Why are people in the US not engaged in a massive uprising? – Part I
“The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.”
Steve Biko – South African Anti-Apartheid organizer
Right now the majority of people in the US are faced with increased cost of basic necessities like food, gas, health care and utilities.
Beyond basic necessities we are faced with the ongoing brutality of policing, the cruelty of ICE, the scourge of gun violence in our communities, the structural violence of poverty and the widening gap between the millionaire/billionaire class and everyone else.
The US government continues to practice a foreign policy that is rooted in imperialism, with unconditional support for Israel’s genocide, for the current war against Iran, for global arms trafficking, for maintaining roughly 170 US military bases around the world and for choosing to spend nearly a trillion dollars on militarism while millions of people in this country are just trying to survive.
We continue to avoid dealing with structural racism, the catastrophic climate crisis, a legal system that protects the rich and punishes the poor, and a political system that is controlled by the oligarchy and is designed to ignore the needs of the vast majority of the public.
So, why the hell are we not engaged in a massive uprising? In a recent article about the student protests in France it states:
“How did we get here? Courageous high school students have been protesting for weeks against abominable conditions in schools, the rise of the extreme right, and the bleak prospects they face in a world dominated by technocrats and tech barons. Alongside growing anti-government protests from Albania, Italy, Spain, and beyond in recent days, the French student rebellions may herald the emergence of a new wave of global struggle.”
Why are so many Americans opposed to these kinds of actions and yet so tolerant of the conditions we live in? Is it because we are too comfortable or could it be that we are too afraid of the consequences of rising up? The US certainly has a history of people rising up and confronting the oppressors, like the abolitionist movement, the early labor movement, and the Civil Rights movement, just to name a few. Look what happened all around the US, hell all around the world, with the George Floyd uprisings. (see the excellent book entitled, The George Floyd Uprising)
Unfortunately, the energy of the 2020 uprisings was not sustained, mostly because of the many factors that people are constantly confronted with by systems of power and oppression. I want to look at some of these factors that not only make it hard for movements to sustain themselves, but make it difficult for people to see themselves as agents of radical change.
Internalizing the values of the system – For most of us who have gone through our educational system and especially for those of us who carry lots of privilege, we have been subjected to embracing a narrative about the US and it’s history. We have been told from a very young age that America is the greatest country on the planet or that the US is the land of the free and the home of the brave. We were never taught about how the US was founded on the genocide of indigenous people and the theft of their land. We were never really taught about how the US system of Capitalism was based on the enslavement of Black people or that the system of white supremacy permeates every institution in this country.
We are told that if you work hard and apply yourself you can do anything…..but that was and is a lie. We were told that people are innocent until proven guilty, yet the US leads the world in mass incarceration. We are told that we are a nation of immigrants, yet the history of US immigration policy is rooted in xenophobia, especially for people coming from the Global South.
Too many people have internalized these values, values of the system, the system of power and oppression. This is exactly why Doug DeVos and other people who control the system in Grand Rapids were in charge of the 250th anniversary of the US committee in this city, known as GR250. These people don’t want us to learn or know about any sort of people’s history, since that history does not embrace the dominant narratives about the US or Grand Rapids.
Media and the carpet bombing of our minds – There is so much media content that is produced, with 99.9% of it being produced to sell us products, a way of life, or ideas that prevent us from thinking for ourselves. How much time do we all spend consuming media – news, entertainment media, social media, along with the amount of time we spend texting and checking messages? Our minds are literally being carpet bombed. Even if there is some important messages or relevant news, it is overwhelmed in less than a day because we are now talking about some fucking celebrity or a political candidates that we treat likely celebrities. Media, especially social media alienates us from ourselves and from each other. Plus we spend so much time arguing with people on social media, rather than learning new skills, engaging in care work or actually resisting the systems of power that have created the conditions we live in.
Individualism, alienation and Capitalism – We live in a society that tells us to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and to simply get our shit together. We’ll join a fantasy football league, but we won’t join a labor union. We all want to be part of some kind of community and make connections with people, but under a system of Capitalism we are taught that competition is king. We sell our labor for shitty wages, so shitting that we can’t afford rent or we have to chose between paying rent and not having enough to pay the electricity bill. Many people work two jobs and have side hustles, simply because we are just trying not to fall deeper into debt. The wealth gap continues to widen, so much so that a handful for billionaires control a large percentage of the wealth, while working class people are dying from hypertension, stress, depression and work. I retired last year, but can’t live off of my social security, so I am now working part time with goats that eat invasive species just so I have make ends meet. How can we expect people to be involved in social movement work when they have no little or energy because they are literally working to stay alive?
