Beneath Grand Rapids’ reputation for growth and prosperity lies a deeper history many residents have never fully seen.
A new documentary based on a book of the same name, A City Within a City: The Black Freedom Struggle in Grand Rapids, Michigan, examines generations of Black organizing, resistance, culture and community-building that helped shape the city while often remaining outside mainstream narratives.
After nearly nine years of research, organizing, filming, editing, and community engagement, the Grand Rapids Media Initiative and Film Incubator (GRMiFi), together with Grand Stand Pictures and local partners, are nearing completion of the project. A sneak preview earlier this year at Wealthy Theatre gave audiences an early look at segments of the rough cut while filmmakers continued raising funds to complete post-production.
“This film is nearly 9 years in the making,” said Rodney Brown, President of GRMiFi and producer of the ACWAC film. “It exists because of our deep personal commitment as Black people born and raised in Grand Rapids that love our community. We felt a responsibility to document our history with accuracy, dignity, and power. This is narrative justice. This is community memory work. And this is about ensuring that the next generation understands the shoulders they stand on.”
The documentary traces decades of institutional inequities and grassroots activism in Grand Rapids, documenting how Black residents created spaces for economic opportunity, political advocacy, and cultural expression despite barriers in housing, employment, and public life. Organizers behind the film describe it as both a historical record and an effort to preserve institutional memory before firsthand accounts are lost.
Veteran filmmaker Marvin Towns directs the project. The Chicago-born filmmaker, now based in Detroit, was brought into the project after a decades-spanning career in feature films, television, and award-winning short films.
For Towns, the documentary’s exploration of ‘A City Within a City’ is not confined to the past. During a recent conversation with Grand Rapids Magazine while in town for the sneak preview, Towns referenced the Feb. 18, 2026 shooting on Eastern Avenue SE — in which a man later died after being shot by a Grand Rapids police officer during an attempted arrest — as part of the contemporary backdrop that continues to shape conversations around race, policing, visibility, and institutional trust in the city.
Brown emphasized that financial contributions from West Michigan’s philanthropic sector reflect the broader community’s support for the project.
“We are deeply grateful for the local philanthropic community leaders who believed in the importance of documenting Black history and lifting up institutional memories in Grand Rapids,” Brown said. “Their investments signaled that this story matters—not just to Black residents, but to the integrity of the entire city.”
Investors include Steelcase Foundation, Robert Pew Foundation, Kate Pew Wolters Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Frey Foundation, Grand Rapids Community Foundation, and Wege Foundation, which has also supported other related community storytelling and educational initiatives connected to GRMiFi.
“All of these investments from our community is making this all possible,” Brown added. “This is what happens when a city chooses to invest in truth and opportunity.”
The production team was busily completing post-production work at the time this magazine went to print, including final editing, music scoring, and visual effects.As the documentary nears completion, community members will have an opportunity to view the film and help shape its final version during a feedback screening on Tuesday, October 20, at 6 p.m. at Loosemore Auditorium in the Richard M. DeVos Center (DEV), 401 Fulton St. W., on Grand Valley State University’s City Campus. Hosted by Educational Foundations and co-sponsored by the School of Social Work and the Kutsche Office of Local History, the event will feature a screening of A City Within a City, followed by a discussion and appetizers. Community feedback will help inform the film before its final completion.
“We haven’t decided on the distributor as of today,” said Towns in August while preparing for an August 28 screening. “Multiple distributors want the film.”
The date of the screening was deliberate.
“August 28 holds significance to Black America and that’s why we’ve chosen it,” Towns said. The Slavery Abolition Act was passed in 1833.
To complete post-production and position the documentary for festivals, marketing, and screenings, GRMiFi is currently raising its final funding goal.
“We are in the final stretch,” Brown said. “Raising the remaining funds will allow us to finish with excellence and ensure this film travels far beyond Grand Rapids. This story deserves national visibility.”
Donations can be made through the Posterity Films fundraising page at Honeycomb Credit to support completion of the film and expansion of GRMiFi’s broader incubator and community storytelling efforts.
“This film is more than a documentary,” Brown concluded. “It is a declaration that Black history in Grand Rapids is not marginal—it is foundational. This film helps build a platform for more beautiful, dynamic, diverse and compelling stories that can be told from Grand Rapids.”
