Last Friday, MLive posted a short piece about how the 49503 zip, which is in Grand Rapids, is the fastest growing income in the state of Michigan.
The article provides some data and makes it clear that the 49503 zip code is not the wealthiest zip code in Michigan, but that it has had the highest increase based on percentage. MLive states:
“Average income in the ZIP code, which includes downtown Grand Rapids, increased by 31.8 percent between 2014 and 2015 filings, the data shows. The average income reported in 2015 was $93,995.75.”
The article also provides additional data and acknowledges that there are, “about 33 percent of residents in 49503 fall below the poverty level.”
However, the MLive article doesn’t ask the logical and important question as to why the 49503 zip saw such a significant increase of income.
You can see where the borders are for the 49503 zip code, which includes all if downtown and other corridors that have been significantly gentrifies over the past decade. I would argue that there are 3 contributing factors to the increased income for the 49503 zip code. First, is the number of professional people moving into the area and occupying all the newer $1500 – $3,000 a month housing units. In fact, most of the housing units that have been constructed in the past 10 years have benefitted the professional class and in some cases caused the displacement of those experiencing poverty or working class families, like the project on Michigan Street from 2016.
A second reason, is based on the fact that Grand Rapids already has the largest wealth gap in the state of Michigan, based on a 2016 report from the Economic Policy Institute.
The second reason is related to the third reason, which is the fact that there are some extremely wealthy people living in the 49503 zip code. The DeVos Family are the richest in the 49503 zip codes, based on the address they use when submitted campaign contributions. We all know they have multiple houses in more than one state, but the DeVos Family does use 49503 as their address for political contributions, based on data from the Center for Responsive Politics.
Here is a sample below of the largest political contributions from the 49503 zip code. As you can see everyone listed here and many more are all members of the DeVos Family.
While not surprising, it is too bad that MLive didn’t bother to ask such a basic question as to why the 49503 zip code has had the largest increase in income. But then again, this would raise questions about wealth and poverty and that is something the commercial media tends to avoid looking into.
Grand Rapids, Development and Equity in a Market-driven economy
On Friday, MLive ran a story based on new recommendations from the Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use that would promote greater equity with development projects in Grand Rapids.
These recommendations are necessarily new, as they come out of a report that was presented to Grand Rapids by the Rose Center in March 2017, which we reported on.
The MLive article lists nine recommendations from the Rose Center, but before we address those recommendations, it is important to state a few things up front.
First, a major problem with these recommendations are that they are rooted in idea that we can achieve equity within a market-based system of capitalism. There is just no historical evidence that equity can be achieved within a system of capitalism. In fact, within a market-based system we can be guaranteed that there will be greater inequity – class, racial and gender inequity.
Second, the recommendations keep using the incentives and incentivizing. Instead of using the term incentivizing, why don’t we name what it incentives are, which are taxpayer subsidies or the transfer of public money into private hands. When a developer proposes to build a new condo project, the city offers subsidies or the transfer of public money into private hands. These “incentives” suggest that the private sector cannot make these development projects happen without public funds. This is simply not true, rather it means that a private development company will see more immediate returns on their investment. We all need to have a more serious discussion on whether or not the public wants to see more of their money subsidizing the private sector.
Now, lets turn to the 9 recommendations.
- Incentivize development beyond downtown – For me, this sounds like they want to expand the same kind of development process used in the downtown area and expand it to other parts of the city. For those who have not bought into the market-based mindset, the development that has occurred in recent decades in downtown GR has primarily benefited the wealthier sectors of this community and at the same time further marginalized those experiencing poverty and communities of color, particularly in the Heartside area. This first recommendation simply means they want to duplicate the downtown development model in our neighborhoods.
- Create a community land trust – This recommendation is misleading, since they are talking about what the city government could do to purchase/access more land for “affordable housing.” Community Land Trusts are really born out of resident-led efforts to protect areas of land from developers and gentrification. Instead of just talking about the city getting access to more land for housing, how about the city encouraging residents to look into creating community land trusts that would give residents more control over the future of neighborhoods that are threatened by private developers.
- Stop putting so many incentives towards parking lots and garages – This recommendation makes sense, since they emphasize more public transit and not promoting a car culture. However, this recommendation needs to take into consideration that there is also a history of white supremacy and contempt for the those experiencing poverty to create walkable communities that primarily benefit white professionals and white members of the “creative class.”
- Require developers using public incentives to use local businesses – I get the intent of this recommendation, but just because a business is local, doesn’t mean what they do promotes justice and equity. Amway, Rockford Construction, Wolverine Oil & Gas, Meijer, Wolverine Worldwide and Universal Forest Products are all local companies, but none of them are about creating greater equity in the community.
- Put an equitable economic development strategy in writing – This recommendation seems to be about promoting greater transparency. While I am in favor of increased transparency it doesn’t really address whether or not equitable economic development can occur.