The belief that Elections will save us – We are constantly told that this is the most important election of our lives and that if you want to make things better you need to vote. Voting is a tactic and it is only one tactic, a tactic that historically has not brought about the kind of changes needed to improve people’s lives. We can’t vote ourselves out of this mess. Donald Trump is not the problem, he is the result of a political system that was designed to represent the interests of those with economic, political and social power.
Now, I’m not saying don’t vote, I’m say that regardless of who wins most people will be in the same predicament as before this election. When the Democrats control Congress, the White House or state governments the systems of power and oppression are still in place. Sure there might be some mild relief or mild reforms, but overall the realities of poverty, the wealth gap, mass incarceration, white supremacy, militarism, police brutality, xenophobia, transphobia, the climate crisis will remain. If you think that life is so much better with Democratic Administrations then you just aren’t paying attention.
Over the past 45 years of community organizing I have seen movements come and go and you can almost always bet that when the Democrats control the White House that most white liberals will say we are good and can get back to having Bruch. Ask yourself, where were the Indivisible groups during the Biden Administration? Why weren’t they challenging Democratic Party administration around the ongoing climate crisis, the arrest, detention of deportation of millions of immigrants between 2021-2025, the $900 billion US military budgets, the massive wealth gap, the prison industrial complex, the US funding of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the militarization of the US/Mexican border, then increased funding of cops, gentrification, the housing crisis, etc., etc.
We really need to learn from some of our own history about mass movements an mass uprisings. In addition, we need to learn from uprising that are happening all around the world, where people are disrupting business as usual and shutting things down. Those uprisings are using direct action tactics and strategies, they are not standing on street corners holding signs and calling it resistance. It’s embarrassing. I have spent enough time in Latin America to see how people organize, rise up and take risks in ways we can’t even imagine. Plus, people in those countries face more severe forms of government repression than we are likely to experience, and yet they take the necessary risks to fight for collective liberation.
In Part II, I will look at some examples of real resistance and how people have organized in ways to bring about collective liberation, which is a constant struggle.
Both of the 2nd Ward Candidates in Grand Rapids have already submitted their campaign finance reports for the upcoming November 3rd election.
I will list the candidates in alphabetical order, as they appear on the ballot, will include the amount the raised, the amount they spent, the number of contributions, any relevant in kind contributions, contributions from out of state and the largest contributors to each candidate. There is no data from the August Primary campaign finance reports, as the candidates did not submit anything for that quarter.
Bryan Cody
According to campaign finance data from the Kent County Clerk’s office, Bryan Cody has raised $48,419.31 and has spent a total of $46,726.31. https://campaignfinance.us/docs.kent.mi/25017.PDF
For the most recent campaign finance report Cory had 157 separate contributions, with eight in Kind contributions, most notably from Mark Secchia. Apart from running the family business, Mark Secchia is a major Republican contributor and is part of the GOP PAC known as Maintain Our Majority, which engaged in a deceptive mailer campaign in 2024 attempting to attack then candidate Alicia Marie Belchak. There were also two out of state contributors, but both were small contributions. Cody did receive more than 50 contributions that were from people who identified as realtors, maybe because Cody himself is a realtor.
Here is a list of the larger contributions:
- Friends of West MI Business/GR Chamber of Commerce – $12,250
- Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters PAC – $5,000
- Realtors Political Action Committee of Michigan – $5,000
- Josh Smith – The Fulton Group LLC – $1,225
- Sam Cummings – CWD Real Estate – $1,225
- Joan Seechia – $1,225
- Justin Sheldon – $1,225
- Patricia Cross – $1,100
- Grand Rapids Firefighters Union PAC – $1,000
- J.C. Huizenga – Huizenga Group – $1,000
- Thomas Sinas – Sinas Dramis Law Firm – $1,000
- Mike VanGessel – CEO and President of Voyage – $1,000
- Mike Murray – Advantage Commercial Real Estate Services – $834
- Mark Ansara – Advantage Commercial Real Estate Services – $833
- Duke Suwyn – Advantage Commercial Real Estate Services – $833
- Mark Murray – Meijer – $500
What stands out in this list are two things. First, there are a number of Grand Rapids Power Structure individuals – Cummings, Seechia, Huizenga, VanGessel and Murray, along with a GR Power Structure organization like the Friends of West MI Business/GR Chamber of Commerce, which has inserted itself in so many Grand Rapids policy issues in recent years.
The second major issue is the fact that there are so many realtors and realtor PACs that have contributed to Cody’s campaign that it would most certainly impact housing and development decisions at the City Commission if he were elected, given that housing is a major issue that is facing Grand Rapids.
