Tag Archives: racism in Grand Rapids

Artwork highlights a People’s History in Grand Rapids – Print #7 – African American Community responds to Red-lining with Auburn Hills Project

Posted on June 2, 2016 by Jeff Smith (GRIID)

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 →

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Grand Rapids participates in the 1995 Million Man March

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Jeff Smith (GRIID)

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 →

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1991 Pamphlet demonstrates how Red Lining continued in Grand Rapids and what was being done to address it from the grassroots

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Jeff Smith (GRIID)

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 →

Posted in Civil Rights/Freedom Movement, Neighborhood organizing | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments