Grand Rapids Power Structure: The DeVos Family
On Monday, we began our revision of the current Grand Rapids Power Structure, with an overview of where Grand Rapids is right now in terms of who has power in this community.
When we say who has power, it is important to note that we mean power over. A local power analysis is designed to investigate who has power over – who oppresses, exploits and engages in policy that benefits them to the exclusion of everyone else – the majority of people living in Grand Rapids.
As we noted in the previous post, we believe that private power – individuals and organizations – have the most power over people in this community, based on the hierarchy of power chart. Private power primarily relies on economic and political power and the family that has the most of that kind of power is the DeVos Family.
In terms of the DeVos Family, we have to start with the patriarch, Richard (Rich) DeVos. Rich is one of the co-founders of the pyramid scheme known as Amway. For the past 45 years, Rich DeVos has been using his wealth to influence economic, social and political realities in this community.
Rich DeVos and his now deceased wife Helen, have contributed more to the Republican Party than any other person in Michigan in the last several decades. The millions of dollars that Rich DeVos has contributed to the national and state GOP has had a tremendous influence in shifting politics to the right on numerous issues. According to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, the DeVos Family as a whole have contributed $82 million since 1999.
This amount of money injected into State politics buys a tremendous amount of influence and there are clear examples of how the DeVos Family has influenced policy. (see our examples from 2016) 
The most powerful family in Grand Rapids also has financed Kent County Commissioners and candidates running for office in Grand Rapids. You can find out which candidates by going to the County Clerk’s Campaign Finance link.
The mechanisms that the DeVos Family uses the most to influence public policy, besides money, is their role in the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce and the West Michigan Policy Forum. Both of these entities have been promoting economic policies that benefit the wealthy, attacks unions, promotes privatization and supports patriarchal, homophobic and white supremacist values.
In Grand Rapids, the DeVos Family has used their wealth and influence to promote the development in downtown Grand Rapids. This process began when they purchased the old Pantlind Hotel and changed its name to the Amway Grand Plaza. Since that time the family has purchased and developed land in downtown Grand Rapids, now owning numerous hotels and office space for their various projects, including the Windquest Group, RDV Corp and ArtPrize.
The DeVos Family also used the group Grand Action to dictate downtown development and re-direct millions of public dollars to finance the Van Andel Arena, the downtown convention center, the downtown market and the restoration of the Civic Theater.
Another major area of influence is the various family foundations. These foundations support far right groups around the country and in Michigan, like the Acton Institute and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, but they also use their foundation money to finance non-profits. DeVos Family funding of non-profits in Grand Rapids, has numerous benefits for the most powerful family in the city.
First, the foundations fund most of the major educational institutions in the area – GVSU, Calvin College, GRCC, Davenport University, Christian Schools and the Grand Rapids Public Schools. This funding of the major education centers in Grand 
Rapids allows the DeVos Family to have influence in the direction of each of these entities, such as GVSU’s failure to provide domestic partner benefits in the 1990s to the pro-charter, privatization policies that even the GRPS has adopted.
Second, the DeVos Family Foundations have contributed to numerous liberal entities that provide social services in the community. The financing of these entities serves to have a say in managing social policy, which puts the focus on individual behavior, rather then on a systems analysis of social problems. In addition, funding local non-profits guarantees that these non-profits will NOT ever take a public position against the economic and political actions of the DeVos Family, which contributes to poverty, gentrification and white supremacy in the community. Lastly, funding local non-profits has a PR benefit, since many people in this community will take the position that, “where would Grand Rapids be without the DeVos Family.
One additional way that the DeVos Family influences economic, social and political realities in Grand Rapids, is by sitting on Boards or having their people occupy those 
positions, thus providing an additional mechanism of influence and control of area policy. Some of the more notable entitles that the DeVos Family has people placed on local boards or act as partners are: Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, West MI Policy Forum, The Right Place Inc., Talent 2025, First Steps Kent, GVSU Foundation, Grand Rapids Art Museum, Experience GR, etc.
For a more full account of the history of the DeVos Family and their influence of the political, economic, social and cultural realities of Grand Rapids, check out our DeVos Family Reader.
A few weeks ago, the Lansing-based organization, the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, posted an article about the largest Political Action Committees (PACs) in the 2018 election cycle.
According to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network research, PACs have raised $34.5 million so far for the 2018 Election. This is the most ever raised by PACs in Michigan at this date just before a state election. You can see from the graphic below, which PACs are the largest, four of which are part of the GOP and the other three with the Democrats.
There are a few members of the Grand Rapids power structure that have contributed significantly to the top PACs in the state, specifically members of the DeVos family and AutoCam CEO John Kennedy.
