About 250 people came to Grace Church for the Michigan Organizing Project (MOP) Community Convention in Grand Rapids on July 7. The goal of the evening was to get Congressman Vern Ehlers, Police Chief Harry Dolan, and GRPS Superintendent Bleke to publically commit to demands that MOP and its members crafted for this event. These demands have been the result of years of organizing and feedback from under-represented members of the community - workers, immigrants, and churches which are primarily made up of Black and Latino/a members.
MOP members presented personal testimony and demands for each of the three areas - rights for immigrant familes, community policing, and minority/bi-lingual education. The entire program was translated in Spanish, since many of MOP's members are Spanish only speakers. Each of the local leaders agreed to the demands of the three community endorsed issues. Congressman Ehlers said he would continue to support the Dream Act, which would give children of immigrant families greater opportunities for higher education. Police Chief Dolan agreed to meet quarterly with MOP on community policing issues, respond to MOP's critique of the Racial Profiling study, and work towards increasing neighborhood-based policing. School Superintendent Bleke agreed to work on improving reading levels for students and create avenues for greater parent participation in the schools.
One interesting element of the night waas when Police Chief Dolan spoke after agreeing to the demands. He began to tell the audience that the main strategy to overcoming crime was to keep kids in school. While this might be a good thing, he oversimplified the realities of what the root causes of crime are. He even went so far as to say that single parent homes contribute to juvenille crime. Many in the crowd appeared to take offense at such a statement. Then he asked the audience if they would committ to something - to not judge another GR police officer until all the facts are in about racial profiling. Several people responding quickly with NO. Dolan then said that this was what is called "prejudice." After Dolan's comments and throughout the rest of the evening this writer overheard many people comment on the arrogance of the Police Chief in making those comments.
MOP organizers however, said they were very energized over both the turnout and the outcome of the event. Coverage of the event in the local corporate media was limited. Of the television news stations, WOOD TV 8 and WXMI 17 ran stories, although TV 8's essentially just said that the event happened with little actual substance about what went on during the conference. WXMI 17 ran a short story focusing on the theme that MOP was "asking those in charge to help make social change take place" rather than the fact that MOP was making demands and working to hold leaders accountable. The Grand Rapids Press provided the most extensive coverage of the conference summarizing the promises made to MOP and highlighting some of the testimony provided by residents during the conference.
