Livingston Co based documentary, Blood In The Face, filmed on Robert Miles “farm” 1991- a must see!

"We're more Nazi than the Nazis!" speaker at pastor Bob Mile's Cohoctah church in the 1990s. Robert Miles was quoted in a public meeting around the same time that his job was to ‘keep the area as a whites only community’

Learn local history by watching this Livingston Co based documentary, Blood In The Face, filmed on Robert Miles “farm” (aka the Mountain Church). At minute 5 you will see the children listening to this, picture Jasen Barker being one of them. Those kids are people that are now my age and these are people still in our community today, currently raising children. At ~minute 8 they talk about how executing race traitors will probably start happening within ~30 years. Minute 24 its stated that "we are being bred out of existence" - many of the same talking points as today...

They discuss how to reach and recruit the kids in the schools via comic books, controlling the media, buying up farms and creating white only communities/compounds...

Knowing our history is important. Don't know who Jasen Barker is? Watch this recent LivCo based documentary "‘Face of Hate’ which follows Barker through his KKK organizing days while he operates out of Livingston County. Barker was indoctrinated by Robert Miles and his followers.

Forgotten about LivCo history continued 4/28/25

In doing some local May Day research we learned new info that weʼre betting you didnʼt know about either. Check this out… Local history on the fight for workers rights & connection to white supremacy.

One of the most violent white supremacist groups Michigan has ever experienced, the Black Legion, was funded by one of America's oldest corporations, a chemical company founded/run by the DuPonts. This family was listed last year as one of Forbes’ richest families in America. Source

In the 1930s “Irenee du Pont used General Motors money to finance the notorious Black Legion” which was a more violent version of the KKK credited with butchering at least 50 people, most of them Black, in the Detroit area during its short existence. “This terrorist organization had as its purpose the prevention of automobile workers from unionizing. The members wore hoods and black robes while they fire-bombed union meetings and tortured/murdered union organizers. “General Motors spent $839,000 on detective work in 1934 alone and used a group called 'The Black Legion' who employed various intimidation tactics against active union members. As a consequence of these policies, union organizers changed tactics and gradually the union gained strength.” Source

Members of the Black Legion admitted to murdering a union organizer named Silas Coleman in 1935. Coleman, a 42 year old husband, father, and World War I veteran, was lured onto their property in Pinckney and told to run into the marshes so they could hunt him by chasing him “like a deer” and gunning him down before celebrating with beers and shots of whiskey. The racially motivated “thrill killing” was stated in court documents as Black Legion members wanting to know what it “felt like to shoot a Negro” Source

Many murders linked to the Black Legion were of labor organizers. One of their first victims was George Marchuk, Secretary of the Auto Workers Union in Lincoln Park and union organizer at Ford Motor Company, was found dead in 1933, with a bullet in his head. John Bielak, an A. F. of L. organizer in the Hudson Motor Car Company plant who had led a drive for a wage increase, "was found riddled with bullets in 1934. The "arson squad" of the Black Legion confessed to the 1934 burning of the farm of William Mollenhauer, a labor activist in Pontiac.

Criminal trials revealed the wide network of Black Legion members in local governments, particularly Detroit, Pontiac, Royal Oak, Highland Park and Ecorse. Members included a former mayor, chief of police, and city councilman, in addition to persons in civil service jobs including many in law enforcement. “Since 1933 the Black Legion's power had permeated police departments." Dozens of Black Legion members were prosecuted for related crimes, convicted and sentenced to prison terms. Following the convictions, membership in the Black Legion dropped quickly; its reign of terror ended in the Detroit area.

Du Pont’s General Motors Co. funded the Black Legion to stop unionization in its Midwestern factories. “The Black Legion was indeed a great help to General Motors in its struggle to prevent auto workers from unionizing. With members wearing black robes and slitted hoods, members terrorized Michigan and Ohio auto fields, riding like Klansmen through the night in car caravans. The organization was divided into arson squads, bombing squads, execution squads, and anti-communist squads, and membership discipline on pain of torture or death was strictly enforced. Legion cells filled G.M. factories, terrorizing workers and recruiting Klansmen. They worked together to stop Reds and unions that demanded their labor rights.” Source

“During the final days of 1936, about 50 auto workers at General Motors shut down their machines in Flint, Michigan, and sat down. The workers, members of the tiny United Automobile Workers union founded just a year prior, sought to improve brutal working conditions at mighty General Motors, the world’s largest manufacturer. They also demanded GM recognize the union as workers’ bargaining agent in negotiations. By sitting down, workers stayed inside the factory and near their stations so “scabs” couldn’t take over.

When the strike became violent, the Women’s Emergency Brigade was formed to protect the sit-down strikers who were their husbands, sons, brothers and fellow co-workers. When tear gas was hurled into the buildings to break the strike, the women smashed the windows so it would escape. Wielding mops, brooms, rolling pins or pans, they surrounded the men on the picket line and formed human shields against the police. Overwhelmed, and afraid to shoot at women, the police abandoned their assault. The women carried these tools which were meant to intimidate by showing that the wives of workers were prepared for violence. Due to the Women’s Emergency Brigade the Flint Sit Down Strike was successful. Source

Two weeks into the strike, workers at the plant clashed with GM security and Flint police after the company cut off heat and electricity and prevented food from being delivered to workers inside. The clash left dozens injured. The Michigan Governor called in the National Guard and ordered both sides to negotiate. The two sides reached a compromise in which GM agreed to recognize the UAW as the bargaining agent for workers who wanted to join the union. Source

“The UAW’s sit-down strike across GM plants lasted 44 days and involved 125,000 workers. It is considered the most important work stoppage of the 20th century and a turning point in relations between companies and workers in America. It was a breakthrough for unions and led to a wave of labor organizing across the country.“ Source

Why are folks calling to boycott Howell?