For the PAC known as Calley Continues Comeback Inc., DP Fox Ventures President and CEO Daniel DeVos, gave $200,000. Daniel DeVos also gave $250,000 in February to MIPAC, which is another PAC supporting Brian Calley in the Michigan Governor’s race.
Compete Michigan, which is a PAC behind Republican State Sen. Mike Shirkey, has also received funding from members of the Grand Rapids power structure. Members of the DeVos family, combined to give $50,000 to Compete Michigan and Autocam CEO John Kennedy, gave $40,000.
Lastly, State Rep. Lee Chatfield, who has two separate PACs, has received $30,000 from AutoCam CEO John Kennedy.
The Michigan Campaign Finance Network provides a list of the top 150 PACs in the current election cycle. There are several from West Michigan, including:
- The Progressive Women’s Alliance of West Michigan
- Friends of Spectrum Health
- Friends of West Michigan Business
A Grand Rapids Power Analysis revisited
Six years ago, we posted an article that provided a power analysis of Grand Rapids, looking at economic power, political power, state power, media power and NGO/social service power – as seen in the graphic below.
While much of the analysis for 2012 remains the same, there have been many changes in Grand Rapids, with a noticeable increase in the gap between those with power and those without. Another way of looking at this growing power gap is that there is greater concentration of power from the capitalist class.
This concentration of power can be seen in the significant levels of gentrification in Grand Rapids, with the skyrocketing cost of housing, both in the price of buying a home and the cost of rent.
Another area of concentrated power can be seen by looking at Grand Rapids through a racial lens. The wealth gap has been increasing between the white community and the black and latino communities. This is evident in the growing income gap, the further marginalization of communities of color in housing, growth of unemployment and underemployment, educational opportunities and who runs the city. When I say runs the city, I don’t mean the city commission, I mean the concentrated private power which wields are deal deal more power that local government.
What we plan to do over the next several weeks is to provide an analysis of the power structure in Grand Rapids, investigating individuals/families with tremendous economic power, the organizations that have tremendous influence over the electoral and policy outcomes, how local government tends to be beholden to these private sectors of power, the role that commercial news media plays in shaping the opinions and perspectives of so many in Grand Rapids and the function of the NGO/social service sector, which more often than not acts as a buffer for those in power, redirecting a critique of systems of power and oppression to a focus on individual behavior and individual problems. As a friend once said to me, Grand Rapids does charity real well, we just don’t do justice for shit!
Grand Rapids loves to present itself as this deeply progressive community, yet all the major indicators around concentration of wealth, growing levels of poverty, racial disparities, environmental racism, food insecurity, gentrification, religious oppression, police violence and the push towards greater privatization all makes it clear that Grand Rapids is anything but progressive. The fact is that, the people who think that Grand Rapids is progressive are those with the most privilege – people who are white, economically privileged, the business community, those who are cis-gendered, those that benefit from rape culture and those who benefit from settler colonialism.
Such an analysis is no small task, but if we are to achieve equity, if we are to fight for justice and if we want to build strong social movements, then we need to have a robust analysis of who has power in Grand Rapids. Once we have a clear sense of who has power in this community, we can then develop tactics and strategies to defeat that power.
Our next piece will look at members of the most powerful family in Grand Rapids, the DeVos Family. We will look at their economic power, their political power and influence over policy, the role of their foundations in influencing the non-profit sector, how commercial media will not challenge their power and a look at how many organizations they influence by being of boards of directors and committees.
Editor’s note: For sake of transparency, I am part of the GR Rapid Response to ICE project and some of the information included here is based on my own experience of being involved in that work.
Yesterday, another immigrant family was terrorized by members of Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), in the southeast side of Grand Rapids.
The Spanish language news service, El Informador, reported on the ICE arrests yesterday morning, which included pictures and a video interview.
It was estimated that 9 ICE officers broke in the door of (pictured here) an immigrant family and then pointed their guns at everyone inside, including the children. A member of Child Protective Services had accompanied the ICE officers, with the intent of taking the children as well, but this didn’t happen.
However, ICE officers did take the father, arresting him right in front of his wife and children. Based on a report from an immigration lawyer, the father is now in detention in Battle Creek, at the Calhoun County Jail, which ICE is using for arrests made in West Michigan.
This kind of repression from ICE is taking place on a weekly basis in West Michigan. The GR Rapid Response to ICE group is receiving calls about ICE arrests or ICE intimidation on a regular basis. What is happening is nothing short of terrorism. Immigrant families are the targets of state terrorism, which traumatizes families, separates families and creates a climate of fear throughout the immigrant community.
