THE DIATRIBE Reacts to Local Government Turning Its Back on the People (The Kent County Commissioners Board Fiasco)

Posted on December 14, 2022 by Christopher Tallon

THE DIATRIBE is here to help

This is my interview with, among many other titles and honors, the Executive Director of The Diatribe–Marcel “Fable” Price. We talk about his personal and professional background, and his non-profit that is doing some really innovative, exciting stuff to benefit underserved people in Kent County, Michigan.

Creative Ops | Ep.46 | Marcel ”Fable” Price – Creatively Affecting Change – Creative Ops

Fable the Poet (aka Marcel Price) became the Poet Laureate of Grand Rapids, MI in 2017. At the time, he was GR's first black PL. He was the first PL to not graduate from college. On top of that he was also the youngest PL in city history. Now he works with The Diatribe, mainly focusing on improving the south side and educating people about GENTRIFICATION and REDLINING. Check out The 49507 Project. Marcel Price / Fable the Poet: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter The Diatribe: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, SUPPORT!

THE DIATRIBE and the politicians who were scared to do the right thing

The Kent County Commission denied The Diatribe of 2 million dollars of federal funding. They gave money to 30 projects. The Diatribe was ranked 12th out of over 300 projects. So then…??? But how…???

Here’s the full meeting (which I spoke at, if you watch far enough into), followed by Marcel’s/The Diatribe‘s response:

The Full Kent County Board of Commissioners Meeting from 12/1/22:

The Reaction Afterward:

THE DIATRIBE: How I’m Helping…

I showed up for the meeting. That’s one way I helped. I’ve donated money. Not an earth-shattering amount, but a little bit helps if a lot of people do it. And then I asked Marcel to sit down with me on my podcast to spread the word about what happened, but also where The Diatribe goes from here.

In the spirit of spreading the word as far as I can, I asked the Grand Rapids podcaster Kirk Ross from A Talk in the Attic if we could set up back to back interviews in his studio (The Attic). Kirk was onboard, so before I talked to Marcel, which you can listen to below the video, this happened:

The Diatribe’s Marcel “Fable” Price on A TALK IN THE ATTIC

Ep.90 | Marcel ”Fable” Price – A Shameful Showing from the Kent County Commissioners Board – Creative Ops

The Diatribe uses performing arts to empower young people to share their stories, raise awareness of social issues, and create change within their communities. They were recently screwed over for political reasons by the Kent County Commission, which deprived them of 2 million dollars of federal funding because they were afraid of getting challenged politically and possibly losing their seats in government. I was there. It was one of the most shameful things I've ever seen. Listen to Marcel, the executive director/chief inspiration architect of The Diatribe, here and on episode 46. Then check out these youtube videos: Marcel's take on what happened: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xomEVejv60 The Full Meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd7ggIFzAmc SUPPORT THE DIATRIBE: Website: https://thediatribe.org/support/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/the_diatribe/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/TheDiatribe/

THE DIATRIBE: How YOU Can Help

If you live or work in Grand Rapids, or the nearby area, this affects you. If you believe in changing not policies, but entire systems, this could be something that inspires others throughout the rest of the country. People who are tired of entire segments of the population being underserved and redlined, but don’t know what to do.

Please visit The Diatribe’s Website

Learn more about the organization, their social media community, find out different ways to support that isn’t giving money, and/or donate to this group of artists who are trying to make significant, innovative changes to better humankind in there little pocket of the world: