February 29, 2024 Newsletter

Ingham County Healing Through Policy Team Invites Community Members to a Community Review and Call to Recommitment on June 3, 2024

The Ingham County Healing Through Policy Team invites community members to save the date of June 3, 2024, to participate in the design of a new vision for community safety based on the proposed Ingham BREATHE ACT, a framework for the civil and human rights legislation of our time. As Black History Month comes to a close, a dedicated multi-sector team looks toward the future of public health and outcomes that can no longer be predicted by race. 

Ingham Healing Through Policy Team Remembers 2020 Call to Action.

On June 3, 2020, One Love Global invited other Black-led organizations to unite in a call to action to the City of Lansing and Ingham County to declare racism a public health crisis. Bolstered by a statewide call to action with public health and policy partners, these efforts resulted in Lansing City Council, Ingham County Board of Commissioners, the City of East Lansing and Governor Gretchen Whitmer passing resolutions by the end of 2020. 

One Love Global and partners launched the Lansing People’s Assembly in 2020 to build upon the momentum of the call to action and create a virtual space for the community to continue organizing during a global pandemic. The community's solution was to create a local version of The BREATHE Act, a comprehensive federal policy framework that prioritizes repair, healing, and accountability for racially equitable results in all domains of public health, including community safety. Community members living in Ingham County are invited to attend the Community Review and Recommitment to the progression from public declarations to concrete transformational policy actions on June 3, 2024.

In 2022,the National Collaborative for Health Equity invited One Love Global to apply for membership within the Healing Through Policy Community of Practice. Based on over a decade of partnership and collaboration, One Love Global was chosen to bring Ingham County’s declaration to life by working collaboratively with community and municipal partners.  This prestigious achievement granted One Love Global with the opportunity to learn and engage with teams from Flint, Michigan (Genesee County); Hartford, Connecticut; Martinsville, Virginia (Henry County); and Public Health – Seattle & King County, Washington.

Based on the learnings of the past 4 years, One Love Global has convened The Ingham Healing Through Policy team to create a roadmap to the Ingham BREATHE Act:

Primary Municipal Partner – Ingham County represented by Dr. Adenike Shoyinka, Medical Health Officer;  Dana Watson, Health Equity and Social Justice Coordinator and Anne Barna, Deputy Health Officer

Renee Canady, the CEO of Michigan Public Health Institute

Elaine Hardy, the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the City of East Lansing

Angela Waters Austin, CEO  and Sean Holland, Policy and Community Organizer, One Love Global

Tashmica Torok, Founding CoDirector of The Firecracker Foundation 

Tony Willis, Chief Equity Development Officer at LEAP

Ingham Healing Through Policy Team Members offered the following reflections on the work over the past year:

“Racism is a threat to public health. It damages the relationships needed to advance well-being and contributes to policies that disproportionately harm people of color and under-resourced communities.  This important coalition represents the alignment of voices committed to eliminating the damaging effects of racism in our community. MPHI is honored to be at this table.’ - Renée Branch Canady, PhD, MPA

Working together on the Healing Through Policy initiative has been invaluable. We adjusted together to expand our understanding of processes and what role we can have in advocacy.  Working together was strengthening, as we continue to recognize the value of community partner leadership. - Nike Shoyinka MD MPH FIDSA

The Healing Through Policy initiative ensures that Ingham County moves from proclamation to practical action. I am grateful to have the opportunity to imagine, create, and implement life affirming healing justice practices with the support of our team members and in service of the people most impacted by racial inequity. - Tashmica Torok

“When we organized the team, we hadn’t fully appreciated how significant the need to create a safe space for some of the most challenging conversations I have had in over three decades of racial equity and justice work. As a grassroots organizer, it is enlightening to understand how institutions navigate a community-driven policy response to the resolutions. - Angela Waters Austin

“Healing Through Policy: Creating Pathways to Racial Justice is an initiative supporting city, county, and state governments and communities in moving from commitment to action for health, racial equity, and justice. Using the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation™ framework, Healing Through Policy offers local leaders a suite of policies and practices being implemented nationwide to effect meaningful change.   

In its next phase, Healing Through Policy partner organizations will convene and support communities that have declared racism as a public health crisis to identify, plan actions, and disseminate the local steps needed to pass and implement a subset of curated policies and practices from the suite. 

Healing Through Policy is an initiative of the American Public Health Association, the de Beaumont Foundation, and the National Collaborative for Health Equity, in collaboration with Results for America.”

20 Years of Love in Action 

How do you tell the story of 20 Years of Love over the span of a year? Start from the beginning in 2004? Tell the story backwards through flashbacks? What better way to tell One Love Global’s story during Black History Month than in the spirit of Sankofa: standing in the present looking backward. We also honor the spirit of Black Futures Month by casting a vision into the next 20 years of One Love Global. Spoiler Alert: The future is youth-led.

