Misinformation and Copaganda: Why Johnny Brann Sr and Voice for the Badge are full of shit!
Over the past several years the local group, Voice for the Badge, has made it clear that they will oppose any individual or community based group that is critical of the GRPD. Voice for the Badge first showed up at City Commission meetings when members of the Black community, Movimiento Cosecha GR and GR Rapid Response to ICE began to challenge the actions of the GRPD and even called for Captain VanderKooi to be fired for contacting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), just because the person was latinx.
In just the past year, Voice for the Badge has complained every time people in the community have called for defunding the GRPD. Not only have they complained when the community calls for defunding the GRPD, Voice for the Badge has made it clear that they are in opposition to the Office of Public Accountability and most of the City officials because they do not worship the GRPD.
Voice for the Badge is not a well organized entity, which relies primarily on their founder, Johnny Brann Sr. In fact, Mr. Brann is the only person who seems to make posts on their Facebook page. This actually makes it easier for those of us who are calling for the GRPD to be defunded, since Mr. Brann doesn’t have a very good analysis of policing, but it’s also because he regularly engages in disseminating misinformation on the VFB Facebook page.
For example, here is what Johnny Brann Sr. posted this past Tuesday, August 17th:
GRPD in the news again!!! Negative of course.
Media – How bout taking a week off and let our men and women in Blue take a breather. Then you can start back up reporting the negatives-like you normally do. If the media will ever report the other side-G.R. citizens would be flabbergasted with the seriousness of the issues in regards to our city being less safe for our citizens and our –GRPD due to many factors.
Make no mistake about it our city is currently less safe and it’s going to get worse.
Thank you,
Johnny Brann Sr
There are several things about this post that just are not based in fact, which we will get to. However, let’s start with the GRPD being in the news again. This reference is to a few news agencies highlighting a virtual public forum that the Grand Rapids Chapter of the NAACP had hosted, a forum that was questioning the efficacy of the GRPD wanting to use drones for surveillance in the city.
The NAACP forum was fundamentally about accountability and to demand that the public have more say on policing, in this case the GRPD’s use of technology. However, for Johnny Brann Sr. it is unacceptable to question the motives of the GRPD, since cops are not only heroes, but they “keep the rest of us safe.” Now, the news coverage in this case was not negative, it was actually a story that demonstrates that people in this city want to be engaged in the democratic process and want more accountability for how their tax dollars are being used. The GRPD gets their budget from Grand Rapids taxpayers, therefore those who live in this community have a duty and a right to question how the GRPD spends their money.
Johnny Brann Sr. doesn’t stop with just this one news story, he goes on to make the claim that news reporting is always negative when covering the GRPD. Maybe this message sells to people who don’t believe in critical thinking, but Johnny Brann Sr’s statement just isn’t based in fact. All one has to do is to look at any given week and you will see plenty of stories that rely exclusively on information given to the news media that comes directly from the GRPD. Every story that has to do with an arrest, a recent shooting, a breaking and entering violation or a high speed chase, are all stories that are based on what the Grand Rapids Police Department shares with the local news agencies. In addition, those stories never question the information coming from the GRPD, nor do those stories seek out community sources that are independent of the GRPD, thus the steady stream of crime stories essentially makes the GRPD the arbiters of truth.
On top of all of the crime-based news that relies on information from the GRPD, there are also regular stories about members of the GRPD who are doing work that is not related to crime, but are purely feel good stories that we often refer to as Copaganda. For example, a few weeks ago there was a story about a GRPD officer who has been helping teenagers who are in the process of getting a driver’s license. These kinds of Copaganda stories are often picked up by local news agencies, plus they are disseminated through various forms of social media.
So basically, Johnny Brann Sr. is full of shit with his Facebook pronouncements. The posts made on the Voice for the Badge page are never supported with facts or data, and often rely on claims that essentially act as misinformation.
Take for instance, the last sentence in the VFB post we shared above, which says:
Make no mistake about it our city is currently less safe and it’s going to get worse. There is no data to support the claim that the city isn’t safe, nor that it is going to get much worse. However, facts and data aren’t necessary, especially if your goal is to get people to blindly believe one of the worst propaganda claims in this country, which says that police departments exist to “protect and to serve.”
Far Right groups collaborate to deregulate requirements for rental properties in Michigan
Last week, the West Michigan Policy Forum (WMPF), which is one of the main organizations in the Grand Rapids Power Structure, posted an article on their Facebook page from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is a far right Think Tank based in Midland, Michigan and is part of the State Policy Network, which coordinates far right Think Tanks from all around the US and “operates as the policy, communications, and litigation arm of the American Legislative Exchange Council.
