“Amazing!” “Awesome!” “Best ever!” Those were very frequent responses to our Public Meeting on October 25 in the sanctuary of Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Powerful presentations by our three task forces were followed by commitments—by the entire audience, the clergy, and candidates and local elected officials from all levels of government–to help build the Beloved […]
Emily Hazel graduated from high school just eight years ago, but she has been thinking about her legacy for a long time. She’s our youngest donor to the new ISAAC Endowment Fund! If you can, please join Emily in building an endowment that will generate funds for ISAAC way into the future. We have raised […]
Congratulations to all the recipients of this year’s Human Rights Awards given by Church Women United! So many of them are part of ISAAC! Left to right in the photo, they are: [su_list icon=”icon: check” icon_color=”#9602ca”] Rev. Morris Brooks from Mt. Zion Baptist Church, which just generously hosted the ISAAC Public Meeting Janette Evans, Trenches […]
Thank you for attending, we would like your feedback. We would like to issue a sincere thank you to ALL who attended ISAAC’s 2018 Public Meeting! This work continues so that we see rooted policy/practice changes in Kalamazoo in the areas of: poverty, racism and housing. This work continues until all individuals in our Community […]
In this video, Martin Luther King Jr, spoke of The Beloved Community, which while not devoid of conflict, is free of violence. It is a place in which our deepest values of abundance, equity, community, hope, and most of all love are infused into our policies and practices, so that every individual is held as beloved.
ISAAC Public Meetings in the past have been key to a long list of accomplishments with our partner agencies: Sunday buses and late night buses added by Metro; “Vote Yes for Kids” millage for families with kids in the schools to have a place to call home; “Group Violence Intervention” by KDPS and community leaders […]
When I was a high school junior, my friends and I did what we could in a small Indiana city to support Cesar Chavez and the boycott of grapes and Gallo wine. We picketed the liquor store owned by the local head of the Democratic Party, demanding that it stop selling Gallo wine. We went […]
Join Us! You, Yes You! We would like to personally invite you to JOIN US and our El Concilio Family for: Nuestras Raices: Family, Culture, & Community: El Concilio’s 1st Annual Fundraising Gala Friday, September 28, 2018 6:30pm-10pm Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Cost for you an ISAAC member: $55 Many do not know the half of ALL […]
Public leaders who are willing to build a more just community need inspiration and support from our faith communities! That’s what our Public Meeting is all about. We need large numbers of people from our ISAAC congregations and organizations to be there on October 25. Plan to bring everyone you can! Come show our public […]
At the Public Meeting on October 25, the Anti-Racism Task Force will advocate for one “internal ask” and one “external ask.” The internal ask is for Clergy from ISAAC member congregations and organizations to commit to having clergy, leaders, congregants and members participate in an ISAAC Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) Healing Circle. The […]
How can we change hiring practices and policies to remove barriers to employment? Most people believe that having a job is a means for people to get out of poverty. The Anti-Poverty Task Force has learned that people living in poverty experience multiple barriers to obtaining long-term employment. For example, people who experience food insecurity […]
How can we meet everyone’s need for a place to call home? Excellent work to increase the supply of affordable housing is being led by the City of Kalamazoo, in collaboration with many partners. Where does ISAAC fit in? Our Housing Task Force is most concerned about families with children, and others with very low […]
Ed Genesis is an artist, poet, musician, organizer, entrepreneur, and community leader. Born and raised in Gary, Indiana and moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan permanently in his early 20’s, his love of art/music, his passion for his people and community, and his gift of creativity are evident in all areas of his work. In October 2018 Ed Genesis released a song to accompany the campaign he was working on around school push out, entitled Junior High, which was distributed nationwide including on his own iHeart radio station, Spotify, and iTunes.
In 2017 Ed Genesis created Poetic Justice, a monthly open-mic that was hosted/led by 5 local poets. He has performed as well as hosted several events such as the Black Arts Festival, the Kalamazoo Poetry Festival, and the National Day of Racial Healing.
Ed Genesis is Lead Mentor and head of community relations at Speak It Forward where he teaches youth at Lakeside Academy, Starr-Commonwealth, and the Kalamazoo County Juvenile home healing through music and art. In 2017, he started WE ACTIVE! a community organization aimed at fighting against mass incarceration and the school to prison pipeline. The organization was recognized by the State of Michigan and presented with a Special Tribute by Representative Jon Hoadley for its work on Criminal Justice Reform and Mass Incarceration in the Kalamazoo Community. Ed Genesis has been a panelist and featured speaker in Washington D.C., Chicago, and Milwaukee. He has and continues to collaborate with artists local to Kalamazoo, youth included, to create music to address social justice issues. In 2018 Ed Genesis joined Truth Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT). He leads the Racial Healing design team with a focus on healing justice and is also part of the Law Design Team.
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