Lisa Knight
According to campaign finance data from the Kent County Clerk’s office, Lisa Knight raised $13,953.95 and has spent a total of $10,787.16. https://campaignfinance.us/docs.kent.mi/25056.PDF
For the most recent campaign finance report Knight received 56 separate contributions, with no In Kind contributions and no out of state contributions.
Here is a list of the larger contributions:
- Tiffany Logan – Law Offices of Benjamin Misko – $1,225
- Kerry Verhulst – Spesh Construction – $1,030.26
- Michael Verhulst – Spesh Construction – $1,025
- Tasha Blackmon – President of Cherry Health – $1,015.38
- Kevin Farhat – Garage Bar & Grill – $1,000
- Billy Manns – $1,000
- Brenda Moore – $1,000
- Lynn Heemstra – $800
- Lisa Knight – $679
- Max Gibbs – $500
- Jeffrey Phillips – $500
- Joe Jones – $500
The two things that stand out with Lisa Knight’s contributions is; 1) Tiffany Logan’s address is listed for Grand Rapids, but the Law Office address is New Orleans; and 2) Michael Verhulst as a member of the Grand Rapids Power Structure, with numerous business ventures and the fact that he sits on 18 Boards, including the GR Chamber of Commerce, Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention Arena Authority, ArtPrize and Experience Grand Rapids. People with that kind of economic power and those kind of connections always want to influence public policy.
Both of the 1st Ward Candidates in Grand Rapids have already submitted their campaign finance reports for the upcoming November 3rd election.
I will list the candidates in alphabetical order, as they appear on the ballot, will include the amount the raised, the amount they spent, the number of contributions, any relevant in kind contributions, contributions from out of state and the largest contributors to each candidate. Some of the data will be from the August Primary campaign finance reports, which I wrote about in late July.
Lindsey Perez-Plescher
According to campaign finance data from the Kent County Clerk’s office, Lindsey Perez-Plescher has raised $28,750 and has spent a total of $22,809.94. https://campaignfinance.us/docs.kent.mi/25889.PDF
For the most recent campaign finance report Perez-Plescher had 33 separate contributions, with one In Kind contribution from David LaGrand. There was also one out of state contributor, the IBEW PAC VOLUNTARY FUND, which contributed $500.
Here is a list of the larger contributions:
- Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters PAC – $5,000
- Kent County Democratic Party – $3,250
- Grand Rapids Firefighters Union PAC – $3,000
- Johnny Brann Jr. – $1,225
- Chelsea Brann – $1,225
- Michael Jandernoa – $1,225
- Brent Webster – $1,200
- Maria Webster – $1,200
- Michael Fassbender – $1,000
- Duncan Macleod – $1,000
- Tami Vandenberg – $1,000
- West Michigan Plumbers, Fitters and Service Trades Local Union 174 PAC – $1,000
What stands out in this list are two things. First, the Democratic Party gave a sizable contribution to a non-partisan race, plus the three unions listed also consistently give to the Democratic Party. The second issue is with the number of contributions from people who are CEOs and business owners, one of which are part of the Grand Rapids Power Structure – Michael Jandernoa. In addition, Jandernoa, Johnny and Chelsea Brann have a history of primarily contributing to the Republican Party.
Steve Tibbe
According to campaign finance data from the Kent County Clerk’s office, Steve Tibbe raised $24,181.22 and has spent a total of $11,331.76. https://campaignfinance.us/docs.kent.mi/25891.PDF
For the most recent campaign finance report Tibbe received 13 separate contributions, with no In Kind contributions and no out of state contributions.
Here is a list of the larger contributions:
- TGIF Victory Fund – $6,000
- Grand Rapids Police Officer’s Union – $5,000
- Realtors Political Action Committee of Michigan – $3,000
- The Greater Regional Alliance of Realtors (GRAR) – $2,500
- Ryan Wheeler – $1.250
- Kevin Toler – $1,030
- Tim Maclam – $1,000
- Steve Tibbe – $1,000
TGIF Victory Fund was founded by Dan Hibma, who is the husband of Terri Lynn Land has consistently funded GOP candidates. Like previous 1st ward candidates in recent years Tibbe received a sizable contribution from the police union, plus two different realtor groups and the CEO of a large development group in the person of Ryan Wheeler.
What is unfortunate about both candidates is that they received contributions from PACs and individuals that have a history of purchasing access to the Grand Rapids City Commission and influencing public policy, rarely for the benefit of the majority of those who call Grand Rapids home.
In this edition of deconstructing memes, GRIID takes a look at misinformation from the Democrats, with a meme that was circulating on social media by the group Occupy Democrats.
