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Opinion

Grand Rapids, time to get in formation

Submitted 02-16-2016 under OPINION

From my vantage point, "Formation" was a battle cry for Grand Rapids and every space like it.

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Land, labor, capital: Looking at root causes of our diseased food system

Submitted 02-09-2016 under OPINION

Lance Kraai of New City Urban Farm proposes a generous reciprocal free market based on Judaic/Christian ideas of Shalom over capitalism and addresses the historical problems that capitalism has created.

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Catalyst Radio: faith, LGBTQ+ communities, and spiritual violence

Submitted 02-05-2016 under OPINION

Host Katie Gordon speaks with Scott Burden about the upcoming Change U Activist Assembly on Spiritual Violence: A Community Experience, a Community Response

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What cities lose when plagued by low voter turnout

Submitted 02-02-2016 under OPINION

The problem of low turnout- as we saw in our last local elections- magnifies the disappointment of close races, as a minority of the local population determines the winners and losers and thereby who guides the community's future.

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Catalyst Radio: personal and societal transformation through a plant-based diet

Submitted 01-29-2016 under OPINION

Host Michele Fife speaks with Kim Enochs, executive director of Veg Fest Grand Rapids and co-founder of Plant Based Solutions, a Grand Rapids nonprofit dedicated to advocating for personal and societal transformation through a plant-based diet. Episode aired 1/29/2016.

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New community council seeks stronger civil discourse with, accountability for police

Submitted 01-26-2016 under OPINION

Are assault rifles really the best way to protect and serve our city? Inspired by this question, a new volunteer group- the Community Police Relations Council- works to form a collaborative engagement towards accountability in how we are policed.

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State of the State: Public Act 4 Must Go

Submitted 01-24-2016 under OPINION

Any law that drowns the rights of the individual are not laws but rather the framework of a crime.

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New Experience GR video misses mark in representing real neighborhood diversity

Submitted 01-22-2016 under OPINION

When I moved to Grand Rapids in 2005 from Mexico, diversity and inclusion were not such buzzwords like they are today. But even in today's focus on talking about diversity, a recent video doesn't do the work to represent our diverse community.

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Annual Abrahamic Dinner at local mosque to encourage interfaith dialogue

Submitted 01-19-2016 under OPINION

This Thursday, January 21, the Niagara Foundation and Kaufman Interfaith Institute are hosting the annual Abrahamic Dinner, which will foster dialogue around interfaith understanding, religion and violence and using religion for peace.

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Conversations with young people about race must go beyond respectability

Submitted 01-19-2016 under OPINION

We have a culture of respectability politics that refuses to allow us to engage with young people in real discourse about what is shaping their racial perceptions.

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