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Recent Posts
- A People’s History of Grand Rapids book is now available
- Revolutionary Anarchist Youth zine highlights benefit show in Grand Rapids for political prisoner Geronimo Pratt in 1996
- Revolutionary Anarchist Youth flyer on the Amway co-founders
- Just after the Depression years, the Grand Rapids City Government provided direct relief and created a public works project for those unemployed
- Some examples of the conditions for blacks in Grand Rapids and what types of discrimination blacks faced on a daily basis in the early part of the 20th Century
Category Archives: Civil Rights/Freedom Movement
Artwork depicts the very public display of White Supremacy in Grand Rapids 1925
A new print by Jamari Taylor, depicts the blatant display of White Supremacy in Grand Rapids in 1925, when the KKK organized a parade on the city’s westside. This new artwork communicates a powerful message about the Klan, which turned … Continue reading
GR Press Coverage of the 1963 March on Detroit & Washington
Our last post looked at the Grand Rapids Press editorials on the 1963 March on Washington, with the main editorial practicing what we name as a form of white paternalism. Today’s post takes a look at the GR Press coverage … Continue reading
White Paternalism and the Grand Rapids Press Editorial on the 1963 March on Washington
In Jeanne Theoharis’s important book, A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History, makes the point that we often look back to events like the 1963 march on Washington and think that the majority … Continue reading
The Human Relations Commission and the racial tensions of the 1960s in Grand Rapids: Part II
Last week, we posted Part I of a look at the Human Relations Commission and the racial tensions of the 1960s. In Part II, we want to look at the racial tensions that was known to the Human Rights Commission … Continue reading
The Human Relations Commission and the racial tensions of the 1960s in Grand Rapids: Part I
The Human Relations Commission (HRC) in Grand Rapids was created based on a study that was called for by then Grand Rapids Mayor Paul Goebel. This commission was established to, “foster mutual understanding and respect among all racial, religious and … Continue reading
Grand Rapids, Statues and White Supremacy
There has been a great deal of public conversation in the weeks following the White Supremacist violence in Charlottesville, around the issue of white supremacy and symbols of white supremacy. In Charlotteville, the decision was made to remove a statue … Continue reading
Artwork highlights a People’s History in Grand Rapids – Print #13: The Klan in Grand Rapids 1925
Last semester, art students in Brett Colley’s GVSU class on printmaking, invited me to come talk about the Grand Rapids People’s History Project. The intent of the class was to have students investigate their own part of a People’s History … Continue reading
50 years after the 1967 Riot in Grand Rapids: What we know and what can we learn?
On July 25th, 1967, Grand Rapids police officers arrested several Black youth, when they pulled them over believing they were in a stolen vehicle. One source says that the officers may have used excessive force in dealing with the Black youth, according … Continue reading
WOOD TV 8 footage of the 1967 Riot in Grand Rapids
(Thanks to the Grand Rapids Public Library for directing me to this archival material.) Last week, we posted a 1987 story from the Grand Rapids Press about the 1967 riot in Grand Rapids, where two men who were part of … Continue reading
A Retrospective on the 1967 Riot in Grand Rapids, Twenty Years Afterwards: From the Grand Rapids Press
(This is the first of a series of postings that deal with the 1967 riot in Grand Rapids, which took place 50 years ago between July 25 and July 27.) “It is not enough for me to stand before you … Continue reading
Grand Rapids People's History Project 