Grand Rapids Anarchists

For those who are curious about the history of anarchist organizing and anarchism more generally in the Grand Rapids area, the article “A History of Anarchist Organizing in Grand Rapids” by Ed Cutlip is a great starting place. The article was published on the now defunct MediaMouse.org and it provides a great overview of anarchism in Grand Rapids during the years from 2003 to 2008. During that time, anarchism became visible in Grand Rapids whether it was in the form of anarchist graffiti, signs and banners at demonstrations (for example, it wasn’t uncommon to see banners reading “Capitalism Kills” or including circle A’s), groups that organized using anarchist methods, and even the emergence of collectively run spaces including Sabo’s Infoshop and The Bloom Collective.

The article does a good job of providing a historical overview of what various groups and projects did and accomplished during one of the surges in anarchist activity in Grand Rapids. However, it falls short when it comes to analyzing what all the activity meant and when it comes to evaluating the effectiveness of the various strategies. Still, it’s a good starting point for understanding recent anarchist history.

Read “A History of Anarchist Organizing in Grand Rapids”