GRIID Year in Review Part I: Monitoring the Dominant News Media
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It is that time of the year, where we look back at what we have been posting about and what has been taking place in 2020 in West Michigan.
Today’s post is the first in a four part series where we identify the work that GRIID does. In Part I, we will look at the narratives put forth by the dominant news sources in West Michigan and how those narratives serve power. In Part II, we will look at how GRIID reported on the Grand Rapids Power Structure. Part III will explore the impact of the COVID pandemic, who was most impacted by it and who used the pandemic to their own benefit. In Part IV, we will explore the role that social movements have played in 2020, those that have been organizing for several years and new movements that came about, particularly after the May 30th rebellion in Grand Rapids.
Deconstructing the Dominant News
In 2020, we posted 45 different news deconstructions, some that dealt with single stories and some that provided a critique of numerous news sources on the same issue or event.
Most of the news stories we deconstruct has to do with how the local news media reports on those with power, both financial and political power. We began the year with a critique of how the news media reported on the DeVos-created AmplifyGR project in the Boston Square neighborhood.
We also regularly deconstructed how the dominant news sources reported on politicians, such as the interview with the Grand Rapids Mayor, which only included coverage of progress that has been made in recent years.
However, the major source of news deconstructions that we did in 2020, centered around the COVID crisis and the aftermath of the May 30th rebellion in Grand Rapids, particularly how the dominant news reported on the GRPD and White Supremacist groups.
We looked at how the dominant news agencies reported on the anti-lockdown protests in Lansing and in Grand Rapids in May.
In early June, we looked at dozens of local news stories on the May 30th rebellion in Grand Rapids an found that the dominant news sources centered the voices of elected officials, downtown businesses and the GRPD, while marginalizing Black voices that were involved in organizing the resistance to state violence.
From June until now, the dominant news sources have not only centered the perspective of the GRPD, they often would run stories based almost exclusively on Media Release put out by the City of Grand Rapids or the GRPD. Here are two examples of the how the dominant news agencies cooperate with the GRPD; Grand Rapids news media acts as a conduit for the GRPD, twice in the same day and The Local News Media continues to be a Press Agent for the GRPD.
Equally disturbing is how the local news agencies either provided a platform for White Supremacist groups or failure to adequately investigate them. In early July, WOOD TV 8 did a story on the Michigan Liberty Militia, never challenging once the claims made by its members. Just a few days later, channel 8 then did a story that essentially tried to demonize anti-racist and anti-fascist organizers.
The ongoing failure of how dominant news sources treated White Supremacist groups, became evident after several armed white guys, all associated with White Supremacist groups, attempted to kidnap Gov. Whitmer. Here is what we wrote about how the dominant news sources were complicit in this act of domestic terrorism, The local news media has been complicit in White Supremacy by providing White Supremacist groups an uncritical platform to promote hate.
As you can see, poor journalism and journalism that doesn’t hold those in power has real world consequences and often contributes to harm done to those who are the most vulnerable.
In Part II, we will look back at the articles we posted in 2020, which exposed and challenged the local power structure.
Betsy DeVos Watch: When the Secretary of Education says faith-based organizations, she really means Christian organizations
In possibly her last act as Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos declared earlier this week that, “the Department of Education announced a joint final rule with eight other agencies — the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Agriculture, the Agency for International Development, and the Department of Veterans Affairs — to implement President Trump’s Executive Order No. 13831, on the Establishment of a White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative. This rule ensures that religious and non-religious organizations are treated equally in Department-supported programs, and it clarifies that religious organizations do not lose their legal protections and rights just because they participate in federal programs and activities.”
Accompanying this announcement was a direct comment from DeVos herself, who said:
“Religious liberty is a bedrock founding principle that this Administration consistently demonstrates its commitment to vigorously defend. At the Department of Education, we’re continuing to ensure faith-based organizations, including faith-based institutions, do not give up their First Amendment rights as a condition of participating in taxpayer programs. We will continue to ensure faith-based educational providers are treated equally alongside their secular counterparts. Under this Administration, religious discrimination in education is never tolerated.”