- Consider creating a city Department of Transportation – I’m not sure that creating more government entities is the solution. What if people who live and work in the city have more say in developing more efficient and just ways for people to move about in this city. Such an effort should also be led by those who are the most marginalized in our car-dependent culture – those with disabilities, people experiencing poverty, communities of color.
- Advocate for state policy change for popular incentives – This recommendation makes tax credits for developers an incentive that should be pushed at the state level. However, instead of focusing on more transfer of public money to the private sector, how about returning to a state policy that would promote rent control. A statewide rent control policy would do more to benefit those being priced out of neighborhoods than promoting more “incentive” programs. The realty sector would fight having a rent control policy in place, but tenants could begin by creating a union that would give them power to fight for rent control and other issues, while not having to wait for a state policy.
- Create a new position in city hall to facilitate engagement – This recommendation makes it clear that the city currently does a poor job when it comes to community engagement. Creating such a position will not necessarily mean more people will be involved in future planning. If you look at the Planning Commission right now, it is made up of too many people who benefit from development projects and not those who are most impacted from such projects. The problem is that the city too often gives private developers too much power. Instead of just creating a community engagement position, there needs to be a commitment to giving neighborhoods and residents more power in determining the future of their communities.
- Start a citizen’s learning institute – This recommendation seems rather patronizing to me. People need to be informed about what is happening in their neighborhoods and what the city process is when developer approach them, but that shouldn’t require a citizen’s learning institute. Besides, what good does it do for people to have a better understanding of how the city too often sides with private developers in this process. Ultimately, people need to feel empowered to take more ownership in their neighborhoods and this is already happening, despite what developers and the city government are doing. Just look at the pushback from the AmplifyGR development plans.
Again, it is important to emphasize that market-based solutions will not create more equity in the city. In fact, this is a sentiment that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr shared.
Grassroots Responses to Big Philanthropy: Grand Rapids Activism in the Shadow of Amway, ArtPrize and DeVos
Last week, I was asked to be part of a panel discussion for a conference being held in downtown Grand Rapids and organized by the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA).
The organization itself doesn’t seem to be focused on systems of oppression and collective liberation, but the panel I was asked to participate in was headed in the right direction.
The title of the panel session was, Grassroots Responses to Big Philanthropy: Grand Rapids Activism in the Shadow of Amway, ArtPrize and DeVos. The title was reflective of something that I have spent a great deal of energy on, both monitoring the DeVos family, providing analysis of their type of philanthropy and how we need to counteract the insidious nature of the millions this family distributes in order to serve their own interests.
As I write this, it is Giving Tuesday, which seems appropriate, considering the fact that so many non-profit organizations are hoping to cash in on funding from philanthropic organizations that often contribute to the harm they are responding to.
The Problem of Philanthropy for Social Movements
Based on the research of the group INCITE!, which produced the book, The Revolution Will Not Be Funded, it is important to provide a framework for thinking about the nature of philanthropy and foundations.
According to INCITE, “The non-profit industrial complex is a system of relationships between:
- the State (local and federal governments)
- the owning classes
- foundations
- and non-profit/NGO social service & social justice organizations
With these kinds of relationships, it often results in the surveillance, control, derailment, and everyday management of political movements. The state uses non-profits to:
- Monitor and control social justice movements;
- Divert public monies into private hands through foundations;
- Manage and control dissent in order to make the world safe for capitalism;
- Redirect activist energies into career-based modes of organizing instead of mass-based organizing capable of actually transforming society;
- Allow corporations to mask their exploitative and colonial work practices through “philanthropic” work;
- Encourage social movements to model themselves after capitalist structures rather than to challenge them
Now that we have a framework around thinking about the function of philanthropy and foundations, I can talk about what was discussed on the panel. I will keep the comments and observations to what I shared, since I do not have consent from the other panelists.
There were a few questions posed to those of us on the panel. The first question was, What does activism and community organizing mean to you and your organization? While doing introductions I said that I was only representing GRIID and the Grand Rapids People’s History Project. However, I did say that I was currently involved in doing some food justice organizing, working with the GR Rapid Response to ICE project and Movimiento Cosecha GR.
My response to the first question was that it was deeply critical for us to think about the work we do in terms of building dynamic social justice movements and that our organizing needed to be strategic and reclaim radical imagination. I stated that these movements must be led by those most impacted – communities of color, immigrants, queer communities, those with disabilities, etc. I also stated that those of us in these movements, who bring a great deal of privilege, need to make sure that our involvement needs to make sure that the voices of those most marginalized need to be elevated and that whatever actions we take should center around the voices/input of those most impacted from systems of oppression.
I also said that we need to create, when possible, independent, autonomous groups that seeks to get to the root of whatever issue(s) we are organizing around, through the use of Direct Action and horizontal organizing models.
