford Daniels, who was executed by the state of Missouri on September 24. The vigil was organized by the Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
The stage faced the statue of the legendary civil rights activist Rosa Parks, a long-time Michigan resident for whom the plaza is named. The community activists and organizers spoke from the heart and put the blame for Daniels’ execution on Missouri Governor Mike Parson and connected his murder to the history of apartheid in the southern U.S.
The event included speakers from Freedom Road Socialist Organization Michigan, Grand Valley State University Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids and For Everyone Collective.
Eric Johnson, a student organizer with Grand Valley State University SDS, made it clear that Daniels was lynched by the United States, as no amount of popular support, evidence and testimonies that prove his innocence could persuade Governor Parson.
Emerson Wolfe, co-chair of Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids, linked the genocide in Gaza to the historical genocide of indigenous peoples and other oppressed nationalities in the United States today, stating, “Violence and domination is the legacy of the United States. The principles of Manifest Destiny that drove the genocide against the indigenous people are the same principles Israel uses to commit genocide against the Palestinians.”
An organizer with the Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression stated, “The devastation of this loss, and the unanswered cries for justice and accountability that remain in this community for Samuel Sterling, for Riley Doggett, and for Patrick Lyoya have not diminished our will to fight. But we affirm that greater actions are still required of us all, and by honoring their names, we make that call tonight.”
Sam Tunningley from FRSO Michigan and the Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression closed out the speakers by reading Daniels poem, The Perplexing Smiles of the Children of Palestine.
“When I read his poem The Perplexing Smiles of the Children of Palestine, I wept,” said Tunningley. “I wept knowing this man was about to lose his life. I wept knowing that in his final year he had been following the atrocities committed against the Palestinian people by our government.”
Afterward, Tunningley opened it up for anyone to speak about Daniels or other concerns affecting the community.
One student spoke passionately of his political awakening, which drove him to join SDS at GVSU. This concluded the vigil on an uplifting note, despite the heavy subject and content of the speakers, with community members conversing and asking how to get involved.
#GrandRapidsMI #MI #InjusticeSystem #policecrimes #naarpr #sds
Grand Rapids, MI – In response to the upcoming Republican National Convention (RNC), a coalition of grassroots organizations is mobilizing Michigan residents for a march in Milwaukee on July 15 to protest the RNC.
Grand Rapids, MI – On Wednesday, May 8, an educational event on the link between policing in the United States and the occupation in Palestine was held before a march and die-in to stand against a ground invasion of Rafah.
The event hosted by the Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (GRAARPR) and Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids (PSGR) took place at the East Congregational Church.
Grand Rapids, MI – Spirits were high on Tuesday, April 30, as attendees celebrated International Workers Day with food, music and discussion. The Freedom Road Socialist Organization held a potluck to commemorate the Haymarket Affair, support Palestine and talk about the conditions and political situation around the country.
Grand Rapids, MI – On December 12, a second vigil for the martyrs of Palestine was held in front of Grand Rapids City Hall before the final Grand Rapids City Commissioners meeting of the year, where a number of speakers urged the city again to take action on a list of pro Palestine demands.
Grand Rapids, Michigan – Over 300 people rallied on Saturday, October 28 to demand an end to the genocide in the Gaza Strip, and that the United States ends its military aid for Israel.
Grand Rapids, MI – Hundreds gathered in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan on October 15 in the afternoon to support the Palestinian resistance against Israeli apartheid. They joined a worldwide solidarity movement in response to the Israeli government's retaliation against the Palestinian resistance launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
Grand Rapids, MI – On Thursday, September 28, the IASTE Local 26 West Michigan Stagehands Union hosted a speaking event featuring two Tampa 5 protestors in a show of solidarity. The speakers, Lauren Pineiro and Chrisley Carpio, are in the midst of a countrywide tour, spreading the word about their struggle against political repression by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' administration. IATSE Local 26 hosted the event to help mobilize labor activists to rally support for dropping the charges against the Tampa 5.
Grand Rapids, MI – Alyssa Bates, known as Aly Thee Activist on social media, led a powerful event that lifted the voices of survivors of domestic abuse at Rosa Parks Circle in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The event, titled Survivors Against Domestic Violence, was on Sunday, September 24.