Of course, what DeVos means by faith-base organizations, she means Christian organizations. It would be naive to think that this administration would be defending Muslims, Buddhists, Native American religious traditions or any other faith-based groups that are outside of the Judeo-Christian framework.
In addition, such a pronouncement also raises the questions around the use of public taxpayer money for religious purposes. When this initiative was first adopted by the Trump Administration in May of 2018, the ACLU released a statement saying:
Freedom of religion is one of our most fundamental and cherished rights. But that freedom does not give any of us the right to harm other people, to impose our beliefs on others, or to discriminate. The ACLU will be watching this initiative closely to ensure that it does not promote policies that violate these core principles. Many in the U.S., including people of faith, don’t want to give taxpayer-funded agencies or businesses open to the public a license to discriminate.
In late June, we reported on the US Supreme Court ruling on that would force taxpayers to underwrite religious education in the US, so it will be very interesting to see what the incoming Biden Administration will do to challenge these dynamics.
It has been less than 24 hours since the Biden camp has announced that former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has been nominated as Secretary of Energy.
So far, the liberal establishment has been celebrating this news. This celebration includes many establishment environmental groups, like GreenPeace, which said:
“We’re glad that President-elect Biden is listening to the thousands of climate justice activists who opposed fossil fuel representatives like Ernest Moniz for Secretary of Energy. Jennifer Granholm has forcefully spoken out against both the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines and advocated for shifting investment from oil and gas to renewable energy solutions. That’s the kind of leadership the Department of Energy has been sorely missing.
Still, Granholm has her work cut out for her to prove she can lead the transition to a more just, democratic, clean energy system. The DOE’s role in COVID-related economic stimulus and the responsibility of carrying out Biden’s plan to make the nation’s electrical grid carbon-neutral by 2035 will both fall to Granholm. Climate destruction is only possible in a world in which racism is tolerated, and we need leaders in government who aren’t afraid to call out oil and gas corporations for their decades of unjust pollution. We’ll be watching to see if Granholm rises to the challenge.”
Now, the GreenPeace statement does conclude with a we’ll see sort of optimism, but what I find in this kind of celebratory announcement is no real assessment of what Granholm was doing, as it relates to energy issues, while she served two terms in office as Michigan’s Governor. Here are some reasons why I am not jumping for joy over the announcement about Granholm:
- As Governor, Granholm worked with the Obama administration on the bailout of the auto industry. This led to forcing auto workers to accept further cuts to benefits and wages, but it also meant that the fossil fuel-dependent auto industry would get public money to continue to produce gas guzzling vehicles, thus normalizing fossil fuel consumption.
- Granholm was the Governor in Michigan during the Enbridge Kalamazoo River oil crimes. Granholm was critical of the clean up efforts by Granholm, but there was NO call by the Granholm administration to shut down the Enbridge Line 5 in Michigan. Not calling for a shut down of Line 5 after the disastrous oil crime in the Kalamazoo River basin should give us all reason to not blindly celebrate the Biden nomination of Granholm.
- While some eco-groups are claiming that Granholm opposed the Keystone XL an the Dakota Access pipelines, I am unaware of her actual participation in resisting these pipelines and actively supporting the indigenous-led resistance that continues to this day.
Instead of celebrating this choice, which is both naive and partisan group think, how about we continue to demand the end of the Dakota Access pipeline, shutting down Line 3, Line 5 and all other pipelines, especially those that Indigenous communities are resisting.
Instead of relaxing, we need to continue to demand massive defunding of the fossil fuel industry, that the Biden administration pass the New Green Deal and a deep commitments to fighting the climate crisis. If those things happen, then I will celebrate.
2021 GRIID Popular Education Class: What we can learn from the history of Social Movements in the US and Grand Rapids
Starting in late January 2021, GRIID will be offering a popular education class on the history of Social Movements in the US and Grand Rapids.
This 8-week class will be online and will explore the power and potential of organized social movements. We will be using chapters from Howard Zinn’s book, A People’s History of the United States, along with some postings from the Grand Rapids People’s History Project.
