It is hard to ignore all of the anti-trans messaging and actions that are taking place across the country right now. From anti-trans legislation to all of the far right anti-trans actions and talking heads. Anti-trans ideologues like Matt Walsh, Jordan Peterson, Charlie Kirk and Ben Shapiro can be found all over social media.
Then there are the anti-trans campaigns that target organizations, entities and businesses that chose to embrace or at least market towards the trans community. The most recent example is the staged anti-trans theatrics of Kid Rock who is targeting Budweiser because they have an image of a trans person on their Bud Light cans. This statement from Kid Rock has been followed by a plethora of other anti-trans messaging, particularly attacks agains the beer company.
One example of this attack against Budweiser was recently posted on the Grand Rapids-based page of the police apologist group Silent No More. They posted this imagine of a Budweiser can – here below – with the following text:
There are opportunities in business to spread hope, honor courageous men and women who’ve DONE something, inspire positivity in a time where cynicism dominates – all instead of trying to use a skinny white boy that wears lip stick that has mental issues to advertise to a market the size of a closet.
First, this hate-filled message is first and foremost an anti-trans message, that is not only repugnant, it fuels an anti-trans message that can often lead to physical violence against the trans community.
Second, this anti-trans message is posted on a site that is primarily about justifying police violence and the function of policing in general. However, as is the case with many pro-cop social media sites and pro-cop apologists, they also embrace white supremacy, heteronormativity, xenophobia, and transphobia. Taking a stance against calls to hold cops accountable or defunding of police departments has not only provided social media space for groups like Silent No More an opportunity to push their authoritarian, pro-state violence messages, it gives them license to target the most vulnerable and socially marginalized groups in the country – Black people, immigrants and those who identify as trans.
Third, and maybe the most ridiculous aspect of their Budweiser can image, is that it includes an image of the former NFL player and US soldier Pat Tillman. Now Tillman is not the patriotic poster child that those on the reactionary right might think he is. Tillman did enlist in the US military after 9/11, but he also grew increasingly critical of the US military while he was overseas. In fact, Tillman was even reading one of the most prolific critics of US foreign policy, Noam Chomsky.
Despite the fact that the reactionary right, members of the Bush Administration and the NFL has canonized Tillman as a shinning example of patriotism, there is a great deal of information and analysis about the fact that Tillman was killed by “friendly fire.” In fact, Tillman’s family, especially his mother has for years challenged the official narrative about her son’s death, as she did in this interview on Democracy Now in 2008. Pat Tillman’s mom also challenged the narrative that then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was spinning about the former NFL star.
Now, I don’t consider Budweiser as a company that actually cares about trans people. Like any good capitalist, they care about maximizing profits and expanding their markets, even if that means appealing to the trans community.
More importantly, the spectacle created by Kid Rock demonstrates just how absurd the anti-trans community is, plus it exposes their ridiculous reasons for hating trans people. What is most unfortunate about this dynamic is the fact that the news media spends so much time promoting these so-called culture wars, but fails to report on the actual harm the current anti-trans campaign cause.
For an excellent resource to combat anti-trans disinformation, check out this document from Political Research Associates.
A friend of mine whom I provided direct care to for 8 years just died: Care work in a society of organized care-lessness
By care, however, we not only mean hands-on care, or the work people do when directly looking after the physical and emotional needs of others – critical and urgent as this dimension of caring remains. Care is also a social capacity and activity involving the nurturing of all that is necessary for the welfare and flourishing of life. Above all, to put care centre stage means recognizing and embracing our interdependencies.
– from The Care Manifesto: The Politics of Interdependence, by the Care Collective
For the past 8 years the paid work that I do is in the capacity as a direct care worker in an adult foster care facility. I have done care work in a paid capacity in previous years as well, but this is the longest stint I have done care work for pay during my adult life.
I love the work that I do, which requires providing care to adults who cannot care for themselves. The work involves bathing people, assisting with dressing, mobility, and other daily aspects like feeding and going to the bathroom.
However, care work is more than just the physical care aspects that I just mentioned, it means being present for people, showing empathy, being a good listener, creatively engaging people in conversation, and making connections with people.
Recently, one of the residents where I work passed away. His passing has had a deep impact on me. I provided care for this person for the past 8 years. When he was in high school, he was in a bad car accident and has been unable to care for himself ever since.
For the past 8 years I have bathed this sweet person, shaved them, brushed their teeth, assisted them with getting dressed. I have also spent countless hours in conversation with this person, making jokes, laughing, listening to music, going for rides, sitting in the park, playing cards, putting puzzles together and watching horror movies. I learned early on in our relationship that this sweet person also had an affinity for horror movies, so I knew that we would be close.
We were close in age, so we grew up listening to and likely much of the same music. We would regularly watch music videos on YouTube and rock out to 70s music.
In 2017, I had to have emergency surgery for blood clots in my legs. While I was in the hospital, this sweet person came to see me. I was still pretty drugged up, but the day after surgery I remember this person sitting in their wheelchair next to my bed, holding my hand.
The adult foster care facility I worked in with this person was closing in 2022, so they were being assigned to a different facility. I requested to be transferred to that facility, specifically because I wanted to continue to provide care for this person and several other people whom I had come to know and have a deep relationship with over the years.
I was sick a few weeks back and the last time I had seen the resident I had been doing care work for eight years ended up in the hospital. Going to the hospital was pretty normal for this person, as they were tube fed and regularly needed adjustments with the tube, along with struggling with respiratory issues for most of their adult life.
When I returned to work, I found out from a co-worker that this friend of mine had passed away. I was devastated to the point where I had to sit down after hearing this heart wrenching news. After several minutes I was able to collective myself and then inquired as to the reason for this person’s passing. No details were available. My co-worker then said, “didn’t anyone call you to let you know that this person had died?” I said that no one had reached out.
My sadness had quickly turned to anger. How could someone that I had cared for for so many years, a person that everyone who worked with me knew that I had a special relationship with, not result in someone attempting to contact me? I was dumbfounded and pissed.
I then checked my work e-mail and the only information that was shared, was an obituary that this person’s family had sent out. I decided to send a message to those who work in an administrative capacity for the organization I work for. Here is what I wrote – which has blanks where this person’s name was.
I was not aware of ____ passing until 2 days ago, when I came back to work. I was shocked to find out that _____ had died and am deeply sadden by this news. I was also saddened by the fact that no one from this organization said anything about _____ death, apart from one co-worker. I never received a call or notification that ____ had died and that bothers me tremendously. Yes, I was just a care giver for _____, but their death is not just a part of the job, it deeply impacts me precisely because of the deep relationship I had with them for 8 years. I know I am not family, but their passing hurts no less for me than if a family member had passed. I find it somewhat incomprehensible that beyond the sharing of this obituary, that there has been no outreach and no effort put forth to provide some sort of comfort and closure for those of us who had a deep connection to _____. _____ was not just a person in our care, they were someone I cared about deeply. Please help me understand how _____ passing merits only a digital sharing of his obituary?
A society of organized care-lessness
I only had one person from where I work respond to my e-mail, along with the fact that most of my co-workers said nothing about the passing of friend, nor did they inquire has to how I was feeling or how their death was impacting me.
I have been thinking about this for the past several days, trying to make sense of why there seemed to be so little acknowledgement of the loss of my friend. As I reflected on this dynamic, it began to make sense to me why there was virtually no empathy being demonstrated towards me, nor any evidence of mourning from the organization. In order to do care work for the organization that I work for, you have to be trained in a number of health care aspects, all of which are necessary and important. Whether it is CPR training, administering medication, recipient rights or confidentiality issues, the organization I work for does a good job of covering these health care related matters. However, there is one area that trainings are not offered. We are not taught, nor trained in how to demonstrate empathy, which for me is as important as the health related, quality of life areas of direct care, if not more important.
The population I work with are people who have had closed head injuries, which almost exclusively means they have limited or no mobility. The level of care varies, but most of the people I have worked with will never be able to live on their own nor outside of a care facility. Many of them struggle with the trauma they have experienced, with the depression they fight against and the overall feeling of being discarded in this society. Even worse, they have to deal with the fact that for many people, their response to the condition of those I work with is pity. Pity is an awful sentiment. In fact, the demonstration of pity is an indictment of how fucked up our culture is.
We all need to learn and develop our capacity to care for each other, to be empathetic and to be in deep relationship with each other. At the beginning of the pandemic in March of 2020, we began to see how the lack of empathy and care were exposed on a national scale. Some people were in denial about what was happening, while others chose to focus exclusively on their own well being and damn the rest of society.