So, how can those of us who have racial and class privilege be in solidarity with immigrants who are experiencing this kind of terror? There are several ways people can practice solidarity with immigrants.
- Like the Facebook page for GR Rapid Response to ICE. This will help keep people in the loop about the work of the group, along with regular updates about families who have been impacted by ICE arrests.
- You can attend the next GR Rapid Response to ICE training, which are being offered monthly. This is for people who want to take a more active role in trying to prevent ICE arrests and to offer concrete forms of support to families impacted by ICE.
- Attend one of the fundraising events that the GR Rapid Response to ICE is hosting, so we can all contribute to the financial support that families impacted by ICE need. The next event is May 17, with details at this link.
- You can share this card, which provides information for immigrants on what to do if ICE shows up. Calling 211 can get you connected to the GR Rapid Response to ICE group, which can mobilize people to take action.
- Donate when you can and ask your friends to do the same. Check the GR Rapid Response to ICE page for ways to donate.
- There is a new Community Bond Fund that has been established, which will be used for immigrants who can be bonded out from detention to be with their families. More information on this effort will be coming soon on the GR Rapid Response to ICE page.
- Have a conversation at your church, synagogue, mosque or temple about offering sanctuary for those being targeted by ICE repression. Two months ago, IUC Ministerios Ríos de Agua Viva / Joy Like a River UCC, declared themselves a sanctuary. We need many more religious institutions to do the same. Contact Reverend Justo González, II at 716-989-9207, cell or jgonzo2@michucc.org, for those wanting to become a sanctuary.
- We all need to educate ourselves on US immigration policy, both historically and in the present. We need to be informed about what the US government has done and is doing when it comes to immigration.
- Lastly, for those of us who want to support the powerful immigrant-led movement, known as Movimiento Cosecha GR, contact them to get involved in their efforts to win respect, dignity and permanent protection for all immigrants. For there to be immigrant justice, the movement must be led by immigrants. Allies should always work to center the voices and lived experience of the immigrant community.
Betsy DeVos Watch: Another speech at a religious university founded by Billionaire Christian Tom Monaghan
As we reported on in December, Betsy DeVos, the Secretary of Education has a penchant for speaking at organizations or educational institutions that shares her ideological perspective.
It seems clear by now that DeVos choses to speak in public at places where she is welcomed, because virtually every other place she has given a speech has been met with significant resistance.
Therefore, it is no surprise that on May 5th, Betsy DeVos chose to give a commencement speech at a University that shares her values. The Secretary of Education spoke at Ave Maria University last week, a conservative Catholic university that was founded by Domino’s Pizza CEO Tom Monaghan.
Just days before Betsy DeVos delivered the commencement speech at Ave Maria University, it’s president, Jim Towey, wrote an article on the school’s blog, entitled, Why We’re Honored To Host Betsy DeVos At Our University’s Commencement. In that article, Towey was hyper-critical of the Obama administration’s policies that were adopted through the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR). Towey then goes on to write:
One of the biggest threats to Ave Maria and other higher education institutions in the Obama era was the 2011 OCR directive on how colleges were to proceed in investigating Title IX sexual assault claims on campus. While the goal was widely supported – to ensure colleges “take immediate and effective steps to respond to sexual violence in accordance with the requirements of Title IX” – the implementation and fear of a forced settlement agreement meant that university officials everywhere scrambled to hire “regulatory czars” and more staff to deal with the mountain of new requirements. By government edict, the evidentiary standard on sexual assault cases was lowered to a “preponderance of the evidence test” and any college with a higher standard or other safeguards for the accused had to amend their procedures and rules . . . or else.
This clear overreach by social engineering zealots in the upper echelons of the Department defeated the laudable intent of protecting students from sexual assault and bringing justice to perpetrators. OCR boasted at the end of Obama’s eight years that it had “proactively initiated” over 200 investigations and received a record-breaking 76,022 complaints. Maybe so, but the dragnet also surely victimized students wrongfully accused of sexual assault. In addition to being denied their right to due process, they have and will suffer immeasurably from the ordeal. Many colleges chose not to defend their practices but instead took the equivalent of a “plea deal” by signing “resolution agreements” to escape OCR’s investigative tentacles.
Towey also writes about the abomination of gender identity that now operates outside of the male and female gender framework. The Ave Maria University president said that the idea that people can self-identify on their gender, “sent shivers to any faith-based or other college like ours who values religious liberty and devotes a great deal of study to theology and the “assigner” who created us.”