The article that the WMPF posted was entitled, You Shouldn’t Need a License to Work as a Property Manager. This article from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, is essentially about proposed legislation in Michigan to eliminate any licensing requirements for those who want to be a rental property manager. The proposed bill is HB 4549, and was introduced by Rep. Michele Hoitenga (R) from the 102nd District.
The post by the WMPF of the article from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy is significant for two main reasons. First, the WMPF and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy share a similar overall ideology, which is Neoliberal Capitalism. One of the principles of Neoliberal Capitalism is to de-regulate the market, which will reduce government regulation of everything that could diminish profits, including protecting the environment and promoting safety on the job.
This is significant right now in Michigan, as property values and rent costs have risen over the past decade, thus reducing the amount of affordable housing. While housing and rental costs have risen significantly, wages have not, thus forcing hundreds of thousands of Michiganders to be priced out of the housing market. Therefore, eliminating licensing requirements for Property Managers, just makes it easier for more people to exploit the current housing market.
Not surprising, the Rental Property Owners Association of Michigan is also supporting this legislation, as is reflected on their website. The Rental Property Owners Association has spent lots of money to pay lobbyists who work to push this kind of legislation through, as well as contributing lots of money to state legislators who embrace the market-driven aspects of the current housing market in Michigan.
The second reason why it is significant for the West Michigan Policy Forum to post this article (and many others) from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, is because the main core of the WMPF leadership are major financial contributors to the far right Think Tank. Those from the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors for the WMPF who have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are Doug DeVos, Michael Jandernoa and Peter Secchia. Another member of the WMPF’s Executive Committee, J.C. Huizenga, sits on the Board of Directors of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
These types of inter-locking systems of power – financial, political and ideological – are a significant feature of the far right political movement in the US. Therefore, it is important for those of use who stand in opposition to these kinds of policy changes to be aware of how West Michigan-based groups like the West Michigan Policy Forum are connected to groups like the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the State Policy Network, for the purposes of pushing a broad Neoliberal Capitalist agenda, which impacts most of the issues that grassroots & community-based organizers are working on.
We recently interviewed Shayna Akanke Marie, the host and creator of the podcast Reachin and Reaching Beyond Bias. https://www.reachingbeyondbias.org/
GRIID – You will be presenting at an upcoming Freed Peoples Teach-in your insights on what many people commonly refer to as West Michigan Nice. Can you give us a working definition of what the phrase means to you?
Shayna – To me, West Michigan Nice is our ability as a community to collectively put on our blinders. Rather than address sensitive issues because they are “too controversial”, we pretend that they are not happening, or we downplay its effects. Our brand of niceness allows some people to maintain guilt-free comfort and status quo while others suffer.
GRIID – In your essay on this topic, you discuss the fact that Grand Rapids is a city that claims to have lots of institutions practicing Diversity and Inclusion, yet the city is still steeped in racialized oppression. Can you talk about the difference between diversity and inclusion practices as opposed to dismantling White Supremacy?
Shayna – The fascinating thing about Grand Rapids is that from the outside looking in, it seems to be very progressive. You see Pride Flags and Black Lives Matter stickers on business store fronts, but then when you ask what life looks like for LGBTQ+ people and / or people of color who work at those establishments, you get a different story. Diversity simply means having people who are “different” represented in a space. Inclusion speaks more to those “others” feeling as though they belong in that space. (Side note – the fact that these “others” are “other” relative to…. Whiteness? Heteronormativity? Says a lot). So, it’s very “nice” to bring different perspectives to the table… to make them “feel” like they belong, but frankly diversity and inclusion does nothing real to address racialized disparities that have been formed throughout the history of this city. I see diversity and inclusion practices as surface-level, box-checking that companies do in order to be considered “not racist.” But when it comes to actively dismantling White Supremacy, well, that doesn’t seem to be in everyone’s best interest. Dismantling White Supremacy goes beyond hiring practices… beyond having a “Holiday Party” at work instead of a “Christmas Party.” Dismantling White Supremacy will require us to identify and be honest about the racial disparities we see in or community… to examine the truth of history and identify pivotal moments that allowed these disparities to grow exponentially… and to actively implement innovative solutions that close these gaps. But when we fail to have honest, critical, and productive dialogues, we fail to acknowledge that these problems are lingering and growing.
GRIID – A friend of mine said that Grand Rapids does charity real good, but they don’t do justice for shit? How does the function of charity and non-profits fit into the framework of West Michigan Nice?