The second question posed to those of us on the panel was, From your perspective, how does activism and community organizing function within Grand Rapids?
My response began with a comment from a friend of mine who in not originally from West Michigan. She stated that “Grand Rapids does charity real well, but it doesn’t do justice for shit.” I followed up that comment by saying that this fits into what people often called West Michigan nice. West Michigan nice is in many ways a dominate ethos in this community, which essentially means don’t rock the boat, don’t challenge structural injustice and don’t bite the hand that feeds the non-profit industrial complex.
An example I gave had to do with the issue of hunger in this community. Two of the largest organizations responding to hunger are Feeding American West Michigan and Kids Food Basket. In both cases, these organizations do a great job of providing food charity, but they are in no way interested in doing food justice. All one has to do is look at their funding sources and who sits on their boards. I interviewed the director of Feeding America a few years ago and he bragged about the fact that they were increasing the amount of food that their organization was distributing on a yearly basis. When I said that this just means that more people are food insecure and that the goal should ultimately be to end hunger, this non-profit director said that this was not the focus of their organization.
The third question deal more directly with the function of systems of power. The question was, How do you and/or your organization navigate government power structures and big philanthropy?
This question got to the heart of the title of the panel as it was presented to those attending the conference. Using the DeVos Family as the lens at which to respond to this question, I began by saying that I think it is important to recognize that the DeVos Family not only is the most powerful family in West Michigan, but that their religious values and ideological framework is what informs and determines their wealth and power.
I then stated that the DeVos Family contributes more to influence government policy in Michigan more than any other family in the state, based on documentation from the Michigan Campaign Finance Network. The kinds of policies they have been promoting, both through their family campaign finances and groups like the West Michigan Policy Forum have resulted in making Michigan a Right to Work state, attacking teacher and other public sector pensions, denying same sex parents from adopting from the largest adoption agencies in the state, changing the tax system to benefit the wealthiest and changing state law to allow larger campaign contributions.
All of these policies have caused a tremendous amount of harm and negatively impacts the most marginalized communities in the area. The DeVos Family then provides substantial grant funding through their numerous family foundations, funding that is often used by non-profits to respond to the harm the DeVos Family has caused. The difference is that the funds used within the non-profit sector are based on conditions, which allows the DeVos Family to engage in a form of social engineering and population management.
In addition, the non-profits that are receiving funds from the DeVos Family Foundations are then put in a position so as to never criticize the family’s political funding. This means that in addition to engaging in population management, non-profit/social service organizations are also managed for fear of losing their funding. Therefore, the DeVos Family philanthropy plays a significant role in the two pronged strategy of ideological warfare they engage in through their wealth. (See Part I and Part II of an article that further explores this dynamic.)
One recent example is the DeVos creation of the group AmplifyGR. In this case, through their partnership with Rockford Construction, they have purchased a great deal of land in the Boston Square and Cottage Grove areas in southeast Grand Rapids. The DeVos Family then created their own non-profit, AmplifyGR, which then seeks to impose a development/gentrification plan on these neighborhoods. The DeVos Family makes it more probable that they will be able to achieve their goals, since there are many non-profits in the target area that have been major recipients of DeVos foundation money.
What the DeVos Family did not expect is for the community to push back against their plans to re-develop the area. AmplifyGR has recently canceled the previously schedule “community engagement” meetings to re-assess their plans. However, the public should not take this as a victory, but rather a temporary setback. No doubt the family will use its vast influence and resources to rethink how best to achieve their goals. One thing is clear though, the resistance to AmplifyGR’s plans has come because of grassroots and autonomous organizing outside of the shadow of big philanthropy.
Acton Institute constructs a video to paint those protesting their annual event as “uncivil”
On October 18, an estimated 25 people confronted Acton Institute supporters as they entered the DeVos Convention Center on their way to the organization’s annual event.
The purpose of the action was to challenge the Acton Institute’s keynote speaker, Betsy DeVos, and to make those attending the event feel uncomfortable. Some of the people attending the Acton Institute Gala are part of the Grand Rapids power structure, since many of them are business people who also push the same kinds of neoliberal policies, like privatization and attacks on the public sector, that the Acton Institute so aggressively promotes.
We recently posted a critique of the October 18 talk given by Acton co-founder, Rev. Robert Sirico. Besides mocking those who protested the event, Sirico made the claim that his organization doesn’t believe in class struggle, they believe in “class encounter.”
Last week, the Acton Institute posted a video that seeks to continue to mock those who confronted the people who paid $175 a plate to attend their event and to construct an image that their members support civility.