We saw how in a capitalist culture, that people prioritized productivity and consumption over the care and general well being of families and communities. This dynamic was not new, it was merely exposed, and had the curtain pulled back for everyone to see.
Of course, not everyone was so calloused in their response to the pandemic. In Grand Rapids, the Grand Rapids Area Mutual Aid Network (GRAMAN) was born. People rallied around and gravitated to the idea that everything we need is right here in our community. The level of collective care has been inspiring in so many ways, and I have been grateful to be part of that work.
Moving forward we need to weave direct care into every aspect of society and make care work central to how we function, thus displacing the Neoliberal economic system that prioritizes profit over people. A great resource that can assist us in this process is the book, The Care Manifesto: The Politics of Interdependence, by The Care Collective.
This post is dedicated to the memory of my dear friend who died two weeks ago. I will miss them, but I will never forgot our friendship and how much we meant to each other. Rest well dear friend.
In February, I made a series of posts about books on racism and the Black Freedom Struggle that have influenced me, which was followed by a series of posts in March about books on feminism that have influenced me as well.
This month I want to include three posts about books on the environment that have influenced how I view with the world around me. In Part I, I want to focus on books I read in the 1980s and 1990s that initially radicalized me about how I view being part of the natural world.
Here are 10 books that influenced my thinking at that time:
Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson
The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture, by Wendell Berry
Diet for a Small Planet, by Frances Moore Lappe
Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900–1900, by Alfred Crosby
Turtle Talk: Voices for a Sustainable Future, by Christopher and Judith Plant
The War Against the Greens: The “Wise-Use” Movement, the New Right, and Anti-Environmental Violence, by David Helvarg
Dying from Dioxin: A Citizen’s Guide to Reclaiming our Health and Rebuilding Democracy, by Lois Marie Gibbs
Simple in Means, Rich in Ends: Practicing Deep Ecology, by Bill Duvall
Timber Wars, by Judi Bari
Earth for Sale: Reclaiming Ecology in the Age of Corporate Greenwash, by Brian Tokar
For the past 30 years, the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce has facilitated a leadership development program called Leadership Grand Rapids (LGR).
According to a recent blog post from the GR Chamber, there are 40 people who are, “hand-picked to span a diverse network of backgrounds, specializations, and industries to bring together a group that is uniquely special and capable of confronting complex problems from all directions.”
The goal of the LGR program is as follows:
LGR serves to create a network of community trustees who act on the need, the desire, and the ambition to work for the common good and serve the primary needs of others by holding our community in trust. Ultimately, we’ll drive systems-level change to create a thriving and prosperous West Michigan for all.
This whole thing about making West Michigan a prosperous place for everyone is also part of the mission statement of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, but after more than 100 years of existence, there is no evidence that the majority of residents of West Michigan are prosperous or even have their basic needs being met.
More importantly, the idea that Leadership Grand Rapids wants to drive systems-level change is just a flat-out absurd statement. Here are some thoughts about why LGR is not interested in systemic or structural change, at least not the kind that would benefit those most vulnerable in this community.
First, it you want to participate in this program (which means once a month from October – May), you have to pay $4,500 to participate ($4,000 if you are a GR Chamber member). The cost alone automatically excludes large sectors of society. Yes, they offer scholarships, but they also make it clear that participants are hand-picked, and I would argue hand-picked specifically from the business and professional classes of people in this community.
Second, in 2000, I was asked by my former boss at the Community Media Center to participate in LGR, but I declined, as my understanding of leadership is fundamentally different from what the Chamber of Commerce defines as leadership. I did however participate in the program from 2000 – 2006, as a presenter.
The way LGR was structured in those years was around specific themes for each month, and one month they would spend the day visiting media outlets and talking about the role that media played in West Michigan, primarily the role that commercial media played. However, my former CEO at the Community Media Center (CMC) convinced LGR to come to the CMC for part of the day to see how media technology could be used for non-commercial purposes. In addition, I always did a 45 – 50 minute long Media Literacy presentation, in order to get people to think critically about how media functions in our world. Participants always gave high marks for the Media Literacy portion, especially since it is a very interactive form of critical thinking.
Being involved in LGR from 2000 – 2006 gave me an interesting perspective on the make up of the LGR participants and some insight into their worldview, especially since there was lots of conversation in my Media Literacy session. So, when I say that LGR caters to primarily the business and professional class, I was speaking from experience, as we would always get a list of people involved and what company or entity they worked for.
Third, the primary sponsors of LGR should be an indicator about what the function is of this leadership training program. You have Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Corewell Health, both of which are part of the For-Profit Medical Industrial Complex. The other two main sponsors are Experience GR, the lead tourism entity in Grand Rapids, along with Amway, the global corporation that was founded by and still run by members of the billionaire DeVos and Van Andel families.
Fourth, based on my own observations and from first hand accounts of people I know who have participated in LGR, the primary function of the program is to introduce people from the business and professional classes to other “influencers” or members of the local power structure. In addition to introducing participants to these people, the other benefit is to assist younger participants who are members of the business and professional classes to network with peers who are immersed in maintaining the status quo in West Michigan.
Lastly, it is worth asking if there are any measurable systems-change impacts that LGR has had over the past 30 years? I am not aware of such systems-changing outcomes and there are no examples of this listed on the page that features LGR. One would think that if there were system-changing outcomes they would have included that information as a solid marketing tactic. In fact, the only information we get on the LGR page, beyond the goals and how to apply, are a few testimonials from previous participants.
Make no mistake about it, Leadership Grand Rapids, like most of what the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce does, is designed to groom future leaders in such a way that will benefit those participants and not disrupt the interlocking systems of power in West Michigan that does not welcome people who want to radically challenge the status quo.
According to the highly astute publication, Travel & Leisure, Grand Rapids, Michigan ranks as the 2nd most beautiful and affordable city to live in the US.
The evidence that Travel & Leisure provides is the following:
The following list — compiled using data from U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 to 2023 rankings, including the most affordable places to live in the U.S. and the best places to live in the U.S. — offers a collection of some of the dreamiest places to live in America that won’t break the bank.
In its rankings, U.S. News & World Report evaluates the impact that cost of living, median monthly rent, median home price in relation to the national median, and quality of life have on a city, which generates a well-rounded figure for anyone looking to relocate.
As is the case with most of these best places to live is their use of averages, which is not an accurate reflection of the reality for thousands of families living in Grand Rapids. The question that always should be asked is, for whom is Grand Rapids an affordable city? According to a report from the Economic Policy Institute, Grand Rapids has the highest wealth gap of any metropolitan area in the state of Michigan.
If one is looking at the average cost of rent in Grand Rapids, you can see a glaring contradiction around the issue of affordability. The National Low Income Housing Coalition provides excellent information on affordability of rent in all states, including Michigan, which you can find here https://nlihc.org/oor/state/mi. The graphic below, provides a good summary of the average cost of rent and what people need to earn per hour to afford most rent. As you can see in the graphic, for those renting in Grand Rapids, you need to earn $20.02 an hour to afford the average rent. There are literally tens of thousands of individuals and families who do not make $20 an hour in Grand Rapids, yet developers keep creating housing that is un-affordable for so many people.
I do volunteer work with the Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union and one of the most common messages we here from people who are tenants in this city is that they cannot afford to cost of rent, or that their rent is being raised once again, usually resulting in them having to move out.
Now, one of the most influential pro-business groups in Grand Rapids, the Right Place Inc., recently shared the Travel & Leisure post about Grand Rapids being the 2nd most beautiful and affordable place to live in the country. Thirty-five people shared that post, including the Mayor of Grand Rapids. However, no matter how many people actually believe these ridiculous rankings about which city is the safest or the most affordable, the reality is that for thousands of people and thousands of families in Grand Rapids, Beer City is NOT affordable.
In their last edition in March, the weekly publication MIBiz, ran an article entitled, State, local leaders ‘lay the groundwork’ for statewide housing plan.
The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) is holding meetings across the state to talk with “leaders” in several regions of Michigan, to both lay out the State’s plan on housing, but also to learn what regional groups are doing to address the current housing crisis. The State goal, as presented by MSHDA, are the following:
- Creating or rehabilitating 75,000 housing units that range in affordability and type.
- Reducing equity gaps in housing, and reducing homelessness.
- Increasing home energy efficiency.
According to the MIBiz article, “About 80 people from various nonprofits, local governments and businesses gathered at the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce offices for the regional kickoff meeting.”
There are several things that should be alarming about who the 80 people were at this meeting in late March. Nonprofits usually means the nonprofit housing groups like ICCF, Dwelling Place and other groups that do not fundamentally challenge to the massive wealth gap in West Michigan; government, most likely meant Grand Rapids and Kent County officials, who have also been unwilling to radically imagine what housing justice could look like, along with businesses. Of course there were businesses present, which usually translates into businesses that are developers and will profit from more construction contracts, along with businesses that want to attract talent to the area and have been demanding more new housing. When businesses say talent, they overwhelmingly mean professionals. This list should concern those who want housing justice.
Then there is the issue of who was not invited. Most important, those not invited were the unhoused and those that are housing insecure, primarily tenants.The Grand Rapids Area Tenant Union was not invited, along with other community-based groups that do advocacy and make the connections between housing insecurity, racism, poverty and other systems of oppression.
Lastly, we should all be alarmed by the fact that this meeting was held at the offices of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce. The Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce not only has a long anti-worker history, they also have consistently opposed increases in the minimum wage and most definitely living wage campaigns across the country. In addition, the Chamber of Commerce has consistently supported the Realtor Associations and Property Owners Associations (landlords) when it comes to public policy matters, this favoring these sectors of working class families seeking to find safe and affordable housing.
Not only did the GR Chamber host this meeting, the group that they created, Housing Next, is hoping to be the organization that receives funding from MSHDA to facilitate future meetings/planning centered around housing for the rest of this year. The MiBiz article states that each region will, “receive a $75,000 grant from the state to organize and facilitate community meetings, provide updates ton the region and create an action plan.” Do we really want a Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce created entity to be the primary entity around housing in West Michigan? It would seem that MiBiz supports this notion, since the rest of the article cites the director of policy for Housing Next several times in the later half of the article, with no other potential entity being a potential recipient of the grant money even being mentioned in the article.
GRIID has written about Housing Next and their ideological leanings over the past year. About a year ago, Housing Next held a similar meeting in Ottawa County with the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, along with several other local chambers, furniture giant Haworth, several banks, the Windquest Group and the DeVos Family Foundation. Housing Next had sent out an announcement about the meeting, using the following statement of purpose. The meeting “was to create workforce housing for individuals and families employed in Ottawa County who were unable to afford to live there.” Now, any reasonable person would ask themselves why can’t workers afford to live in the communities that they work in? The simple answer is because these individuals and families don’t make enough to afford the cost of housing in the communities that they work in.
The solution being offered by the numerous area Chambers of Commerce, is to create a fund that comes from the business community, foundations and local banks, which would allow these individuals and families to afford the cost of housing in the communities where they work. However, wouldn’t it make a whole lot more sense to have all of the companies in West Michigan make a commitment to paying people a livable wage, which would allow them to afford the cost of housing in this area? Therefore the Housing Next solution is based on a housing charity model, not a housing justice model.
The more recent article we have written about Housing Next was from February of 2023. In that GRIID article it states:
The “solution” to the current housing crisis, according to Housing Next, involves local government, developers and non-profits. The fact of the matter is, Housing Next offers no real solution to the housing crisis, only the same old model, the market. This is not a solution or maybe more aptly named a false solution. This is because under a market system, housing is nothing more than a commodity that can be bought and solid to make profits. For the Chamber and those sectors of society who believe in the market, housing is not a fundamental human right. Housing within a market economy, particularly home ownership, is for those who can afford it, which leaves out millions of people in the US alone.
We also include a list of other ideas that are not market based, ideas which see housing as a fundamental right for everyone. In that article we identified several tactics to address the current housing crisis, including:
- Paying people a livable wage, which right now would be $25 an hour minimum
- Reducing the wealth gap in Kent County, where there are over 600 millionaires, but 25% of the population subjected to poverty.
- Government regulated rent control
- The creation of Tenant Unions
- Stop the influence peddling by Real Estate and Rental Property Associations, especially during election cycles, as we documented in 2022.
- Re-direct part of the massive US Military Budget ($858 Billion for 2023) and use it to provide housing for people, particularly the most marginalized communities.