Shayna – Charity and non-profits are a great example of West Michigan Nice in action. We love a good charitable cause and doing the “Lord’s work” but we forget that this God is a God of Justice, too. What we see in Grand Rapids are vastly wealthy institutions / non-profits that put Band-Aids over bullet wounds. We’d love to “feed the homeless”, but we can’t afford the house the houseless. We’d love to paint pretty murals over riot damage, but we ignore why riots are even happening. It almost seems that it would be more beneficial to the benefactors of these organizations to keep things the way that they are. If there are social problems, there are opportunities to fundraise and to amplify these “non-profits,” but what if we work together to solve these problems? Not to say that all non-profits are explicitly harmful, but there is a long, dark history of philanthropy being used as a form of managerial and structural racism, and we don’t talk about it. We don’t talk about them being a tax shelter for the extremely wealthy or the fact that many of these non-profits do not have internal representation of the communities that they claim to serve.
GRIID – What has been your own personal experience as a Black woman living in this area?
Shayna – Although I am a bi-racial Black woman, I have always been keenly aware of my Blackness. I grew up in West Michigan in very white community, and my earliest memory of explicit racism happened when I was in elementary school. I was told by a classmate, nonchalantly, that her father thought it was “disgusting” that my mom was married to a Black man and that I wouldn’t be allowed to attend her birthday party. I was bullied for my body type, my facial features, and my hair for as far back as I can remember. I witnessed my older brother being targeted by a biased school system… and my father being targeted by police. I’ve been told that my natural hair was “unprofessional” by managers, and I’ve been the target of countless “micro-aggressions” (although I prefer the term racist abuse) in just about every workplace I’ve been in. Growing up in a community like this, I always felt ostracized. These experiences became my motivation to educate myself and to understand the root of racism in the United States so that I could be a voice of change. As an adult, I began to see the world through a different lens, and I began to understand how and why these experiences came to be. I have mixed and complicated feelings about living in West Michigan, specifically Grand Rapids. Sometimes I feel defeated because our community is so polarized, and it feels like everything has become a political hot-topic instead of serious issues that need addressing. I wish that more people would genuinely listen to the experiences of others, and I wish that people would understand more about the legacy and history of racism in our city. I’m tired of people acting like we are in a post-racial society and that things would get better if we stopped talking about race. No, things would be better if we had honest conversations about these issues that are turned into solutions and accountability.
GRIID – How does the reality of West Michigan Nice impact people in Grand Rapids, especially African Americans?
Shayna – Ultimately, being West Michigan Nice, means that we are not addressing the issues that affect the community, and we are not being honest about its context or its effects. Many people don’t know about the history of “redlining”, “sundown towns” or the countless other examples of explicit racial discrimination in Grand Rapids because we don’t talk about it. Racism is a public health crisis because of the vast disparities in health outcomes that African American and Latinx citizens face. Many people in this community don’t understand what these disparities are or why they are occurring. Our neighborhoods and schools remain segregated, 60+ years after Brown v Board of Education and we need to ask ourselves: Why? How? From healthcare and housing to education and employment, African Americans face a different reality than our White counterparts.
GRIID – What are some things you think need to happen in Grand Rapids to challenge West Michigan Nice?
Shayna – We have to TALK. We have to be willing to sit down and engage in critical dialogues, not debates, about these issues. People must be willing to learn from each other and to accept that just maybe we are all playing a role in sustaining racial disparities in our community by refusing to acknowledge these realities and to create sustainable changes. We must “see race,” because it is extremely naïve and ignorant to act like race has not shaped every aspect of our society. If we don’t “see race” how, then, do we get past racism?
I think we also need to educate ourselves and the community about the truth of our community’s history. When I read A City Within A City: the Black Freedom Struggle in Grand Rapids, Michigan, it was a bit of a paradigm shift because it provided so many examples of exactly what Black citizens in Grand Rapids have dealt with in terms of their struggles against White Supremacy in the city. When I read Sundown Towns, I realized that “de-facto segregation” is not the reason why the community is still so segregated, but that we are segregated because of decades of racist policy and practices that were designed to maintain White Supremacy. We must reckon with that fact that even if the majority of our White citizens are not “White Supremacists” we still live in a community that is rooted in those ideologies.
I know that these conversations are very uncomfortable, but we cannot be more concerned with our personal comfort than we are about the suffering of entire communities. People need to understand racism if we ever hope to heal from it and move forward. We must accept that when one community is suffering, it affects every single one of us. And we must work together to take massive action against racism and other forms of discrimination in our community. It’s not going to be easy or comfortable, but it will be worth it in the end when everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, class, gender and sexual orientation, ability, etc. can thrive and live more harmoniously.
We should all be pissed off: The Wealth of Hank & Doug Meijer increased by $900 Million in the past 4 months
As the COVID pandemic continues and the Delta variant claims more and more lives, the world’s Billionaire Class continue to increase its wealth.