The City of Howell is currently spending tens of thousands of dollars on a PR firm because there were at least 6 documented neo-n@zi demonstrations in Livingston Co. during a 7 month period from July of last year to February. Many of these made national news, one made worldwide news. The City of Howell ignored the plea of marginalized residents to address the wyt supremacy issue, choosing to instead hire an Ottawa Co. based PR firm to fix their racist “reputation”

This PR firm recently presented their first three months of work in Howell. One of the tactics listed is to protect Howell city manager Erv Suida’s reputation. Suida experienced intense public backlash for his gross mishandling of the press during the onslaught of wyt supremacist activity, including protecting the neo-N@azis. Now taxpayers have to cover the costs of damage control.

There is a video recording of Erv Suida literally blaming a Black man for bringing the n@zis to town! Suida spent the bulk of a city council meeting publicly smearing this Howell resident, which has since landed the city in a MI Dept of Civil Rights lawsuit. This TikTok is telling people to avoid Howell because of the clear racism, that it is not a safe place for anyone who is not white. Suida’s actions continue to drive this point home. All one has to do is read the comments of locals under news articles following the situation- the majority of residents do not want Howell to diversify and attract “others” they love the foundation of whites only that Bob Miles so carefully created.

Despite being overwhelmingly unpopular Howell City Council voted on Monday to continue contracting with this PR firm for $6500/month. During that meeting when concerned community members spoke to the City Council Erv Suida literally laughed them off. We don’t think it's a laughing matter. Which is why in addition to SAGE’s demands that include

FIRING CITY MANAGER ERV SUIDA we are adding for the

CITY TO END ITS WASTEFUL PR FIRM CONTRACT

*See SAGE’s full list of demands here

Video calling to boycott Howell

Forgotten about LivCo history

Growing up in Livingston County I saw Klan robes in my best friend's dad’s closet, saw the swastikas scrawled at school, saw robed Klansmen at the train tracks on my walk to/from school, heard the stories from kids who were any other ethnicity being bullied/bricks through their house windows/chased out of town, watched a KKK rally overtake our courthouse downtown, etc.

I’m going to share some information for those interested in learning about the deep racist history here in Livingston County. KKK leader, Robert Miles, was convicted and served prison time for participating in an attack against a High School Principal who had his life threatened at gunpoint while he was literally tarred/feathered for his beliefs on desegregation.

“Five hooded Klu Klux Klan members attacked Brownlee and tarred and feathered him to discourage him from promoting racial harmony at the high school. On the way to his Plymouth home from the meeting, Brownlee was forced to pull over around 10:30 p.m. because a vehicle was blocking part of a bridge ahead. He slowed to a stop and another car pulled up behind, blocking him in. Brownleee said one of the men put a shotgun to his head and told him to turn off his lights and get out of the car. He was then knocked to the ground and one of the men pulled a five-gallon can of hot tar from another car and poured it on him from the shoulders down. They threw chicken feathers on him and released him nearly two hours later.

Brownlee returned to the high school to seek help and a high school student snapped a picture of him covered in tar. The photo, and later Brownlee's story, received national attention and was seen by some as a symbol of hope. . . The fact he showed up to work the next day and said, 'I'm not going to be scared off by this,' he was on the right side of history. I think it was really important. . . Brownlee said in a 1972 article in the The Daily Herald that the incident backfired on the KKK members, who had hoped to instill fear in the community. Brownlee said it had "a lot of positive payoff" in the school and the community. "People felt they had reached their limit and something had to be done," he said. . .

In June 1972, four KKK members were indicted in federal court on conspiracy charges related to what happened to Brownlee. One was charged at a later date. According to the United Press International, Michigan Ku Klux Klan leader Robert Miles was arrested at his farm near Howell. . . In October of 1973 Miles was sentenced to four years in prison on the conspiracy charges. According to the Associated Press, he also received a separate five year sentence for conspiring to bomb empty school buses that were to be used as part of a school desegregation plan in Pontiac. . .Miles said in the AP article."But it was my intent to defend the civil rights of my own children and my neighbors and friends.” Source

Here is an interview from 1991 with this KKK leader;

“Klan membership was commonplace among automotive union workers throughout the state for decades. . . That suspected link was confirmed by one of the group’s most notorious leaders, Robert Miles, in 1991. . .The KKK recruited new members amid the working class, Miles, a former grand dragon of the Michigan Klan, said during an interview for the documentary “Blood in the Face.”

“That’s where our strength is even today,” Miles said. “When we had 2,000 members of the Klan in Michigan back in 1970, the bulk of our people came out of the auto factories. They were the workers at Buick, Saginaw Steering, Chevrolet Gear and Axel, Cadillac, Ford. That’s not the upper class. That’s the working class.” Miles lived on a 70-acre farm in Cohoctah Township, northwest of Howell in Livingston County, and rose to prominence in the Klan in the 1970s. . .

“He couched his racist talk. He quoted the Bible a lot and he did it in a way that people who talked to him might think, ‘This guy makes sense.’” . .

“Miles was very, very savvy when it came to public relations,” Moorehouse said. “He wanted the word out about what he was doing.” He also wanted to keep Livingston County white and preached that message publicly. In 1989 Miles lashed out at a Howell group pushing back against the community’s racist image. During a Michigan Civil Rights Commission meeting that fall, he called the group “a bunch of hypocrites.”Moorehouse was there and remembers Miles telling the commission he was responsible for “keeping the community white.”

U.S. Census Bureau data from 2019 estimates over 96% of Livingston County's residents are white. . .

While the KKK's presence is small, the hate group’s ideology has been adopted by other white supremacy groups. Those principles thrive within them today, McNergney Vinyard said.

“These white nationalist groups that we've seen after George Floyd's death and before, they all have the same mission,” Green said. “The mission is spreading hate, but most important of all, spreading fear." Source

The people Miles preached directly to at his Livingston County “church” not that long ago are dead now, but their kids are currently raising kids in this community- think about that- and it's showing, as evident by all this garbage we are seeing!

TAKE ACTION THIS BLACK HISTORY MONTH

February, 2025

"As we celebrate Black History Month, we reflect on the countless contributions Black educators, students, and communities have made—and continue to make—toward building a more just and equitable society. From the historic desegregation of schools to today’s fight for culturally responsive education, the pursuit of educational justice remains central to advancing equity.

Students thrive when schools foster inclusive, culturally responsive environments. Research shows that when students see their own histories reflected in the curriculum, they develop a stronger sense of identity, belonging, and academic engagement. Education justice goals—such as improving access to buildings and resources, amplifying diverse perspectives, and investing in student-centered supports—empower all young people to grow into thoughtful, engaged members of society.

Over the past two weeks, the world has been watching as public education in the United States has come under direct attack. Funding cuts to schools and colleges that don’t immediately ban diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. A pending executive order to eliminate the Department of Education. And the expected confirmation of WWE chief executive Linda McMahon. All this means that critical protections and programs for students across the country are being actively dismantled while our public schools are defunded by federal vouchers and privatization schemes.

In response, grassroots organizers, educators, parents, and students are coming together in powerful ways to defend public education. Across the country, people are mobilizing to protect educators, honor diverse histories, and ensure that every student—no matter their background—has access to the quality, public education they deserve.

Get vital resources and learn more below about how to get involved in these critical efforts to keep public schools strong. The time is now.

Together, we can push back against these dangerous threats and build the future our students and communities deserve."

SEE COMMENTS OF THIS POST FOR HOW EVERYONE CAN GET INVOLVED NOW !

This is how white supremacy comes to your neighborhood.

1/3/25

Former white power leader turned peace activist, Christian Picciolini talks about how 30 years ago the white supremacist movement shifted from overt skin heads to a softer more palatable recruitment type. He explains that they “traded in their boots for suits in order to recruit on college campuses” (i.e., Turning Point USA - which has since gone even younger infiltrating now even High Schools - Pinckney & Hartland for example). He talks about how they specifically focused on getting jobs in law enforcement and changed their messaging to be easily relayed by the average American racist. He also talks about how they target children specifically.

Anyone with kids needs to be paying attention, this is a good introductory article on how they tactically normalize hate and extremism among our kids.

“This is how white supremacy comes to a home near you. It starts off subtly, with seemingly benign phrases about stereotypes being good and diversity being bad. Throw in a little talk of white heritage, sprinkle in some talk of being proud of your race. Before you know it, the talk escalates to things like “white genocide.”

Today’s brand of white supremacy doesn’t wear a white hood or a tattoo of a swastika (although they still exist.) No, today’s racists are more palatable. They are well spoken, intelligent. They dress nicely and are clean-cut. They speak reasonably and calmly and present their ideology with (false) numbers and (flawed) studies that back up their claims of racial superiority. They will look at you with doe eyes and say they simply want to preserve the heritage of white people in our country and blink innocently when they ask, “Why is racial pride so bad?” and earnestly insist that they mean no harm to minorities . . . Today’s brand of white supremacy is growing and more cunning in their methods. And their recruitment is ever-present. Their ranks include country boys with Confederate flags to YouTubers to comic book writers to our country’s leaders.

It doesn’t necessarily wear Jackboots and brown shirts and goose step down your tree-lined streets. No. This brand of white supremacy comes wrapped in jokes and pranks that appeal to a marketable demographic of 7- to 16-year-olds — a captive audience of impressionable minds and malleable ideology.

It is the goofy guy with the weird name on YouTube. Or it’s the former reality star. Or the politician-turned-news pundit. Or it’s your neighbor. Or your doctor.

It doesn’t shout in your face that it’s here to convince you that minorities are inferior. It doesn’t scream at you in vein-bulging rage. It is a comment in the middle of a video game stream. It is a tweet that seems innocuous at first glance. It is slowly planting seeds of words and phrases. Little by little, getting your brain used to hearing them. Until one day they hear a more forceful message that is tinged with hate. One that exploits a tragedy as proof of why you should be afraid of brown people.” Original post with article here.

Happy Native American Heritage Day!

11/29/24

The 29th of November is Native American Heritage Day. Buy from Native owned businesses and help stop erasure. Spend a little extra time seeking out and shopping at Native American owned stores, websites, and cultural centers like Decolonial Clothing.

Whats the difference between the two holidays Indigenous Peoples Day and Native American Heritage Day? While both days serve to honor Indigenous peoples, Indigenous Peoples Day (previously known as Columbus Day) focuses more on activism and recognition of historical injustices. It celebrates the 571+ distinct Native Peoples who exist today in the Modern US.

Native American Heritage Day (day after Thanksgiving) celebrates cultural heritage and contributions within a more festive context, it celebrates ancestors. The overlap in themes can lead to confusion, but each day has its distinct emphasis and cultural significance.