Here is the text that accompanies the video that Acton posted:
On October 18 2017, United States Secretary of Education and former member of the Acton Institute board of directors Betsy DeVos addressed an audience of nearly 1,000 people at Acton’s 27th Anniversary Celebration at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, Michigan. DeVos has been one of President Donald Trump’s most controversial appointees to his cabinet, and her appearance in Grand Rapids attracted protests similar to those she has encountered at other speaking engagements across the country. In conjunction with the Acton Institute, AnneMarie Scheiber Dykstra of Free to Speak Pictures spent some time examining the claims of the protestors about DeVos’ agenda, contrasted it with the Secretary’s actual words, and looked at the potential real world impact of expanded educational choice.
Virtually nothing that is included in this text was accomplished in the video. It is a weak and simplistic depiction of what happened that night and what DeVos and Rev. Sirico both had to say.
What is even more offensive is that the video features the commentary from the superintendent of Potter’s House Christian School, John Booy. Booy has a long history of supporting the kinds of educational policies that Betsy DeVos has advocated over the past several decades. Potter;s House Christian School has also been the recipient of significant funding from the Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation.
What Booy had to say in the video is particularly offensive because he wants to claim that those protesting the Acton Institute event are not civil and that somehow civility is a virtue. In addition to referring to the protest as a circus, he said, “what we are trying to teach out students is to have peaceful, intelligent discourse.” Of course those who are part of the power structure who have a tremendous amount of privilege will always want to portray people who are fighting for justice as uncivil. It is my contention that there is no point in having civil discourse with people who impose policies that negatively impact people who are the most marginalized in our society. I don’t want to appeal to the morality of those who support the Acton Institute. They have made it clear that their morality is far superior than the rest of us. Therefore, our intent was to make those who attended the Acton Institute event uncomfortable for forcing their morality on the rest of us.
Here is the constructed video that the Acton Institute recently posted, so you can draw your own conclusions about what it is they were trying to communicate. Ironically, the video is entitled, Finding Virtue in a Noisy World.
Cosecha GR escalates Turkey Boycott Campaign, invites others to join
Over the past fews days Movimiento Cosecha GR has escalated their turkey boycott campaign by holding actions at places where people go to buy turkeys and turkey products.
On Sunday, several members of Cosecha GR went to one of the local Gordon Foods stores, holding signs and passing out information on the boycott. The flyer they were handing out read:
Why boycott turkey this holiday season?
1. Many immigrants in the poultry industry work in harsh conditions and make poor wages. Their status often means that their labor is exploited and their rights are abused.
2. Immigrant families are living in fear: disrupted, detained and deported. A small disruption in your holiday traditions this year can be a powerful move for solidarity.
3. When we stand together we can impact the economy. In turn, we can demand changes in working conditions.
Movimiento Cosecha demands dignity, respect and permanent protection for all immigrants.
Last night othe members of the immigrant led group went to the Meijer store on Alpine to do the same thing and demonstrate the collective economic power that immigrants and allies can have in order to make change,
Cosecha GR also recently made a video that communicates the spirit and intent of the Turkey Boycott, which you can watch here below. The group has produced videos in both Spanish and English to reach as many people as possible.
An Invitation to Participate in the Turkey Boycott
Here is a list of a few things that people can do to support the Cosecha GR Turkey Boycott Campaign.
- Sign the pledge to be part of the campaign. Part of the language from the pledge makes it clear about why Cosecha GR is calling for the boycott.
Recognizing that all the food that is on our tables during these end of the year festivities has been cultivated, harvested and processed by immigrant hands, we invite you to make the sacrifice of not eating turkey to honor the work of immigrant workers and we invite, when you are together with your families at the Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas or New Year to remember that our immigrant brothers and sisters whose families may not be together because they have been separated and won’t be able to celebrate because their family members have been deported.
- You can become involved in the turkey boycott campaign and assist in organizing actions. Contact Cosecha GR by going to their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/cosechagr/.
- You can have the important conversations with family at holiday meals about the Turkey Boycott.
- Encourage your faith community to participate in the Cosecha GR Turkey Boycott. They have put together an invitation to the faith community, which reads as follows:
Invitation to the Faith Community to Boycott Turkey
PROBLEM:
For the past year, the immigrant narrative in our country has been of the negative connotation and for the immigrant community way of life has been full of fear, persecution and exploitation. One of the issues that we are highlighting on this campaign is the abuses in the poultry industry.
The turkey production line is constantly producing more than one bird per second and the workers are not being replaced in their work stations to go use the restroom so they have reached the point that they have to go to work wearing adult diapers because they are being exploited and violated on their basic rights.
CALL TO DO JUSTICE:
We are called to welcome the stranger, to stand by their side and to shine the light on the immigrant injustices. Recognizing that all the food that is on our tables during these end of the year festivities has been cultivated, harvested and processed by immigrant hands. We invite you to make the sacrifice of not eating TURKEY to honor the work of immigrant workers and we invite you, when you are together with your families and in your congregations at the Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas or New Year to remember that our immigrant brothers and sisters whose families may not be together because they have been separated and won’t be able to celebrate because their family members have been deported.