According to a new report from the Institute for Policy Studies, a report that was issue last week:
The world’s 2,690 global billionaires saw their combined wealth rise from $8 trillion on March 18, 2020 to $13.5 trillion as of July 31, 2021, drawing on data from Forbes.
Global billionaire total wealth has increased more over the past 17 months of the pandemic than it did in the 15 years prior to the pandemic.
The fact that the Billionaire Class has continued to increase their wealth while millions continue to die from the COVID virus and millions more go hungry and face being forced out of their housing, should be enough to enrage anyone who has an once of compassion.
We see them same affects right here in West Michigan, where thousands of families continue to experience food insecurity, are unemployed or don’t make wages to enable them to afford the current cost of rent.
In addition, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), recently announced that Kent County has now moved to a “substantial risk” status, mostly because of the Delta variant and the increase in numbers of those testing positive for the COVID virus. The CDC and the Kent County Health Department are also now recommending that all people, even those who have already been vaccinated, should wear masks while indoors.
The correlation between the pandemic and wealth accumulation amongst the Billionaire Class can also be seen in West Michigan. In late March, we reported that the wealth of Hank & Doug Meijer had increased from $10.2 to $12.6 billion since the pandemic began. During the past 4 months, the wealth of Hank & Doug Meijer’s wealth has grown nearly a billion more, according to the most recent data from Forbes, which tracks the wealth of billionaires in real time.
The wealth of Hank & Doug Meijer now stands at $13.5 billion. This means that just in the past 4 month, while thousands of families in the Greater Grand Rapids area are unemployed, underemployed, face eviction and are experience food insecurity and malnutrition, the Meijer brothers increased their wealth by $900 million.
Now, we are not supposed to talk about the wealth gap that exists. Instead, we are told that providing social service solutions for the masses who are suffering is the best that we can do. The fact that most of use go along with this shows how effective the current education systems and the news media are at getting us to blame poor people for being poor, instead of demanding a redistribution of wealth.
We are told that if we don’t like the current political climate that we should vote the right people in. This is just another system of control that those in power want us to believe. It is an illusion. Those of us who are not part of the Billionaire Class should be really pissed off at how much money Hank & Doug Meijer continue to amass, while so much suffering happens in this community.
If workers were really pissed off about the disparity of wealth between what they make and the wealth of Hank & Doug Meijer, they would occupy the stores and the warehouses and not leave until their demands to earn $25 dollars an hour are met. This a demand they could win, since we know that the $900 million Hank & Doug Meijer have made just in the past 4 months would be more than enough to pay all their workers that kind of a wage.
For the rest of us, we should be marching on the Meijer corporate headquarters at 2929 Walker Ave NW, Grand Rapids, making other demands about wealth redistribution. Imagine what $900 million could do to relieve the harm that thousands of families are currently experiencing in the Greater Grand Rapids area. $900 million would eliminate poverty, homelessness, food insecurity and provide plenty of health care funding. Demanding that the Meijer family give $900 million to be distributed to the thousands of families in this area who are experiencing poverty, systemic racism and other forms of structural violence would still leave Hank & Doug Meijer with $12.6 billion, which I’m sure they could still support their families on.
Betsy DeVos-created Great Lakes Education Project says CDC recommendation for students to wear masks in school is purely political
In late July, the Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP), released the following statement:
“This is the worst kind of politics being played on our children. After an emotionally, mentally and physically exhausting school year locked out of classrooms by the likes of Governor Whitmer and the education union bosses, our children are now faced with this latest attack by the CDC.
“This is nothing more than the next step in a line of attacks on families and students. Even in May, emails obtained through FOIA revealed that the American Federation of Teachers lobbied and influenced CDC guidelines on the reopening of schools.
“We are left to wonder what science is leading the CDC decision-making on masks for school-aged children with this new recommendation a week after President Biden speculated that new mask mandates might be coming.”
The narratives that groups create, especially around the COVID pandemic, are very instructive. No one denies that it hasn’t been hard on students, parents and teachers during the pandemic, but to suggest that the CDC is playing politics is just ridiculous. GLEP makes lots of claims about union bosses and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), but only offers FOIA obtained e-mails, which suggested that the AFT influenced the CDC policy on school reopening. However, what the GLEP Press Release fails to acknowledge is that their organization has consistently endorsed Republican State Legislators, as well as influencing those same politicians with campaign contributions over the years. Who again is playing politics with the lives of students in Michigan?
In addition, the CDC is just making a recommendation and not adopting a mandate on school-aged children being required to wear masks while attending school. A recommendation doesn’t carry the force of law, but it does reflect that with the growing number of delta variant cases across the country, that wearing a mask while indoors is simply sound public health policy.
