Thursday, October 22, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
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On Wednesday, January 6th, a terrible atrocity occurred in our Nation’s capital. The Capitol building was breached and an insurrection occurred against the democracy of the United States. As a black man, I had mixed feelings about the events that took place, and how the response seemed vastly different than the response to Black Lives [...]
We invite you to listen to Scholar and Clergy, The Rev. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson. His sermon offers an imagined letter from the Apostle Paul to America in a time of crisis. In this sermon, Dr. Dyson discusses racism, bigotry, white supremacy, democracy, US Presidents, exceptionalism, the White Christian Evangelical Church, and the Insurrection at [...]
This year ISAAC could not host our end of the year ISAAC Donor Breakfast due to the pandemic. However, on December 16th we gathered on Zoom to hear words of Encouragement from Clergy and Leaders and Testimonials from ISAAC Family Members. If you were unable to attend, please click the link below to experience our [...]
You may have seen the story in the Gazette recently, describing new ways that local law enforcement is seeking to resolve the rising incidence of violence–rather than simply making arrests. The origin story of this work dates to the ISAAC Banquet in 2012, where you may have heard the compelling remarks of the keynote speaker, David [...]
We invite you to view this powerful video produced by ISAAC’s Community Engagement Coordinator, Ed Genesis:
Joining the news 3 team for the discussion are five community members with expertise in such areas as education, housing, criminal justice, employment, health care and government. The panelists are: Denise Crawford, president and chief executive officer of the Family Health Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan Elder Dorla Bonner, director of Kalamazoo’s first Diversity, Equity and [...]
This 4-minute video of our local work on Housing Equity was made by W.K. Kellogg Foundation and shown across the US! ISAAC President Elder Doug KIng, Vice Mayor Patrese Griffin, TRHT Director Lanna Lewis, and ISAAC & TRHT Housing Task Force Co-chair Tobi Hanna-Davies are all in the video, which thanks to our partnership with [...]
Do you remember a year ago when we were jubilant that we surpassed the $50,000 necessary for our Endowment to generate interest income for ISAAC? Now, thanks to amazing support for our work to get local “policies and practices infused with love, hope, equity and abundance”, our Endowment has more than doubled!! Our Endowment fund [...]
Did you see this MLive article about retired coach Dick Shilts’ work to distribute winter coats that turn into full size sleeping bags for people sleeping outdoors in ourlocal homeless encampments? “Coach” as most of us call him, is active on the ISAAC Leadership Board as a representative of First United Methodist Church, and on [...]
Yesterday Tim and I traveled to the small encampment behind the old Wayside on Stadium Drive. We touched base with some folks who had already been given sleeping bag coats, and we learned that there were some “new” campers there. Two of them were forced outside because of problems “receiving their unemployment checks.” They welcomed [...]
We’re inspired for the work ahead by the amazing inaugural poem of Amanda Gorman, National Youth Poet Laureate. Here are her closing lines: “We will rebuild, reconcile and recover and every known nook of our nation and every corner called our country, our people diverse and beautiful will emerge, battered and beautiful When day comes [...]
Awesome Virtual Public Meeting! The turnout was amazing! ISAAC held our first virtual Public Meeting on October 22, to call for “policies and practices infused with love, hope, equity and abundance”–the words Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. used to describe the Beloved Community. Nearly 500 people tuned in during the meeting, and over 3500 have [...]
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ISAAC 2020 Public Meeting
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.