Yesterday, we sat down to interview two local education activists, Melissa Courtade and Jack Prince. The interview is just under 20 minutes and came about because of the difficult time both of these education activists had with attempting to access documents that were public.
As they discuss in the interview, it took nearly two months to get documents they had requested from the Grand Rapids Public Schools. They both followed the Freedom of Information Act requirements, but were given the run around for nearly two months.
As you will hear in the interview, the community members came back to the GRPS Administration building and demanded to talk with someone. After they told GRPS staff members that they had spoken with a lawyer about what was happening, the GRPS lawyer gave them over 200 pages of documents within a few hours.
The information these two education activists were requesting was basic information that should be readily available to anyone, especially to those who live in the district.
Racial & Class disparities in local public education: Another look at the recent GRPS school improvement article from MLive
(This article was written and submitted by former GRPS teacher, Jack Prince)
The M.Live article posted July 22 titled: See 55M in Grand Rapids Schools summer construction/improvement projects raises some real questions. Could not the bond passed five years ago been implemented sooner for the benefit of the students at GRPS?
The article maintains that due to the climate in Michigan many schools don’t have air conditioning. The City Middle/High School has had air conditioning for two years, yet sat without it for decades until it became a magnate school drawing choice affluent students from all over Grand Rapids. By having air conditioning installed at City Middle/High School prior to Union or Ottawa High schools while bond money was on hand says something about the priority system within GRPS. The excuse that because of Michigan’s climate there are scant buildings in the district that have air conditioning is laughable. However, if the district maintains that North American weather determines basic school heating/cooling policy, why hasn’t Union High School had adequate heat for the last 3 years? It has gotten cold in Michigan at least for the last few centuries.
The article is correct in one aspect, as it indicates work has begun in some buildings. Interesting at the worksite of Union High School on Tremont Street, a warning sign is taped to the front door stating in clear bold letters: Danger Asbestos. (it is hard to see the sign in this picture, but the photo on the right here is a warning sign about asbestos at Union High School. Picture was taken by Jack Prince.) I personally taught in the building along with other teachers that would have loved to know of its presence during the last 30 years!
Is this not more of the same sentiment expressed in the M.Live headline dated Feb. 16 2019, where John Helmoldt apologized announcing : Mistakes made along the way by school leaders on school asbestos issue at another school. Data that was submitted to the district was somehow negligently not addressed prior to construction, thus exposing students. It would be interesting data to see how many of the favored business partnership schools contain asbestos compared to the traditional neighborhood schools where a majority of minority students attend. How much asbestos is present in the new Museum school where Steven Jobs’ wife gave a $10 million gift to house cherry picked students from around Grand Rapids, not necessarily from within the GRPS district.
The recent M.Live article also mentions declining enrollment at Ottawa Hills where renovation is now supposedly occurring. Is that not closing the door after the horse has escaped by now utilizing bond money for renovation that was available 5 years ago?
There seems to be a clear parallel to the condition of GRPS buildings and the timeliness of their renovations with the socio economic status and racial breakdown of the assigned students. The disparity found with physical buildings based on student dynamics also pertains to the educational opportunities found in differing buildings and programs. A brief sample is indicative:
- Ottawa Hills H.S. – 76% Black 12% Hispanic has a 5% college readiness at Graduation.
- Central H.S.- 85% white affluent students with 70% college readiness at Graduation.
The academic disparity within the Grand Rapids Public Schools is obvious and is tied to funding priorities based on business partnership schools vs. the traditional neighborhood schools.
It has been more than 2 months since the Civilian Appeals Board voted to overturn the GRPD’s decision on Captain VanderKooi
It has been 10 weeks since the Civilian Appeals Board voted to overturn the GRPD’s Internal Affairs investigation of Captain VanderKooi.
The Grand Rapids Civilian Appeals Board (CAB) voted 6 – 2, to overturn the decision by the GRPD to return VanderKooi to active duty. On May 15, when the CAB was making there decision to overturn the GRPD’s decision about VanderKooi, there were two overriding themes. First, that the GRPD conducted a weak investigation, which was evident since when questioned by the CAB members, the two cops involved in the investigation either couldn’t answer the questions or had vague responses. Secondly, to many people in the room, even without seeing all the documentation that the Civilian Appeals Board had, it was clear that Captain VanderKooi demonstrated significant bias during the Jilmar Ramos-Gomez case, which is exactly the conclusion that the Civilian Appeals Board landed on.