IMPACT:
This is the time for immigrants to be recognized for their contributions to the US economy and to West Michigan in particular, so by participating in the TURKEY BOYCOTT we are accompanying them on their struggle and bring to light that their consumer power is worthy and their labor power counts.
- You can share all of this information through your social media networks.
ICE Raid in Coopersville is tearing apart immigrant families
Nearly 2 weeks ago, ICE agents showed up at Demeester Wood Products in Coopersville, Michigan and ended up arresting 18 people on immigration violations.
Of those arrested, 13 were Guatemalan and 5 were Mexican. This is one of the first workplace raids that have taken place in West Michigan in sometime, even though the Trump administration has made it clear that they intend to conduct workplace raids to enforcement immigration policy.
Most local news agencies reported on ICE arrests and several of those same news agencies (Fox 17, Holland Sentinel and Grand Haven Tribune) used the term “illegal” when referring to the immigrants arrested. Since at least 2013, the Associated Press has stated that using the term “illegal” when referring to immigrants is “no longer a sanctioned term.”
Who the ICE raids impact
Yesterday, while participating in a fundraising event for the Grand Rapids Rapid Response to ICE project, we heard directly from a woman who’s husband was one of the 18 arrested in the Coopersville ICE raid.
The woman from Guatemala, spoke through a translator, about how difficult it has been for her family, and especially her children, to deal with the fact that her husband was arrested by ICE agents. The mother, holding back tears, said that her children cry all the time, wondering where their father is and when they will get to see him again.
Unlike, most immigrants that are arrested by ICE agents, this woman from Guatemala said that her husband was being held in a detention facility in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan. This ICE facility has been operational since 2011 and serves the growing list of ICE activities.
Some of the people arrested by ICE at the Coopersville raid are in detention in Battle Creek, but most of the 18 arrested are in Sault Ste Marie. The Guatemalan woman said that this makes it difficult to visit her husband, because of the distance they have to travel, but that there are visitation opportunities every Sunday. She also said that her husband has a court date set for December 6 and will not know til then whether or not her husband is slated to de deported.
The GR Rapid Response to ICE project is working to respond to the needs of this family. They invite people to make donations to support the family, which include daily needs, transportation to visit the father and an effort to raise bond money so he can spend more time with his family before his court date.
People can donate online at this link paypal.me/arcarpenter or message the GR Rapid Response to ICE project on their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/RapidResponseGR/.
The grassroots effort will be hosting another monthly training for those wanting to be directly involved in the immigrant solidarity work. Go to this link for details https://www.facebook.com/events/138147496949683/?active_tab=about.
Immigrant justice was not served by new GR City Equal Services Policy
Consequently, the violence enacted on those bodies that have been displaced by imperialist and capitalist foreign and trade policy is further enabled through the deliberate making of migrant and undocumented workers as perpetually displaceable by colonial and capitalist immigration policies. The state processes of illegalization of migrant and undocumented workers, through the denial of full legal status that forces a condition of permanent precarity, actually legalizes the trade in their bodies and labor by domestic capital. Harsha Walia – Undoing Border Imperialism
On Tuesday, the Grand Rapids City Commission voted to exclude the GRPD from having to practice what many are referring to as an Equal Service Policy.
Beginning last December, the city and local immigration advocates had met to discuss Grand Rapids becoming a Sanctuary City. At that meeting, it became clear that the city of Grand Rapids was unwilling to declare themselves as Sanctuary City, in part, because of fears that the federal government would withhold funding from them.
The City of Grand Rapids, was instead going the route of declaring themselves a welcoming city, which has a nice ring to it, but doesn’t provide any basic protection for those in the undocumented community.
What came out of that meeting almost a year ago was that several immigration lawyers would work with the city to create a set of policies that would not put immigrants, regardless of their status, at greater risk to arrest, detention and deportation.
Fast forward to recent months, where the Community Relations Commission had drafted an Equal Services Policy that was calling for the city to adopt a policy where no city employee, including the GRPD, would ask immigrants what their status was whenever interacting with the immigrant community. However, an attorney with the city did not want to include the GRPD in the policy draft.
Many people in the immigrant community and their allies knew that this policy crafted by the Community Relations Commission was going to be submitted to the City Commission this fall, although the immigrant community was asked to keep quiet about the policy proposal, so as to avoid having those who oppose people being in the US without documentation showing up at city commission meetings and making a scene. Those in the immigrant community decided to honor this request.
However, as the weeks went by, people in the immigrant community and their allies became impatient and began attending City Commission meetings to demand that the city adopt an Equal Services Policy, which included the GRPD. We reported on the City Commission meeting of October 10 and October 24, where immigrants and allies spoke clearly about the need to adopt this policy that especially included the GRDP.
