New Group CARE Organizes Around Anti-Racism Education

Submitted by RACE on Fri, 08/13/2010 - 1:37pm

by Zarinah El-Amin Naeem

Last night I met with 11 other people who attended the second meeting of the Collaborative for Anti-Racism Education (CARE) led by the YWCA. CARE (tentative name) serves as a meeting place for people engaged in the social transformation of our community into one that is inclusive of all. Participants included parents of KPS students, employees of local foundations and institutions, founders of non-profits, and "non-attached" community members.

Following a refreshment and networking period, we launched into a training on the upcoming RACE Exhibit. Many had heard about the Exhibit but had no real idea of the contents. In fact, some people were still confusing RACE: Are we so different?, the 5000 sq ft exhibit coming this fall, with the Human Race Machine, the photobooth that changes your "race."

Shamrock Montessori: A local Diversity Champion

Submitted by RACE on Fri, 08/06/2010 - 12:46pm

Multicultural education must start young
by Zarinah El-Amin Neem

This week I had the opportunity to interview Ms. Yolanda Quinn, director of Shamrock Montessori in Portage, Michigan. Ms. Yolanda, an immigrant from Nicaragua who came to the United States 33 years ago and a Certified Montessori educator, shared her philosophy on multicultural education and the importance of starting young. She said, "My respect for diversity is really based on my childhood. In my village there were Germans, Italians, Native Americans...we all lived together, we ran together and were welcomed in each others' homes. It was not until I came to this country that I experienced race as we do now."

They say teens are too immature and can't lead.

Submitted by RACE on Wed, 07/28/2010 - 10:39am

Youth: Not the NEXT Generation of Racial Justice Leaders but the CURRENT Generation
by Zarinah El-Amin Naeem

Race dialogue didn’t address real issues (Charlottesville)

Submitted by RACE on Thu, 07/01/2010 - 3:23pm

Reprinted from http://www2.dailyprogress.com/cdp/news/opinion/columnists/article/race_d...

Good Neighbor Grants for RACE Exhibit

Submitted by RACE on Thu, 07/01/2010 - 2:59pm

Request for Proposals – Race Exhibit

Climbing PoeTree (an social and environmental justice boost)

Submitted by RACE on Mon, 06/28/2010 - 11:52am

By Michelle Johnson, Executive Director Fire Hisitorical and Cultural Arts Collaborative

Last Wednesday and Thursday, Kalamazoo was fortunate enough to get a social and environmental justice boost when Climbing PoeTree visited Fire Historical and Cultural Arts Collaborative. In both the writing workshop held in the Loft at Fire and the performance in Fire, international multi-media artists and activists Naima and Alixa linked arts, healing and the imperative and urgency of social justice.