Amazon says No to Grand Rapids and the Right Place Inc. will still not make the proposal public
Yesterday, it was reported that the online sales giant Amazon, has narrowed down their list of cities to twenty and Grand Rapids is not on the list.
MLive reported, “Although we were not selected to advance in this process, we take great pride in how the greater Grand Rapids area was presented to Amazon and the collaborative work that went into it,” said Birgit Klohs, president and CEO of the Right Place economic development program.
MLive went on to say, “The Right Place team included Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc., the city of Grand Rapids, the Michigan Department of Transportation, Gerald R. Ford International Airport, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and Gov. Rick Snyder’s office.”
Considering that the City of Grand Rapids was involved in the process, one would think that the 108 page proposal from Grand Rapids to Amazon would have been a public document. Not so.
I inquired with a few Grand Rapids City Commissioners, who directed me to Kara Wood, the Director of Economic Development for the City of Grand Rapids. Wood said that the proposal to Amazon was NOT a public document and that I should talk to someone from the Right Place Inc.
I sent an e-mail to Tim Mroz, who wrote back saying:
Thanks for asking about Amazon and the proposal. Unfortunately, as hard as everyone worked on it, and as incredibly proud of it that we are, we have decided not to share it publicly. If it would help, I can provide some images/photos of the actual proposal.
Why is the Right Place Inc unwilling to make the proposal to Amazon available to the public? One can only speculate. It seems reasonable, however, to assume that part of the pitch was to provide Amazon with major tax breaks and subsidies, like so many other cities did. Many cities also offered public land for the new Amazon facility. Therefore, if public tax breaks were part of the equation and possibly public land, why was the document not made available to the public?
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, and now the wealthiest person on the planet, is accustomed to getting tax breaks from the government. According to an article in Slate.com:
Good Jobs First, which tracks corporate welfare, shows that Amazon has received $1.2 billion in subsidies since its founding, including $177 million this year alone. Economists are very skeptical about tax breaks for corporate relocation generally—including for Amazon’s strenuous warehouse jobs—but the scale of the HQ has brought subsidy offers to new heights. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, backing Newark’s bid, announced $5 billion in tax breaks.
The massive tax breaks issue is also echoed by Neil deMause, who was interviewed on Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting’s radio show, CounterSpin.
“I think that clearly paid off for Musk and Tesla, to the tune of $1.4 billion. So I’m not really surprised that Jeff Bezos and Amazon are looking at something similar here, and I think, given what we’re seeing from what’s leaking out about some of the bids (which are not public) for Amazon, it looks like they’re going to be looking at some kind of tremendous taxpayer windfall as well.”
deMause goes on to say:
And, this is what really is driving the bidding war so crazy, what Greg LeRoy talks about, is that you’re seeing these crazy numbers being thrown around, because it’s not like there’s another company down the road that you can say, well, if we don’t get Amazon, we’ll just get the second-best thing to Amazon, because there is no second-best thing to Amazon. It’s Amazon or the highway.
Sure, there would have been new jobs provided by the company, but Amazon has a track record of having many of their workers needing to rely on Food Stamps, just to get by.
However, the lack of transparency is what is particularly troubling in this case, especially since it is quite certain that tax breaks were offered in the deal.
Since the Trump administration announced that it would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA, the immigrant community has been fighting to maintain this program.
DACA youth, their families, friends and allies has been organizing on all kinds of levels, from educational forums to meeting with members of Congress, engaging in sit-ins, strikes and other forms of Direct Action.
Yesterday, hundreds of immigrants, DACA recipients and allies visited members of Congress. These visits were more like office occupations, where Dreamers made lots of noise to demand that Congress pass a Clean Dream Act. A Clean Dream Act would mean that it is not attached to other issues, especially the Congressional budget. Those in DC raising hell have been clear, by saying, “We are not a bargaining chip to be used by Republicans and Democrats.”
Dozens of people from West Michigan sat in on Senator Stabenow’s office in DC, as you can see from these pictures below. Senator Stabenow, while saying she supports Dreamers, has NOT committed to supporting a Clean Dream Act bill.
What Are We Willing to Do?
Of course, when I say we, I mean those of us who are white. Immigrants are fighting every day for their lives. Immigrants are taking risks. Immigrant youth are faced with the possibility that they might also be deported, if DACA is not renewed.
So what are we willing to do? The easiest thing to do is to call Senator Stabenow’s office today and tomorrow to demand a Clean Dream Act. Her DC office phone number is (202) 224-4822.
However, this is only the first of several things that those of us with tremendous privilege, must do. Second, if you are in West Michigan on Friday (January 19), come to the protest rally at 4:30 in downtown Grand Rapids and meet at the Calder Plaza. Information on this direct action can be found on Facebook at this link https://www.facebook.com/events/1557143701005498/. Also, don’t just show up, invite your circle of friends and help us spread the word.
If Congress does not pass a Clean Dream Act on January 19, be ready to take action and find out what groups like Movimiento Cosecha GR, an immigrant-led movement, is asking from us.
DACA is just part of the Immigrant Justice Movement
As important as it is to pass a Clean Dream Act, this is only one part of a larger movement to provide permanent protection to all immigrants. Movimiento Cosecha GR is leading that movement here in Grand Rapids and you can be part of their work as an ally and fight for permanent protection, dignity and respect for all immigrants. Contact them through their Facebook page to find out when they meet.
In addition, immigrants are constantly being targeted by ICE agents in West Michigan. If you want to be part of the GR Rapid Response to ICE project, go to their Facebook page. Their next training is scheduled for Wednesday, January 31st, with details here https://www.facebook.com/events/1993245604249285/.
The GR Rapid Response to ICE project consists of directly intervening to stop ICE agents from taking people, plus providing a variety of Mutual Aid to families that have had loved ones put into detention or deported. Here people can offer transportation, provide courtroom solidarity, contribute funds or assist with fundraising.
People can also be involved in offering sanctuary to immigrants who are being targeted, either in their own home or by getting their faith community to commit to being a sanctuary.
These are all important and necessary aspects of being in solidarity with immigrants. We have to be willing to take risks and to put our bodies on the line. If we don’t, then we are no better than the racists who scream, “immigrants should not be allowed to stay here and should just go back to their country of origin.”
Solidarity Event Planned with J20 Arrestees
(Editor’s note: This post was submitted anonymously.)
Almost a year ago, 230 people were mass arrested at protests against President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Following the arrest – which happened at an “anti-capitalist and anti-fascist” march – approximately 210 people were indicted on eight felony charges of inciting a riot, rioting, conspiracy to riot, and five counts of felony property destruction, punishable by up to 75 years in prison. While two charges – rioting and conspiracy to riot – have been reduced to misdemeanors, defendants are still facing the prospect of 60 years in prison.
Since January of last year, the cases have wound their way through the legal system. After mass arresting an entire city block, the government is attempting to retroactively build a case by searching seized cell phones, pouring over video recordings (some of which were obtained by alt-right sources), and subponeaing website records in an attempt to bolster its prosecution. Beyond this, the prosecution is arguing that mere presence at the protest is enough to warrant conviction.
For those who want a quick overview of the case, the following video provides a helpful introduction:
In December, the first six defendants to go to trial were acquitted of all the charges against them. Despite this legal victory, there is no indication from the prosecution that they plan to drop the charges against the remaining defendants. Instead, trials are scheduled through October of 2018.
Beyond the individual consequences of repression for the defendants – which have included emotional stress, financial stress, lost jobs, and harassment – the case could have broad consequences for social movements. If the state succeeds in this experiment, it will mean that any protest could be mass arrested and face the prospect of felony convictions and lengthy prison terms. Moreover, the state is attempting to redefine basic political organizing as conspiracy, which would greatly increase the stakes for anyone who chooses to organize within their communities. In light of the always increasing inequality brought by capitalism and the blatant white supremacy and misogyny represented by the Trump administration, “organizing” – as it always has been for marginalized communities – will increasingly become less of a choice and more of a necessity – meaning that we all will face this risk if the state is successful.
