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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
Category Archives: Civil Rights/Freedom Movement
Citizens are critical of the City Recommendations for a Police Civilian Review Board in 1996
Editor’s Note: In the midst of ongoing Police and Community relations today, it is important to note that there have been numerous reports and recommendations on police abuse and community relations. The report referred to in this article from 1996 … Continue reading
Grand Rapids participates in the 1995 Million Man March
The first Million Man March took place in October of 1995. Several people from Grand Rapids attended that march. This interview, reposted from the Indy newspaper The FUNdamentalist, was conducted with one of the Grand Rapids organizers, Kashaka Kikelomo. Jeff … Continue reading
Grand Rapids Freedom Rider Walter Bergman
If one is serious about fighting institutionalized racism and white supremacy, then one must be prepared to take risks. This is exactly what Walter Bergman, a retired teacher had done in May of 1961, when he decided to be part … Continue reading
A Brief history of the KKK in West Michigan
It is important as we continue to reflect on and investigate a People’s History of Grand Rapids, that we not ignore the systems of oppression and power that have historically sought to impose their will on various sectors of civil … Continue reading
1991 Pamphlet demonstrates how Red Lining continued in Grand Rapids and what was being done to address it from the grassroots
Red Lining, a discriminatory practice by which banks, insurance companies, etc., refuse or limit loans, mortgages, insurance, etc., within specific geographic areas, especially inner-city neighborhoods, has long been a practice in Grand Rapids. One recent example if that of Mercantile … Continue reading
Ferguson and the System of White Supremacy: What we can learn from the 1967 Riot in Grand Rapids
While attending a symbolic action in Grand Rapids, an action in support of what is happening in the aftermath of the police shooting of a young Black man in Ferguson, MO, I heard someone say, “we need to be vigilant … Continue reading
Grand Rapids People's History Project 