Kalamazoo is among communities participating in the second annual National Day of Racial Healing on Tuesday, Jan. 16th. The city has recognized the day with a proclamation, says Lanna Lewis of the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, who is a guest today on WMUK's WestSouthwest (listen now, below).
The day has local roots. Battle Creek-based W.K. Kellogg Foundation started it last year to focus the country's attention on combating structural racism as it launched its new Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation long-term initiative in 14 cities, including Kalamazoo.
"We really want to get it to be recognized as a national holiday every year," Lanna Lewis tells WMUK's Earlene McMichael on WestSouthwest. Lewis is overseeing Kalamazoo's Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation work as an community investment officer at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation.
"The more we can make (the National Day of Racial Healing) visible, the more it can become something that's cemented as a part of our culture and part of our society and making the concept of racial healing and dealing with race and racism prominent."
Need ideas on how to observe the day? Click here.
WestSouthwest is the news and public affairs show on WMUK 102.1 FM, the NPR station at Western Michigan University. It airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