It is worth noting at this point that the reason the immigrant community was so adamant about the GRPD being included in a policy that required police officers to NOT ask the immigration status of people they came in contact with was because the GRPD are exactly who the immigrant community fears the most in terms of interacting with city employees. This is not to say that those in the immigrant community have no fears or anxieties about interacting with a city clerk or when they come to pay their water bill. But the fact of the matter is, that those interactions are initiated by the immigrant community where they can better prepare themselves to interact with city employees. When policers pull them over or stop them in public, they have virtually no agency in those interactions. In addition, the GRPD are the only city employees they will interact with that are also heavily armed.
At the Tuesday morning GR City Commission meeting, where the proposal would be discussed, a few members of the immigrant community and their allies realized that the language of the Equal Services Policy proposal was changed. It now reads:
A public servant, who is not a police officer, shall not inquire into the immigration status of any person, or engage in activities designed to ascertain the immigration status of any person, while acting within the scope of public service employment and/or authority.
Included in the language of the policy, there are three ways in which city employees CAN ask immigrants their status.
- Solicitation of information concerning immigration status where specifically required by any federal, state, or city law or program as a condition of eligibility for the service sought; or
- Solicitation of information or documentation concerning immigration status for the purpose of completing I-9 Forms, and, when relevant, in making hiring and payroll withholding decisions, including, but not limited to, completely I-9 Forms, questioning a person to complete the I-9 Form, obtaining documents that support the I-9 Form, and allowing federal authorities to audit an I-9 Form in accordance with law; or
- Solicitation of information concerning immigration status for a subpoena issued in a criminal proceeding, civil litigation, or an administrative proceeding for the production of City documents or for testimony of a public servant, including where related to immigration issues or other security issues.
Many in the immigrant community and their allies are feeling betrayed by the exclusion of the GRPD from having to practice this policy. City officials and the Police Chief believe that their “impartial policing policy” is enough, which is why the GRPD was not included in the policy that was voted on yesterday.
However, immigrant organizers and some allies came to the City Commission meeting last night and voiced their opposition on the decision to exclude the GRPD from the policy. Several people only used about a minute of the designated 3 minutes and yielded the rest of their time to silence as a way of drawing attention to the large number of people in the immigrant community who are afraid to attend these kind of meetings.
Some people will articulate that the adopted city policy is a step in the right direction and reflects a certain level of progress being made. While I understand that the reasoning behind such sentiment, if this is not going to alleviate the fears of the immigrant community and will do nothing to further protect them from intimidation, then this policy is not a step in the right direction. What the immigrant community is demanding is justice, not a compromise.
This is exactly why I began the article with the statement from Harsha Walia, about the absolute need for the rest of us to have a clear understanding of why immigrants come to the US and what happens to them once they are hear. This is particularly the case with undocumented immigrants.
The other thing that I think is important for us to think about is to question the strategy of asking policy makers to create policies that are more just. What communities of color and immigrant communities can teach us all is the rich history of engaging in a politics of liberation that is NOT contingent on what the government does. If we practice a politics of liberation, then we cannot rely on governments, which most often represent and protect power, to create justice on our behalf. We have to be willing to practice a politics of liberation that is independent and autonomous of government policy and practice the kinds of relationships we want to nurture that is not sanctioned by the law.
As the great Black Liberation fighter Assata Shakur once said:
“Nobody in the world, nobody in history, has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the people who were oppressing them.”
Acton Institute founder says they don’t believe in class struggle, they believe in class encounter
Nearly a month ago, we reported on an action that took place before the Acton Institute’s annual gala event at the DeVos Convention Center. The event featured US Secretary of Education as the keynote speaker, which is not surprising since her and her husband have contributed millions to the organization and her mother, Elisa Prince Broekhuizen, is a current member of the Acton board.
The other keynote speaker for the Acton Institute event last month, was the co-founder and Catholic Priest, Rev. Robert Sirico. Sirico naturally spoke about the mission of the organization, which is to integrate free market principles with a free and virtuous society. He spoke in theological terms and attempted to impress the audience with his use of latin, which you can see here, but I wanted to point out three points he made which are rather instructive for those who have a fundamental problem with the wedding of christianity and capitalism.
Rev. Sirico begins this commentary revealing his admiration for a “good bottle of wine” and a “good quarterly profit.” Having heard Rev. Sirico on numerous occasions, he definitely enjoys a comfortable life and has nothing but admiration for the capitalist class.
Then Sirico makes a comment about “the poor” and demonstrates his contempt for the people who were protesting outside. Rev. Sirico arrogantly states that what those protesting want to do is make more programs for the poor. This is hardly the message and themes that were addressed by those who were protesting. In fact, the primary focus was on protesting Betsy DeVos and her attempts to undermine public education. You can see from the picture here on the right, that “the poor” aren’t even mentioned.