#decolonize #IdleNoMore #LandBack #landbackmovement #decolonizeminds #decolonizetime

Original post

Post 2024 general election reflection

11/11/24

Folks who believed, “we just need better people in office” are starting to realize that the problem is much bigger. We are dealing with systemic institutional failures that no single person can change. Beating T rump doesn’t fix the principle because another just like him will come along. T rump is just a representation of the actual problem which is much deeper and uglier; Institutions, systems, long standing norms/beliefs (ie, patriarchy, white supremacy, etc). These are not changes that will be made by swapping out a few people. These are changes that can only be made by stripping the government of legitimacy and rebuilding a government of people -where people are actually involved.

It will be no small battle, fighting against the American empire that only cares about domination and profit. As we move past all the feelings, folks will begin reckoning with the reality of what we are really dealing with and that can be overwhelming, but powerful. I know it's hard, but we have to start deriving power from this new found awareness and from the fact that there's a lot more people who are in on this awareness now, too. As more and more people begin to understand, we can then rise up together to finally fix this. It sucks this is where we are at, but is the quickest way to necessary change, as long as people choose to step into that power and start getting to work because the movement is going to take every single one of us in mutual aid efforts, direct action, etc.

She breaks it down so crystal clear in this short video.

hartland school board did not flip this election, held on by one seat- again.

11/6/24

GOOD NEWS HARTLAND SCHOOL BOARD PEEPS- we held it down. Campbell and Shaw won!! Tucker only lost by 67 votes…

LESA special ed millage passed!!!

Way to go Ella pulling some really good numbers, we’re so proud of you.

BRIGHTON winners

Urbain

Stahl

Tierney

Meyers

FOWLERVILLE winners (good job keeping Braska off!)

Charron

Hinton

Redinger

Sova

HOWELL winners

Crystal Zurek

Dault

PINCKNEY

The two incumbents won

Original post here

Stay informed on hartland school school board election

Just when we thought Tyffany Baird couldn’t get any weirder with the attention-seeking sideshow act she’s running as part of her three ring circus of a campaign with Angela Yarber and Jeff Scott, she comes out with a new illusion act to distract and disorient Hartland voters - this time with a fake story about a pen! When will this manufactured outrage end so we can focus on what really matters: Hartland’s kids?

We are calling out these candidates and the rest of the Clean Slate 2.0 circus crew for what they are: CLOWNS. The continued assault on their opponents is backfiring because only one school board slate has actually made the focus improving Hartland district for our children and it’s not these weirdos! SBY

#WhyAreTheySoWeird #ElectClownsExpectACircus #WeirdShoolBoardClowns

Original post

Clean Slate 2.0’s team is doxxing hartland parents & teachers

Rather than spend the last few days of this election season focusing on the needs of Hartland’s students, Alex Yarber - husband of Clean Slate 2.0 school board candidate Angela Yarber - has turned his focus toward doxxing supporters of the Hartland Consolidated Schools millage.

Alex and his friends - including Jeanine Gogoleski, employee of the school district and wife of sitting school board member Glenn Gogoleski, have published the names and addresses on social media of previous donors to the millage vote to harass and intimidate parents, teachers and other stakeholders who cared enough about public education to give out of their own pockets to help ensure that the millage passed for our students.

Friends of the Yarbers in the local GOP were doing everything in their power back then to spread misinformation to ensure that the millage failed. Thankfully, it passed with overwhelming support from the Hartland community.

We condemn this blatant attack on school stakeholders sense of personal safety and their violation of privacy. In truth, this despicable online bullying is merely a testament to the effectiveness of our outreach. This type of desperate behavior is what people do when they have nothing else to offer in the way of ideas and solutions for improving our community, so they try to frighten and intimidate people into silence. And everyone except the people doing it are tired of seeing it this election season.
Original post here.

The ‘Clean Slate 2.0’ Hartland school board candidates funded by white supremacist sympathizers, dark money groups, the local GOP and billionaire friends!

11/3/24

So far, THOUSANDS of dollars have been given to Clean Slate 2.0 Scott/Baird/Yarber from the local GOP. They also got help from Betsy Devos’ Political Action Committee!

Additionally, the Grand New Party Political Action Committee (GNP PAC) donated a large amount of money to their campaign. The GNP PAC’s leader Shane Trejo called the N@zis who marched during the deadly ‘Unite the Right’ wyte supremacist rally while chanting “WHITE LIVES MATTER” (same as the Nazi group demonstrating in Livingston County twice this summer) “civil rights heroes” and praises political violence. See comments for photo evidence of Angela Yarber rubbing shoulders with these people who helped finance her campaign. Not one Hartland teacher gave money to Scott/Baird/Yarber because the education community does not want these clowns leading the district.

When these facts came to light with recent campaign filings Mr. Angela Yarber began continuously blasting parents and teachers personal addresses on multiple public platforms in a desperate intimidation move to try and silence folks

Origins post 

HartLand Business Association’s Vice President, Michael Cain, is caught lying to police & stealing hartland school board candidate signs.

10/21/24 

Apparently criming is what's considered "good leadership" and respect for the community.

It’s interesting that a Clean Slate 2.0 (Scott/Baird/Yarber) supporter -see previous HBA entry- thinks so little of his candidates that he needs to stoop to committing a crime against their opponents, stealing Campbell/Shaw/Tucker signs.

Or could it be that Scott/Baird/Yarber supporters think so little of the community that they are afraid of the decision that they might make

Hartland voters, is this the kind of attitude towards you and your concerns that we want leading our schools? Is this how we want anyone who disagrees with the Clean Slate 2.0 to be treated? Original post here.

HARTLAND’s 2024 SCHOOL STAFF SURVEY indicates rampant dissatisfaction with the ‘Clean Slate’

Our school community has not been able to weigh in regarding the climate and issues in the Hartland Consolidated School (HCS) district. Therefore, SAGE felt it was crucial that their words reach parents and stakeholders so that they can make educated decisions in this upcoming school board election. Voters need to understand which candidates the school community is supporting and what exactly is at stake this November.

Overall, the survey revealed rampant teacher dissatisfaction specifically with the ‘Clean Slate’ school board members Gogoleski, Blondeel and Keller. 50% of the respondents cite these ‘Clean Slate’ school board members as the source of their dissatisfaction with the district. Not one comment was in support of these 3 board members.

School staff report that HCS has already lost quality educators and will continue to lose them due to the Clean Slate. Comments include teachers struggling with not sending their own children to Hartland schools directly due to the negativity that the clean slate has brought upon the district. Teachers state that they would be looking for employment elsewhere if the “extremists” get the majority in November. Numerous respondents use the words “attacking” and “harassing” when describing the Clean Slate along with citing their “personal agendas” and “politics” as serious concerns. Many respondents are worried that the board is wasting time on non issues while ignoring the actual needs of the district, but perhaps the most concerning is the recurring theme that Gogoleski, Blondeel and Keller are making teacher’s jobs harder with concerns about quality education being compromised. To follow are a few snippets of the dozens of comments from HCS school staff regarding these concerns.

“Unfortunately, the hostile interactions and disrespectful behavior from certain board members and their supporters are unacceptable and counterproductive to our shared goal of providing quality education. This conduct creates an unsafe work environment and administration from focusing on student learning by forcing us to address unfounded criticisms and unreasonable requests.”

“I have grave concerns about the competence of some of our board members and the lack of empathy/understanding towards the needs of ALL students”

“There are a few members, Glenn Gogoleski, Michelle Blondeele, and Greg Keller, who seem to treat the board position as a pulpit for their political and religious views. They do not seem to understand the educational realm and seem to have little interest in doing so. Their continued harassment and questioning of the district makes it hard to do the work the district employees are here to do- educate kids.”

As for the board, it’s hard to feel supported when teachers are constantly attacked and criticized during board meetings. Morale is low.”

“After 19 years as a teacher in the district, it is unfortunate to see the climate change regarding the perception and value of teachers. It is discouraging to see seasoned educators resign from their positions because they have become targets of unfounded school board and parent attacks.”

We knew that teacher’s satisfaction with Hartland’s current school board is AT AN ALL TIME LOW with the stats publicly released last month, but what we didn’t realize was the extent of their discontent as written in these survey comments. We can expect this to continue if Clean Slate 2.0 (Yarber/Baird/Scott) wins in November.

Read the dozens of HCS staff’s comments about the Clean Slate here 

SHARE this post post far and wide!

POLITICS, BIG MONEY & RELIGION SATURATE HARTLAND’S SCHOOL BOARD RACE

10/19/24 

The Hartland Business Association (HBA) is partially responsible for the Clean Slate extremist school board members winning at midterms and is likely supporting the Clean Slate 2.0 candidates Yarber, Baird and Scott.

The HBA is influencing nonpartisan races by funding candidates who align with their politics and will serve their interests. A small, select group making large dollar donations to political candidates is dangerous. This influence peddling poses a real threat of partisan favoritism and school policy manipulation, with the possibility of sidelining actual education concerns. The HBA is functioning as a Political Action Committee (PAC), searching for and promoting candidates, but without transparency so we will shine some light on this shadowy organization…

Concerned community members have requested to know where the Clean Slate 2.0 is getting so much money from as the estimate for the signs and ads alone is in the thousands. However, during the last campaign finance reporting cycle, Yarber, Baird and Scott filed waivers that claimed they didn’t expect to spend over $1,000. The Clean Slate 2.0 refuses to respond to questions regarding who is funding their campaign, but we can make some educated guesses…

HARTLAND BUSINESS ASSOCIATION

After midterms, financial reports for the four Hartland school board candidates running on the “Clean Slate’ (Greg Keller, Glenn Gogoleski, Bob Merwin, & Michelle Blondeel) showed that the Hartland Business Association contributed almost three thousand dollars to the Clean Slate’s campaign. This is in contradiction to their website which states, that "the HBA chose to join with others to support a slate of four candidates for the open positions on the school board. While our organization’s financial support was small (<$1,000), our impact was significant.”

LOCAL GOP & DARK MONEY

Before midterms there were text messages sent attacking Hartland schools/supporting the Clean Slate that were “Paid for by Wes Nakagiri, Chairman of the Livingston County Board of Commissioners" Similar emails were distributed by the Hartland Business Association. We even saw countywide coordinated propaganda mailers spreading fear inducing misinformation paid for by the “Livingston County Republican Party”promoting school board extremist candidates. (These "in-kind donations" were not reported on the financial reports we reviewed of the Clean Slaters).

There were also local GOP financial donors like Wes Nakagiri, Connie Robinson (long time republican convention delegate) Janine Iyre (GOP executive committee member -more info in comments), etc. This is in addition to new friends this election like Betsy Devos (whose PAC is paying to advertise Scott/Baird/Yarber) the Grand New Party PAC (lead by a N@zi sympathizer, Yarber attended their fundraiser), Turning Point USA (multi million dollar national org), etc. -more info in comments.

RELIGIOUS FRIENDS

Another significantly large donation outside of the HBA was over $1,000 given by a deeply evangelical individual. This along with the HBA and local GOP donors accounted for over half of the Clean Slate’s total campaign contributions.

It is clear that the Hartland Business Association, local GOP and religious friends were largely responsible for the Clean Slate extremist school board slate winning during midterms and it is these entities that are likely backing Clean Slate 2.0 (Yarber/Baird/Scott) right now.

And it's not just financial help they are getting from religious friends. This election, MAGA churches like Floodgate openly endorse Clean Slate 2.0 candidates (Yarber/Baird/Scott) which is illegal and jeopardizes their tax exempt status with the IRS. MAGA pastors in Hartland like Bill Bollin (info in comments) inviting the Clean Slate 2.0 candidates on his stage and preaching his support to thousands of followers is a massive boost to their campaign. Bill Bolin also contributed financially to the Clean Slate's campaign.

The HBA is also providing other resources to help spread the Clean Slate 2.0’s anti-public education/wild disinformation campaign. The following is what the Hartland Business Association’s vice president, Michael Cain, blasted as a mass message to his contacts in a (poor) attempt to get people to show up to September’s school board meeting;

“Hartland School Board, is being forced to vote & knowingly lose a bad vote. DOJ enforced a gag order. They lost their free speech. Our candidates cannot speak out. They were threatened with Trump like lawsuits, to bankrupt them. One is quitting now. Very sad. Another is losing all hope. Our effort has been squashed. Hopeless...tbd? Parents rights are being stolen. Children's free speech rights are being taken away. Unconstitutional, new rules. Policy will require teachers to report young kids that say politically incorrect things. Teachers are being given police like power. Pure n@zi evil tactics. The kids should be spanked. The parents reprimanded. But old school, is out. The new policy will force the kids to go on a list like sex offenders. A permanent list that will follow them for life. Administered by the FBI & the DOJ. Teachers will get brownie points for being snitches. Need to contact the school board members or candidates, but they can't say much. Get up to speed! This is pure crazy and horribly wrong! Bring 100 ladies, dressed in red, to support the conservatives.”

Fun side note: Only SIX people showed up to that school board meeting wearing red, two of which are Clean Slate 2.0 candidates, so really only four!

Not-so-fun reality: This is a lot of money and resources working against the school board candidates that our teachers overwhelmingly support. Read Hartland’s teachers words as they speak out about the damage the Clean Slate has inflicted upon the district since being seated and how scared they are of the Clean Slate 2.0 (Yarber/Baird/Scott) winning by clicking the link to the 2023-24 staff survey comments below (also in comments) https://www.facebook.com/share/p/foRmedtfrwkmaYGS/

The Clean Slate candidates were bought and paid for in part by the business community, the majority of which don't even have school aged children. So much money being put into local races by a small group of big donors means that their campaign is NOT built on a broad consensus of voters, but rather the personal interests of a few who are trying to further their own agenda. This influence peddling not only is a threat to our democratic process, but can have devastating impacts on our school district and children.  

Hartland teachers have clearly stated that they need our help! You must start talking about this crucial school board election with everyone you know in Hartland. Take a minute right now and think of 5 people you can text this website to check out who the teachers have endorsed as the most qualified candidates for school board.

Known Hartland Business Association contributors to the Clean Slate (there may have been others)

-William Crouse (aka Frank Crouse) of Waldenwoods gave; $1,000 to Keller, $125 Gogoleski, $125 Blondeel, $125 Merwin

-Doug Kuhn gave 500$ to Gogoleski

-Thomas Parshall (Deer Crack and Imc Products Production Graphics) gave $500 to Gogoleski

-Michael Cain (Michigan Engineered Comfort Corporation) gave $500 to Blondeel

^NONE OF THESE HBA LEADERS HAVE KIDS IN THE HARTLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT^

Current HBA Officers, Directors and members:

-Frank/William Crouse, President 586-940-4187 crousefr@comcast.net (Waldenwoods)

-Michael Cain, Vice President hvac@mecc1.com (Michigan Engineered Comfort Corporation)

-Kelly McPherson, Treasurer kdle99@aol.com (Animal Crackers)

-Brian Crouse, Secretary 810-623-8742 crousebr@waldenwoods.com (Waldenwoods)

-Tom Parshall, Director 810-333-6947 tom@imcproducts.com (Deer Crack and Imc Products Production Graphics)

Note: the above contact info was found posted publicly.

Doug Kuhn, Wes Nakagiri (County Commissioner), Denise O'Connell (current Hartland Township Trustee & candidate), Brett Lubeski (Hartland Township Trustee candidate), Glenn Wilkinson, Kelly & Dave McPherson, Kevin Brennan, LouAnn Lathrop (Hartland Township Trustee candidate), Mike Horan, Summer McMullen (Hartland Township Trustee candidate), and Susanne Bianchette.

Screenshots and links in the comments of this post.

AMERICA FIRST EDUCATION aka “patriotic education” is coming to public schools

AMERICA FIRST EDUCATION aka “patriotic education” is what we all need to be watching - this is what will be implemented for our kids if Trump wins.

Turning Point designed an "America-First Education" Program called Turning Point Academy. Turning Point Academy will “develop and distribute K-12 curricula focused on American history, our founding principles and the Constitution.” This material would contrast with what the group called the “false narrative about America'' promoted by teachers and administrators in schools across the country, which they called an “anti-American ideology” that “threatens to destroy our country’s institutions and freedom.” Turning Point targeting K-12 schools has the clear goal of harassing and threatening schools that teach honest U.S. racial history.