The primary need for the J20 defendants is money. The lengthy legal process is incredibly costly, with defendants from diverse regions being forced to travel back to Washington DC for court dates and eventually having to move to DC for trial. You can donate to the legal defense fund here.
A diverse group of people have organized to support the J20 defendants. The umbrella group Defend J20 Resistance is a centralized location for these support efforts and information on the case. Other initiatives – such as a recently called for week of solidarity – aim to raise the profile of the case. A “Statement of Solidarity” has been endorsed by dozens of organizations. Beyond these efforts, it is critically important that people help spread the word about the case as much of the broader left has been strikingly silent about it.
J20 Solidarity Event Planned in Grand Rapids
Here in Grand Rapids, there is an event planned on January 20 – the one-year anniversary of Trump’s inauguration – to raise awareness about the J20 cases. The event is at 1:00pm at Calder Plaza in downtown Grand Rapids.
In addition to information about the J20 case, there will also be speakers from a variety of organizations about the various struggles taking place against the Trump administration.
This underscores an important point about the necessity of continued struggle as a means of solidarity. When the state increases repression, it should be met with increased resistance. If people simply cower and walk away, it will make it that much easier for the state to succeed. An important part of supporting the J20 defendants is to continue the struggles against capitalism and fascism.
Celebrating the Real Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
As we celebrate one of the great leaders in the Black Freedom Struggle, it is important that we familiarize ourselves with the real Dr. King and not the one that is promoted in commercial media or by organizations that have their own agendas.
Like most people, Dr. King was not a static person and was not part of a static movement. He evolved over time and continued to sharpen his own view of the world as he moved beyond a civil rights view to a more global liberationist view. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. also matured in his use of tactics and strategizing when dealing with systems of oppression.
What follows are resources that we encourage people to investigate, so as to drawn your own conclusions about who Dr. King was, what he preached and practiced before he was assassinated nearly 50 years ago.
One good sources is The King Center Archive, which can be found online at http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive. The archive contains nearly 1 million documents associated with the life of Dr. King.
Another great source is a collections of King’s writings published in 1963 called, Why We Can’t Wait. This collection of writings includes his famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail.
Of course, there is the I have a Dream Speech, which give delivered in Washington, DC in 1963 at one of the largest civil rights demonstrations in US history. Some great sources to accompany that speech are Gary Younge’s book, The Speech: The Story Behind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream and Nobody Turn Me Around: A People’s History of the 1963 March on Washington, by Charles Euchner.
It is also important to know that Dr. King did not limit himself to challenging institutionalized racism, he also spoke out and organized around economic exploitation. Michael Honey’s book, All Labor Has Dignity, is a collection of writings and speeches that Dr. King gave that challenged economic injustice and well as demonstrating his relationship to organized labor groups in the US.
In a Single Garment of Destiny: A Global Vision of Justice, edited by Lewis Baldwin, you will find an amazing collection of writings and speeches by Dr. King that not only explored the issue of global poverty, but makes clear the tremendous understanding Dr. King had of US foreign policy and global solidarity. Included in this collection is King’s famous speech, Beyond Vietnam, which contains not only his denunciation of the US as the “Greatest purveyor of Violence in the world today,” it contains Kings naming the Evil Triplets of Racism, Militarism and Capitalism as the greatest threats to humanity.
As King’s vision of liberation became more radical, he began to name systems of oppression and to call out the unjust US war in Vietnam and the violence perpetrated against the black community in the US. In a little know book entitled, The Trumpet of Conscience, there are 5 lectures that King delivered on the Canadian Broadcasting System in 1967. These are some of the most powerful articulations of King’s vision and makes clear why he was such a threat to those in power.
The further radicalization of King is also capture well in another collection of King’s work, edited by Dr. Cornel West, entitled, The Radical King.
One of the last campaigns that Dr. King was involved in was The Poor People’s Campaign, which began in the summer of 1968, months after he was assassinated. This campaign was originally designed to have thousands of people set up a tent city in Washington DC until their demands were met around racial and economic justice, what King called a Bill of Rights for the Disadvantaged.