Towards the end of that meeting on May 15, the City Attorney for the City of Grand Rapids stated that the City Manager will now have the power to determine what to do about Captain VanderKooi.
There have been efforts by volunteer organizers with GR Rapid Response to ICE and Movimiento Cosecha GR to pressure the Grand Rapids City Manager Mark Washington, but they have not heard anything from the City Manager’s office since May 15.
Since then, it has been known that the City of Grand Rapids was in the process of hiring a new Chief of Police. The City decided to hire Eric Payne, who has been with the GRPD for more than three decades. However, these matters should not have precluded City Manager Mark Washington from making a decision about Captain VanderKooi since the Civilian Appeals Board decision in mid-May.
This failure to act, while ICE not only continues to operate in Grand Rapids, even escalating their terrorism against the immigrant, is completely unacceptable. Captain VanderKooi engaged in racial profiling and racially motivated slander of former US Marine and US citizen Jilmar Ramos-Gomez, when VanderKooi called ICE late last year.
The immigrant community hasn’t forgotten what VanderKooi did and wants to know when justice will be served. The Civilian Appeals Board overwhelmingly voted to not allow VanderKooi a free pass on his unethical and racist behavior. The community demands justice. The community deserves justice.
We encourage people to contact CIty Manager Mark Washington and demand that he fire Captain VanderKooi immediately: 616-456-3166 or manager@grcity.us.
Vigil to Abolish ICE in Kent County
Last night, roughly 80 people came out to participate in a vigil to abolish ICE in Kent County. The action was organized by GR Rapid Response to ICE and was meant to do several things.
First, we wanted to show people one of the locations where ICE operates out of. We chose this location because it is their operational facility, where agents are deployed from to go into our community and rip people from their families.
Second, we wanted to share information about some of the families that ICE has directly impacted through fear and violence, by reading examples and then placing flowers by the ICE building for each person affected.
From our narrative:
We are here at 517 Ottawa Ave NW, one of three ICE offices in Grand Rapids. When our immigrant neighbors are taken by ICE–from their homes, from their cars, on their way to work or to drop their children off at school–this is the office they are taken to. They are taken here before they are sent to detention and deported, just as the Gestapo took Jews from their homes and sent them to concentration camps in Nazi Germany. ICE does their best to terrorize and disappear our neighbors, but we refuse to let this happen again.
Frederick M Steiner is the registered agent of the company that owns the building here, under the corporate name FMS Property Management. Frederick Steiner is complicit with ICE!
We are here to say Basta Ya! Enough Already! to ICE violence at the border and here in Kent County.
This where ICE agents take our neighbors and friends that they have ripped from the community. This is a stop on the way to being detained and deported for reasons as minor as not having documentation, or driving without a license. ICE–like the Gestapo–attempts to do this without being seen, without interference from the community. But we’re here to say: we see what you are doing. We are witnesses! And we will not let you take our neighbors quietly and without resistance.
We started at the front of the ICE building and then moved to the back, where there are garage entrances that ICE agents use to bring people they have taken from their families.
Again, from our narrative:
We light candles and lay flowers, including Black Eyed Susans, which symbolize Justice, to represent the people whose lives and families have been violently disrupted and torn apart by ICE violence. We will now read aloud the names of these people and say “Presente!” to show that although they are no longer here with their families and friends and in this community, we remember them, and we continue the struggle in their names.
A Guatemalan man, who is the father of four children, was deported earlier this year, leaving the mother to take care of the four children by herself. For him we say……
Two weeks ago, ICE visited the home of a Guatemalan woman, who is the mother of two children. Fortunately she wasn’t home, but no longer feels safe to stay where she was living and left to go stay with friends. For her we say…….
A Salvadoran woman named Juliana called us to tell us her husband was arrested by ICE and is now in detention, leaving her alone to take care of their 3 children. For her husband we say….
