Following a trip in December 2016 to Carlsbad, California for Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) training, a handful of Kalamazoo agencies, organizations (including ISAAC) and the Kalamazoo Community Foundation returned to plan Kalamazoo’s First Annual National Day of Racial Healing in January 2017. TRHT is a community-based process to plan for and bring about […]
As of December 2017, we have an ISAAC Endowment Fund “under development”! That means we’re well on our way to creating a fund that will generate income for ISAAC every year! We have three and a half years to fully fund it (at $50,000) so it will begin to generate annual income. Thanks to five ISAAC leaders, it […]
Over 500 people turned out for the ISAAC Banquet at the WMU Bernhard Center on May 6, to hear Dr. Rubén Martinez speak and to honor Lifetime Achievement awardee Rev. Robert Rasmussen (RIP) and awardees Northside Ministerial Alliance, Hispanic American Council, and Youth Violence Prevention leader Venessa Collins-Smith. “We are here to leave a better […]
In 2017 we planned our first-ever Walk/Run/Roll–Building the Beloved Community: Moving Towards Justice! in Spring Valley Park on June 30, 2018, instead of a banquet this year. The Beloved Community is an inclusive, democratic reality, which while not devoid of conflict, is free of violence. It is a place in which our deepest values of abundance, equity, […]
ISAAC Family member Rabbi Matt Zerwekh, Rabbi of Temple B’nai Israel and a member of the ISAAC Executive Committee, was recommended as the faith sector representative on the inaugural board of the Foundation of Excellence. ISAAC Family member Rev. Nathan Dannison…
Poverty was chosen as a top priority for the first time at the ISAAC Issues Convention on October 26, 2017. Poverty has been a major focus of our task forces on Housing, Transit, Early Childhood & Education, and Youth Violence Prevention ever since the first ISAAC task forces were formed in 2003, but our new […]
Anti-Racism was chosen again at the ISAAC Issues Convention on October 26, 2017, after personal accounts about experiencing racism, historically and presently, were shared by: Cradle Kalamazoo Anti-Racism Task Force Co-Chair Al Dixon Kalamazoo Public Library Anti-Racism Team and Board Member Kerria Randolph PFC Anti-Racism Team members Jo Woods and J. Kyon Our task force is […]
Housing was chosen again at the ISAAC Issues Convention on October 26, 2017, after a hiatus of two years. All these housing experts spoke asking for housing to be chosen: Open Doors KalamazooDeputy Director Stephanie Hoffman Housing Resources, Inc.Program Director Jennifer Welles City of Kalamazoo Community DevelopmentManager Dorla Bonner Kalamazoo County Public Housing CommissionChair David […]
Anti-Racism, Anti-Poverty and Affordable Housing were the top three vote-getters at the 2017 Issues Convention, edging out Early Childhood & Education for the first time in ten years! The Early Childhood & Education Task Force has a decade of impressive history, successfully advocating with community partners for increased dental services in elementary schools; for establishing […]
It’s a sign of progress that Youth Violence Prevention was not chosen as a top concern of community members surveyed in our Listening Engagement before the 2017 Issues Convention. One reason may be that the Youth Violence Prevention Task Force had accomplished their long-held goal of instituting Group Violence Intervention (GVI) in Kalamazoo and had […]
Scripture gives us valuable direction on the importance of the work that we do. “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. “ – Isaiah 1:17 “Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. “ – Proverbs 31:9 “Give justice to the weak and the […]
Form your Beloved Community TEAM Today! Walk or Run with us Towards Justice! To bring the Kalamazoo County Community together, ISAAC usually has an Annual Banquet. In 2018 we will host a Walk/Run instead–Building the Beloved Community: Moving Towards Justice. The Beloved Community is an inclusive, democratic reality, which while not devoid of conflict, is free of violence. It is a place […]
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.
ISAAC