- Practice Radical Hospitality, particularly in the faith communities. Imagine home many people who are currently housing insecure, could benefit from the resources and hospitality of the faith communities.
- Limit large corporate property management companies or real estate investors from operating in Grand Rapids/Kent County.
- End government subsidies/tax breaks for developers.
- Promote cooperative housing and Community Land Trusts.
The bottom line is that the Housing Next model is a false solution, since it involves the very same organizations, businesses and individuals that have done everything in their power to promote wealth creation for the business class, while creating a vast array of obstacles for everyone else who lives in West Michigan and cannot afford the cost of housing. Having Housing Next be in charge of hosting community meetings, and providing updates around the current housing crisis in West Michigan will just mean that the same old failed market-based solutions will be implemented and the housing crisis will continue. We cannot let this happen.
POLICE SHOOTING RANGE UPGRADE AWARDED TO UTAH CONTRACTOR
(This article was written and submitted by Kellan Martin.)
The City of Grand Rapids has awarded a municipal auction contract to Action Target of Provo, Utah for a Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD) practice range upgrade. The contract was voted on by the City Commission on February 21st, 2023 and officially awarded on March 9th, 2023. The contract awards a total of $167,595 to Action Target for “comprehensive upgrade[s]” to the 20-yard target range currently utilized by the GRPD.
The funds for this project were obtained through the city’s Capital Improvement Fund, a tax-funded account the City of Grand Rapids uses to make payments for maintenance and updates on city-owned assets. Action Target is a large-sized range manufacturer that, between 2000 to 2008, was awarded $42.9 million in US government contracts, and in 2004 built training facilities for the US and other national forces occupying Iraq.
In the wake of the execution of Patrick Lyoya by former GRPD officer Christopher Schurr, the City of Grand Rapids chose Action Target to install a “Fixed Turning Target System” that Tony Wojciakowski, a Buyer in the Purchasing Department of Grand Rapids writes, “…[provides] crucial training when designing courses around high stress, split-second decision making.”
City documents do not answer the question of how this development in GRPD’s shooting range will make officers choose better decisions outside of a scenario where police are in the action of shooting at someone. This further “tacticalization” of police that companies like Action Target exploit is an extension of the general trend of law enforcement militarization in the United States, and is a widely documented issue that presents itself in the form of weapons, gear, policies, and protocols.
Within the last three years, police spending nationwide has increased under federal efforts to hire more officers and to provide them with a higher level of training. What is missing from official statements from the Biden administration especially is any critical thought towards the contradictions formed from this official thought process. Officials do not want to expose the connection that this recent injection of police funding and support came into existence after calls of justice during social unrest following murders of unarmed civilians by the police such as Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Patrick Lyoya, Tyre Nichols, and many more.
In other words, the current struggle against police brutality was only possible because of government policies acting in the interests of the property owning class that has built the capitalist US system, and institutionalized racism within it. The state violence coming out of these conscious decisions to militarize the police and allow for extrajudicial killings citizens is now being used as a narrative focal point for those in power to introduce the need for more funding and “training” of the police as a solution. But this “solution” is merely an extension of the overall issue of how conditions got to where they were in the first place.
The police reforms currently being put in place by the United States government, in Biden’s words, are “… to fund the police. Fund them with the resources and training they need to protect our communities.” But that begs multiple questions. First, what kind of further protection will a shooting range upgrade bring our communities in Grand Rapids? And second; exactly which community in Grand Rapids needed to be protected from Patrick Lyoya to the point where GRPD officer Christopher Schurr shot Patrick in the back of the head?
Sources:
http://grandrapidscitymi.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=5180
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Target
https://thecrimereport.org/2022/10/17/police-funding-increased-nationwide-in-2022/
It has been one year since a GRPD cop shot Patrick Lyoya in the back of the head, killing him instantly.
A great deal has transpired over the past 12 months, with a tremendous amount of organizing and resistance to GRPD policing practices, raising Mutual Aid funds for the children of Patrick Lyoya and making demands on the GRPD budget.
However, if one were to look at the coverage of the 1 year anniversary of the GRPD killing of Lyoya, these stories or this information would not be included. What we do get instead are stories that simply recycle information about the legal case against the the ex-cop who killed Lyoya, Christopher Schurr. This was the case with an MLive article, with the headline, The People vs. Christopher Schurr: Where officer’s murder case stands a year after Patrick Lyoya was killed.