In addition, we will look at how social movements can be subverted or coopted by external forces, like political parties and the Non-Profit Industrial Complex.
There is no cost for this class, but we encourage those who can, to donate money to the Grand Rapids Area Mutual Aid Network.
The class will meet on Mondays, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, beginning on January 25th. For those who sign up, we will provide the zoom link and digital copies of all the reading materials to be used. To sign up send an e-mail to jsmith@griid.org.
This class/discussion is beneficial for those already involved in social movements and for those who are interested in getting involved. We will be investigating and discussing the tactics and strategies used by previous movements and how that can inform current movements for social change. The late radical historian Howard Zinn made the point that, “whatever rights or freedoms we enjoy, have come about from organized social movements. It was never a gift from those in power.”
Here is a breakdown of the 8-week class/discussion. All reading material will be provided in digitized form for participants.
Week 1 & 2: Abolitionist Movement and the Civil Rights Movement
Week 3: Labor Movement
Week 4: The Vietnam Era Anti-War Movement
Week 5 & 6: Grand Rapids examples – to be determined
Week 7: Social Movements, political parties and the Non-Profit Industrial Complex
Week 8: How do previous social movements inform what we do in contemporary social movements?
Grand Rapids City leaders say they want violence reduction, but only if it fits within a model they have predetermined won’t challenge systems of power
Yesterday, MLive posted a story about the City of Grand Rapids, which is taking applications from organizations in the city that would facilitate a violence reduction program.
The City of Grand Rapids is seeking to find a local agency, which would receive $225,000 in public money over the next three years to implement a violence reduction program in Grand Rapids. However, there is a catch to the funding, which is included in the City’s post about this opportunity:
“The successful agency will partner with the City by coordinating and implementing a program based on Cure Violence, Operation Cease Fire, Advance Peace, NOLA For Life models or a model with similar methods and outcomes.”
A local agency will have to operate any kind of violence reduction program, so long as it fits within the framework that the City has approve, a framework which is rather narrow when in comes to ealing with violence reduction.
The story from MLive post yesterday is primarily lifted from the City’s Media Release, which was also posted on Monday, December 14th. We certainly have seen a great deal of this kind of lazy journalism over the years, particularly over the issue of policing and violence in the community, but why exactly is this a problem for news consumers?
There are several reasons why it is problematic for MLive, or any other local news agency, to be so cooperative with the city. In general, it is problematic for news agencies to not question government actions, since it does a disservice to the public ‘s right to get news that provides critical analysis of local government policies. The primary function of local news agencies should be to monitor, expose and investigate centers of power, both political and economic power. What follows are a few reasons why it is problematic for local news sources to not question the City of Grand Rapids call to hire a local agency to partner with them on a violence reduction program:
- We already pointed out the first major problem above, since the City will only partner with agencies that follow certain types of violence reduction models. What would it look like for a local news agency to investigate the violence reduction models the City of Grand Rapids finds acceptable? In looking at the four models that the City finds acceptable, there are several things that become clear – the 4 violence reduction programs do not address root causes of violence, the police are not seen as part of the problem and structural violence is not addressed by any of the four models that the City of Grand Rapids finds acceptable.
- As we noted in an article from last month, the issue of seeing violence as structural is absolutely necessary if we are serious about ending violence in this community. The GRPD responds to street violence, but never to the violence that is embedded with the very fabric of our community and its institutions.
- The City’s Request for Proposals (RFPs) even acknowledges that there is structural and historic violence, as stated in first paragraph of the section headline Project Scope on page 4 of the RFP. “Many of Grand Rapids’ most economically disenfranchised residents are residents of neighborhoods that continue to suffer the direct effects of repeated trauma and the indirect effects of unhealed past traumas and continue to experience a disproportionate burden of violence and its corollary effects.” Despite this acknowledgement, the City of Grand Rapids, through the violence reduction models they find acceptable, will continue to perpetuate false solutions to structural violence.