The Centers for Disease Control have clear and comprehensive guidelines on COVID and K-12 Schools, which you can find at this link. Here are some of the major recommendations for K-12:
- Students benefit from in-person learning, and safely returning to in-person instruction in the fall 2021 is a priority.
- Vaccination is the leading public health prevention strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Promoting vaccination can help schools safely return to in-person learning as well as extracurricular activities and sports.
- Due to the circulating and highly contagious Delta variant, CDC recommends universal indoor masking by all students (age 2 and older), staff, teachers, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.
- In addition to universal indoor masking, CDC recommends schools maintain at least 3 feet of physical distance between students within classrooms to reduce transmission risk. When it is not possible to maintain a physical distance of at least 3 feet, such as when schools cannot fully re-open while maintaining these distances, it is especially important to layer multiple other prevention strategies, such as screening testing.
- Screening testing, ventilation, handwashing and respiratory etiquette, staying home when sick and getting tested, contact tracing in combination with quarantine and isolation, and cleaning and disinfection are also important layers of prevention to keep schools safe.
- Students, teachers, and staff should stay home when they have signs of any infectious illness and be referred to their healthcare provider for testing and care.
- Many schools serve children under the age of 12 who are not eligible for vaccination at this time. Therefore, this guidance emphasizes implementing layered prevention strategies (e.g., using multiple prevention strategies together consistently) to protect students, teachers, staff, visitors, and other members of their households and support in-person learning.
- Localities should monitor community transmission, vaccination coverage, screening testing, and occurrence of outbreaks to guide decisions on the level of layered prevention strategies (e.g., physical distancing, screening testing).
All of these recommendations appear to be sound and have prevention and public health concerns as the main focus. Is having the well being of students, teachers, school administrators and parents playing politics or just smart public health?
Dan & Pamela DeVos Foundation: Funding family-run entities and organizations where they are trustees
To date, we have looked at the 990 documents for local foundations in 2021 for the Prince Family, the Richard & Helen DeVos Foundation, the Doug & Maria DeVos Foundation and the Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation. Today we want to examine the Dan and Pamela DeVos Foundation.
In the graphic above, you can see some of the major entities that Dan and Pamela DeVos own, which is where their Foundation money comes from. Like all wealthy people, foundations are a great way to channel one’s wealth, without having it taxed. In looking at their 990 document for 2019, which is the most recent available, the Dan & Pamela DeVos Foundation contributed just over $12 million to various entities. Here is a breakdown of some of the categories and the larger contributions in each category.
Conservative Christian groups
Keystone Community Church $300,000
Grand Rapids Initiative for Leaders $15,000
Young Life $35.000
70×7 Life Recovery $90,000
Think Tanks and Policy Organizations – These groups all have a documented history of promoting Capitalism, opposing labor unions, undermining public education, and create policy positions that are often adopted by state and federal lawmakers.
Mackinac Center for Public Policy $150,000
Higher Education – Many of these universities or colleges have buildings or business schools named after the DeVos family.
Davenport University $58,500
Ferris State University $51,000
Grand Rapids Community College Foundation $100,000
Grand Valley State University $2,213,000
Northwood University $1,382,500
Organizations that Dan or Pamela DeVos are on the Board of Directors
Whitney Museum of American Art $2,600,000
Northwood University $1,382,500
Great Lakes Center for the Arts $150,000
Grand Rapids Symphony Society $575,000
Hope Network $55,000
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts $650,000
Orlando Magic Youth Foundation Inc. $275,000
The Joffrey Ballet $325,000
Organizations that are run by DeVos Family members
Orlando Magic Youth Foundation Inc. $275,000
West Michigan Aviation Academy $330,000
ArtPrize $50,000
Grand Rapids Initiative for Leaders $15,000
The Dan & Pamela DeVos Foundation doesn’t have as many overt contributions to entities that are far right and their foundation is smaller than most of the other family members. However, Dan and Pamela DeVos are as committed to the same larger political, religious and ideological goals as the rest of the family, as is evidenced by the political contributions. In the 2020 Election, Dan and Pamela contributed nearly $2 million to candidates at the federal level, $350,000 at the state level and $14,000 at the Kent County level.
On Sunday, MLive posted an article with the headline, “Grand Rapids police officer finalist for national award for innovative program helping teens get driver’s licenses.”
The article is a feel good story about someone from the GRPD who works with teenagers who are in the process of obtaining a driver’s license. However, there are two glaring omissions in this article. The first significant omission is contextual, since the article doesn’t address why cops are assisting teens in getting their driver’s licenses.
As public school districts have been impacted by less state funding and the ongoing battle over students with Charter Schools and other private, mostly religious schools accessing public money, public schools have cuts numerous programs, like Driver’s Education. Students in public schools are forced to use private Driver’s Training entities, which often means out of pocket money. The very fact that GRPD officers are involved in working with teenagers in the process of obtaining a driver’s license, is a direct result of economic austerity measures that have negatively impacted public schools.
