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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: Indigenous Resistance
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
New Artwork celebrates Indigenous Sovereignty and exposes Settler Colonialism in Grand Rapids
A new print, created by Carly Wormmeester, provides a powerful image of the importance of our recognition of Indigenous Sovereignty in Michigan and the Settler Colonial reality of taking over land that belonged to the Anishinaabe. Carly’s print is based … Continue reading
Boarding Schools In Michigan: An Interview with Dee Sherwood
Dr. Dee Sherwood is a member of the social work faculty at Western Michigan University. She teaches courses on the American Indian Boarding Schools and intergenerational trauma in Indigenous communities. She is a mixed blood descendant of Paiute, French and … Continue reading
Interview with Odawa War & Peace Chief 1993
This posting is based on an interview from the independent newspaper, The Fundamentalist in the summer of 1993. The entire interview is linked in the posting, but a summary is what we are providing. One of the co-editors of the … Continue reading
Interview with an Anishinaabe working in the the Grand Rapids Public Schools – 1992
This interview was conducted by one of the co-editor’s of the independent newspaper in Grand Rapids during the 1990s, The Fundamentalist. The interview, published in its entirety, was part of an issue of the independent newspaper that was completely devoted … Continue reading
Artwork highlights a People’s History in Grand Rapids – Print #2: White Lies
This past semester, art students in Brett Colley’s 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
Not at play in the fields of the Lord: The Bible League and Genocide
Editor’s Note: It is clear to anyone who investigates the history of West Michigan that religion has played a significant role in both promoting and resisting systems of oppression. The religious right for nearly 200 years in West Michigan has … Continue reading
Monuments, propaganda and settler colonialism in Grand Rapids
This posting is part of the Lies Across Grand Rapids series that looks at how land marks, monuments and other historical markings tell either a distorted view history or a history that defends power and privilege. There are numerous statues … Continue reading
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
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 