During the same time, the Memphis sanitation workers were organizing a strike for better wages and working conditions, Dr. King went to Memphis to support the strike and lend his solidarity to their struggle. The sanitation worker’s strike and King’s visit is well documented in the book, Going Down Jericho Road: The Memphis Strike, Martin Luther King’s Last Campaign, by Michael Honey.
Memphis is where King was assassinated, on April 4 of 1968. King’s assassination is the subject of two important books. One book is Michael Eric Dyson’s book April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr’s Death and How It Changed America. A second book, written by William Pepper, explores who was actually involved in King’s assassination and what role local, state and federal authorities played in the shooting of Dr. King. Pepper’s book is entitled, An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King.
It is also important to understand that the FBI had been monitoring Dr. King’s activities for years, making threats against him and wire tapping his phones. One book, which documents the FBI monitoring of King (with actual documents), is the book by Michael Friedly and David Gallen, Martin Luther King Jr: The FBI File.
There are other important scholarly works on the message and person of Dr. King. Three books in particular are worth mentioning. The first is by John Ansbro, entitled, Martin 
Luther King Jr.: The Making of a Mind. The second scholarly book is by Michael Eric Dyson, entitled, I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin Luther King Jr. Lastly, no investigation of Dr. King is completed without the great Black Theologian James Cone’s book, Martin and Malcolm and America: A Dream or a Nightmare.
In addition to these books, speeches and essays by and about Dr. King, there are some great films about King and this time period. The PBS series Eyes on the Prize, provides 
wonderful visual documentation of the black liberation movement and Dr. King. However, a film that deals more directly to the message and person of Dr. King is Citizen King, which deals particularly with the last few years of his life, his vision and the state repression against him and his family.
All of these resources are important, especially if we want to not let government, non-profit or political groups hijack the message and witness of this deeply passionate man.
Countries that Trump calls Shitholes are violent, poverty stricken countries because of over a century of US Policy
President Trump is creating a stir again over his recent comments about immigrants that are coming from “shithole” countries, like Haiti and countries in Africa.
Numerous commentators are responding to the racist nature of such comments and for good reason. However, there is a completely different component here that most media sources are missing and that is the fact that many of the countries that Trump is referring to have refugees/immigrants coming to the US because of US imperialism and European colonialism.
Let’s start with a look at Haiti.
Haiti became independent in 1804, after a revolution led by Black people.The US hated this fact and has been punishing Haiti ever since. Abraham Lincoln proposed to send all the black slaves to Haiti as a White Supremacist solution and since the early 20th century the US has pretty much run the small Caribbean nation.
From 1914 to 1934, the US Marines occupied Haiti in order to stop numerous rebellions. In addition, during this time the US essentially re-wrote the Haiti Constitution to favor longterm US financial interests. ( See Paul Farmer’s, The Uses of Haiti) Since the late 1950s, the US supported the dictatorships of Papa Doc and Baby Doc Duvalier. The Duvalier dictatorship was a brutal dictatorship using state terrorism that was enforced by the government’s death squads known as the Ton Ton Macutes.
Then in 1990, the Haitian people elected a Catholic priest by the name of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was a proponent of Liberation Theology. Aristide was overthrown in a US-back Military Coup in 1991 and took exile in the US. The Clinton administration then got Aristide to adopt World Bank/IMF Structural Adjustment Policies, and in turn the US administration agreed restore Aristide to power.
Aristide was elected again and then over thrown by another US backed military coup and spent 7 years in exile, all of which is well documented in the film Aristide and the Endless Revolution.
If we wanted to look at US interventions in Africa over the last 50 years, here is a sampling of how the US has helped to create violence and poverty in that continent:
- US involvement in the assassination of President Lumumba in the Congo in 1961.
- US Support for the South African Apartheid government that last for decades and right up until the end
- CIA involvement in Angola that led to a bloody civil war.
- US support of dictatorship in Somalia in the 1990, which led to a failed US intervention during the Clinton administration.