Occupy Democrats was a group that formed in 2011 in response to the Occupy Wall Street movement that sprung up all over the country, even in Grand Rapids. Occupy Democrats don’t actually promote the same ideas or share the same principles as the Occupy movement, but they were hoping to cash in on the popularity of that movement. A major theme of the Occupy movement was the 99% vs the 1%, which is interesting since this movement took off during the later part of the first term of the Obama Administration.
The text of the meme I am deconstructing today is:
That Darn Obama! He’s given full amnesty to 3 million illegal immigrants, banned assault weapons and secretly armed Iran! Just kidding, that was Reagan!
The intent of this meme is to slam the Republican Party. However, the meme is misleading and includes false or misleading statements, all of which I want to deconstruct. The meme claims that the Reagan Administration did these three things, so lets look at them one at a time.
Full Amnesty to 3 million illegal immigrants – First off it is worth pointing out that the meme uses racist and xenophobic language, referring to undocumented immigrants and illegal. Second, the meme wants us to believe that granting amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants was a bad thing, when in fact it was the last time that in recent decades that any US administration did something positive for undocumented immigrants.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 was adopted to provide amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants, specifically those who had come to the US prior to 1982. This was not because of a sympathetic Reagan Administration, rather it was because the Central American Solidarity movement was so well organized with thousands of people doing fact finding missions to Central America, the creation of over 400 sanctuaries for people fleeing El Salvador and Guatemala, massive protests, the Pledge of Resistance and the Sister Cities Movement.
In addition, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 did adopt two other important policy positions. First, there was an increase in the budget and activities of the US Border Patrol, plus the policy imposed first time penalties for employers who hired undocumented immigrants.
Banning Assault Weapons – The Reagan Administration did not ban assault weapons, so this statement from Occupy Democrats is just plain false. However, if the Reagan Administration had banned assault weapons wouldn’t that have been a good thing? Don’t the Democrats like to think of themselves as having a more reasonable stance on gun control?
Secretly Arming Iran – The Reagan Administration did secretly provide arms to Iran, it what is best known as the Iran-Contra Affair. According to the group the National Security Archives:
Exactly thirty years ago, President Ronald Reagan announced to the nation – after weeks of denials – that members of his White House staff had engaged in a web of covert intrigue linking illicit U.S. support for a guerrilla war in Central America with an illegal and politically explosive arms-for-hostages bargain with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The revelation quickly led to a new phrase – “Iran-Contra” – which became synonymous with political hubris, government incompetence, and dishonesty in the public sphere.
You can read declassified documents regarding the Iran-Contra Affair at this link.
Thus, of the three claims in this meme, the first one is misleading, the second claim is false and only the third claim is true. Like most memes, this meme from Occupy Democrats doesn’t provide any sources to support its claims, rather it promotes misinformation and partisan bias.
For anyone who could not join the class tonight or who couldn’t find time to be part of this class, I want to share a summary of what was discussed. I also want to provide links and resources for anyone who wants to do their own investigation on the history of US immigration policy.
As with each of the 8 weeks of this class we will rely on the Popular Education resource I created and update regularly. The Popular Education resource provides an important overview of this history, along with a list of books and online resources that can help us with developing a robust analysis of the history of US immigration policy and how to frame it.
In week #1 we relied heavily on the book, No One is Illegal: Fighting Racism and State Violence on the US/Mexican border, which look at the way that Mexicans, Chinese, Japanese, Jewish and even German immigrants have been treated since the mid-1800s.
In week #2 we the responded to the question about why so many immigrants were coming, especially those who were risking their lives to enter the US/Mexican border at unsanctioned border points.
For week #3 I focused heavily on the anti-immigrant narrative or the xenophobic narrative(s) about immigrants that politicians and US news media companies use when talking about undocumented immigrants.
In week #4 we talked about why people are taking the risk of coming to the US without documentation and what the root causes of displacement are. We all read an overview article on the history of US interventions in Central America and discussed the motives of the US government for their support of US corporate interests and regional control of Central America. We then did a more detailed account of the US History with Guatemala.
For week #5 we continued our discussion on the root causes of why people are fleeing Central America and Mexico and taking the risk to come to the US as undocumented immigrants. In week #4 we talked about the history of US foreign policy in that region, along with economic factors, but for week #5 we discussed Climate Change and the so-called War on Drugs as factors of displacement.
First, we all read part of Todd Miller’s book, Storming the Wall: Climate Change, Migration and Homeland Security. We also read an interview with Miller about the same topic, but with additional information and analysis.