- Lastly, the failure of local news groups to investigate and critique the City’s call for a narrowly defined violence reduction program, doesn’t encourage or even expose the public to other violence reduction possibilities. Other possibilities and ideas are readily available, such as those found in Zach Morris’s book, We Keep Us Safe: Building Secure, Just and Inclusive Communities or his forthcoming book, Defund Fear: Safety Without Policing, Prisons, and Punishment. In June, right after the rebellion that took place in Grand Rapids, we posted an article that explored other imaginative possibilities.
The City of Grand Rapids acknowledges, in its own violence reduction RFP, that the Black community has been disproportionately impacted by violence. Therefore, it seems not only relevant, but urgent that the City of Grand Rapids learns from what Black people have been demanding about ending violence in their own communities. The document put out by the Movement for Black Lives, entitled, A Vision for Black Lives, should be one of the ways in which the City of Grand Rapids should view violence reduction. Now, I don’t expect City officials to embrace this vision, let alone even read it, but it is a vision that the rest of us can read and embrace, if we want to force the City to take Black lives seriously.
Council for National Policy, Michigan Election fraud claims and the role of Conservative Christians in crating a far right agenda
One of the best online sources that critiques both the dominant media and centers of power in the US, The Center for Media & Democracy, posted an important document on their website, a document that came from the Conservative Christian group known as the Council for National Policy (CNP).
The Council for National Policy was founded in 1981, and was welcomed by the Reagan administration as a significant player when it came to influencing US policy. The conservative Christian group was heavily funded by the likes of Joseph Coors and Richard DeVos. Richard DeVos not only contributed millions to the CNP, he was President of the Council for National Policy from 1986-1988 and 1993-1994. Other notable members of the West Michigan religious right, that were members of the CNP were Dick DeVos, Edgar Prince, Peter Cook, Elsa Prince, Rev. Robert Sirico and Billy Zeoli.
Earlier this year, the CNP made their presence known on the national scene once again, since they were facilitating phone conversations with numerous groups across the country, specifically groups involved in anti-lockdown protests that surfaced shortly after the COVID crisis had begun. According to numerous sources, the CNP was co-ordinating and strategizing with many of these anti-lockdown groups with the specific intention of using the pandemic as an opportunity to push a far right political agenda.
On December 8th, the Council for National Policy had put out a document entitled, Five States and the Election Irregularities and Issues. This 21 page document begins with a list of bullet points about the so-called election irregularities, ending with the following point: “There is no constitutional obligation for Congress to accept fraudulent vote and electoral votes.”
The section that focuses on Michigan is four pages long, and provides dozens of bullet points on supposed election fraud. At one point, the document cities a group called the Great Lakes Justice Center, which had filed its own lawsuit claiming election fraud in Michigan. The Great Lakes Justice Center is worth noting, since they filed a lawsuit in early May against Gov. Whitmer on behalf of several faith based groups, saying the lockdown orders were a violation of religious freedoms.
The Great Lakes Justice Center has a long history of defending religious groups that actively discriminate against the LGBTQ community. A Lansing-based news source, City Pulse, reported on one example and the ACLU has documented other cases against the Great Lakes Justice Center. The Great Lakes Justice Center is part of group Salt & Light Global, which was founded by William Wagner. Salt & Light Global embraces a far right political and religious worldview. The “Resources” section on their homepage is a who’s who of far right religious groups, including the Federalist Society, Hillsdale College, Wall Builders, the Discovery Institute and the Acton Institute.
This newly revealed document from the Council for National Policy is important, because it once again demonstrates that they play a major role in promoting a far right agenda, which is not only coming from the Republican Party. The 21 page document was also attached to a letter sent out by numerous conservative Christian groups, like the CNP, where these leaders were essentially saying that Donald Trump was the lawful winner of the 2020 election.
Whatever one thinks about groups like the Council for National Policy, it would be a mistake to be dismissive of them, not only because of the role they play in facilitating and crafting a far right agenda, but also because of their funding sources, which current includes the Koch and DeVos families. For more on the CNP, we highly recommend the book, Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right, by Anne Nelson.
Welcome to the next installment of West Michigan Far Right Watch, where we keep tabs on the far right in this area and provide a summary of what they are up to and what kind of messages they are promoting in this community. As a matter of clarification, when we say the Far Right, we mean those in the streets who fight to defend White Supremacy, those who promote far right ideology, an those with political and economic power.