The second glaring omission in this article, is the fact that the GRPD, like most municipal cops, often stop people for minor traffic violations, only to find out the people they pull over are undocumented immigrants who cannot legal obtain a driver’s license in the state of Michigan.
Undocumented immigrants who are stopped by cops, while driving without a license, often end up in jail or in court, which results in the GRPD (and other municipal police) contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Once ICE gets involved, undocumented immigrants often end up in detention centers and could then face deportation.
The GRPD has a direct relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and has a history of contacting ICE when so-called suspects are viewed as Latino or latinx, as in the case of Jilmar Ramos Gomez.
In recent years, with all the organizing that has gone into the immigrant justice movement in Grand Rapids, led by Movimiento Cosecha GR and the GR Rapid Response to ICE, there has not been one story in the local news media about the role of the GRPD plays in stopping and often arresting undocumented immigrants who do not have a driver’s license. This fact is even more astounding, especially since for the past two years, Movimiento Cosecha has made driver’s licenses for the undocumented community their main priority.
For those who are interested in supporting the Campaign to get Driver’s Licenses for undocumented immigrants you can sign this petition. For those wanting to volunteer with Movimiento Cosecha GR you can contact them via their Facebook page.
Who was behind the anti-vaccine rally in Lansing last Friday?
Last Friday, based on several different news media accounts, there were several hundred people who attended an anti-vaccine rally at the State Capitol in Lansing.
MLive puts the number of those at the rally at “an estimated 1,000”, but WOOD TV 8 says there were “more than 200.”
More importantly than the numbers of those who attended, is the fact that both MLive and WOOD TV 8 failed to correctly identify the groups that organized the anti-vaccine mandate protest.
MLive says “the group Stand Up Hospitals & Fight For Medical Freedom” had organized the rally, while WOOD TV 8 calls them “Stand up Michigan & Fight For Medical Freedom,” based on a flyer that was circulated on social media. However, the flyer makes it very clear that the event was hosted by at least two different groups, Stand for Michigan and the group Fight for Medical Freedom. However, in looking at the flyer, pictured here, you can see four separate organizational logos, the two groups already mentioned, along with United Healthcare Workers and Michigan for Vaccine Choice.
Stand for Michigan was one of the main groups that organized the rally in support of the Holland restaurant owner who was arrested for violating COVID protocols back in March of this year. The three team members for Stand Up Michigan also a huge proponents of a far right brand of Christianity.
Fight For Medical Freedom is a group of medical professionals who work for the Henry Ford Hospital Medical System throughout Michigan.
We have not been able to determine if United Healthcare Workers is a union or not, but we will keep digging.
Lastly, the group Michigan for Vaccine Choice has been around since before the COVID pandemic and they are a group that are opposed to any sort of forced vaccination of any kind. They do not list any individuals who work for the non-profit, so I had to go find that information via their 990 tax document. Their President is Suzanne Waltman, who has been visible on anti-vaccination issues for years. The Secretary of Michigan for Vaccine Choice is Sara Demick. Demick has actively supported Republican-led legislation in 2017 that limited government involvement in mandating vaccinations, as is reflected in a letter Demick wrote. Michigan for Vaccine Choice also has a separate PAC, which has funded Republican candidates in the 2018 election.
It would be really useful for news agencies to provide the public with more substantial information about those who host rallies or protests, especially in this case, since it addresses a major public health issue like COVID 19.
Last Wednesday, Access of West Michigan, an organization that coordinates all of the area food pantries and works to transform the pantry model from a Food Charity Model to a Food Justice model, asked me to provide some training for people who work in various food related capacities on the importance of doing organizing work.
We began with introductions and sharing about; 1) the organization you work for and its mission, and; 2) why each person does the work that they do/what motivates you to want to be part of transformational work?
People shared how they got into this work, why they do and even some of the pivotal moments in their life when they had an “awakening” of sorts. It was great to hear everyone’s story and several people stated that this was not what they expected in a training on organizing.
I explained that the reason we shared our stories is because that is a critical component of the relational organizing model. In the relational organizing model, which have been developed by the group Southerners on New Ground. the purpose of sharing stories is to be able to understand those we organize with better, to be vulnerable, to build trust and to develop relationships. This is in contrast to the Alinsky model of organizing, which is Issue-based.discussion on how a relational organizing model works.
Next, we began to talk about what kind of Theory of Change to use within a relational organizing model. Most non-profits operate on a service provider or charity model, but in a relational organizing model it is imperative that we engage in systems change. One person even shared that ultimately, it should be the objective of all our organizations to change systems so that these organizations no longer are needed.