Second, we read an article from Dawn Paley, an article that beautify summarizes her book, Drug War Capitalism. Paley’s article is entitled, Militarization & Economic Transformation in Colombia & Mexico. In that article she states:
Reconsidering the so-called drug wars requires — in part — evaluating how they have encouraged the expansion of foreign direct investment and extractive industries in Colombia, Mexico and Central America.
Paley discusses how the US used the same model to fight the so-called War on Drugs in Mexico that was used in Colombia.
We ended the class by watching part of the documentary American Drug War: The Last White Hope, which discusses CIA involvement in drug trafficking in order to fund counterinsurgency warfare abroad.
Additional Resources:
Gary Webb Dark Alliance articles https://web.archive.org/web/19961220020436/http://www.sjmercury.com/drugs/stories.htm
National Security Archives – The Contras, Cocaine, and Covert Operations https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB2/index.html
Another example of how the DeVos family uses their power in Grand Rapids to expand their wealth
Last week, Crain’s Grand Rapids Business ran an article entitled, AHC Hospitality brings back longtime leader as its new president.
The article primarily focuses on the fact that George Aquino will replace Richard Winn to lead the DeVos-owned AHC Hospitality. AHC manages a portfolio of 16 hotels with 2,800 rooms and 42 restaurants and lounges in Michigan, Florida and the British Virgin Islands. Four of those hotels are in downtown Grand Rapids – JW Marriot Grand Rapids, AC Hotel Downtown Grand Rapids, Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and the Courtyard by Marriot Downtown, with another hotel in nearby Ada.
The replacement of Richard Winn by George Aquino isn’t terrible notable, but there are some comments in the article that I believe are more relevant in terms of understanding how power functions in Grand Rapids. The first comment from the article I want to point out is:
“As the Acrisure Amphitheater moved through its first season of shows, downtown saw higher overall hotel occupancy over the summer.”
The second comment was from George Aquino, where he states:
“As far as the demand, we expect really good demand for rooms and also for food and beverage because of the soccer stadium.”
What both of these comments reflect is that the Amphitheater and the soon to be open Amway Soccer Stadium generates a great deal of money for the DeVos family. In addition to the hotels they own in downtown Grand Rapids, they also own or manage the following food & beverage venues in or near their hotels in Grand Rapids:
- AC Lounge
- Allora
- Amway Grand Plaza Catering
- The Bistro
- IDC
- Lumber Baron
- Margaux
- MDRD
- The Placery & Breakfast Bar
- Rendezvous
- Right Bank Wine Selections
- Ruth’s Chris Steak House Grand Rapids
- The Kitchen by Wolfgang Puck
- Starbucks JW Marriott
- Woodrow’s Duckpin Grand Rapids
The point is that the DeVos family created Grand Action 2.0 to propose venues like the Amphitheater and the Soccer Stadium, using lots of public funds, in order to expand their wealth through the AHC Hospitality hotels, bars and restaurants located in downtown Grand Rapids. This is exactly why Rick DeVos started ArtPrize, as a tool to expand the family’s wealth.
The DeVos family also has operatives that make up groups like the Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority (DDA) the Grand Rapids–Kent County Convention/Arena Authority and Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. to influence what those entities do that will benefit their interests.
Lastly, the DeVos family spends millions annually on state, county and city elections as a means of buying access and to make sure that elected politicians will do their bidding. It is what I like to refer to as an inter-locking system of power. Welcome to the DeVos Oligarchy!
Join the campaign to pressure Mayor LaGrand and the GR City Commission to adopt the Cosecha sanctuary policies
It has been 20 months since Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE began their campaign to get the City of Grand Rapids to adopt sanctuary policies that would prevent city staff and the GRPD from cooperating, collaborating or assisting ICE in any way that would lead to the arrest, detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants living in this community.
Over those 20 months the City of Grand Rapids and especially Mayor LaGrand have not only failed to take action on the sanctuary policies campaign, they have engaged in a misinformation campaign about what the City already does regarding ICE and immigration. The most absurd part of the City’s misinformation campaign is their claim that the GRPD does not cooperate, collaborate or assist ICE. Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE has been documenting concrete examples of GRPD collaboration with ICE, especially the following examples from 2026:
GRPD assists in the arrest of Byron Martinez on February 3rd, which you can see at this link.
On July 28th the GRPD prevented people from stopping the transportation of abducted immigrants from the 517 Ottawa ICE office to the GEO Group van headed for Baldwin, MI, which you can see in this video link.
On September 12 the GRPD coordinated with ICE to allow a GEO Group van to exit the 517 ICE office and escape without interruption from activists, then arrested 5 people in the process. For more details go here.