However, there was a significant amount of anger directed at those attending the Acton Institute event, most of which are part of the capitalist class, showing up in tuxedos and evening gowns, using valet service and being escorted in by the police.
This second video again shows his contempt for those who engage in protest, even going as far as apologize to the Acton audience for being part of protest efforts some 40 years ago.
He then goes on to say that he hoped those protesting would go home depressed and that they would come to the realization that good intentions aren’t enough. “If you are concerned about the poor and want to feed the hungry, learn how to make a bakery, learn how to build a business.”
Again, Sirico demonstrates his arrogance by not even knowing why people were outside protesting. There were retired teachers participating in the demonstration, students, community organizers, bus drivers and several people who do anti-oppression work.
Then the Acton Institute co-founder uses faulty logic when arguing there is nothing wrong with educating people AND making a profit. He eventually admits that the purpose of education is to teach children, but he still clings to the idea that education should be able to be profitable. His faulty logic falls flat by then saying that people who educate children should be well compensated, which is exactly what teachers have been saying and fighting for, for years.
In this last clip from Rev. Sirico’s talk at the Acton Institute event, he tries to make to point that their organization is against class struggle and class warfare. Please, this was a room full of members of the capitalist class who are deeply committed to doing away with unions, worker protections and redirecting public funding to the private sector.
Sirico then uses lofty language, like harmony and synergy. Rev. Sirico even states that the owners of business, “depend upon the worker.” The Acton Institure co-founder that thinks he is being smart by deriding the classic book by Karl Marx, Das Kapital, going so far as to harass an airport worker for reading the book.
Rev. Sirico ends his comments by quoting Mother Theresa of Calcutta – “We don’t have the right to condemn the rich. We don’t believe in class struggle and class warfare. We believe in class encounter. Where the rich save the poor and the poor save the rich.”
This quote is highly instructive, on many levels. First, if people haven’t read the book by Christopher Hitchens on Mother Theresa, The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice, then I highly recommend it. One example from the book that Hitchens cites, is the fact that when Papa and Baby Doc Duvalier were ruling Haiti, Mother Theresa acted as a spiritual counselor to them. During this time, Mother Theresa never once publicly spoke out against the brutal human rights violations under the Duvalier regime, using the vicious tonton macutes, as a kind of death squad to silence critics of the regime. Not once, while she was counseling the Duvalier family, did she speak out about the massive levels of poverty that the majority of Haitians were subjected to.
Second, the whole idea that the rich and the poor have an encounter, is just plain offensive. The idea that the rich and the poor have an encounter reminds me of the way that some people wanted to talk about the 500th anniversary of the European invasion of the Americas. Some religious and secular people wanted to refer to this historic event as an encounter. The fact is, what happened should be referred to as an ongoing act of genocide and slavery, since this is exactly what happen to the indigenous people of the Western Hemisphere and the Africans who were forcibly removed from their own communities and sold into slavery in the so-called new world.
The fact that Rev. Sirico pay homage to Mother Theresa and justifies his organization’s work by quoting her, should tell us exactly what we need to know about the Acton Institute and why they should be resisted.
The Funding Behind the Transit Millage campaign
It has been a week since election day, which saw the local Transit Millage get passed in Kent County with 61.4% of the vote.
The Transit Millage, as many are aware of, was a contentious issue this year, primarily because of the fact that The Rapid drivers and mechanics had been working without a contract for the past 2 years. Some members of the union and allies were asking people to not support the Transit Millage until a contract could be negotiated.
The purpose of this post is to merely look at the campaign finance documents from the Transit Millage, both those who funded to oppose the millage and those who provided funds to support.
The Opposition: Kent Transit in Action
The group Kent Transit in Action is listed as the organization that was formally opposing the Transit Millage, according to the Kent County Clerk campaign finance documents. They received $10,586.03 in contributions, but only spent $1,675.49. There were only 3 sourced contributions:
Kent County Taxpayers Alliance contributed $5,000 twice – $10,000
Kent Education Action contributed $586.03
They only spent $1,675.49, all of which went to a group known as Right Strategies LLC, located at 2155 Wealthy St SE Suite 166, East Grand Rapids, MI 49506. Right Strategies LLC spent the money on a mailer and a phone poll.
Both of these organizations listed above as contributors have the same address of 6757 Cascade Rd PO Box 115, Grand Rapids, MI 49546.
Some of the members of the bus driver’s union and allies also organized to oppose the Transit Millage, yet there is no evidence of any funds they might have raised or expenses incurred.
Proponents of the Transit Millage: Friends of Transit
The Friends of Transit raised a total of $22,907, according to the Kent County Clerk campaign finance documents. There were numerous contributions, which are listed here, with name, status and amount contributed.