In March, a Mexican mother called to tell us that her son was picked up by ICE while he was at work and is now in detention in Battle Creek, not eligible for bond. For him we say……
Last December, Maribel called us to say that ICE had taken her husband. For Maribel and her husband, we say…..
Last year, ICE agents kicked in the door of a home and took Francisco, who is now being held in detention. His wife contacted us about legal assistance. For him we say…..
Last November, we received a call from Lucia, who told us that her husband was picked up by ICE. ICE had been waiting for him to leave the home and then stopped him while driving. He is now in detention. For Lucia and her husband we say……
Last May, we received a call from Juana who told us that her husband had been taken by ICE and put into detention. Juana and her husband have four children, who don’t know when they will see their father again. For Juana and her family we say……
Last April, a mother of two children, who was pregnant at the time of the call, told us that her husband was taken by ICE while on his way to work. For the Diaz family we say…….
Earlier this year, Brandon Reyes, a Dream Student, was deported back to Mexico, even though he had lived most of his life in the US. For Brandon we say……..
These are only 10 examples of at least 80 cases that GR Rapid Response to ICE has been involved with in the past two years. We know that ICE has taken, detained and deported many more from our community. We are here today to say Never Again!!!!
After reading the names of people affected directly by ICE violence, Pastor Rachel, from Plymouth UCC share their thoughts about ICE. Their words were moving and they did not hesitate to call out the Church and Christian for their complicity in what was happening all over the country.
We then let people know about upcoming events and ways that people could get involved. Those in attendance were invited to help to directly intervene when ICE is attempting to take people from our community, to help raise money for families affected by ICE, to offer transportation, to do court solidarity and to help find more places of sanctuary for those who no longer feel safe from ICE in this community.
Once more from our narrative:
We also need more people to be involved in our Abolish ICE efforts. With enough people, we believe that we can rid Kent County of any ICE presence, to say to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security…..you are not welcome here. Nunca Mas! Never Again!
We also want to lift up the work of Movimiento Cosecha GR. Many if not most of the people who are processed here were caught by the system because the State of Michigan will no longer issue a driver’s license to under-documented folks. When stopped for a routine traffic stop, such as a faulty tail light, people are initially detained for driving without a license, but then their information is shared with ICE – often ICE catches up with them later and they are processed here. Cosecha Michigan is fighting for Driver’s Licenses for All, and you can follow their FB page to learn more.
Those who are pushing for legislation that will further erode reproductive rights are gearing up for a big petition drive.
The Catholic Church in Michigan will be providing opportunities for parishioners to sign petitions in support of what they refer to as “partial-birth abortion and dismemberment abortion ban act.” This legislation is HB 4320, which you can read at this link.
The Michigan Catholic Church will provide their members with an opportunity to sign the petition this coming weekend, July 27 – 28, and again on August 10 – 11. Here is a letter sent by the Catholic Bishop from the Diocese of Grand Rapids, a letter that appeared in church bulletins recently, throughout the diocese.
In addition to the letter from the Bishop, there was information about the petition and what the Michigan Catholic Conference’s (MCC) position is on this issue – shown here below.
This type of actively engagement is instructive, since it should makes us question the notion of the separation between Church & State. In addition, if religious groups are going to be influencing public policy, then maybe it is time they paid taxes and stopped hiding behind their non-profit status.
More importantly, this campaign to restrict women’s reproductive rights in Michigan demonstrates just how reactionary the Catholic Church really is.
On Thursday, July 18, MLive ran an article about the death of John Tanton. The MLive article acknowledges that Tanton was the founder of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and was referred to in the article as an anti-immigration activist.
The article also mentions that Tanton, “also held leadership positions as president of Zero Population Growth, chairman of the Sierra Club’s National Population Committee, founder of Northern Michigan Planned Parenthood Association and has been active in Negative Population Growth, Inc.”