The most recent example was from October 3, where activists once again attempted to block a GEO Group van from entering the 517 Ottawa ICE office in order to transport undocumented immigrants to the detention facility in Baldwin, MI. For details of that action you can go here.
The most recent efforts with Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE also involve the local chapter of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which includes information you can scan from the graphic below. There is a list of ways to get involved in the ongoing campaign:
- Attend the October 27 City Commission meeting (7pm) to demand the adoption of the sanctuary policies.
- Send a message to the City Commission demanding they adopt these policies, which also includes ending the current Flock contract and banning all future ALPR technology.
- Boycott Long Road Distillers and all of the products they produce. Mayor LaGrand is part owner of Long Road Distillers, along with former City Commission Jon O’Conner.
- Contribute to the family of Mario David Coronado Juarez, the Guatemalan national who died in a car crash while being chased by ICE.
- Contribute to the legal costs of 8 activists who have been arrested in Grand Rapids while resisting ICE terrorism over the past 5 weeks.
History of US Immigration Policy: Summary of GRIID Class week #4 – Why people leave their countries to come to the US
For anyone who could not join the class tonight or who couldn’t find time to be part of this class, I want to share a summary of what was discussed. I also want to provide links and resources for anyone who wants to do their own investigation on the history of US immigration policy.
As with each of the 8 weeks of this class we will rely on the Popular Education resource I created and update regularly. The Popular Education resource provides an important overview of this history, along with a list of books and online resources that can help us with developing a robust analysis of the history of US immigration policy and how to frame it.
In week #1 we relied heavily on the book, No One is Illegal: Fighting Racism and State Violence on the US/Mexican border, which look at the way that Mexicans, Chinese, Japanese, Jewish and even German immigrants have been treated since the mid-1800s.
In week #2 we the responded to the question about why so many immigrants were coming, especially those who were risking their lives to enter the US/Mexican border at unsanctioned border points.
For week #3 I focused heavily on the anti-immigrant narrative or the xenophobic narrative(s) about immigrants that politicians and US news media companies use when talking about undocumented immigrants.
For week #4 we talked about why people are taking the risk of coming to the US without documentation and what the root causes of displacement are.
We all read an overview article on the history of US interventions in Central America and discussed the motives of the US government for their support of US corporate interests and regional control of Central America. We then did a more detailed account of the US History with Guatemala.
History of US relations with Guatemala
The US government has always had an interest in the rest of the Americas to the south, including Mexico, Central and South America, along with the Caribbean countries. In fact, the Monroe Doctrine adopted in the early part of the 19th century was essentially a policy that said that all of Latin America was the back yard of the US and only the US has a right to what happens in that part of the Americas.
During much of the first half of the 19th century the US was also pressing Latin American countries to maintain a slave system, since the US would also benefit from it, especially after Haiti rose up and defeated the French colonizers and ended slavery. The book, This Vast Southern Empire: Slaveholders at the Helm of American Foreign Policy, documents this dynamic in detail.
However, a major driving force for US interest in Latin America was economic interests. With Guatemala it was coffee, then bananas. The US-based United Fruit Company quickly bought own a great deal of land in Guatemala, quite often the best land. Various Guatemalan leaders from the late 19th century into the 20th century were happy to support United Fruit’s exploitation of the land and the workers of Guatemala. In fact, by the 1930s people were referring to the United Fruit Company as El Pulpo, the octopus, because the company had its tentacles in everything.
However, Guatemalans became increasingly frustrated with being exploited, so in 1944 then they ended the dictatorship of Jorge Ubico (who was a fan of the Nazis) and elected a progressive government that made significant reforms, especially land reforms. The United Fruit Company was so enraged by these policies that the sough assistance from the US government to overthrow the Guatemalan government. In 1954 the CIA organized a coup and Guatemala and put in place another military dictator, since the interest of the United Fruit Company was more important than the people of Guatemala, You can see from the graphic here on the right how integrated the United Fruit Company was in the US government.
During the Cold War Guatemala acted as a proxy for the US, even allowing for US military to use Guatemala as a base for the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961. Beginning in the 1970s, there was a growing insurgency movement throughout Central American and many Guatemalans began to support an armed uprising. Various Guatemalan administrations, beginning in the mid-1970s engaged in massive repression of the civilian population, disappearing tens of thousands, displacing 200,000 and murdering over 100,000, in what Amnesty International referred to as a genocidal campaign during the regime of Rios Montt. Throughout all of this the US was providing millions in weapons sales, training and advisors to the Guatemalan military. (See Aviva Chomsky’s book, Central America’s Forgotten History: Revolution, Violence, and the Roots of Immigration)
Eventually, there was a ceasefire in 1995, followed by internationally observed elections. However, root causes of the conflict were not resolved nor did the military reduce their numbers or end their repressive tactics. Guatemalans are still uncovering clandestine mass graves, plus those seeking justice are being targeted by the Guatemalan authorities.