- US support for the brutal dictatorship of Idi Amin in Uganda in the 1970s.
- US support for the brutal dictatorship of Mobutu in Zaire (now the the Congo) for roughly 30 years.
- Egypt was in the top 5 in US military aid for over 25 years.
- US antagonism of Libya for several decades, leading to the US-back coup in 2011.
- 1998 bombing of a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan, which led to the deaths of thousands, since this pharmaceutical plant provided 50% of the medicines in the Sudan.
It is understandable that people are outraged by the recent comments by President Trump, but he is simply reflecting a long standing US position on Haiti and the continent of Africa.
If you want to explore this history more, participate in the GRIID class, Investigating US Foreign Policy from 1898 to the Present, which begins on Monday, January 29.
Reading the business press can be difficult at times, but for those who are engaged in grassroots organizing, it is important for us to monitor such news sources. It’s important because those who have economic and political power are often more candid with what they think in the business press than in the more mainstream commercial media.
In addition, the business press also is pretty up front about their bias, even allegiance, to those who wield tremendous economic and often political power. This was demonstrated recently in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, with their announcement of the 2017 Newsmakers of the Year awards event, scheduled for January 31st at the Frederick Meijer Gardens.
The list of nominees reads like a who’s who of the Grand Rapids power structure, with mostly familiar names, to those who follow power dynamics in West Michigan.
There are 16 separate categories, with 3 nominations in each category. However, it is interesting to see how deeply certain people, families and companies are represented in the nominations.
The family/business with the most mentions are of course the DeVos Family. Dick DeVos is a nominee for Economic Development and his wife Betsy DeVos is a nominee for Education. In addition to that power couple, Dan DeVos is a nominee for Sports (ownership of the Grand Rapids Griffins) and Daryn Kuipers is a nominee in the Beverage category because he works for Boxed Water. Boxed Water is part of the DeVos owned Windquest Group Core Companies.
Of course, the DeVos connection doesn’t end there. In the category of Non-Profit newsmakers, AmplifyGR is nominated. AmplifyGR is funded by the Doug and Maria DeVos Foundation and was created for the purpose of getting the family into the development business, along with AmplifyGR’s partner Rockford Construction. Which brings us to another connection, since Rockford Construction is nominated for two categories – Construction and Sustainability.
Being nominated by the Grand Rapids Business Journal as a 2017 Newsmaker, of course is an endorsement that what these individuals or companies were doing in the community over the past twelve months. We take a much different view of these nominees, so we’d like to offer our own awards for each of the people named above.
Daryn Kuipers/Boxed Water wins the We’re Profiting Off of the Sale of Water Award.
AmplifyGR, along with Rockford Construction, wins the Gentrifier of the Year Award.
However, since Rockford Construction was also nominated for the Sustainability of the Year Award, we’d like to give them the – We Had to Destroy the Neighborhood in order to make it Sustainable Award.
Dan DeVos, owner of the Grand Rapids Griffins, wins the We Own Everything Else, Why Not the Sports Teams Award.
Since Dick DeVos was nominated for the Economic Development category, he wins the How to Use Public Money for Private Profit Award.
Lastly, since the Grand Rapids Business Journal nominated Betsy DeVos for an Education award (even though she is the only person nominated who is not working in Grand Rapids), we give her the How to Dismantle Public Education Award.
The War on Immigrants continues to escalate: Temporary Protected Status of 200,000 Salvadoran immigrants has been revoke by the US Government
Approximately 200,000 Salvadorans, many of whom have resided in the United States since becoming eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in 2001, will have until September 2019 to either willingly leave the United States, obtain U.S.legal permanent residency by some other means, or else face deportation.
“What these long-term residents of the United States needed is a pathway to citizenship. Instead, under Trump, they will be forced to turn their lives upside down and drag their children back to one of the most violent countries in the world,” said a spokesperson from the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).
The Trump administration previously ended TPS for Haitians and Nicaraguans in November 2017, affecting about 50,000 Haitians and some 2,500 Nicaraguans. A decision on the 61,000 Honduran recipients of TPS is expected before May 4, 2018.