Then there was the story that ran on WZZM 13 and WXMI 17. I say story, because both of these two TV stations didn’t produce their own stories, they simply posted the same Associated Press article, an article which is incoherent and all over the place. Here are a few highlights from the AP article:
- A Grand Rapids Pastor who urged people to “do it right” when it came to protests was cited, even though this person has not been involved in the organized resistance with Lyoya was killed.
- The AP story says that Lyoya was from Nigeria, which is wrong. Lyoya’s family were Congolese refugees.
- City officials were cited, a Commissioner, plus City Manager Mark Washington.
- The AP story also looks at other cases of Black people who were killed by cops, which included citations from organizations in other cities.
The article ends with a neighborhood association spokes person and the director of the Interfaith Dialogue Association in Grand Rapids, who believes that “cooler heads prevailed after the murder of Lyoya. The Interfaith Dialogue Association then goes on to say, “There are people who will disagree with me — a group that is extremely vocal and extremely disruptive who will claim Grand Rapids has not taken a step forward,” Stella said. “I understand their passion and frustration, but I see progress.” Unfortunately, such a statement goes unchallenged, as if it were fact.
What was missing from the AP story are the numerous voices of people involved in the ongoing organizing in Grand Rapids around policing issues, such as Defund the GRPD and the Justice4Patrick movement.
Maybe the most egregious story that has appeared in the local news media in the past few days is a story that WOODTV8 ran on Monday, April 3rd.
The story was 5 minutes and 26 seconds in length, which for local TV news stories is long. The channel 8 story begins with a brief recounting of the GRPD killing of Lyoya, but it then quickly turns into a 5 minute opportunity for GRPD Police Chief Eric Winstrom to control the narrative.
Winstrom kept saying throughout the interview that this was a devastating tragedy, and was very careful not to call it a murder or a killing. Winstrom then went on to say, “We had eight very large protests here right in front of the police station. Of those eight very large protests, we had zero broken windows. We had zero property damage. We had zero uses of force by police officers. We had zero arrests. That was the police department acknowledging this is a difficult thing for a lot of people. We knew we couldn’t make it any better. We’re going to do everything we can not to make it worse as this process moves out.”
In this statement, Winstrom wants to equate property damage with violence. Wonstrom also uses some slight of hand around the claim that no one was arrested, nor did the GRPD use force against protesters. This maybe true in front of the GRPD headquarters, where in most cases the GRPD didn’t even bother to come out of the building and engage with protesters. What Winstrom failed to mention, was the fact that GRPD cops made arrests of protesters at City Hall, especially during some of the City Commission meetings that took place in the weeks after Patrick Lyoya was killed. In the above statement, Winstrom also seems to be saying that the GRPD did a favor to protesters, because they acknowledged that the death of Lyoya was a difficult thing. Winstrom once again demonstrating his arrogance and contempt for those protesting.
From there on out, the audacity of the WOODTV8 interview with Winstrom only gets worse. The channel 8 reporter asked Winstrom about de-escalation training, which allowed the Police Chief yet another opportunity to control the narrative. From there Wonstrom talked about concerns over funding for the GRPD, but ends by using this platform to call for additional cops.
In the end, WOODTV8 essentially provided Police Chief Winston with 5 minutes of free airtime to not only control the narrative about the GRPD killing of Lyoya, but to engage in misinformation and half-truths, especially since the channel 8 reported failed challenge Winstrom in the most basic way. Can you imagine of someone from Defund the GRPD or the Justice4 Patrick Movement were given 5 minutes to say whatever they wanted? It wouldn’t happen.
On Sunday afternoon, it felt more like a funeral procession than it did a protest. Then I remembered that in many cultures the public display of grief, of anger and rage against an injustice often happens with funerals. I witnessed this kind of creative resistance in Central American and Mexico, especially among the Indigenous people of that region.
There was something cathartic about the whole action. I felt centered and focused on what we were doing, which sometimes doesn’t always happen during protests or marches.
We began in the Boston Square Neighborhood and drove mostly on the side streets, particularly in neighborhoods that had a higher proportion of Black residents.
We honked horns, drove very slow, used the little orange flags that funeral homes often use when they drive from the church to the cemetery.