As soon as the peace accords were signed there were efforts around exposing those responsible for the deaths, disappearance, torture and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans. The Guatemalan Catholic Church spent two years interviewing people and in 1998 published a human rights report titled Guatemala: Nunca más (Guatemala: Never Again). This report was built around previous work done by Guatemalan human rights groups, which were targeted by government death squads, groups like Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo (GAM). We know this happened, since the US-based group the National Security Archives gained access to Guatemalan military documents, such as the Death Squad Dossier.
Two days after the Catholic Church’s report Nunca Mas was released, the Bishop who was overseeing this project, Bishop Gerardi, was assassinated. A few years after this assassination it was discovered that a Guatemalan military officer, Colonel Byron Disrael Lima Estrada, orchestrated Gerardi’s assassination. Colonel Byron Disrael Lima Estrada also received extensive training at the US Army School of the Americas, based at Fort Benning, Georgia.
In 2006, Guatemala, along with the rest of Central America, adopted a so-called trade agreement with the US, known as the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). CAFTA provided easier access for multinational corporations to exploit Guatemalan resources and labor. According to a report entitled, CAFTA’s Tragic Legacy in Central America: Failed Trade Policy That Drove Millions From Their Homes, “from 2005 to 2014, the number of undocumented immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala living in the United States increased 49 percent, 122 percent and 73 percent, respectively.”
The Guatemalan currency has become increasingly devalued over the past several decades and the influence of US and other multinational corporations has been devastating for a large percentage of the Guatemalan population, which has forced thousands of them to flee the country and come to the US to earn a living and be able to support their families.
This is exactly why Mario David Coronado Juarez came to the US. Mario was unable to obtain a visa from his own government, primarily because it is too expensive for most people to afford. Due to limited economic opportunities Mario took the risk to come to the US in order to support his family.
Combined with over a century of US military and economic intervention in Guatemala, using violence and exploitation of land and workers, you can see why people like Mario make the difficult choice to do whatever they can to support their families. Guatemalans like Mario fled state terrorism and exploitation that the US funded only to end up being the target of state violence in the US. This is a reality for most undocumented immigrants and we need to come to terms with this reality if we ever want to have a truly just immigration policy.
US History according to Doug DeVos
“As we’ve empowered more people, we’ve made America the freest, wealthiest, and most successful nation in human history!” Doug DeVos
Doug DeVos wrote a short essay recently, which is part of a 50th anniversary edition of his father’s book Believe!. His essay is entitled, Why We Should Always Believe! in America.
Early on in his essay DeVos does acknowledge that the founding fathers were flawed, stating:
They enslaved black people. They restricted the right to vote to landowners and didn’t even consider extending that right to women. None of us should overlook the founders’ sins or try to excuse them.
Unfortunately, Doug DeVos spends the rest of the article talking about how great America is and how it “has undeniably changed the world for the better, lifting up billions of people along the way.” DeVos never substantiates such a claim, but he does continue to use lofty language to celebrate what America is.
Doug DeVos even chastises people who are critical of the history of the US, stating:
But along the way, and especially in the past fifty years, a lot of people have started thinking that all our progress springs from a poisoned seed. They say that the evils of the founding define our country. So America has been evil ever since.
This is an over simplification of what “a lot of people” have been saying. Beginning in the 1960s there was a shift in what was being taught at the university level, where students and faculty began researching and thinking independently about the history of the US. People were waking up to how US history was taught and started looking at history through the lens of African Americans, Native Americans, Chicanos, through the lived experience of women, of workers and immigrants. Courses were being developed to teach more independent and critical accounts of US history and university departments started include Black studies, feminist studies, etc.
These critical assessments of US history were not limited to, as DeVos states, a poisoned seed, but were rooted in an understanding that systems of power and oppression continued to evolve and morph in ways that perpetually benefitted those with more privilege and power, something that DeVos fails to acknowledge or understand.
What is even more offensive is that DeVos then decides he needs to use someone from history who has been oppressed, but still thinks America is great. Here the aire to the Amway wealth uses the words of the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass to make his point.
“Here DeVos writes: Years later, Frederick Douglass posed a question: “What to the slave is the Fourth of July?” His answer: The Fourth of July is everything, because America is built on “saving principles.” Douglass implored his fellow Americans of all races and creeds: “Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost.”
If a former slave like Frederick Douglass could say those words, if he could dedicate his life to making America live by the principles espoused by the founders, surely we can do the same.”
