When we ask ourselves what kind of place we want to be, we often answer the question in terms that include the name of another city.
For the avid cyclist or urban planner, their answer usually includes Portland.
The foodie most certainly references the culinary adventures of New York or any of the produce-rich coastal cities in California, from San Diego to San Francisco.
Food justice fans cite many other communities where urban hens and composting ordinances exist in such diverse urban locales as Chicago or Cleveland and many places in between, including cities closer to home like East Grand Rapids, but unfortunately not Grand Rapids.
One topic that has been on the lips of most urbanites this past week was the civil rights vote that went down in Holland. The councilmen voted 5-4
not to include protections for their LGBT community members within Holland's civil rights charter -- an act that not only was approved 2-1 the same week in Kalamazoo, but an act that brings to mind a similar ordinance adopted in Grand Rapids nearly two decades ago.
When last week's column "
Differents Welcome" was written, I was unaware of Holland's upcoming vote. One could hardly blame one for being a bit closed off to the rest of our region, because we've had so much recent activity in Grand Rapids, ranging from the many early summer festivals to the preparation for and subsequent national focus on the "American Pie" lipdub.
When the "Differents Welcome" editorial broke highlighting the positive changes in our community, our neighboring city of Holland was authoring a different story.
Our time here on our planet is very short. Our actions do matter and when justice is delayed, as reflected by the Holland council's recent vote to deny LGBT members their civil rights, we diminish our capacity to emerge as a nation undivided by exclusionary practices or worse, we elevate one group of people above another group of people.
What we do while we are here is crucial for not only us, but for those who have no voice or those who have been cast aside and called not vital or important to our communities' strength.
This past week, a few items hit my radar that reminded me of the power of self-organizing movements afoot in our city. They are all worth mentioning.
The first is the debut of a Facebook group created and organized by a person identified as the deceased Sergei Diaghilev whose page "
I'm Boycotting Holland (MI) until Love is =" appeared as a response to the Holland anti-civil rights vote. The effort quickly amassed members not only from our community, but people all over the country joined or expressed their thoughts there.
Organizing within the community is as much about education as it is about change. It is not about ramming home an idea on topics of preservation or expansionist policies.
Rather, it is a chance to invite people to the table within a community to let their voices be heard. While some may say it is about the majority moving forward, it is often the plight of a minority that helps nudge changes that benefit all. Rarely does the status quo want things to shift; we often we govern from a place of comfort.
But, as a child, I was taught that America was a grand melting pot where truly anything is possible when we adopt a welcoming spirit.
Maybe many of us have lost sight of this beautiful lesson that was taught to me in elementary school. It was what made me proud each time I pledged my allegiance to the flag where liberty and justice for all was so firmly planted in the "PLEDGE."
This week is also the debut of
SlutWalk, an awareness-building international event to counter the shameful remarks made by Toronto Police officer Michael Sanguinetti who said in order not to be victimized or raped, "women should avoid dressing like sluts." The walk featured in G-Sync this week will see hundreds of local folks descend upon downtown to proclaim that it is time to stop blaming the victim.
A quieter form of organizing is also a foot in the form of a new book about to drop on Tuesday, June 28 at a release party at Mad Cap Coffee. "
Some Time In" is the start of a new series of books from Benjamin Gott. The first book is based in Grand Rapids, but the author has other cities in the works including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Paris. Gott's new book is a singular vision of what our period of time looks like from one individual's perspective.
And while haters will no doubt look to pick it apart for its lack of flushing out every corner of our city (which is not the point of the book), Gott explains that "it's not really as much as documenting the city as it is the 'scene' or the non-tangible of a city seen through a given person's eyes -- a bit esoteric, I suppose, but a fun project nonetheless."
In Grand Rapids, we have committed ourselves to tackle the big and little topics as we seek to do the right thing. It is my wish that Holland will join us and welcome diversity in our region.
We must never forget or ignore that powerful line from the Pledge of Allegiance that many have taken for granted so that liberty and justice for all is freely extended to all. Life is too short.
The Future Needs All of Us (to remember the time)
Tommy Allen
Lifestyle Editor
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