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A vigil for Corey Ruiz and a book club
Join us as we mourn and as we learn
GRAARPR Staff
August 02, 2026
Dear community member,
The nation continues to be assaulted by the brutality of the police. On Wed, July 22, 2026, police in Madison Wisconsin murdered Corey Ruiz. Once again officers chose death over deescalation. They chose violence over safety.
We mourn Corey Ruiz as we mourn the members of our community we’ve lost to killer cops: Da’Quain Tre Johnson, Samuel Sterling, Riley Doggett, Patrick Lyoya, and so many more.
We need community control of the police!
 | The death of Corey Ruiz should remind us that the problems we face in Grand Rapids are not specific to us, and that our struggle is a larger struggle against a state that chooses terror and tyranny over care and collective equity. On Thursday, Aug 6 at 6pm, we’re holding a vigil for Corey Ruiz and all victims of police violence. Meet us at Garfield Park on the corner of Madison and Burton. Bring a sign if you can. We must join the community of Madison to call for arresting the killer cops and for community control of the police. |
A City within a City Book Club
We’re hosting a book club for Todd E Robinson’s book A City within a City: The Black Freedom Struggle in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The first meeting is on Thursday Aug 13 at 6pm. We’ll be in Room 109 in the basement of Fountain Street Church (24 Fountain St NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503). The location for future meetings may be different. There will be snacks and drinks. You can also join via Zoom: |  |
No reading is required for the first meeting and the meeting will be open to the public. We’ll use this meeting to determine how much we want to read, how often we want to meet, and how we’d like the book club to go.
We hope to learn a lot together that we can bring to our collective organizing.
In solidarity,
Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
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