communityconversations
Why poor people don't go to bike shops
by (The Spoke Folks)
Submitted 09-27-2016 under NONPROFITS
At The Spoke Folks, our goal is to ensure everyone has access to a safe and reliable bike. As a part of this, we have known disenfranchised communities, especially communities of color, need our services the most. This summer the mobile...
Open letter to Forest Hills Public Schools superintendent from equity leaders, parents and alumni
by (Jeremy Moore)
Submitted 09-20-2016 under OPINION
Dear Superintendent Daniel Behm & the Forest Hills Board of Education: Mary Vonck Martha Atwater Susan Lenhardt Walter F. Perschbacher III Suzanne Callahan Michael Seekell Douglas Josephson It is with great concern that we write you...
Roosevelt Park releases community video of their own
by (Paola R. Mendivil)
Submitted 09-13-2016 under OPINION
How exciting it is to see the wonderful things happening when a community is united. I’ve always said that whenever we encounter a negative experience, there are lessons to be learned and move on. This was the case for the Southwest...
On accountability, doing the work and public discourse
by (prfcgr)
Submitted 08-31-2016 under NONPROFITS
This piece is from the staff of Partners for a Racism-Free Community and does not represent the views of affiliated organizations or partners. More often than not, when particular spotlights are placed on individuals we are confronted by histories...
How Kids' Food Basket is fighting hunger in West Michigan
by (KidsFoodBasket)
Submitted 08-10-2016 under NONPROFITS
Kids’ Food Basket has been providing nutritious evening meals to children in Grand Rapids for almost 15 years. In the last four years, they’ve expanded to serving children in Muskegon and Holland as well, and currently serving more than...
'Unity before justice is insulting'
by (Siangani)
Submitted 07-19-2016 under OPINION
The idyllic portrayal of a nation in racial unity is one of America's most pervasive mythos. But when exactly was America united racially? From slavery, to Jim Crow and segregation in the Reconstruction Era, to the current age of mass...
Gentrification or revitalization: Which is it?
by (Andrew Sisson)
Submitted 06-28-2016 under OPINION
“Let’s be clear what we are seeing on the Westside is revitalization, not gentrification." This is how I was corrected by a fellow participant in a roundtable to inform the City of Grand Rapid’s Residential Market Analysis in...
Interfaith and Interwoven: Knitting for peace, justice and healing
by (revkatiebaker)
Submitted 06-14-2016 under NEWS
Returning for a second summer, Interfaith & Interwoven: Knitting for Peace, Justice and Healing is a communitywide ministry open to all faiths, ages and skill-sets providing a space for fellowship, collaboration and creativity! The ministry...
"Caroline, or Change" full of raw feeling, captures strength of community theater
by (Luis Rodriguez)
Submitted 05-31-2016 under OPINION
I have strolled through Porter Hall, the rehearsal room, in the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre many times by now – and this time was no different, at first. The accent brick wall drawing in the four corners while the aging hardwood floor is masked...
First woman to be local cartoonist from Grand Rapids
by (drewdamron)
Submitted 05-24-2016 under LOCAL LIFE
Gertrude Van Houten, known to her readers as 'Gert', is the first known female cartoonist in the nation who made cartoons about a specific locale. As Grand Rapids citizens, we are extremely lucky that she chose to make our city her subject...