Hannah Taplin / Protest / Speaker / Spot

Rally

MARCH 24TH 2018: A sophomore from a local Grand Rapids high school gives a moving speech about the challenges of being a student while there is a lack of gun reform in America. The speech was delivered to a crowd of almost 6,000 at Rosa Parks Circle for the national March For Our Lives movement on Saturday.

MARCH 28TH 2018: While the estimate of participants in the Grand Rapids March for Our Lives Event was 4,000, event organizers estimate that it was around 5,800 people whom gathered in Rosa Parks Circle.

MARCH 24TH 2018: An older gentleman holds a protest sign. There was a span of generations, ethnicities, and social movements at the March for Our Lives movement in Rosa Parks Circle. 

MARCH 24TH 2018: Many marchers brought signs to express their emotions during the event. While speakers were on stage, the crowd would raise their signs as they cheered, booed, and/or chanted. 

MARCH 28TH 2018: The local police department was very involved in the march. While it remained peaceful, they did interact with a few counter-protestors as marchers made their way down Front Avenue downtown Grand Rapids and directed traffic around the almost 6,000 marchers. 

Speaker

Spot

22 March 2018: Dr. Michael Stevens draws a chart based on information from the required reading for the class. 

22 March 2018: Dr. Michael Stevens listens intently as a student gives their input on the information he wrote on the board. This semester, the topic is focused on the failure of American culture within rural and urban communities. 

22 March 2018: Dr. Matt Bonzo manages to crack a smile after a joke by one of his students in the Humanities Seminar.

22 March 2018: Dr. Matt Bonzo reads an article from the Grand Rapids Press during Humanities Seminar. The article was written about the uptick in overdose deaths within Kent County. 

22 March 2018: Dr. Jason Stevens gives an example of a student response essay during his class in Mythology. 

Spot

29 March 2018: There is a backup on east I-94 in Mattawan, Michigan, caused by both road construction and a broken down semi. The backup tracked for at least four miles. 

29 March 2018: Construction workers receive police assistance in protecting them at night as they work on the far right lane. 

29 March 2018 - The backup caused hundreds of drivers to be running behind, the traffic lined from the Oshtemo exit to Mattawan.