The image above is of one of our first convenings with youth in grades 7-12 representing multiple school districts in the Metro Lansing region. Together, with our partners at the Ingham County Health Department, we determined that health equity was a viable pathway for youth engagement. Peace & Prosperity Youth Action Movement was born as the 1st youth led coalition in Ingham County. 

Meet Our 20th Anniversary Co-Chairs!

We love that our 20th Anniversary volunteer committee has leadership reflecting our beginning, our present and future as we strengthen partnership across Michigan:

Sidney McCalib

One of the original teens of Peace and Prosperity Youth Action Movement. Sidney Mccalib is now the force and CEO behind Next Up Michigan, a vibrant news and media company traversing the state to spotlight underrepresented cultures. Based on Lansing's northside, Sidney balances the hustle by enjoying quality time with his son and daughter, blending a love for sports and spirituality into his dynamic lifestyle. Alongside his team, Sidney is reshaping Michigan's narrative for the next generation.

MaryAlice Adams

Benton Harbor Commissioner MaryAlice Adams was first elected commissioner-at-large in 2011, and won re-election in 2015, and 2019. Adams serves as a leader in the struggle for social and economic justice for the residents of Benton Harbor, a community that is over 85 percent African American and one of the poorest cities per capita in the United States. She helped spearhead a $30 million water project to address Benton Harbor’s devastating water crisis and remains committed to dismantling systemic discrimination against communities of color.

Chase Anderson

Chase Anderson is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University, earning her degree in Communications. She is currently the business manager at Harmony in Hues Wellness Center, a black woman-owned mental health private practice. As an alum of the Peace and Prosperity Youth Action Movement, Chase continues to utilize her skills and experiences gained from One Love Global in her daily life at work and within her own nonprofit she is rebuilding called Healers of Color Collaborative of Michigan. In her downtime, Chase loves cooking, dancing, traveling, going to concerts and music festivals, and spoiling her two dogs.

Marvis Cofield

Marvis Cofield is the Founder and CEO of Alkebu-lan Village, an Afrikan-centered youth organization that provides educational, cultural and recreational programs to over 1,000 Detroit youth and their families each year through on-site and outreach programs. He has been a martial artist for over 35 years and is a 7th degree Black Belt. As an instructor, he has introduced thousands of students to the martial arts and has trained and promoted over 60 students to the rank of Black Belt. As an educator and the CEO of Alkebu-lan Village, Mr. Cofield has recognized and skillfully used martial arts as a tool for youth development.

Pamela Pugh

Dr. Pamela Pugh has over twenty-four years of experience in the field of public health with emphasis on achieving health equity through environmental justice. She currently serves as President of the Michigan State Board of Education, Chief Program Officer at the Chisholm Legacy Project: A Resource Hub for Black Frontline Leadership and Co-Founder of Regeneration LLC, a consultancy that serves as a catalyst for economic sustainability and healthy urban communities through helping agencies, organizations, and businesses build capacity with inclusive and effective partnerships. Dr. Pugh has been recognized nationally by the NAACP as a two-time recipient of Dr. Montague Cobb Award for special achievement in social justice, health justice, health education and promotion, fund-raising, and research.

Karen Weaver

Dr. Karen Weaver is President and CEO of the Karen Williams Weaver Foundation, advocating for communities to garner resources vital to rebuilding infrastructure while protecting safety. She also serves as Interim Director of the African American Mayors Association, a go-to resource and voice for America’s Black leaders.  She was the mayor of Flint, Michigan, from 2015 to 2019, the first female mayor of the city and the 5th African American to hold the office. While in office, she became a political SME on water quality and infrastructure issues, wielding her experience to help formulate the questions leaders need to ask and assess the resources 

Ashlee Willis

Ashlee R. Willis is the Founder and CEO of Michigan Premier Events, an association, corporate and Government event management company managing events in Lansing, Grand Rapids and Detroit. A Lansing native and well-known active leader in the community who is dedicated to the growth, collaboration and success of the region, Willis was the first person of color to serve as Board President for Downtown Lansing Inc. She is a certified tour ambassador for Lansing, MI and has earned several awards including Downtown Lansing Hero Award, Entrepreneur on the move Award and Ten Over the Next Ten Alumni Award Recipient.

Tony Willis

Tony is currently the Chief Equity Development Officer at the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) and is also the President of PROTO Accelerator, the region's first startup accelerator program. Over the past decade, Tony has been deeply involved with economic development; specifically, when it comes to developing an entrepreneurial ecosystem for the greater Lansing region to foster increased company formation, Seed and VC investment, resources to enhance connection between entrepreneurial support organizations, and a culture where people and ideas can move rapidly to the market 

A very special thank you to The Skillman Foundation for their Sowing Partnership!

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Racial Healing Circles

1st Thursday every month from 6-8 PM

Racial healing circles are designed for community building and racial awareness. Circles encourage us to see ourselves in one another, rooted in spiritual storytelling practices of Indigenous cultures. The circle session includes intentional story prompts to guide us in deeper connection with one another.

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