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Recent Posts
- New Interview for the GRPS Uncovered podcast
- New GRPS Uncovered podcast for 7/7/2025
- Radical Grand Rapids: Places, Dates, Actions and People
- New book by long time community activist Paul Mayhue: Another Brother in The Struggle
- New Grand Rapids podcast sheds light on the history of the Grand Rapids Public Schools
Author Archives: Jeff Smith (GRIID)
Members of the American Indian Movement spoke at GVSU in 1973
In February of 1973, members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) began a 71-day campaign to defend the sovereign rights of Native Americans in the territories occupied by the State of South Dakota, specifically at the Pine Ridge Reservation. AIM … Continue reading
Before the GVSU incursion into the Belknap neighborhood, Butterworth/Spectrum Hospital engaged in a hostile takeover in the 1990s
It has been known for a couple of years now that Grand Valley State University (GVSU) has been making plans to expand into the Belknap neighborhood, specifically north of the 196 freeway. The GVSU expansion has been met with mixed … Continue reading
Grand Rapids Participates in National Day of Protest Against Police Brutality – 1996
This article is from a November/December, 1996, issue of the Independent Grand Rapids newspaper, The FUNdamentalist. With banners that read, “Chief Hegarty, when will the brutality end?” and “fists and guns don’t protect and serve,” over 200 people marched on … Continue reading
Racism and Anti-Immigration has a long history in Grand Rapids
The recent decision by Governor Snyder to not accept refugees from Syria has had mixed reaction across the state. There have also been many editorials and Facebook comments and postings that have sought to put in context the history of … Continue reading
Early HIV/AIDS organizing in Grand Rapids
In honor of World AIDS Day, we are posting a section from the film, A People’s History of the LGBTQ Community in Grand Rapids. This section of the film provides some history on the early organizing around HIV/AIDS. Most of … Continue reading
Working Class Families were simply forced to move: Consequences of highway Construction in Grand Rapids from the late 1950s through early 1960s
Like many things we assume are the norm, highways are a relatively new phenomenon in human history. Highway construction through Grand Rapids was first proposed after WWII as part of the Eisenhower administration’s interstate highway construction program, know as the National … Continue reading
Learning from the past: How previous Social Movements impact todays efforts in Grand Rapids
One important aspect of understanding the role that social movements have played throughout history, is what we can learn from them that might impact how we organize for justice today. One of the more dynamic global justice movements today is … Continue reading
1990 Flyer makes the link between US militarism and Housing Justice in the US
Over the past week we have posted some archival flyers that were used by Central American Solidarity activists in Grand Rapids, during the late 1980s and early 1990s. One flyer dealt with the connection between the Columbia legacy and the … Continue reading
1989 Flyer on the US Invasion of Panama that was distributed in Grand Rapids
Last week we posted a flyer that was created by the Latin America Working group at the Institute for Global Education on the Guatemalan Genocide and the Columbian Legacy. We discovered another flyer that was developed in response to the … Continue reading
GR Central American Solidarity flyer connects Guatemalan Genocide to Columbus Legacy
We came across a flyer the other day that was produced in 1990 by the Latin American Working Group from the Institute for Global Education. The flyer talks about the Columbian legacy and the genocidal policies in Guatemala during the … Continue reading
Grand Rapids People's History Project 