We have three examples for this installment. The first example is The first example comes to us from the American Patriot Council (APC), which continues to use misinformation to rally their supporters. In an article they posted on December 9, entitled, With Trump Second Term Looming, Democrat Plan B Begins To Emerge, the APC claims that State Representative Cynthia Johnson made threats against Trump supporters in a viral video. The APC fails to acknowledge that days before Rep. Johnson made the video, she had received numerous phone calls from Trump supporters, most of which were racist in nature and with at least one person saying she should be lynched.
The APC article also states that there is a wave of overwhelming evidence that the Democrats committed voter fraud. The article posted on the American Patriot Council’s site offers NO documentation or examples of the supposed evidence that the Democrats committed voter fraud, instead they quote one of the two “founding fathers” of the APC who says, “if they can’t steal it they’ll create massive civil unrest.”
The second example comes to us from the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty. In an article posted by their publication editor, Rev. Ben Johnson, he celebrates the Supreme Court ruling on allowing faith communities to continue to gather, even in the midst of a pandemic. The Supreme Court was hearing cases after lawsuits were filed in New York. The Acton Institute has been critical of any government limitation on religious worship during the pandemic, so this article is consistent with their stance on this issue.
Within the article, the Acton writer cites several sources that are referred to as First Amendment litigators. The groups they cite are First Liberty Institute, which is a Right Wing Christian Law firm, with endorsements from the likes of Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee. The other source cited in the Acton article comes from the Alliance Defending Freedom, another Far Right legal team that the Southern Poverty Law Center refers to as a Hate Group. Lastly, the Alliance Defending Freedom was obtained a few years ago to defend Christian adoption agencies in Michigan who were denying same sex couples from adopting.
Our third, and last example, is something we reported on a few days ago, where Michigan legislators, both federal and state, signed on to the Texas lawsuit claiming that there was voter fraud in several states, including Michigan. Read about the details here.
Most of the Congressional and State Representatives from Michigan that signed on to the Texas State lawsuit have DeVos backing
Yesterday, MLive reported that 4 Congressional Representatives from Michigan and 12 State Representatives, signed on to the Texas lawsuit that seeks to invalidate the 2020 Election results.
The 6-page legal brief that the 12 Michigan State Representatives signed on to can be read here. The brief states in part:
The proposed complaint-in-intervention seeks a declaratory judgment and an injunction against the various Defendants to establish a constitutional process for the selection of Presidential electors from Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Georgia (“Defendant States”) relating to the November 3, 2020 election of President and Vice President and future elections. In each case, Article II requires the state legislatures to have a post-election certification vote of their respective Presidential electors before their votes can be counted for President and Vice President.
The legal brief cites the following themes as being unConstitutional:
- Witnesses say that GOP poll watchers we denied access
- Absentee ballot errors were high
- Election official irregularities
- Disparate impact
- Possible massive government official manipulation of absentee ballots
- Videos of: poll workers erupting in cheers as poll challengers are removed
- Facts for which no independently verified reasonable explanation yet exists
Not surprising, the four Michigan Congressional Representatives have all received significant financial backing from the DeVos family. According to OpenSecrets.org, during the 2020 election alone, here is what the four received from DeVos-owned companies:
Amway/Alticor Inc $38,900
Rdv Corp $19,000
RDV Corp $16,800
Amway/Alticor Inc $10,150
Amway/Alticor Inc $16,250
Rdv Corp $8,100
Dp Fox Ventures $5,600
Amway/Alticor Inc $18,250
Rdv Corp $9,100
Dp Fox Ventures $5,600
There were also 12 GOP members of the Michigan State House who also signed on to the Texas lawsuit. Those 12 are listed below, with links to their campaign finances, and as you can see half of these politicians also have received funding from the DeVos family. Each of the 12 State Representatives are hyperlinked so you c an see where there money comes from an those who have been funded by the DeVos family have an amount listed below their name.