- George Heartwell Retired $100
- Jack & Rebecca Smith Hoffman Attorney $500
- Rev. Charles & Sara Homeyer Retired $100
- Rachel Hood $50
- Christman Company Business $1,000
- Robert Roth Business owner $257
- Jeff Cranson State employee $103
- Mark Przybysz Catholic Priest $257
- George Lott III Architect $103
- Stephen Draft-Peppin $52
- LACKS Business $2,000
- Birgit Klohs $50
- Phil Skaggs Legislative Director $100
- Paul Troost $50
- Adelyn VanTol Community Organizer $100
- Peter Varga CEO The Rapid $250
- Hoestra Transportation Business $500
- Equity PAC $2,000
- Eric Delong Assistant City Manager $150
- Rosalynn Bliss $50
- Rick Treur $52
- Elissa Grumley Gud Marketing $200
- Johnny Brann Jr Business Owner $100
- Bradley Thomas Engineer Progressive AE $1,500
- Debbie Horak Gud Marketing $200
- Mayor Mark Huizenga $150
- John Hunting Retired $1,000
- Win & Kyle Irwin Irwin Seating $200
- Mike & Meegan Joyce The Rapid $100
- Gordie & Jan Moeller Retired $100
- Brittany Schlacter The Rapid $50
- Terry Schweitzer $50
- Gary Cary Jr City Commissioner $100
- Maxwell Dillivan Planner $50
- Patricia Draper $25
- Bill & Kay Farr Retired $250
- Conrad Venema $50
- Kate Pew Wolters Self-Employed $500
- Association for the Visually Impaired $250
- Mark Huizenga Systems Consulting $150
- St. Anthony Catholic Church $515
- Barbra Holt Retired $153
- Joshua Leffingwell $5
- David Bulkowski ED/Disability Advocates $9,520
Most of the expenses were for mailers, mailer design and postage.
It should be noted however, that of the 44 separate contributions, 8 came from members of The Rapid Board of Directors for a total of $10,573. There were also 3 staff from The Rapid, which contributed a combined total of $400. The largest contributions came from political action committees or businesses, which contributed between $500 and $2,000.
The West MI Policy Forum’s ongoing war against the public sector
The West Michigan Policy Forum (WMPF) has only been around since 2008, yet its impact has been tremendous in terms of influencing state policy that attacks working people and benefits the capitalist class.
A creation of the of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, the has used its lobbying power over the past decade to promote neoliberal economic policies and austerity measures. The WMPF has been relentless in its war on working people, public sector employees, unions, public education and the privatization of government.
Since their founding, the WMPF has reduced the business tax in Michigan, pushed through Right to Work legislation, further privatized public education, diminished the power of local governments and taken away public teacher pensions.
Now the WMPF wants to eliminate public sector employee pensions, pensions that government employees fought for decades ago and pensions that those same employees are hoping to retire on.
Recently, the WMPF posted this message on their Facebook page. It states, “81 of 83 counties in Michigan have at least one local unit of government with a pension or other post-employment benefit plan that is less than 60 percent funded, the level typically considered critically underfunded.”
The Facebook post included a link to an article from MI Tech News. In that article, Anthony Randazzo is quoted as saying:
“This widespread problem with unfunded liabilities means that more and more revenue from today’s taxpayers is being consumed to cover these obligations, crowding out the ability for local governments to fund basic services, ensure police and fire departments are fully staffed, pay for road improvements, and provide public goods such as libraries and parks.”
In other words, what Randazzo is saying, is that public sector employee pensions are a burden on taxpayers and should be done away with.
Included within the article is a website, https://unfundedmichigan.org/, which provides data on each county in Michigan as it relates to the local government entities and where they stand on public sector employee benefits, specifically pensions. You can search each county, by clicking on the county for added data. Here is what the website is claiming in terms of the governments within Kent County and where they stand on pensions.
The website, https://unfundedmichigan.org/, is run by the Pension Integrity Project, which is part of the Reason Foundation. The Reason Foundation website states that their organization, “advances a free 
society by developing, applying, and promoting libertarian principles, including individual liberty, free markets, and the rule of law.” The organization’s board of trustees is made up of folks from the financial sector, including David Koch, one of the infamous Koch brothers, that has been engaging in a war on the public sector for decades.
According to Source Watch, the Reason Foundation is intertwined with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the State Policy Network, which includes groups like the Acton Institute and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. The Reason Foundation was also one of the 32 organizations linked to the Fossil Fuel industry that was named in 2016 as one of the groups denying climate change.
Thus, it seems clear that the West Michigan Policy Forum needs to be exposed for who they really are, but they need to be actively resisted for promoting policy that attacks the public sector and makes the private sector all that more powerful.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 