The intersection of police apologists and capitalists in Grand Rapids

For those who read my blog you know that I monitor systems of power and repression based in the Grand Rapids area. I do this because it is important that we not only understand why they do what they do, but how they often interact with other players in the Grand Rapids Power Structure.

I recently came across a post on the iCI Nation Facebook page, where the leader of that group was talking about how much fun she had while attending the Acton Institute’s annual Acton University Conference here in Grand Rapids. The head of iCI Nation wrote:

We met  inspiring local leaders –  Nate Gillespie, JC Huizenga, Rabbi Krishef along with learning from international leaders from Venezuela, Brazil, Japan, Pakistan, India and France.

Nate Gillespie is the Executive Director of the Anchor Institute, which is a non-profit that promotes business interests and provides direct equity investments in area businesses that embrace their vision. JC Huizenga has been a member of the Grand Rapids Power Structure for decades and is the founder of National Heritage Academies, a charter school company that has 100 schools across the US, and he is the chairman of the Huizenga Group.

It is also important to point out that when Jennifer Franson (iCI Nation founder) says she met international leaders from Venezuela, Brazil, Japan, Pakistan, India and France, she was meeting with people from those countries that embrace the same ideological framework that drives the Acton Institute, which is capitalism.

The fact that the head of one of the major police apologist groups in Grand Rapids, the iCI Nation, attended the Acton Institute’s annual Acton University Conference makes perfect sense. Policing formed in lockstep with the development of the capitalist system and its political form in the capitalist state, according to Brian Bean, the author of Their End is Our Beginning: Cops, Capitalism and Abolition.

A major function of policing is to hold the capitalist order together, which mean also means controlling the public who dares to question this order. Bean also states:

“Seeing the police as a key instrument of the capitalist class, rather than just as a subsidiary, has profound implications for the strategy and tactics of abolition. We can’t take on the cops without taking on the state.”

I believe this to be true in Grand Rapids, where the GRPD’s union has tremendous influence with City officials, plus the GRPD consistently shows up to protect the interests of businesses, both their place of business and those who want to spend their money at those businesses.

Remember what the cops did during the 2020 uprising in Grand Rapids, they primarily sought to protect property. If you look at every protest that has happened in Grand Rapids since then the GRPD shows up to make sure that people don’t disrupt business as usual, meaning the cops will make sure that capitalist transactions will not be disrupted, which includes the flow of traffic. We all know that traffic is primarily generated by people who are going to work or to spend their money at a place of business.

The social media message from iCI Nation is important in that it makes clear the connection and relationship between policing and capitalism. As writer and abolitionist Mariame Kaba states, “We’re not going to abolish the police, if we don’t abolish capitalism by the way! It ain’t going to happen.”