With this kind of worldview, you can see why the university invited Betsy DeVos to give their commencement address.
Again President Towey gushes over the Secretary of Education, in his introduction of her before the commencement speech. Towey even thanks Dick DeVos for accompanying his wife to the campus and praises their commitment to family values.
DeVos didn’t have much to say in her commencement address, other than to highlight and honor Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa, both examples of conservative Catholic values in the 20th Century.
However, DeVos does acknowledge the founder of Ave Maria University, Domino’s Pizza CEO Tom Monaghan. Monaghan has supported conservative and rightwing Catholic groups for several decades.
I first became aware of Monaghan’s politics in the early 1980s, when he was deeply involved in an Ann Arbor-based group called the Word of God (also often referred to as WOG). The Word of God group was connected to the Catholic Charismatic movement, which wedded Catholicism and Pentecostalism. In addition, the Word of God community was very involved in supporting the conservative catholic community in Central America in the 1980s, which opposed the influential Liberation Theology movement.
Monaghan provided financial support to the conservative Catholic movement in Honduras and Nicaragua in the 1980s believed that the US government needed to support the terrorist group known as the Contras. According to Russ Bellant, author of The Religious Right in Michigan Politics, Monaghan was quoted in the early 80s as saying about the need to support the Contras, “Talk about dominoes if we lose! It’s going to be El Salvador, it’s going to be Panama, it’s going to be Mexico. We could have a Soviet client state along our border.”
In addition to funding the Word of God community in Ann Arbor and founding Ave Maria University, Monaghan also founded the group known as Legatus. Legatus is an organization made up of Catholic businessmen, which refers to itself as Ambassadors for Christ in the Marketplace.
Legatus is also based in Ann Arbor and has chapters all over the US, including in Grand Rapids.
Once again, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos gave a speech at a religious university, that; 1) shares similar conservative values, 2) is openly supportive of the Department of Education’s watering down of civil rights and the undermining of Title IX provisions, and 3) was founded by a billionaire Christian businessman, just like members of the DeVos Family.
On Monday, it was announced that former National Security Council aide, Oliver North, will be the new President of the National Rifle Association (NRA).
This choice by the NRA, in many ways, makes a great deal of sense, considering the status that North has within right-wing circles. North is often seen as a “true patriot” by those who identify as conservatives, since he has been a staunch supporter of US imperialism in countries like Vietnam, El Salvador, Iraq and Afghanistan.
In addition, North embraces many other conservative values, such as his support for the anti-abortion group, the National Right to Life. In fact, North was the featured speaker at a Right to Life conference held in Grand Rapids in 2002. North’s visit was greeted by several dozen protestors outside of DeVos Hall.
However, North is best known as a member of President Reagan’s National Security Council in the 1980s and specifically for his role in orchestrating the illegal Contra war in Nicaragua, which led to his conviction of drug and arms dealing in what was known as the Iran Contra Scandal.
As one of Reagan’s National Security aides, North was deeply involved in the US campaign to destabilize the Sandinista government in Nicaragua in the 1980s. After the US Congress passed the Boland Amendment, a series of laws that were passed which prohibited the US government from providing military assistance to the Contras.
Oliver North and other members of the Reagan Administration, along with the CIA decided to circumvent the US Congress and find ways to provide military support for the Contras in their effort to overthrown the democratically elected Nicaraguan government.
The result of North’s involvement of the illegal weapons sales to the Contras is that tens of thousands of Nicaraguan civilians were murdered during that 10 year bloody counter-insurgency campaign. The Iran Contra scandal was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the US role in committing war crimes in Nicaragua.
Oliver North’s role involved the selling of weapons to the government of Iran, whom the US considered an enemy at the time, using the money from those sales to purchase other weapons, along with using drug money to also purchase weapons that were used by the Contras.
The Washington-based National Security Archives has thousands of declassified documents on the Iran Contra scandal and specifically documents pertaining directly to Oliver North, which you can find at this link. Many of these documents rely on Oliver North’s diary and memos from that period in the mid-1980s, such as this document about a meeting that North had with Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who was deeply involved in cocaine trafficking with the Colombian Drug Cartels.
However, it must be noted that the Reagan administration convinced Oliver North to be the fall guy in the Iran Contra scandal. North did his duty and was then pardoned by the Bush administration just a few years after his indictment. National Security Archives Director Tom Blanton, provides this short explanation for how the Reagan administration was able to divert attention away from the role that administration played in the drugs and weapons trafficking they were involved in during the 1980s.
Therefore, it makes complete sense that the NRA would make Oliver North its new President, not just because of his blind support for guns, but because he has a history of arms trafficking and collaborating with US administrations to protect those in power.
