ISAAC
In 2022 ISAAC, EL CONCILLIO, METROPOLITAN NAACP, LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS, DOUGLASS COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION, PARENTS UNITED, HOPE THRU NAVIGATION, BLOCKS CLUB, TRHT KALAMAZOO, GVI and Partners came together to work collectively on Vote August 2 and Vote November 8! This committee worked hard to bring awareness, and deepen engagement in non-partisan elections work.
ISAAC and our partners did a huge amount of work to empower people to vote in November, especially people who live in the precincts with the lowest turnout in past elections. MKNAACP, El Concilio and ISAAC applied for a joint grant to deepen civic engagement, awareness and empowerment in our Black, Indigenous People of Color, BIPOC Communities.
This wonderful video gives you a great idea of the time and effort involved!
When you watch the video, you can pause it anytime you want to look at a photo a little longer.
And keep in mind that the billboards shown were very large, and each one has four different community leaders’ faces on it, and they were all displayed in key locations around town, including digital billboards!
Vote August 2 Video
Vote November 8 Video
THANK YOU to everyone who worked so hard on empowering voters, especially:
- Awesome Vote August 2 and November 8 committee team members and leader who planned our handouts and billboards,
- Our dynamic partners, El Conclio (Adrian, Irving and Lucy) and MKNAACP (Wendy Fields)
- Cathy Phason, our Phenomenal Canvassing Coordinator, who trained the canvassers and led this powerful canvassing work
- ALL our wonderful Canvassers (including our BLOCKS Club Youth, GVI Summer Youth and Canvassers’ children who helped their parents)
- El Concilio Family for their language translations
- Our Amazing Phone Banking Leads, Ashante Collins and Iriving Quintero who organized and trained volunteers for calls and VAN
- Our Awesome Phone banking volunteers who called
- Our Caterer, Sabir’s Southern Delights for hydration and delicious nourishment, Ashante Collins
- Galilee Baptist Church for providing free rides to the polls
- Our Dynamic Marketing & Communications Lead Kaleb Beiter, who designed the handouts and billboards, took the photos and made the video,
- Kaleb, Chris and the City of Kalamazoo for help with Canvassing Maps
- Our Executive Director Dr. Charlae Davis, who was everywhere,
- and our community partners: El Concilio, Metropolitan NAACP, League Of Women Voters, Douglass Community Association, Parents United, Hope Thru Navigation, Blocks Club, TRHT Kalamazoo, GVI And Other Leaders.
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.