DeVos $5,000
DeVos $9,000
DeVos $14,000
DeVos $6,000
DeVos $6,000
DeVos $5,000
We post this information to make the point that these are the kind of politicians that the DeVos cartel has endorsed. It also means the DeVos family endorses these kind of tactics that have originated from the Trump Administration, tactics that demonstrate that partisan politics is about winning, and has nothing to do with the well being of human beings.
The great linguist and political writer Noam Chomsky taught me the importance of reading the business press, since it is often a better form of journalism and where members of the Capitalist class are often more honest.
This honesty was reflected, not in an article, but in an ad, or what MiBiz calls, sponsored content. On December 3rd, Rockford Construction paid for space on the online forum of MiBiz, with an ad that is entitled, Rockford Property Management: Serving with Soul.
Besides being a construction company, Rockford Construction also does property management, which has been a more recent feature of the company, especially with their efforts to “re-make” the westside of Grand Rapids. The paid content from Rockford Construction acknowledges the value of the assets they control, stating:
Additionally, our combined portfolio represents $365 million in assets managed. Thanks to our wide-ranging capabilities, we stand ready to deliver high-quality services for any owner at any property, just as we’ve proven throughout the past year with some of our most recent work.
The sponsored content from Rockford Construction, then ends with this comment:
“we recognize that curating and nurturing community is the most important part of our efforts. Serving with soul is what we do best – and we look forward to seeing where it takes us next.”
So the company curates and nurtures community. Interesting. Does curating and nurturing community mean partnering with the DeVos family and spending millions to acquire property in the southeast part of Grand Rapids, a few years before even telling the mostly Black residents in that part of the city what they were up to?
Does curating and nurturing community mean turning the near-westside of Grand Rapids on Bridge St. into an entertainment, shopping and residential neighborhood, which is what CEO Mike VanGessel said back in 2016.
By curating and nurturing community, does Rockford Construction mean displacing residents, as we saw in 2016?
Maybe what Rockford Construction means by curating and nurturing community is using public money (through subsidies) to construct primarily housing that benefits the professional class and ignores those who are struggling.
Or is it possible that when they say curate and nurture community, Rockford Construction means hosting public forums to pacify people, when the reality is that they are going to do whatever they want because they own the land and have friends with lots of political power?
Perhaps what Rockford Construction means by curating and nurturing community, is to have a family member sit on the Planning Commission an vote to support construction projects, even though there is a clear conflict of interest.
It seems to this writer that when Rockford Construction says they curate and nurture community, what they really mean by community is people with money and people who are part of the professional class…….white people. Over the past 10 years is seems very clear that Rockford Construction has not only been a major player in the gentrification of this city, they have engaged in class war and White Saviorism, especially since they decided to partner with the DeVos cartel.
Monitoring Wealth & Power: Updates to the DeVos Family Reader
For more than 4 decades now, I have been monitoring and writing about the most powerful family in West Michigan, the DeVos family.
For anyone who follows the GRIID site, you know that I regularly make posts that focus on the DeVos Family or make connections to the DeVos family an their billions.
I have had people over the years say to me that I must really hate the DeVos family. My response to that statement is usually something like, “I am compelled to write about and investigate the DeVos empire, since they more influence on West Michigan politics than other person or family.” I also acknowledge a certain level of contempt that I have for the DeVos family, since I believe that no one can acquire the level of wealth that they have, without exploiting people and influencing public policy. I also believe it is criminal for anyone to be that rich, while so many are living in poverty.
For several years now we have been compiling articles on the DeVos family, from a variety of archival sources, from print Indy media and online Indy media, as well as articles we have posted on GRIID.
The DeVos Family Reader includes the following sections:
- Introduction
- Early Critiques of DeVos/Amway
- DeVos Family, Elections and Money
- DeVos Family and West MI Politics
- DeVos Family Foundations
- West MI Media and the DeVos Family
- ArtPrize
- Betsy DeVos Watch
The most recent additions to the DeVos Family Reader are updates on their family foundations, 2020 election funding and various DeVos created projects like AmplifyGR. You can download the 597-page DeVos Family Reader by going to here.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 