On April 25th, MLive posted an article about the City of Grand Rapids agreeing to spend $150,000 to study whether or not residents trust the GRPD. In that same article, the reporter provides statistics which suggests that the GRPD is understaffed.
The very next day, the same MLive reporter wrote a follow-up article, entitled, Would hiring more officers solve Grand Rapids’ police-community struggles?
However, instead of trying to answer the question posed in the MLive headline, the reporter essentially provides a platform for Police Chief Rahinsky, a police consultant and several City Commissioners to advocate for adding more cops in Grand Rapids.
One way that MLive provides a platform for Rahinsky is with the video below, where he is asking for an an increase in police officers, something he admits he has been doing for four budget cycles.
One thing that is instructive about Rahinsky’s comments is that he wants more community policing specialists. These kind of cops are assigned to specific neighborhoods and play the role of cop, social worker and community outreach person. At least this is the language that the police department uses. As Rahnisky has stated before, these kind of community neighborhood officers would be building relationships with people, so they would know the community better.
This all sounds nice, but it is also deceptive. The type of policing that Rahinsky is asking for is just another version of the “Broken Window” type of policing. The Broken window theory of policing was first laid out by criminologists James Wilson and George Kelling in 1982. This type of policing says that when a window is broken in a neighborhood and is left unattended, it will “unleash people’s latent destructive tendencies.”
Alex Vitale, in his groundbreaking book, The End of Policing, says of the broken window theory of policing:
If cities want to establish or maintain crime-free neighborhoods they must take action to ensure that residents feel pressure to conform to civilized norms of public behavior. The best way to accomplish this is to use police to remind people in subtle, and not-so-subtle ways that disorderly, unruly, and anti-social behavior are unacceptable.
Vitale goes on to say that, “Broken windows policing is at root a deeply conservative attempt to shift the burden of responsibility for declining living conditions onto the poor themselves and to argue that the solution to all social ills is increasingly aggressive, invasive, and restrictive forms of policing that involve more arrests, more harassment, and ultimately more violence. As inequality continues to increase, so will homelessness, and public disorder, and as long as people continue to embrace the use of police to manage disorder, we will see a continual increase in the scope of police power and authority at the expense of human and civil rights.
Instead of providing some insight into even the possibility of reducing or even eliminating the police department, the MLive reporter has internalized the normalcy of policing. There are no real critical voices in the article and no one outside of government is sought out as a source to provide a counter to Rahinsky’s narrative.
Author of numerous books that critique the history and function of policing, Kristian Williams, makes it clear that community policing is a form of counter-insurgency warfare. What Williams means by this is that community policing specialists, what Rahinsky is wanting to add to his department, would be people who would spend more time in the community, gaining the trust of people for the primary purpose of gathering intelligence on those who operate outside of social norms, which is to say, outside of the parameters that systems of power have determined for us.
Operating outside of what systems of power have determined is exactly why the Cosecha GR May 1st march was so heavily policed and why the police were so incensed that the march organizers would not share their plans with the cops.
One last point about the MLive article is that is also never even explores why the GRPD uses one-third of the entire city budget. If we allow ourselves to engage in radical imagination, they we might begin to envision that if marginalized communities had more wealth and were more self-sufficient, there would be no need for policing. When people’s basic needs are met, pathological social behavior will decrease. If people were not worrying about housing, health care, education and meeting all their nutritional needs, there would be no need for cops.
White Supremacy permeates just about all institutions in the US, whether we are talking about the state, corporations, religious institutions, the media and non-profits. Some of this is evident to most people, but a great deal of White Supremacy is subtle. In fact, it is safe to say that White Supremacy often is not recognized because it seems so normal.
One way that White Supremacy appears “normal” to the general public is the way the law enforcement operates. As we reported during last week’s May 1st immigrant-led march, there was a tremendous amount of police presence – on foot, on bicycle, on horseback and in cruisers.
The GRPD had sent out a press release earlier that day, with the following comment from Police Chief Rahinsky:
“Our goal is for Movimiento Cosecha to be able to communicate its message and exercise it First Amendment right in a peaceful manner,” GRPD Chief David Rahinsky said in a news release.
A more honest statement from the GRPD would have been:
Do as we tell you and we won’t arrest you during the march. However, any other time we won’t hesitate to stop people, as them their immigration status and arrest them for driving without a license and take them to the Kent County Jail. (The Kent County Jail has a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE, to alert them when undocumented immigrants come in so ICE can put a hold on them and take them to detention.)
