City Manager Outlines Action Steps for KDPS

At the June 15 City Commission meeting, Kalamazoo City Manager Jim Ritsema discussed a series of action steps that the City Administration and the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety will begin immediately in response to the events which occurred in Kalamazoo May 30 through June 2. SEE COMPLETE ACTION PLAN HERE!

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Little Miss Perfect Video Wins National Award

Last Fall up-and-coming film director MJ Harrell shared a video with then co-worker Sonya Bernard-Hollins. Harrell had provided hands-on training in videography to members of the Merze Tate Explorers. He would even accompany them to record an exclusive interview with costume designer Ruth Carter, just days before her historic Oscar win for Best Costume Designer for her work on Black Panther. The students later would repay Harrell for his time by participating in the remake of a video he had recorded years earlier. READ MORE!

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I Am Done Running

I would sprint 30 minutes nonstop from there to Kings Plaza Shopping Center dodging bottles, garbage cans, baseball bats, and a torrential downfall of “Nigger this and Nigger that” just to make it home safely. And then, I would immediately worry about having to navigate those same streets again the next day. This was a year or two before Yusuf Hawkins, a 16-year-old black teen, who had gone to inquire about a used car, was chased and murdered by a white mob in Bensonhurst. Already, my mother had warned me about going alone into Canarsie, Brighton Beach, Bay Ridge, and Sheepshead Bay, but somehow, she forgot to mention Ralph and K. READ MORE!

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America Kills Our Dreams First

Low-income African American students and students with disabilities have been passed through the system unable to read and do math at their age and grade level. In most cases, students are two years behind. However, in some cases four or more years behind in their reading and math skills.

KPS School Board must mandate the testing of all students to determine what reading and math skill areas students are below grade level in. Each student must have an Educational Development Plan targeted to strengthen the specific skill level area of weakness until the student is grade-level proficient!

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WMU 3D printers produce face shields

Western Michigan University’s 3D printers aren’t sitting idle during the pandemic. Instead, staff and professors from multiple campus departments are using them to produce personal protective equipment–specifically face shields–for health care workers who desperately need them during the COVID-19 patient surge. READ MORE!

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