Note that DeVos only quotes Douglass in the words that are in bold, but none of the rest of his speech entitled What to the slave is the Fourth of July?” People should read the entire speech, which you can find here. I am including the following excerpt from Douglass’ speech and would suggest that his analysis of the US would include him in the very company that Doug DeVos dismisses earlier in his essay.
What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelly to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy – a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour.
Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the old world, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival.
In addition to his deeply distorted understanding of US history, Doug DeVos fails to address the fact that his existence as a member of DeVos family and being part of the billionaire class means that everything he does contributes to maintaining the privilege and power he and his family has at the expense of the majority of people.
Doug DeVos can say that the US is the greatest country on the planet all he wants, but what he really means is that the economic and political systems in the US are great for him, his family and the class of people he conspires with. Doug DeVos will preach that if you work hard enough and just become an entrepreneur that you too can enjoy the kind of life that he has. Of course this is absurd, since there are always a small percentage of the population that will have the wealth and power that he and his family has, no matter how hard they work.
Equally important is the fact that the DeVos family uses their wealth in ways that perpetuates inequality and tries to diminish the social and political gains made since the 1960s. Here are just a few:
- Doug DeVos primarily uses his wealth to expand the wealth of his family, by expanding business interests and investments.
- Doug DeVos uses his wealth to influence public policy at the federal, state and local level by contributing millions to Republican candidates that want to role back civil rights, deregulate the private sector, privatize parts of the public sector, do away with DEI policies, undermine labor unions, attack those who are trans or queer, and subvert public education in a multifaceted way, which includes dictating a curriculum that teaches history the way that people like the DeVos family view history.
- Doug DeVos hides some of his money in his foundation to prevent it from being taxed, the uses that money to fund right wing agendas and provide smaller amounts to non-profits in order to purchase a public image.
Like all billionaires Doug DeVos is a con man, a hypocrite and a coward because he refuses to acknowledge the harm that he and his family have perpetrated in the US and around the world. Indeed, Doug DeVos would likely agree with Napoleon Bonaparte’s assessment of history – “History is a set of lies agreed upon.”
The Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce says to vote no on Prop 2: Always defending the interests of the Capitalist Class
There are several statewide ballot initiatives in Michigan this election cycle, with Proposal 2 being one that has generated a great deal of interest.
According to the Michigan Secretary of State, the language of Prop 2 reads:
A proposed initiated law to prohibit campaign contributions from certain regulated utilities and government contractors and apply campaign finance laws and regulations to additional types of political communications
The proposal would:
Prohibit regulated electric and gas utilities, contractors with over $250,000 annually in government contracts, and people and organizations with substantial connections to these utilities/contractors from making direct or indirect campaign contributions to those who run for or hold offices that impact them.
Expand laws regulating spending on political communications, including those requiring disclosing donor information, to apply to communications clearly identifying candidates or ballot questions, even if they do not expressly advocate voting for/against them.
Expressly apply the law requiring disclosure of who paid for political communications to internet political communications.
The Michigan-based far right think tank the Mackinac Center for Public Policy says that Prop 2 would, “Increase Government Power to Regulate Political Speech.” In other words, they are against Prop 2. The Michigan Chamber of Commerce states:
Political speech shouldn’t depend on who employs you or does business with government. Michigan should promote transparency and accountability while applying the rules fairly and protecting the ability of individuals and organizations to participate in the political process.
The Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce uses a similar argument that the statewide Chamber of Commerce uses, stating:
Proposal 2 would turn around and punish those businesses by limiting their ability to support candidates that they align with politically.
Ultimately, if Prop 2 passes, it will limit the ability of utility companies like Consumers Energy and DTE from influencing lawmakers in Lansing, specifically when these companies have contracts with the state.
GRIID has previously reported on utility rate increases that have been opposed by environmental justice groups like the Urban Core Collective which has stated:
With the progress of climate change, an alarming crisis is growing as the percentage of income that families have to spend on energy surpasses the 6% allocation that is considered affordable. As recently as 2019, close to 14,000 Kent County families living at 50% of the federal poverty level, were spending 33% of their income on energy costs. Spending six percent of household income on energy costs is considered affordable, yet families are spending more than the 30% that they should be spending on housing alone. Since 2019, the Michigan Public Service Commission has approved a total of $274 million in six annual rate hike requests from Consumers Energy.
The fact that the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce opposes Prop 2 should come as no surprise, since they represent the interests of the business class and members of the Capitalist Class. The Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce is no friend of working people and never has been. Despite their claims of promoting prosperity for all people, they only look out for business interests and continue to influence public policy that shits on the rest of us.