Why do I say that the GRPD practices White Supremacy? Using the definition of White Supremacy that Elizabeth Martinez uses:
We can then conclude that the main function of law enforcement is to maintain and defend a system of wealth, power and privilege. Those marching on May 1st were challenging that system.
One of the great falsehoods of American society is that the job of police officers is to protect the public. This simply isn’t true most of the time. Sure, police might at times keep the general public safe, but throughout history police departments have functioned to monitor, harass, contain and arrest those who pose a threat to the system of wealth, power and privilege – which have been primarily social movements, often led by communities of color – the abolitionist movement, the labor movement, the civil rights movement, the American Indian movement, the Chicano movement, the environmental justice movement and the LGBTQ movement.
Law enforcement uses two main strategies when dealing with social movements. The first strategy is called the Negotiated Management Strategy, which are also referred to as Command and Control techniques. This is when police attempt to negotiate actions, always with the goal to manage it, which is exactly what happened during the May 1st march.
You saw this during the march in terms of the police presence everywhere, always framed as they were there to keep people safe. However, the result was just the opposite, especially for the immigrant 
community. The police presence only made people feel anxious, afraid and intimidated. This intimidation was communicated to those of us who were acting as Marshals during the march, when the police WARNED us before the march ever started that they would arrest people if we deviated from the route they create.
The police were also using social media to communicate their own messages about the May 1st march, with both a written narrative and pictures. You can see above that their pictures of cops on horseback seem rather benign, when in fact people felt threatened all day when they were near the horses.
The GRPD posted 11 separate Facebook posts about the May 1st march, but the most egregious post was the one on the right here, which creates a narrative of how great the cops were at keeping the peace, even when the marchers deviated from THEIR attempt to dictate the route.
A second strategy that cops use is called the Escalated Force Strategy. This is where the state uses surveillance, infiltration, negative press, pre-emptive arrests, protest zones and the use of less lethal weaponry to suppress public resistance. Elements of this strategy have been used with Movimiento Cosehca GR, but the likelihood that the GRPD will continue to tolerate disobedience from the movement will result in the increase of repressive tactics.
News Media as a tool of White Supremacy
As expected the major local news agencies were present during the May 1st march. Their coverage of the march was fairly predictable, in that they relied heavily on the police department to provide them with information.
Several news agencies used quotes from the GRPD press release before the march started and they created visual images of the march route, based specifically on what the police said it was going to be.
MLive and the three local TV stations all framed the march as being “peaceful,” which is code in the news media for when protestors don’t do any property damage. What this type of a narrative does is that it completely ignores the inherent violence of law enforcement. The cops were there fully armed with mace, tasers, clubs and guns. The police were intimidating people by their very presence, how they spoke to people and how the officers on horseback made people feel. Cosecha GR had roughly 25 marshals that day, whose job was to keep people safe. They didn’t need the cops to be there. Cosecha GR is a non-violent movement.
In addition, the local commercial news media used commentary from the police department, like this comment from Sgt. Cathy Williams, who said on a report from WOOD TV8:
“We met our goal and that’s the bottom line. Everyone was safe here today. No officers got hurt and no marchers got hurt.”
The channel 8 reporter also stated up front that the police that they were not getting the cooperation from the marchers the way they wanted. But everyone was safe and no one was arrested. This continues the narrative that the police are there to keep people safe and that we all should obey the cops.
White Liberals and White Supremacy
Another manifestation of White Supremacy were how numerous white people were acting during the May 1st march. First, there were several white people who were gathering signatures for a Michigan ballot initiative. These white signature collectors, who are getting paid to do this work, were asking people, “Are you a registered voter in Michigan?”
First, this says that the white folks collecting signatures were completely unaware of their own white privilege. Did these people not know that as people were undocumented or those with temporary residence status, which the state prohibits from voting? Some people might say this was well intentioned on the part of the white signature collectors, because they thought that those attending the march would enthusiastically sign a petition to increase the minimum wage in Michigan. White liberals need to stop doing this. If you want to support immigrant struggles, then come and support immigrant struggles. White people should not push their issues on immigrants, they should stand in solidarity with them by asking how the immigrant movement what they need.
Another example was White people who identify as socialists who were there passing out their own literature. Some were even asking for contributions for their organizations. Again, if you want to be in solidarity with one of the most marginalized groups in West Michigan, show up for them by not using events like these as a way of distributing your own propaganda. People carrying socialist signs might think it is radical, but in this instance only signs that center immigrants and immigrant rights would be a show of solidarity.
So, while there may be fundamental differences between cops, the news media and white liberals, they all ended up practicing and promoting White Supremacy by their actions.