However, the short article focuses on Tanton’s views about immigration and even provides a link to an essay he wrote in 1975. The article cites the current president of FAIR and an immigration lawyer, to fulfill the “balanced coverage” aspect of the article. However, the MLive story barely scratches the surface in terms of where Tanton stood on immigration policy nor the deeply white supremacist views he held, which influenced his decision to start more than a dozen far right groups during his lifetime.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform is not just an organization that opposes the increase of immigrants coming into the US, they are opposed to people who are coming from countries that are part of the global south. The Southern Poverty Law Center refers to FAIR as a hate group and has long been linked to racist ideas — “fretting about the ‘educability’ of Latinos, warning of whites being out-bred by others, and publishing a number of white nationalist authors” — and is also closely affiliated with a number of white supremacist organizations such as the Pioneer Fund.
The Pioneer Fund help to pass the racist Prop 187 in California in 1994. FAIR had received a total about $1.2 million from the Pioneer Fund, which primarily funds race and IQ studies intended to reveal the inferiority of minorities and to this day describes its grant recipients, generally, as “race realists.” However, this kind of research is nothing more than eugenics, which white supremacists have used for more than a century in an attempt to prove the intellectual superiority of white people.
After creating FAIR, Tanton went on the help found numerous other organizations that would embrace a white supremacist ideology summed up by Tanton himself, who said:
“I’ve come to the point of view that for European-American society and culture to persist requires a European-American majority, and a clear one at that.”
Some of the groups that Tanton was involved with are NumbersUSA, ProEnglish, Social Contract Press, American Alliance for Rights and Responsibility, Center for Immigration Studies and US English.
Last year in Michigan, groups like US English help to push English as an official language, when several GOP State Representatives proposed legislation to make English the official language in Michigan. US English has been attempting to do the same in states across the country and it used to be a recipient of funding from the Richard & Helen DeVos Foundation. In fact, Helen DeVos used to be on the advisory board of US English.
It is unfortunate that the MLive story on the passing of John Tanton did not provide a more accurate and more in depth look at a man who was not just anti-immigrant, but someone who embraced deeply white supremacist values that spawned a multitude of groups in the US. Tanton was said in a 1986 article, “To govern is to populate. Will the present majority peaceably hand over its political power to a group that simply more fertile? As Whites see their power and control over their lives declining, will they simply go quietly into the night? Or will there be an explosion?”
US Congressional candidate, Lynn Afendoulis, who is running for the 3rd Congressional District, just came back from touring some of the US detention facilities in Texas, near the US/Mexican Border.
Afendoulis, who is currently serving as a State Representative in Michigan, had several posts on her Lynn Afendoulis for Congress Facebook page. One post has her in a picture in front of one of the detention facilities with two unidentified men. Here is what Afendoulis wrote, with the accompanying photo:
I’m touring intake and detention facilities in El Paso, Texas today. No one drinks from toilets. That’s not even close to the truth and is a cruel representation of the work being done here by good, hardworking people. Shame on politicians who use these circumstances for their own political gain.
These comments are meant to contradict the well documented horrid conditions at border detention facilities and to criticize politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who had a very different experience of the detention facilities recently. In addition, Afendoulis offers no concrete evidence that conditions in the detention facilities are are acceptable, which of course flies in the face of well documented reports, like the ACLU report, Code Red: The Fatal Consequences of Dangerously Substandard Medical Care in Immigration Detention
The 3rd Congressional candidate also posted a short video from the airport about her experiences at the border. Afendoulis acknowledges that there are “problems at the border,” but she spent most of the time in the video praising law enforcement officials. Afendoulis refers to these law enforcement officials as patriots who find the criticism and attacks against the treatment of immigrants as “hurtful to them.”
WXMI 17 also did a story with Afendoulis, after her visit to several detention facilities near the US/Mexican border. Again, Afendoulis praises law enforcement and border officials, saying:
“I’m telling you, some of the hardest working, most dedicated law enforcement agents I just ever met in my life. These people are really dedicated to what they do to securing the border to treating the people that come over the border with dignity and respect and concern.”
Afendoulis also told the Fox 17 reporter that Rep. Amash and members of Congress haven’t done enough to support ICE agents. Such a claim was not challenged by the Fox 17 reporter, although they do ask Afendoulis to respond to reports of abuse and inhumane conditions in the detention facilities. Afendoulis said:
“When you see parents taking the kinds of risks that they take with their children, you know they’re not doing it for frivolous reasons. I have a heart for people who are suffering persecution and need to get to a better place but I also have a heart for this country and doing things, I mean we’re a country of laws as well.”
