Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn NY.  Attended University of Michigan  in the late 1960s where he became involved in the anti-Vietnam War movement, supporting the Black Liberation Struggle and the Black Panther Party and learning form the Women’s Movement.   He moved to Detroit where he worked for 20 years o the assembly line, was elected local union UAW Plant Chairman and eventually retired form the staff of the International Union.  Upon moving to Detroit, he began to work with James and Grace lee Boggs which has continued through their legacy and lineage of the Boggs Center and now Freedom Dreams.

Rich has been married 45 years to Janice and has two children, Emma and Micah.  Through the last 40 years we became involved in the Disability rights, pride, advocacy and justice movements because of Micah’s intellectual disability.