ISAAC would like to send a sincere thank you to Rev. Catoya Roberts for facilitating two awesome and powerful trainings for new and veteran ISAAC family members! Participants learned/revisited the principles of organizing, one-on-ones, power analysis and issues planning. A special thank you to Mariam, Dr. Regena and the UUCC Family for their hospitality on Saturday, […]
At our third meeting, with 12 members present, the Gun Violence Task Force started our Power One-on-One interviews by interviewing Judge Curtis Bell of Kalamazoo County Probate Court and retired KDPS Capt. Stacey Ledbetter. Capt. Stacey talked about her work in ALPACT (Advocates and Leaders for Police And Community Trust). Its mission is to address […]
A Beautiful Service of Remembrance! Sending a special thank you to our Beloved Community Kalamazoo Survivors and All Community Members who attended! Thank you to all of our Awesome Speakers: Sister Mollie Peterson, Elder Doug King, Brother Ed Genesis, Elder Robyn Robinson, Sister Ora O’Connell and Dr. Michael T Scott. A heartfelt thank you for a powerful Word Spoken by Dr.Tamara […]
There were approximately 20 members in attendance at our February meeting. Lay Pastor Charles Moerdyk, representing North Presbyterian Church, gave the opening reflection, which dealt with the topic of implicit bias. There was a brief evaluation of the Bias Workshop. Members who attended found it fascinating and powerful. Differences between implicit bias and explicit bias […]
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 […]
Kaleb Beiter comes from the town of Lawrence, Michigan. He is no stranger to ISAAC and was a part of the First Ever Walk/Run/Roll Committee in 2018. Kaleb helped with social media & technology management and designed our event t-shirts while in the Van Buren Early College Program focused on impacting the community through communications. […]
Ashante Collins is originally from Savannah, GA and grew up in Jacksonville, FL. Upon graduating high school, she moved back to her hometown for a few years before making her way up to Michigan. Collins is currently a Psychology major at Kalamazoo Valley Community College and will be graduating in the spring of 2020 and […]
A special thank you to Rev. Mason (Unity of Kalamazoo), Juliana (El Concilio), Rabbi Schicker (Temple B’nai Israel), Mariam (UUCC), Pastor Jess (Wesley Foundation) and Deacon Sandra (Westwood UMC) for leading a beautiful and powerful Unity Blessing at the Women’s March Kalamazoo 2020 on January 18. Speaker 1 – Rev. Mason Dear Creator, who we know by many names. Life Giver, Pain-Bearer, Love Maker. Blessed are You. […]
The National Day of Racial Healing celebration on January 21st highlighted a key principle of the Anti-Racism Task Force—that we must address racism as we seek to right the disparities and injustices of any sector of community life. This insight drives the Task Force’s focus on racial healing. The January 21st event celebrated the accomplishments of the […]
We had a special guest at our January 28 meeting, Rev. Rachel Lonberg, who serves as the Faith Sector representative on the Foundation for Excellence (FFE) board. Rev. Rachel asked the task force for our input on ways that the FFE can support our work and other aspirational projects throughout the city in 2021. She shared with us […]
Our Housing Task Force keeps growing! And the expertise among our task force members is quite amazing. Members with a deep desire to end homelessness now include professionals from The Ark, CARES, Housing Resources Inc., City of Kalamazoo Dept. of Community Planning & Economic Development, Kalamazoo City Commission, Kalamazoo County Public Housing Commission, Kalamazoo Township […]
Sunday Buses and Late Night Buses are one of our ISAAC accomplishments! Our Transportation Task Force worked very hard in 2014-15, in close partnership with Metro, to shape and promote that very successful millage. But now it’s expiring. Please use this “Know the Facts” to spread the word that our votes are needed on March 10 to continue […]
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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