Community Updates: Friday, September 9

Grand Rapids Public Museum to Host Cultural Heritage Festival and Anishinaabe Culture Day in October

The Grand Rapids Public Museum has announced that, on October 15, the annual Cultural Heritage Festival will be taking place at its location in downtown Grand Rapids. According to a press release sent out on Wednesday, this event will have food, presentations, and entertainment (including a new show called Big Astronomy: People, Places and Discoveries at the Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium). Local cultural figures/organizations will also be in attendance, including:

• The Mexican Heritage Association of West Michigan
• Margaret Vega
• Picardo
• Motherland Culture Connection
• Shimmy USA
• Grand Rapids Scottish Society

Museum patrons will also have the chance to visit two of GRPM's diversity-focused exhibitions. The first, Newcomers: The People of This Place, is focused on the numerous groups of people who have settled in West Michigan. The second exhibit, Anishinabek: The People of this Place, is focused on the stories of the Anishinabek people.

In addition to the festival, GRPM will also be hosting an Anishinaabe Culture Day for students on October 12. During this event, attendees will be able to learn more about local Native American culture through story-telling, music, and more.

For more information about the Cultural Heritage Festival, visit the GRPM's website here.

City of Grand Rapids Holds City Commission Meeting on Tuesday

On Tuesday, September 6, the Grand Rapids City Commission met at City Hall to hold the first of two City Commission meetings planned for September. This meeting lasted just over an hour and a half, with the majority of that time being dedicated to public comment. Residents were able to talk about their thoughts on everything from specific action items and housing/community development programs to general issues affecting the community. The concerns that Grand Rapidians brought up the most were:

• The need for equitable and affordable housing within the city
• The need for adequate facilities and resources for the unhoused population within the city
• The need to address prejudices and violence within the Grand Rapids Police Department in order to establish a healthy relationship between them and the Grand Rapids community

Things got a little tense inside the chamber when one resident took the podium to share her thoughts on the events of April 4, 2022 -- the day Patrick Lyoya was shot and killed by Christopher Schurr of the GRPD. "We are living in a time when the world wants to remove the offensive part of the truth," she stated. "Patrick's criminal history is relevant because it exposes his deeds and his intentions." In response, several individuals in the audience began shouting "Justice for Patrick." 

The City Commission meeting was filmed and uploaded to the City of Grand Rapids' official YouTube channel. It can also be viewed below:

Earlier that morning, members of the Commission had met with the Committee on Appointments (8:00am), the Fiscal Committee (8:30am), the Community Development Committee (9:15am), and the Committee of the Whole (10:00am). The footage from those meetings is also available on the City of Grand Rapids' official YouTube channel here. 

Also in the News:

• On September 18, Wealthy Theatre and Spector Street Theatre Company will be partnering for the 35^th Anniversary of 'Clive Barker's Hellraiser'. This will be a fundraiser event -- with all proceeds going to Don Bertram's Celebrate Imagination supporting the Arts in Medicine Program at Texas Children's Cancer Center. For more information, visit Wealthy Theatre's website here. 

Sharing Your Stories

The Rapidian encourages local residents to share their own stories related to civic, economic, and public health developments in the Grand Rapids area on The Rapidian’s platform. To get started as a community reporter, visit TheRapidian.org/write.