Per their website, Turning Point Academy “is dedicated to RECLAIMING the education of our children, REVIVING virtuous education focused on truth, goodness, and beauty, and RESTORING God as the foundation of education.” It is not one school but “an educational movement” that wants to advance “all types of faith-based conservative-values education,” seed Christian, conservative schools around the country; train teachers and administrators and provide resources and curriculum to support this goal.” I don’t know about you, but as a parent the idea of having Turning Point create a curriculum and training teachers in order to pursue a culture war agenda is terrifying to me. More info in comments.

Original post here.

Know whose land you’re on!

10/16/24

A Turning Point USA chapter in East Lansing defaced the Rock with a disrespectful statement against the indigenous community at MSU. 

No surprise here that this disgusting display of HATE was TURNING POINT USA. You know, that “wholesome conservative group” (Angela Yarbers words) that she groomed her kid into foot soldering Hartland children into? By the way, Turning Point’s ‘Activist Hub’ is now available to students on Hartland high school’s property even though there is no teacher to sponsor (see comments of this post). How about a side of indoctrination with that pizza?

PS - This is why teaching accurate history matters. Columbus never even set foot in north America!

#IndigenousPeoplesDay #nooneisillegal #LandBack

Original Instagram Link from MSU.

Clean Slate school board member tells a parent they are in a “spiritual battle” which is starting in Hartland’s public library, too. MAGA PASTOR Bill Bolin runs a slate to overthrow Cromaine

Angela Yarber (Hartland school board candidate -Clean Slate 2.0) admits that her goal is to “replace every progressive dem on the school board” while agreeing with comments in the same convo claiming that her campaign is up against  “Satan” and that she’s “fighting against evil” laying out her views that democrats are the party of the devil which needs to be defeated. Good can not unify with evil, so in these extremist’s minds there is no way of coming together. Instead it is “we have to take a stand against this and we must defeat it.” Such deep Christian nationalist views have no business being on a non partisan school board!

Especially when it’s already there. In a reply to a parent (who disclosed that she is of Christian beliefs) Michelle Blondeel replies, “It’s very clear that we’re in a spiritual battle” when referring to their agenda of denying the existence of LGBTQ+ youth, which has moved past our schools and into the community public library now…

Did you know that Floodgate pastor Bill Bolin is running as a candidate on a slate that is attempting to flip Cromaine’s board this election? This local celebrity evangelical pastor, whose quick rise to fame (had just 100 followers pre COVID, but now thousands) thanks to conspiracy theories and fear mongering- like the recent political ‘Courage Tour’ Floodgate hosted- info in comments, has an extraordinary amount of power in our local election outcomes as evangelical churches are turning out their congregations to vote for the hyper conservative extremist candidates. These churches are scaring white Christians into believing that there is an enemy that's coming for them, that they are  in a holy war with them on the side of God and others on the side of Satan. This of course is preposterous since they are the ones (ahem, “parental rights” clan) trying to impose their values and their religious convictions on to the rest of us.

They are fully committed to their goal of getting hyper conservative Christians in positions of power in order to dictate how things are run. There is a very real danger in allowing this kind of stuff to happen without push back. The reason we are even at this point, of just being one seat away on both our library and school board, of extremists gaining voting power is precisely due to the fact that they haven’t been called out. The larger community must understand the true intentions here because these people are not just in a culture war, they believe that they are in a kingdom war - the kingdom of darkness v. the kingdom of light.

When people believe that Satan is an actual present, daily force it adds a tremendous intensity to the commitment to loyalty of the movement/mission. This is why we see the anti-public education slates working so hard and being so organized. Yarber’s Clean Slate 2.0 and Bolin’s attempt to control the public community library have very real chances of becoming reality this November if we don’t all spread the word NOW.

What we are up against is massive! As a community we have to confront this together, which will require active participation from each of us. Please do your part by educating yourself and sharing what you learn with others.

Listen to or read what regular Christians have to say regarding the dangers of Bill Bolin- screenshots and sources in comments of the original post.

censured Clean Slate school board member now the subject of a MI Civil Rights complaint

SAGE blew the whistle about the concerning things Hartland school board member Glenn Gogoleski said on a local podcast- initial article here- which has since landed him as the subject of a MI Civil Rights complaint for allegedly violating special education (federally protected) student rights- more here.

Listen to the comments that landed him in hot water in this video clip. This is after Gogoleski publicly compared the LGBTQ community to Nazism - article here.

turning point usa is in local livco elections

8/15/24

Hartland school board candidate Angela Yarber (Clean Slate 2.0) has good friends- multi million dollar extremist organization ‘Turning Point USA’ that are trying *hard* to meddle in our local elections by hiring "ballot chasers" in lil ol Tyrone & Hartland Townships, Fowlerville, Howell, etc. They have posted hiring 51-200 full time employees in an attempt to turn the state of Michigan red in the 2024 election. Everyone should keep an eye out for this is happening in your area.

“Turning Point Action (TPA) is planning a $100m ‘Chase the Vote’ operation to help propel the ex-president to the White House." However, it is important to note that Turning Point Action has been active in Howell -at the Opera House early this year via the Grand New Party, and Hartland & Pinckney school communities (see comments). The Grand New Party is a state PAC in Michigan that can accept/move money from larger Turning Point organizations and then funnel that money into local elections- county commissioners, school, library board, etc. The Grand New Party has clearly stated that this is their intention and Angela Yarber has proudly participated in their events.