We then did a little reality check, where I write the following information on the large newsprint we were using – Jeff Bezos makes $8,961,384 per hour! I wanted to have everyone sit with this number for a moment and then talk about how it made them feel. I then wrote a second reality check – Hank & Doug Meijer’s wealth went from $10.2B at the beginning of the pandemic to $12.6B today. The average worker at Meijer makes $11 an hour. We all sat with that number for awhile and then talked about it. Doing a reality check is a way to affirm the importance and the necessity of doing systems change organizing.
In the next part of our conversation, we talked about the fact that organizing for systemic change has two main objectives. First, we have to fight to dismantle systems of oppression, and secondly, we need to work on creating the kind of world we want to live in, particularly by practicing what feminists have called prefigurative politics. Pre-figurative politics means that in our personal lives and within our organizing circles, we need to work on modeling the kind of world we want to live in. This can mean making decisions through consensus, doing collective care, mutual aid work and de-centering whiteness, just to name a few.
Next we discussed key components of organizing
- Understanding those who are impacted by systemic oppression, knowing their stories – having them share their stories – to other people affected, to staff, to board members, to donors
- Developing leadership amongst those most affected – which includes paying them to be part of training, feed them, offer child care and transportation if necessary.
- Doing a Power Analysis with new leadership and anyone else – A Local Power Analysis – the link here is part 10, but all other 9 parts are hyperlinked in this article. This link is a visual depiction of the GR Power Analysis
- Ongoing education/information sharing about the unjust food system we currently have – this link provides lots of examples on the current food system
- Develop strategies and tactics, with convo around what strategies and tactics are.
- Organizing those most affected to advocate for themselves – create union for farmworkers, food buying clubs, garden clubs, food preservation clubs, community kitchens, demands to be brought to elected officials, demands for health departments or any other institute that exists in the community that has power and resources that are not currently being shared in a just fashion.
- Evaluate every action that you engage in, and learn from those actions, using a Freirean approach.
- Keep building capacity, fight against burnout, do community care, bring new people into the movement.
We then discussed some examples of application within the organizations the group worked in.
- Craft mission statements that are more reflective of the problem and driven by the solution
- Have those affected do a power analysis for the board members & donors
- Those that work with migrant worker population can provide resources for them to form a union. United Farm Workers and Coalition of Immokalee Workers.
Lastly, we talked about the importance of not operating in Silos. People who come into spaces that are offering food assistance are not just impacted by a lack of food. People are impacted by the system of Capitalism, the lack of employment or under-employment, White Supremacy, ablism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, lack of real health care, stress, depression and other mental health issues.
Knowing this is the case, what if organizations were offering resources/contacts for the community-based organizations that work on some of these issues, such as: 
Movimeinto Cosecha GR – https://www.facebook.com/cosechagr
GR Rapid Response https://www.facebook.com/RapidResponseGR
GR Area Tenant Union https://www.facebook.com/GRATU4Inquilinos gratunion@gmail.com
Justice for Black Lives https://www.facebook.com/JFBLorg
Defund the GRPD https://www.facebook.com/DefundtheGRPD
GRAMAN https://www.facebook.com/GRAMutAid
Together We Are Safe https://www.facebook.com/TWASforMLK
We ended the conversation about how each organizations could adopt some of these organizing principles and develop leadership from those who come into their spaces. People were very excited and suggested that instead of individual groups making statements, that they form a coalition to make a collective statement about doing systems change work, which could lead to movement building.
It was one of the best trainings I have been part of in recent years, both because it was inspiring to see how all of what we talked about really resonated with people and how they were excited about what future possibilities were in doing this work to practice food justice and food sovereignty.
The Devil is in the Details: The GRPD’s ongoing effort to gain legitimacy and City’s plan to pay an Equity Analyst a huge salary
This is our latest installment of The Devil is in the Details, which takes a critical look at Grand Rapids politics and policies, based primarily on the public record, such as committee agendas and minutes. In this installment we look at more GRPD funding a the City’s plan to pay someone to be an Equity Analyst.
The Agenda Packet for the Grand Rapids Fiscal Committee, has two important items we want to explore here. The first has to do with a $21,905 Battle Creek Community Foundation grant that will go to the Grand Rapids Police Department and used for Project Safe Neighborhoods.
Sounds all warm and fuzzy, but here are more of the details:
The Grand Rapids Police Department has been awarded $21,905 from the BCCF and with the funds provided, will establish a Violent Crime Intelligence Team to collect, analyze, and disseminate accurate and timely information with the intent to prevent, respond to, and reduce violent crime. This coordinated intelligence will allow for the analysis of data to identify high-crime areas and prolific violent offenders, allowing personnel to utilize strategic and tactical operations to reduce violent crime and protect the community. Additionally, GRPD’s goal is to foster close relationships with non-profit and community organizations to meet these goals.