We want our children to be a priority: Parent of GRPS Special Education student speaks out
The following interview was recently conducted with Brenda Bierens, a parent of a special education student in the Grand Rapids Public Schools. Bierens is also a member of the Disability A-Team and Community Collaborative.
As a parent of a Special Education student, what is your experience with GRPS and why are you calling for the removal of Laura LaMore?
Parents have been meeting and discussing problems with special education at GRPS for well over a year. Issues like IEP’s being changed without parents knowledge, students being placed in programs that do not meet their needs putting both their teachers and their peers at risk, adult students being transferred to a school that was designed for preschoolers putting them at risk for injury, Services being denied or cut from students IEP’s a staggering rates, I could go on and on but in December the teachers at CTC Straight went to the GREA and MEA about the school they had just been moved into this year to ask for help. It was the new home to adult students with disabilities ages 18-26, yet the school was designed for preschoolers so everything was knee high, it had fire, health and building code violations and had been vacant for sometime. The fire department never even knew straight Street school was occupied until an anonymous call went to them. They also asked for parents from the district to be involved in bringing these problems to light. When the MEA started talking to parents they found major problems district wide. Teachers were being directed to do thing they didn’t feel good about by administration, there was a fear of retaliation, and GRPS special education as a whole had changed dramatically since the arrival of Laura Lamore. Parents had gone to Mrs. Lamore with concerns and felt they were either ignored or intimidated. With the complaints from both teachers and parents, the GREA and MEA had decided the best coarse of action was the ask for the removal of the director of special education and the petition was born. 847 teachers and staff members and over 500 parents and community members signed the petition asking Superintendent Neal and the Board of Education to remove Laura Lamore from her seat as the Director of Special Education for Grand Rapids Public Schools.
What kind of support is there from teachers and other parents on the removal of Laura LaMore?
The Board of Education responded to our petition by saying they did not have the authority to remove Mrs. Lamore and Supt. Neal responded by saying we were just a small group who don’t like change and the allegations against the district were either resolved or false. She called the petition against Mrs. Lamore a ‘smear campaign’ and said Laura is a member of her cabinet, a trusted member and she will not remove Mrs.Lamore.
As a parent the major reason I’m calling for Laura’s removal is because my sons IEP was changed, without my knowledge in 2016. His program was changed and absolutely no one from administration explained to any parents why it was happening. It wasn’t just my sons IEP that was changed to reflect the change in programming it was every students in my sons program. When I found out, 9 months after the facts I was lied to, it was blamed on me, the responsibility was passed from person to person until finally, it came out that it was a direct order from Laura Lamore to change these students IEP’s quietly, and staff members did it because they feared for their jobs. This is not anything new or unique, this sort of thing happens often at GRPS and the threat and fear of retaliation is real. For the most part most parents would say the staff at Grand Rapids is wonderful, but the administration is dirty, sneaky and willing to cut services off the backs of special education students to make their district look good in the eyes of Betsy DeVos. Many people including myself feel our children are not wanted at GRPS because they don’t make the district ‘look good’, my son will not graduate with a diploma, rather a certificate of completion because of his disability preventing him from meeting minimum high school requirements. We have been told by the administration that our kids ‘hurt the district because they bring down their graduation rate numbers’, but what they are not telling people is they are finding sneaky ways around that too. I have proof in his IEP…
As a whole less and less parents, with special education students, trust the administration at GRPS and feel that due to Betsy DeVos’s involvement, special education is slowly but surely being dismantled, and these “Theme” schools closely resemble charter schools, where there is no place for special education.
What does the school district need to do to make guarantees that whoever replaces LaMore that there will be better oversight and transparency?
Parents want just a few things from a special ed director, no crazy or outlandish demands. They want someone who is transparent, listens and makes each child’s needs and education is a priority. Most parents are understanding and if they know why changes are happening and what they can do about it they will work with the district instead of against them. Parents want to have a say, as a part of their child’s IEP team they want to know that their opinion counts in the child’s education, and that isn’t happening now because Mrs. Lamore is dictating what will be done and when, and parents don’t know why or when it happens. Parents want a special ed director that will allow the teachers and staff to do their jobs and make recommendations based on an individual basis, educational plan’s should reflect goals and objective that will suit the student, not the district and that is not always happening. Parents want a Special Education Director that see’s our kids as students that have the right to a Free Appropriate Public Education, not problems for the district.
What do you think about the relationship between Teresa Neal and Betsy DeVos?