Turning Point Action is partnering with Early Vote Action, Tea Party Patriotic Action, America First Works, Moms For America, and several other groups on its Chase the Vote initiative. TPA wants to involve state and local conservative organizations in the effort as well.” Their coalition “hopes to mobilize more than 1,000 field organizers to track and chase target ballots in battleground states.” Revenues for Kirk’s Turning Point USA skyrocketed from $8m in 2017 to $80m in 2022.”

*Scroll to bottom of the post to see more local connections in LivCo*

“Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk is getting heat too for his stream of unabashed racist comments including criticizing Martin Luther King as “awful” and “not a good person”; and said that whenever he boards a plane with a Black pilot he worries whether they are qualified. Darrell Scott, a Black pastor from Cleveland who has been close to Trump for more than a decade, has accused Kirk of breeding a new generation of Hitler Youth. Scott told the Guardian that Kirk was damaging Trump’s chances of winning in November by alienating Black voters.”

The crowd at the “people’s convention” in Detroit recently told a different story. It was largely older in age, as Trump crowds often are, and almost exclusively white – a striking contrast to Trump’s boast that he is gaining ground with Black voters.

The speakers’ rostrum and attendee list at the Detroit event were stacked with conspiracy theorists and extremists, including the promoter of “Pizzagate”, Jack Posobiec, and Alex Jones, the bankrupt InfoWars host who claimed the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax. The combination of older white people in the audience and extremists on stage led the conservative Washington Examiner to denounce Turning Point as “one of the most destructive forces in Republican politics”.

Indeed, Ziprecruiter and other hiring platforms show ballot chaser managers' descriptions in Michigan as “Responsibilities also include hiring and building a community of the nation's most aggressive and highly skilled ballot chasers in recent American history. . . “TPA’s strategy departs from the traditional GOP voter outreach model by building relationships with prospective voters in the months leading up to election season. New recruits are instructed on how to employ a community-based approach that involves forming personal ties with these potential voters and following up with them after initial contact.

Ballot chasing, also known as "ballot harvesting," is a political practice involving the collection and submission of absentee or mail-in ballots by individuals other than the voter. While the specifics can vary by jurisdiction, this process typically involves party operatives, volunteers, or activists who collect completed ballots from voters to submit them to election officials. The practice is controversial and subject to varying legal regulations across different regions as there is increased chances for fraud and manipulation. Allowing third parties, like Turning Point, to handle ballots can lead to undue influence over voters' choices, loss or tampering of ballots, and challenges in verifying the authenticity of the votes.

TPA is also targeting newly registered GOP voters and independents, according to Martinez. To streamline its ballot chasing initiative, TPA developed an app for chasers to download on their phones that allows them to access the comprehensive data analyzed and produced by Martinez and his team. The app provides chasers with a list of low-propensity voters in their area and includes information such as an elector’s name and address, and a map showing where he or she lives. It also identifies if the voter has a mail-in ballot or is a traditional early or Election Day voter, indicates whether the voter has cast his ballot in any given election, and will update daily with the latter information as it’s released by county governments.

The app’s mapping feature allows users to prioritize which targets to focus on leading up to the election by using icons that signify whether the low-propensity voter still has a ballot in his possession. Turning Point Action retains this data so it can be used to enhance its GOP voter outreach operations and data infrastructure for future elections. the application allows chasers to provide conservatives “they come into contact with a tool to be able to contact voters on their own,” and help ensure “more people in their community are contacting the targeted voters that we need to chase.” In fact, TPA plans to collaborate with other conservative organizations to help boost its voter outreach efforts, according to Smith and Turning Point spokesman Andrew Kolvet.

They have “expended “tens of millions of dollars” on building the infrastructure for the initiative, with funds having gone towards developing and troubleshooting the app, accumulating and finalizing voter data maps, and hiring ballot chasers. The group’s aspirational goal is to put $108 million towards Chase the Vote, according to Kolvet. Dubbed “chase the vote”, the plan is being conducted in direct coordination with the Trump campaign. It will target what Kirk calls “low-propensity voters” who rarely bother to cast ballots yet are open to Trump’s increasingly authoritarian allure. Turning Point activists will descend on three vital swing states – Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin”

“Turning Point has become toxic in Arizona,” said Tyler Montague, an Arizona-based Republican strategist. “They’ve helped to cement an extreme worldview, creating anger that in turn generates political energy that they harness. That’s their game.”

Turning Point now exerts an iron grip on the Arizona legislature through the all-powerful Freedom caucus, which is led by Jake Hoffman, former communications chief of TP USA. Hoffman is closely connected to Tyler Bowyer, Turning Point’s chief operating officer who represents Arizona on the Republican National Committee.

Both Hoffman and Bowyer are being prosecuted for their role as so-called “fake electors” in which they allegedly plotted to prevent Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election by sending an alternative slate of electors to Congress. Bowers told the Guardian that he now sees the Arizona Republican party and Turning Point as synonymous. “They are basically the same, they are in sync right now,” he said.

“They wrap themselves in a Christian flag and get all these young kids to think they’re doing the Lord’s work, and they use that evangelistic fervor very cynically to raise money and increase their power.”

Note: Turning Point is one of the national MAGA groups that Floodgate in Hartland has recently hosted, drawing in 5K+ attendees from around Michigan and surrounding states to these political rallies. This is a massive movement that is flooding LivCo right now. Watch out for those local candidates that are being promoted by extremist MAGA church Floodgate!! Bill Bolin is the preacher at this church and he is leading a slate to try and overthrow the supposed to be NON PARTISAN community library board. More on him in th ecomments.

Article here

*Shout out to those staying alert and sharing this concerning information. If you see evidence of Turning Point trying to lay roots in your area, document and send our way.

 Original post here