An officer and a sergeant will be responsible for developing a violent crime database and will coordinate with detectives, fugitive task forces, area agencies, and the federal government to identify and apprehend violent offenders. The team will also assist crime analysts and work with local non-profits and community organizations to improve intelligence, assist in prevention programs, participate in community outreach and awareness programs, and focus on youth violence prevention and outreach in high-crime neighborhoods. The grant will cover the expenses of office supplies, training, community outreach and educational materials, and overtime for the Violent Crime Intelligence Team.
First, why doesn’t the GRPD already have a violent crime data base? Are they too busy managing pedestrian traffic during events at the Van Andel, or maybe they are too busy harassing, monitoring and intimidating grassroots groups that are fighting against systemic oppression in this city?
Secondly, when they say this new data and “coordinated intelligence” will help reduce violent crime and protect the community, do they mean that these activities will actually result in having more cops in Black and Brown neighborhoods, since we all know that doing violent crime reduction is code for managing neighborhoods of color.
Third, the GRPD will now be collaborating with local non-profits and community organizations to both share information and to gather information. As we have stated on this blog in previous posts, this sort of behavior, particularly utilizing local non-profits and community organization is a strategy used for counter-insurgency. Those who study the techniques of counter-insurgency always acknowledge that when cops collect information from community groups it is a form of infiltration and coercion. In his book Life During Wartime: Resisting Counterinsurgency, Kristian Williams identifies five reasons why the state collects information. The fifth reason is, “the coercion of individuals for the purposes of winning cooperation and recruiting informants.”
One major objective of the GRPD to tap into the community knowledge of non-profits and other organizations is to seek legitimacy for their existence. This is always a major battle, since insurgent groups like Justice for Black Lives or Defund the GRPD are directly challenging the legitimacy of the GRPD and not just the high profile acts of repression that the GRPD engages in. If the GRPD can win over more non-profits and community groups, they will likely be able to rely on such groups to shelter the GRPD from future criticism.
Fourth, it states that the $21,905 will be used to, “cover the expenses of office supplies, training, community outreach and educational materials, and overtime for the Violent Crime Intelligence Team.” At this point I am a bit confused. Is this the exact kind of work that the GRPD has been claiming that they have been engaged in for several years? If so, then why do they need grant money to do the work they claim to already be doing? Isn’t this what the GRPD made a big deal about back in March, when they rolled out their Operation Safe Neighborhoods? In many ways, it seems that the GRPD just keeps repackaging what they claim to do, with little evidence that they actually are preventing or reducing crime in this city.
Equity Analyst could make $371,850 for 2 year salary
The second issue has to do with another grant the City of Grand Rapids is likely to accept, one for $600,068 from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. This grant would be used to pay for a two-year salary of an Equity Analyst. The position would be for 2022 and 2023.
There would also be an additional $133,000 to pay “equity consultants” and several other line items one can read on pages 7 – 8 in the Agenda Packet for the Fiscal Committee. The packet also states what this hefty salary for an Equity Analyst will accomplish:
This grant will fund one (1) Equity Analyst (Administrative Analyst I) to work in the Office of Equity and Engagement to help solidify internal structures and protocols to embed long-term system changes in our organization. This position would afford more needed capacity to be engaged and co-lead efforts that, if done well and equitably, have the power to directly advance positive outcomes in community and change City protocol and practice for long-term change.
Ok, so this language is very vague and makes it difficult for there to be any sort of community accountability. Also, how does solidifying internal structures really make Grand Rapids more equitable?
The City of Grand Rapids has been talking about equity for years now, but all one has to do is open their eyes and see that there are a small sector of people doing really well, while thousands are struggling just to survive. We know that Grand Rapids has the largest wealth gap in Michigan. This wealth gap has only grown since the beginning of the pandemic, with lots of money going to the business sector, while regular people are unemployed, under-employed, food insecure, being forced out of a housing market hell bent on profits, not to mention the rampant structural racism that continues in Grand Rapids. City officials keep talking about the lack of investment in the south east part of Grand Rapids, yet there is little evidence that much is being done about it. Hundreds of thousands of public dollars have been pumped into social zones, benefiting bars and restaurants, while thousands of families can’t afford rent or to purchase a home in this city.
Is all of what was just mentioned going to be the focus of the new Equity Analyst? Does paying someone $371,850 for a two year position even promote equity? Instead of more studies, more analysts and more consultants, how about if the City of Grand Rapids practiced actual equity by giving the $600,000 grant to Black families? At least that would actually result in more equity, instead of hollow words about equity.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 