Salvadoran officials, including President Salvador Sánchez Cerén, appealed to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen as recently as last week not to go through with the decision, arguing that it would wreak havoc on El Salvador’s economy. The tiny Central American nation relies heavily on remittance payments sent from Salvadorans living in the U.S. to their family members back home.
TPS is a program that has allowed administrations to extend temporary residency to foreign nationals on U.S. soil at a time when a profound disaster—natural or political—strikes in their home countries. Originally, close to 300,000 Salvadorans in the United States were vetted and granted TPS after a killer earthquake rocked the small Central American country in 2001, as the Center for Public Integrity explained in a recent story. Congress created TPS as part of the Immigration Act of 1990.
Kent County is home to several thousand Salvadorans, which means that families will be torn apart or face the difficult task of returning to a country that is extremely violent and where more than half the population lives in poverty.
The announcement to end TPS for Salvadorans from the Trump administration is part of a long line of policies that have been devastating for Salvadorans. The US has been a supporter of the wealthiest families, many of which own coffee plantations, for the better part of a century.
In 1932, the US backed the Salvadoran military, which slaughtered an estimated 10,000 coffee workers in one day, because they dared to organize against the harsh working conditions and poverty wages. This event is known in El Salvador as La Matanza – The Massacre.
From the late 1970s through the early 1990s, the US supported the death squad government of El Salvador, which killed about 80,000 of its own people in a brutal counter-insurgency war. During the peak of those years, the US government was providing $1 million a day to the government of El Salvador to suppress their own people. In 1980, Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero wrote to then President Jimmy Carter and asked him to stop sending money for weapons. Weeks later, the Archbishop was shot dead by Salvadoran soldiers while saying mass in San Salvador.
Because of the government repression, thousands pf Salvadorans fled their country to come to the US, but were often denied asylum. In 1984, the US Sanctuary Movement was born and faith-based groups and other organizations were taking people in who were fleeing repression in El Salvador and Guatemala.
During the 1990s, and especially after the 1994 Peace Accords, El Salvador was subjected to Structural Adjustment Programs by the World Bank/IMF loans, which meant that the government had to privatize many formerly public services and reduce spending on social services. It was during this time that the level of state corruption and street level violence increased, violence which continues til today.
This is the legacy of US policy with El Salvador and the decision to end TPS for Salvadorans living in the US, who now have to leave within the next 18 months, is just the most recent repressive policy the US has imposed on the Salvadoran people.
This decision to take away TPS from Salvadorans living in the US is just another aspect of the growing war against immigrants. It is time that we increased our level of resistance to such policies and consider offering sanctuary to those who are being forced to leave, much like the resistance and sanctuary work being done in the 1980s in Grand Rapids.
100 Ideas, White Supremacy, Entrepreneurs and Income Inequality
Try to imagine if you can, what Grand Rapids might look like if no one lived in poverty. Imagine if just those who were African American, disproportionately did not live in poverty. Can you even imagine that?
Some will say that African Americans have had every opportunity to get out of poverty and that there is no reason why a high number of blacks in this city should live in poverty.
Those who are quick to say this fail to acknowledge the history of White Supremacy in the US. They fail to acknowledge that slavery meant that black people earned no money and were not allowed to acquire assets, while white people profited significantly off of slavery.
Those who fail to acknowledge the history of White Supremacy fail to take into account the theft of black owned land, the constant terrorism of armed white people, whether it is the KKK or the local police department. Failure to acknowledge the history of White Supremacy means failure to talk about the history 
of lynching, segregation, financial red lining, that black people have disproportionately made lower wages than white people, mass incarceration, white flight, gentrification, urban renewal and the defunding of the public sector, which has disproportionate impacted the black community more than any other.
People could read about how the economic system of capitalism doesn’t serve most people, but has particularly impacted the black community, as the great historian Manning Marable documents in his book, How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America.