When the petition to remove Laura Lamore failed the GREA and MEA kind of fizzled out of the fight, leaving 847 teachers and staff disappointed and without change. Parents were very angry by the way the district was representing us and unwilling to hear our concerns. We started looking at the budget as a whole and noticed insanely high administration costs and a close connection to Betsy DeVos. It became evident that GRPS is a model school for Betsy DeVos and she is really leading this district. Paying for Superintendent Neal to get $67,000 of ‘training’, and inviting her to the confirmation hearings made many of us question why the media hasn’t asked more questions. Regardless the refusal to remove Laura Lamore, administration costs, connections to a Secretary of Education that is not only dismantling special education but public education as a whole is why I support the petition to fire Theresa Neal.
Do you think this is an effective tactic, calling for Neal’s removal?
I don’t know yet, we are just getting started.
Yesterday, an estimated 2,000 people marched for immigrants rights, demanding dignity, respect and permanent protection for all immigrants.
Movimiento Cosecha GR organized the march, which also coincided with International Workers Day. Like the traditional workers movement, Cosecha GR uses the tactics of boycotts and strikes. The immigrant-led movement also frames the labor of immigrants as a source power, since so much of the economy depends on immigrants – most of the food system is dependent on immigrant/migrant labor, the services sector, construction, etc.
However, one main focus right now by Cosecha GR, is a campaign to get Driver Licenses for All people in Michigan. They talked about the campaign briefly before the march began at Roosevelt Park in the southwest part of the city, a primarily Latino/Latinx neighborhood.
The police presence was different from last year’s May 1st march. There were more cops, from the GRPD, the Kent County Sheriff’s Department and even the Michigan State Police. Police were on foot, in cruisers, on bicycle and on horses. Having cops on horses was confusing and several organizers expressed that it was simply overkill.
The march came down Grandville Avenue, also known as Cesar Chavez Way. Many people were outside their homes cheering those in the march and offering other forms of visual support. Once the march crossed Wealthy St., it became clear that we were in a different economic area and those on the sidewalks were most white people watching the marches, with less enthusiastic support for those marching.
The Cosecha GR organizers were mostly following the route that the GRPD wanted them to take, but when we arrived to where the Founder’s Brewing Company was, the marchers quickly turned left onto a side street, catching the police totally off guard. Some of the cops tried to prevent people from taking this street, but there were too many people and they eventually conceded to the marchers.
This change of the route was strategic, in that the organizers wanted people to get to Market St and then go towards downtown. There is an on and off ramp for US 131 on Market and they wanted to back traffic up that was coming off the highway. This plan was highly successful, as you can see in the photo below how vehicles are backed up on the 131 S-curve.
When the marchers got to the 131 off ramp on Market street and realized that the traffic was backed up, they stopped and cheered for a few minutes, enjoying what they had accomplished. It was a beautiful moment of demonstrating their power.
There were other beautiful moments during the march. First, when people didn’t comply with the GRPD route, it clearly showed people that police do not need to be obeyed, based on how animated people got when they changed their route.
Second, when the march was going under the 131 s-curve on Market Street, the echo provided a great opportunity for those marching to get even louder. The marchers stop for a few minutes to revel in their excitement.
Third, the march organizers who were talking through a sound system during the whole march, not only led chants, but provided important information about the realities that immigrant families face on a daily basis. They talked about the constant fear that the community lives in and how people are being detained and deported by ICE agents. Those leading the march also addressed the oppressive role that the GRPD plays in their struggle and made numerous comments at the exact same time that Police Chief Rahinsky was present on Grandville Avenue.
A four beautiful moment was when the march was walking passed Rosa Parks Circle and the march organizers made the link between the history and struggle of the African American community and how they are following the same tradition of fighting for their rights and fighting for justice.
Another beautiful moment, was when the march got close to the Calder Plaza and organizers pointed to the a building on Ottawa St, which housed the investigation office for Immigration, Customs Enforcement (ICE). The march leaders used this opportunity to talk about the harm that ICE causes in the immigrant community and then led a chant demanding that ICE leave NOW!
As the march got near the Calder Plaza, one last example of how the police were demonstrating their paranoia, was their massive presence near Michigan Avenue, with police cruisers, a line of cops on the street and their use of city sewage trucks to block the road.
The immigrant-led march eventually made its way onto Calder Plaza, where Cosecha GR organizers let people know what the next steps are in the Driver’s License campaign and other upcoming meetings. Another Cosecha GR organizer shared his story of coming to the US, which was quite moving. He also read part of a poem, that also creatively expressed his feelings about his lived experience as an immigrant.
People hung out for another 30 minutes or so, chanting, singing, visiting with friends and just enjoying a successful demonstration of the power that immigrants have in this community.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 