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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)
New artwork looks at the 1967 Riot in Grand Rapids
We have made nearly a dozen posts about the 1967 riot in Grand Rapids in the past several years. Some of these posts have focused on media coverage of the riot, some on internal documents and some of the posts … Continue reading
New Artwork exposes Settler Colonialism as part of the founding of Grand Rapids
Four years ago we wrote two pieces that looked at the foundation of the oppressive politics which led to the creation of Grand Rapids. The first piece was entitled More White Lies: Grand Rapids and Settler Colonialism. In that piece … Continue reading
2006 Immigration March was the largest in Grand Rapids History
(On March 26, 2006, I was writing for Media Mouse and reported on an immigrant-led march that was a response to proposed anti-Immigration legislation that year. What follows is what I wrote and a brief analysis of the Grand Rapids … Continue reading
Farmworker Solidarity action in Grand Rapids – 1983
Last week we posted a piece on efforts in Grand Rapids in the late 1970’s to provide support and solidarity with migrant farmworkers across the country. These efforts were organized through the group, Western Michigan Friends of the Farm Workers. … Continue reading
Solidarity with Migrant Farm Workers event in Grand Rapids – 1978
Recently, we were able to find some archival documents from the Walter Reuther Library at Wayne State University, documents that are specific to Grand Rapids, particularly the Farm Worker Movement. The image below is taken from a newsletter in April … Continue reading
Anti-Globalization Movement in Grand Rapids began in the Spring of 2000
The US anti-sweatshop organizing in the 1990s focused a great deal of individual corporations and their exploitation of workers in countries around the world. Organizers around the world however, didn’t just challenge the practices of individual corporations, instead they saw … Continue reading
Anti-sweatshop Action in Grand Rapids – 1996
As part of the growing anti-globalization/anti-free trade movement that was growing in the US, especially after the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, organizers with the Institute for Global Education held an action at the Woodland Mall to … Continue reading
Grand Valley Labor News series on Amway – 1980
We recently received a three-part series of articles written by Michael Johnston, a Grand Rapids labor historian and former journalist with Grand Valley Labor News (GVLN). This recently acquired three-part series is important, since he provides important analysis about co-founders … Continue reading
1991 Resistance to the Gulf War in Grand Rapids: Part II
In Part I of this article, we looked at how people in Grand Rapids resisted the US military attack on Iraq in the early part of 1991. In today’s post we will look at the aftermath of that US war … Continue reading
Grand Rapids People's History Project 