Messages were painted on vehicle windows, like “Patrick Lyoya should still be alive,” “Justice4Patick”, and the GRPD are murderers.
At one point we drove through the neighborhood where Patrick Lyoya was killed, where he was shot in the back of the head by then GRPD cop Christopher Schurr, who sat on top of the Congolese immigrant who was face down on the ground.
You could eve see the small memorial that has existed for nearly a tear, a memorial that rests up against a tree with flowers, candles and pictures.
As we woven through the streets, honking horns and chanting, many of the residents in the southeast side of Grand Rapids came out of their homes, so to take pictures or films what was happening, but there were also lots of residents who cheered us on, who out their fist in the air and who even joined in the chanting.
One of my favorite chants was, “The whole damn system is corrupt!”
The whole caravan action last two hours, even though it felt like it went by a lot faster than that. It probably had to do with all the great energy from those participating.
When we reconvened at the place we started, one organizer said to me that this was a kickoff to numerous events/actions that would be organized in the struggle for justice on behalf of Patrick Lyoya and his family. I had no doubt about the resolve and commitment displayed by these young organizers. It brought me great joy!
This Tuesday is the next action!!!!
By visiting Kids Food Basket in Grand Rapids, Gov. Whitmer perpetuates food insecurity by normalizing the food charity model
The headline from a March 27th MLive article read, Gov. Whitmer prepares meals for West Michigan kids with volunteers to highlight food insecurity.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer engaged in a photo op at the non-profit group, Kids Food Basket last Monday. Whitmer posed for the media while she assisted other volunteers to put together bag lunches that go to numerous schools in the Grand Rapids area.
The MLive article states:
In her proposed $79 billion budget, Whitmer has recommended spending an estimated $160 million from the state’s School Aid Fund so that all Michigan children could get free breakfast and lunch at schools. This would impact 1.4 million children statewide, according to a press release.
Now, I believe that the government, especially the federal and state governments should makes sure that students attending public schools should have access to free meals while they are at school. In fact, providing free meals to Public Schools students should always be part of state and federal budgets.
Having said that, what is problematic about this story is that the MLive reporter doesn’t question the realities of food insecurity in West Michigan. Instead, the MLive story presents information about Kids Food Basket and how many sack lunches they prepared for school age students on a regular basis, along a bit of information about their farm program. At one point in the article, a representative from Kids Food Basket is quoted as saying:
“Many times, parents and families don’t have enough food to get them through the night and into the next day until they get their (school) breakfast and lunch. So, we provide healthy, nourishing meals because no child deserves to go to bed hungry.”
This is a nice sentiment, but what Kids Food Basket does is to promote a food charity model, not a food justice model. The food charity model provides donations of food to people who are experiencing poverty. A food justice model would first ask the question, “Why are children food insecure, or why are families food insecure,” and then the food justice model would include some sort of action to end food insecurity. Kids Food Basket does not address the root causes of food insecurity, they have instead chosen to continue to expand their operations to provide more sack lunches to students, which might make for good photo opportunities and it might provide business opportunities to donate money or labor, but it also does nothing to address food insecurity. In fact, the food charity model that Kids Food Basket and so many other non-profits embrace, actually perpetuates food insecurity.
If an organization provides food to families, but never addresses the reasons why these families need food assistance on a regular basis, that is simply a perpetuation of food insecurity. In addition, the students who receive sack lunches from Kids Food Basket are also disproportionately Black and Latino students, which means that besides not address the economic disparities that exist in this area, Kids Food Basket also practices a form of White Saviorism.
Whether knowingly or unknowingly, by coming to Kids Food Basket, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was also complicit in perpetuating food insecurity by endorsing the food charity model, as practiced by Kids Food Basket. Thus, the headline from the MLive article mentioned at the beginning of the blog, Gov. Whitmer prepares meals for West Michigan kids with volunteers to highlight food insecurity, should have read, Gov. Whitmer prepares meals for West Michigan kids with volunteers, thereby perpetuating food insecurity. Then again, journalism practiced by the commercial media doesn’t question injustice, they are too busy being stenographers to power.
Editor’s Note: For more analysis of the food charity model and Kids Food Basket, check out previous GRIID articles on the topic. For more information on what the food justice model is, check out the GRIID Food Justice Workshop slides.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 