Along comes Start Garden, which says it wants to give away $1,000 to 100 people for new business ideas in the coming weeks. In July, Start Garden judges (whoever they might be) will have complete say in determining what lucky 10 people will then each get $20,000 to start a new business initiative.
The funds for this new project are coming from the banks and other financial institutions listed below, with the intent of creating,”10 new sustainable ideas in our Grand Rapids business district,” says, Jorge Gonzalez of Start Garden. Gonzalez went on to say, based on an MLive article, “That means wealth creation.”
Gonzalez’s co-worker in this project, Darrel Ross explained the thinking behind the initiative, when he said, “The solution to poverty is income, and the best way to generate income is through entrepreneurship.” Such a statement not only fails to acknowledge the history of White Supremacy, it fails to take into account how the system of capitalism works.
Capitalism, particularly Neo-Liberal Capitalism, functions best when there are a small percentage of the population keeping most of the wealth, while the masses are living in poverty or just a pay check away from falling into poverty. In fact, the founder of Start Garden, Rick DeVos, and the entire DeVos Family, has been deeply committed to the accumulation of wealth for themselves and influencing public policy to do things like – defund the public sector, eliminate unions, provide tax breaks and major subsidies to corporations, undermine public education and give the super rich unlimited ability to buy elections at the federal and state level.
Yet, somehow those who currently run Start Garden want people to believe that creating more entrepreneurs is the best way to generate income. Now, this might help a few people get out of poverty, but it is not sustainable and it again fails to acknowledge history and the complex nature of systems of oppression that make it extremely difficult for black and brown communities to experience economic justice.
Real economic justice looks more like what the Movement for Black Lives (MBL) is proposing.
First, the MBL is calling for massive Reparations for the wealth extracted from our communities through environmental racism, slavery, food apartheid, housing discrimination and racialized capitalism in the form of corporate and government reparations focused on healing ongoing physical and mental trauma, and ensuring our access and control of food sources, housing and land. 
Second, MBL is calling for an Invest-Divest strategy, which says, We demand investments in the education, health and safety of Black people, instead of investments in the criminalizing, caging, and harming of Black people. We want investments in Black communities, determined by Black communities, and divestment from exploitative forces including prisons, fossil fuels, police, surveillance and exploitative corporations.
Third, they are calling for Economic Justice, where they say, We demand economic justice for all and a reconstruction of the economy to ensure Black communities have collective ownership, not merely access.
Each of these strategies and demands comes with lots of details on how the black community can get out of poverty, all of which can be found at this link https://policy.m4bl.org/.
The local news reported that there was a large audience for the kick-off of the 100 Ideas Start Garden Project. This is no surprise, given that 100 people will likely get $1,000 for just pitching a one-minute idea. However, such entrepreneurial ventures will only end up benefitting a small number of people, which will ignore thousands in poverty and perpetuate individualism, rather than promote how we can collectively fight poverty, income inequality and imagine other community-based forms of collective liberation.
From Organizing a Poor People’s Campaign to hosting a Corporate Breakfast: The Uses and Abuses of Dr. King’s Legacy
This year will mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And this year, like most years since the federal government began to celebrate the Black Freedom Fighter’s birthday, Dr. King’s legacy will be miss used, appropriated and whitewashed by all sorts of entities and systems of oppression.
Federal, State and Local governments will misrepresent King’s legacy with calls for diversity and unity, when in fact Dr. King was so much more than that. If one looks at his evolution, from civil rights leaders to the black liberation struggle, it is clear that King had changed from the days of calling for integration to embracing a more prophetic role in calling out the violence and structural racism that was (and is) so woven into US society.
In his 1967 speech, Which Way Its Soul Shall Go, Dr. King didn’t mince words about racism in America, when he said:
“I am sorry to have to say that the vast majority of white Americans are racists, either consciously or unconsciously.”
Dr. King began to see in the years just before he was assassinated that racism wasn’t just a problem in the deep south. After 1965, when he moved his operations to the north and opened an office in Chicago, he began to deepen his critique of racism and white supremacy. Dr. King also began to expand on his use of tactics and strategies to challenge what he would refer to as the Evil Triplets of American society – Racism, Militarism and Capitalism.
