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 […]
Our generous Endowment Fund donors keep on giving! This is truly awesome! We have not only reached the $50,000 needed to become a fully established endowment fund that will provide interest income for ISAAC way into the future, and we have not only reached the $57,175 that we celebrated at the January Leadership Board meeting […]
our goal of $50,000 total raised $57,175! We went past our goal! Way past! So many awesome donors contributed to the ISAAC Endowment at the end of the year that we exceeded our goal of $50,000 and raised $57,175! December donations alone totaled $12,545! Hallelujah! This means that we will now have a “fully established” […]
Dear ISAAC Family, we are excited for “Women’s March Kalamazoo” on January 18th. ISAAC Clergy/Leaders will be giving the opening blessing. YWCA Kalamazoo will be hosting this powerful and impactful event on January 18, 2020, The mission of Women’s March is to harness the power of diverse women in our community to create transformative social change. This women-led movement is […]
On December 10, 2019, I attended another Racial Healing Circle sponsored by ISAAC. The first half of the meeting was similar in content and style to other such meetings I have attended over the past two years. I thought the meeting was going well, as the others had. But then something happened. One of the […]
The 6th Annual Service of Remembrance for Victims of Gun Violence will be held on Sunday, February 16, 4:00 pm, at Galilee Baptist Church. Please be there to remember lives taken, especially in Kalamazoo, and to pray for peace and call on our representatives to enact reform. Everyone who has a loved one who died […]
Our ISAAC Breakfast was a blessed fellowship! ISAAC would like to send a special thank you to ALL who were able to attend. We greatly appreciate you and your commitment to cultivating The Beloved Community in Kalamazoo County. We would like to send our heartfelt gratitude to our powerful speakers, Stephanie Hoffman, Deacon Pat Vinge, Micheal […]
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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