This statement doesn’t acknowledge that parents who bring their children are coming to the US for legitimate reasons, but Afendoulis ultimately takes the position that the US is a country of laws and that people need to come through legal channels.
Such a statement is not only naive, it completely dismisses the reasons why so many people from Mexico and Central America risks their lives to come to the US – fleeing political violence, poverty, torture, government corruption and the consequences of climate change.
State Representative Afendoulis said she plans to hold a town hall meeting to discuss what she learned at the border, but did not provide specifics on when and where this would happen.
Last week, we posted an article about a proposal from the West Michigan Policy Forum to borrow money from the Michigan Teachers Pension Fund and use it to pay for the roads throughout the state.
We stated the following:
First, in 2016, the West Michigan Policy Forum was backing legislation that would remove the decades-long contractual agreement between the State of Michigan and the teacher union to remove the state as the primary source to pay teacher pensions and transfer that responsibility to the market. That legislation was adopted, which means the traditional pensions have been eliminated in terms of how they get paid and are replaced with 401k-type plans leaving the teacher pensions in the hands of the speculative capital market. At the time, the Michigan Education Association stated that, “This is a nation-wide attack, led by Enron billionaire Tom Arnold, whose Arnold Foundation is flooding right wing think tanks across the nation with funding to do this work. The Enron meltdown cost public pension funds $1.5 billion in losses.”
Second, the West Michigan Policy Forum has not been shy about their efforts to undermine unions, such as the 2016 legislation to attack the teacher unions and more recently, their push to undermine public sector unions, by calling health care benefits and pensions of government employees “unfunded mandates” as well.
Therefore, what Chase Bolger and the West Michigan Policy Forum is now proposing, is to take money from the Teacher Pension Fund (money that was previously guaranteed by the State and now is placed in the speculative capital market) and place that in the speculative capital market in order to make money to pay for the roads. Not only does the West Michigan Policy Forum see the speculative capital markets as the financial savior of us all, they are ultimately interested in pushing Neo-Liberal economic austerity measures in order to weaken the public sector.
Now, the West Michigan Policy Forum is pushing the same idea, which their friend and fellow DeVos-operative Greg McNeilly proposed in an opinion piece in the Detroit News.
McNeilly was the campaign manager for the failed gubernatorial campaign of Dick DeVos in 2006. He is also a board member of Great Lakes Education Project (created by Betsy DeVos) and is the Chief Operating Officer of the DeVos run Windquest Group.
McNeilly, who once said that the wealthy people who contribute large amounts to elections should be applauded for their efforts. McNeilly also called rich people funding candidates, “the most protected form of speech.”
In his opinion piece, McNeilly also referred to teacher pensions as an “unfunded liability,” which is essentially code for, “we don’t like unions,” even though teacher pensions have been honored for decades by states across the country.
In addition, McNeilly also states:
One important detail that’s important to remember, using pension obligation bonds represents a pension- and classroom-funding plan more than a road-funding plan. The $980 million in additional cash flow per year would be in the state’s school aid fund, offsetting the $540 million that could be moved from the current sales tax on gasoline into roads, and providing another $440 million on top of that each year that could be spent to either further pay down teacher pension debt or poured directly into Michigan classrooms.
McNeilly is not only endorsing the idea that the West Michigan Policy Forum has put forth, he is willing to use money from the Teacher Pension Fund to invest in the market in order to pay for the roads. In other words, the DeVos political operative is willing to gamble with teacher pension funds to pay for the roads, while at the same time continuing to promote neoliberal economic policies in the state, which has eliminated a business tax and gives greater control to the 1 percent, like McNeilly’s boss, the DeVos Family. Sounds like a solid plan, doesn’t it?
Betsy DeVos Watch: Secretary of Education equates criticism of Israel with Anti-Semitism
On Monday, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos made comments that would seem to be outside the lines of what someone in her position would say.
At what was billed as a Summit on Anti-Semitism, DeVos stated, “a movement to boycott Israel has become a pernicious threat on college campuses and is fueled by bias against Jews.”
