Grand Rapids, MI – On the evening of June 2, more than 40 people showed up outside the entrance of Devos Hall to protest the visit of former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill J. Clinton to Grand Rapids. The war criminals were speaking as guests of honor at the annual dinner put on by the Economic Club of Grand Rapids, a networking club for local elites.

The protest, which was organized by the Grand Rapids Opponents of War (GROW) took the form of a “People’s Indictment” of Bush and Clinton. Speakers from GROW condemned the Economic Club for hosting these men, while listing their record of war crimes. These condemnations included the sanctions, invasion and occupation of Iraq, as well as intervention in Somalia, Haiti and Sudan.

“There is no Trump without the past decades of history, without Bush, Clinton and their ilk. We cannot soften or blur our historical memory, lest we be made fools of again and again,” said Julian Cortez of Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Joining GROW, with speeches and chants directed towards the imposing steel and glass frame of DeVos Place, was Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids, the Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and Michigan Senate District 29 candidate Iván Diaz.

“It’s important to show up in coalition as a candidate because as a grassroots organizer, I know we can’t do this work by ourselves,” said Diaz after the protest. “Bush and Clinton represent the bipartisan neoliberal, corporate and imperial order that we are seeking to disrupt and end. As a voter, I want the people who want to represent me to show up in exactly these kinds of spaces.”

Around 6:15 p.m., as Diaz was giving his speech, Grand Rapids police quickly rushed in between him and the protesters on bikes, leading to a tense confrontation between the two sides. Diaz and the protesters managed to stand up to the police, asserting their First Amendment rights to speak on a public sidewalk, but a citation was issued to Diaz for using a bullhorn.

An officer with GRPD was heard making a comment meant to intimidate Diaz, who continued to speak unfazed after the officers withdrew a short distance. Despite GRPD prohibiting amplification, protesters continued speeches and chants, increasing their volume without it, for nearly another hour. The unity and anger with the GRPD's show of force was palpable.

Throughout the demonstration, it was reiterated by attendees and speakers alike that the two former presidents sitting comfortably inside had laid much of the groundwork for the crises the world now faces.

“In my 57 years on this planet, I have realized the deliberate divide between us – the distractions, the lies,” said Kym Combs of the GR Queer Coalition. “We have been in a state of the haves and have-nots for decades, and it’s been cloaked by other things by the powers that be.”

#GrandRapidsMI #MI #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #PSGR #GROW #Featured

Grand Rapids, Michigan – Community members gathered at the Gerald R Ford International Airport on Friday evening, December 12, to welcome home Jessica Plichta, an activist returning from a solidarity trip to Venezuela.

In recent months, U.S. President Donald Trump has been bombing fishing boats, threatening Venezuela with a naval encirclement in the Caribbean using major warships, and has heightened brutality against Venezuelan immigrants. The Trump administration seeks to overthrow the popular government of Venezuela for access to the country's oil and other resources.

In response, the Simón Bolivar Institute for Peace and Solidarity Among Peoples convened the International Peoples' Assembly for Sovereignty and Peace in Caracas, Venezuela from December 9 through 11, an international gathering of people opposed to the United States’ warmongering.

Hundreds of organizers from across the U.S. were invited to the Peoples’ Assembly, but due to Trump’s pressure on airlines to cancel flights for Venezuela, only a fraction of those invited were able to arrive in Caracas. Alongside several others from across the U.S., Plichta represented the Freedom Road Socialist Organization at the People’s Assembly.

U.S. delegates to the assembly participated in large panels, hearing from and talking directly with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, alongside other high-ranking representatives of Venezuela’s popular democratic system. They visited communes, met with activists and people’s politicians from around the world, and explored the city of Caracas.

Upon her return to Grand Rapids, Plichta was welcomed with cheers by her fellow community organizers and activists. They embraced, and chanted “¡Viva Venezuela, viva Maduro!”

“There’s a lot of hardships for people here, and we need to work towards making sure that the people have the power, that the ruling class can no longer oppress the national liberation struggles or the working class,” said Plichta, when asked what it meant to return from Venezuela to the U.S. “We’re going to work to flip it upside down and have socialism in the U.S. It’ll be a long road but we’re working towards that goal.”

The Grand Rapids Opponents of War (GROW) have been organizing protests and educational events to spread awareness in the city about Trump’s war threats against Venezuela. With Plichta, a founding member of GROW, back from Venezuela, efforts to organize the people of Grand Rapids against the war will become stronger than ever.

#GrandRapidsMI #MI #International #AntiWarMovement #Venezuela #GROW

Grand Rapids, MI – On Friday, November 21, almost 40 people gathered in downtown Grand Rapids to rally in solidarity with Venezuela, and to hold a vigil for the civilians killed in Trump’s airstrikes in the Caribbean.

The event, organized by the newly-founded Grand Rapids Opponents of War (GROW), featured speeches from the Progressive Students Union, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the GR Coalition to Oppose Trump, and the Anti-War Action Network’s Tom Burke.

Venezuelan flags, which faced the surrounding streets of the Grand Rapids business district, were joined by the flags of Cuba and Mexico. This was in line with the event’s message of solidarity with Latin America, and other progressive governments, which are also under threat of U.S. attacks.

Regarding U.S. domination of Latin America broadly, Jada Dobbins, on behalf of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) said, “The pattern is clear. It isn’t about democracy – it is about plundering resources, dominating these countries’ economies, and crushing movements that fight for working class power.”

Since the Bolivarian Revolution began in 1999, enormous strides have been made in Venezuela, such as those to eliminate extreme poverty, improve access to fundamental housing and healthcare resources, and most notably, to establish a grassroots democracy, with power increasingly held by directly-elected assemblies of working people.

Gathered for more than an hour at the intersection of Pearl Street and Monroe Avenue, the energy of the crowd continued to expand, as local passersby joined in the demonstration to voice their opposition to war. Chants of “No war on Venezuela” and “U.S. out of the Caribbean” were among the loudest.

One participant said, “There is no reason for these wars to begin. if it is for another country’s oil, we should just make a deal with them.” Furthermore, she stated that opposition to U.S. sanctions on Venezuela, which have caused harm to her Venezuelan friends, was also an important reason for her to attend.

Speaking for the Grand Rapids Opponents of War, Michael Amirault called the Trump administration “the very embodiment of war,” and stated the group’s intention to revamp the anti-war movement locally. “Creating GROW was our response,” he said. “Against this war-mongering, we must be the first line of opposition, and the growth of our movements here gives us this strength.”

The city’s first demonstration in solidarity with Venezuela will be followed by more actions and events organized by GROW, as the U.S. continues escalating towards all-out war.

#GrandRapidsMI #MI #AntiWarMovement #Venezuela #GROW #AWAN