During the 1966 Chicago urban campaign, Dr. King stated:
“We’ll use something that avoids violence, but becomes becomes militant and extreme enough to disrupt the flow of the city. I know it will be rough on them when they have to get 200 people off the Dan Ryan expressway, but the only thing I can tell them, which do you prefer, this or a riot.”
In 1967, in his Beyond Vietnam speech, Dr. King referred to the US as the, “greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” King’s stance against the Vietnam war was even criticized in civil rights circles as being a divisive issue.
Besides racism and militarism, King began to also critically examine the economic system of capitalism. This was especially the case after 1965, where King became more strident in his denunciation of economic exploitation and began to demand massive reparations for black America, in what he called a “Bill of Rights for the Disadvantaged, our veterans of the long siege of denial.” This call for reparations is what motivated his involvement in the last campaign he organized, the Poor People’s Campaign.
The Poor People’s Campaign was not only based on the idea of massive reparations, but on King’s sharp critique of economic exploitation, which he named as capitalism. Here is what Dr. King had to say:
Considering all of what Dr. King had to say about racism, militarism and capitalism, it was rather disappointing to see that the Grand Rapids Urban League would be hosting their 18th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Corporate Breakfast. 
How is it, that anyone could use the name of Dr. King and then add, Corporate Breakfast. How does one engage in this kind of cognitive dissonance? Do people really believe that Dr. King would want to be associated with corporations?
The main sponsors of the Corporate Breakfast that is meant to honor the man who challenged capitalism are, Steelcase, Spectrum Health/Priority Health, Chemical Bank, Mercantile Bank, Fifth Third Bank and Comerica Bank. Then there is the cost of the tables to purchase. A Platinum Sponsorship can get you a table of 30 for a mere $10,000, Gold Sponsorship will pay for 20 people with a price tag of $5,000, Silver Sponsorship $2,500, Bronze Sponsorship $1,250 and Angel Sponsorship $1,000.
I’m not sure how one gets from denouncing capitalism, calling for massive reparations and organizing a poor people’s campaign, to hosting a corporate breakfast.
It is easy to present Democrats and Republicans as polar opposites, always waring with each other. However, the Blue State/Red State dichotomy is often an illusion framed around certain social issues.
When it comes to US foreign policy and the defense of capitalism, then we can easily see bipartisan consensus. For most of US history, especially once wars are started, it is rare to find members of Congress who take a stand against US militarism. This bipartisan consensus is often framed as “support for the troops,” but a closer look will demonstrate that both the Republicans and Democrats are deeply committed to US wars abroad, which leads to a consensus on the Defense budget, which leads to bringing money to states that have a stake in weapons contracts or domestic military bases.
This bipartisan consensus was on display just before the holidays, when Michigan Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, along with the entire Michigan Congressional Delegation, was lobbying for Fort Custer Training Center to become a missile-defense site.
Fort Custer is located between Kalamazoo and Battle Creek, which would mean that as a missile defense site, it would be near two major metropolitan areas.
The Michigan Senators and the entire Congressional Delegation from Michigan submitted a letter to Lieutenant General Samuel A. Greaves, who is the director of the Missile Defense Agency, stating:
“North Korea poses an increasingly substantial threat to our homeland, culminating in the recent launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile that flew higher and longer than previous launches,” wrote the Senators and Representatives. “Fort Custer benefits from excellent existing infrastructure, including efficient access to two major interstate highways and a nearby 10,000-foot runway. The fields at Fort Custer are shovel ready and it is our understanding the CIS can be constructed at the lowest cost with the least environmental impact.”
This bipartisan consensus demonstrates the commitment that Republicans and Democrats have to US militarism – because the US will not tolerate most countries having nuclear capability; and it demonstrates a bipartisan commitment to capitalism – in that more taxpayer funds will come to Michigan for this missile defense program, which translates into more money for private weapons contractors, along with capital that will be injected into the communities in and around Kalamazoo and Battle Creek.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 