For those who are not familiar with Betsy DeVos, the DeVos and Prince families, taking a position in support of Israel has been something that the Secretary of Education, along with her family of origin (the Princes) and the family she married into (the DeVoses) have done for many years. In fact, the Prince and DeVos families could be categorized as Christian Zionists,
What is Christian Zionism? According to those who embrace it:
Christian Zionism merges theology and politics. It teaches that the secular State of Israel is a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. Christian Zionism believes that this fulfillment of Biblical prophecy began when European Jews started moving to Palestine in the 1800s, and continued as Israel became a nation in 1948. Christian Zionists believe that modern Israel is a continuation of Biblical Israel and therefore should enjoy special privileges. They declare that it is the responsibility of Christians to support the State of Israel and its policies.
In addition, as Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos does deal with issues that arise on college campuses, such as the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) movement, which began in 2005. The BDS Movement is using the same kind of strategic approach that the South African Anti-Apartheid movement used, which is to boycott, divest and call for sanctions against Israel for its internationally recognized illegal occupation of Palestinian land.
On Monday, DeVos also stated, “Peace in the Middle East begins with recognizing Israel’s right to exist. Israel is a light to the region, but we all know it’s surrounded by jihadists who embrace evil.”
Such a statement by DeVos is rife with exaggerations and half-truths. Israel, is surrounded by countries like Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Now, many of these countries have poor human rights records, but this has not prevented the United States government from providing military and selling weapons to countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iraq since WWII. However, Israel has been the largest recipient of US military aid since the mid-1970s, at an average of roughly $3 billion per year, regardless of who sat in the White House.
What Betsy DeVos and Attorney General William Barr were stating at the Summit on Anti-Semitism, a summit that was hosted by the Department of Justice, is that criticism of Israel or support of the BDS movement are forms of anti-Semitism. This is simply not true. There is nothing anti-Semitic about people being critical of Israeli human rights violations, particularly in their treatment of Palestinians. The BDS Movement addresses the issue of anti-Semitism on their website saying:
BDS campaigns target the Israeli state because of its responsibility for serious violations of international law and the companies and institutions that participate in and are complicit in these Israeli violations. The BDS movement does not boycott or campaign against any individual or group simply because they are Israeli.
While some of the speakers at the Anti-Semitism Summit address real examples of anti-Semitism, some reporters acknowledged that the summit was more of a Pro-Israel rally, which is exactly what a Yahoo News reporter called it.
However, the effectiveness of equating criticism of Israel or involvement in the BDS Movement with anti-Semitism is a very effective strategy, since people generally do not want to be accused of being anti-Semitic, even if what they are saying or involved in is not anti-Semitic.
It is important to note that even the most credible organization in the US, which monitors anti-Semitism, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) states in a 2018 report:
ADL is careful to not conflate general criticism of Israel or anti-Israel activism with anti-Semitism. However, Israel-related harassment of groups or individuals may be included when the harassment incorporates established anti-Jewish references, accusations and/or conspiracy theories.
Anti-Semitism is on the rise in the US and it should be condemned whenever it occurs. However, it is not accurate or honest to conflate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism, no matter what Betsy DeVos or any other member of the US government says.
What do we do now? Allies and the immigration crisis
Ok, so the Light for Liberty events have come and gone. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered all across the country last Friday to draw attention to the immigration crisis and demand that the Trump administration close the camps.
The camps are still operating and the widespread harm that is being done to the immigrant community continues. So, what do we do now? This is not just a rhetorical question, but one that we need to think about with great care and conviction.
Showing up to demonstrations can be a good thing, but it always depends on what the objectives are of demonstrations. Holding a demonstration in a neutral public space has less of an impact, than say, at an ICE office or detention facility. It might make us feel good to hold a sign and listen to a couple of speakers, but lets face it, it doesn’t do a damn thing to end the current harm that is being done to the immigrant community. And this should be the point. What can we do, those of us who are allies and are not a part of the affected community, what is it that we can do that will not contribute to the harm, but will actually begin to reduce the harm being done to the immigrant community.
This should be the strategic goal for the work that needs to be done by allies. The immigrant-led movements across the US are doing what they need to do, without our help, unless they are asking for it. However, when it comes to what can we do, we need to always center what this will mean to the immigrant community. If we are truly to be allies in this struggle, in this movement, then we need to shut up and listen to what it is that the immigrant-led organizers are saying and asking of us.
This ultimately means we follow their lead, it means we listen to them, learn from them and then act in solidarity with them. Good intentions are not enough, and in fact, good intentions often contribute to the harm being done to the immigrant community. We need to center the voices and lived experience of the immigrant community if we are to be allies in the struggle for immigrant justice. This means that we do NOT go off on our own and do what we think is best. People who think they are allies and act on their own more often than not are taking action to make themselves feel better, which is often actions that in no way works to dismantle the systems of power & oppression that are causing the harm. This means they are low-risk actions that are safe and do not either disrupt the harm being done, nor do these kind of actions threaten the comfortability of white people who do not want their lives disrupted. For those who hold all kinds of privilege, in order for them to really contribute to the immigrant justice movement, means they have to be willing to take some kind of risk.
Now, when I say risk, I don’t just mean that people with privilege have to be willing to get arrested. When I say they have to be willing to take risks, I mean that they have to step outside of their comfort zones, take a public position that might create conflict in their lives or even disrupt their privilege at a certain level. Confronting and dismantling systems of power and oppression is not easy work and it will require those of us who are not primarily impacted by these systems to take risks. No social movement in the last 200 years has achieved substantial change without risk, without sacrifice and without commitment.
If people who want to be allies are serious about reducing the harm being done to the immigrant community right now and specifically in West Michigan, then here are some concrete ways to make that happen:
- If we want to be an ally with the immigrant community, then attend one of the regular ally trainings that Movimiento Cosecha GR hosts, like the one that is happening this Saturday, July 20. An important part of the work that Cosecha is doing now is a Drivers Licenses for All campaign, which will significantly reduce the possibility that immigrants will end up in ICE custody, plus it is a quality of life issue.
- Once people have attended an ally training, there are regular ally work meetings, which makes decisions with immigrant-led input on what work allies to be doing. Check the Movimiento Cosecha GR Facebook page for scheduled Ally work meetings meetings.
- There are also training that GR Rapid Response hosts on a regular basis, either to be part of their work or to be involved in their Abolish ICE campaign. The next training is being held on Monday, July 22, which is a Direct Action training, with details at this link.
- People can provide direct relief to immigrants by donating to the GR Rapid Response Mutual Aid fund, which is paypal.me/arcarpenter. You can also attend one of the upcoming fundraisers for GR Rapid Response to ICE, such as the one on July 18 and another one on July 27, which is 80’s Against ICE Dance Party at St. George’s Hall – 1513 Quarry Street NW, Grand Rapids from 7 – midnight.
- We also need people to provide transportation for immigrant families, either because they don’t have a car, don’t have a license or because the person who could drive is now in ICE custody.
- We need people of faith to ask their pastors, their rabbis or their Imam’s to see if the place of worship is willing to be a Sanctuary for the immigrant community that is being targeted.
We also need people who want to help us get ICE out of Kent County. We have an Abolish ICE campaign and we need people to be part of that work, which means attempting to disrupt or shut down local ICE facilities, disrupt business as usual at the Kent County Jail, confront local politicians who are complicit with ICE violence or disrupt the businesses that are profiting off of the contracts they have with ICE. Our next Abolish ICE action is Wednesday, July 24. - In addition, we need people to be part of our Rapid Response on call system, where we can respond immediately to people in the community who are being targeted by ICE. We need people who can speak Spanish to be able to take the calls and we need people who can send out messages to people who have been trained to do either direct intervention against ICE or people who can do Mutual Aid work with individuals and families.
- We also can use people to distribute both electronically and handout form, the information about how to contact GR Rapid Response to ICE if you see ICE in your community.
These are just some of the more important, strategically sound things that people can do if they want to truly be an ally in the fight for immigrant justice. Movimiento Cosecha GR needs allies to support their offensive work and GR Rapid Response to ICE needs allies to step up and do the defensive work that can reduce the harm being done to immigrants right now.
Editor’s Note: an important read on what it means to be an ally is, Accomplices Not Allies: Abolishing The Ally Industrial Complex.
