'Healing is at the heart of racial equity': Battle Creek celebrates sixth National Day of Racial Healing

The Battle Creek Coalition for Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation launched in 2016, but creating space to address the historic and contemporary effects of racism through community is just as important now as it was six years ago.

The organization is working with local partners and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to celebrate and advocate for continued racial healing in Battle Creek on the National Day of Racial Healing, which will be celebrated on Tuesday.

Community members are invited to participate in several events that will take place in person and online.

"Battle Creek has been curious and open, and we've had different types of racial healing experiences, both virtually and in person, and in each one, there's some type of transformation that comes about," said Rosemary Linares, co-president of the Battle Creek Coalition for Truth Racial Healing and Transformation.

As part of this year's celebration, the organization is holding an open call for racial healing practitioner training. Practitioners learn how to create and facilitate spaces where people can have open, honest and productive conversations about race.

"This model is really powerful," Linares said. "It's frankly grounded in thousands of years of indigenous wisdom from multiple continents, so it's a tried in true practice."

Since the TRHT launched racial healing circles in Battle Creek in 2019, the practice has been embraced by the community, and sessions have been held throughout the pandemic to provide space for people to discuss their shared grief, trauma and joy.

"We believe healing is at the heart of racial equity," said La June Montgomery Tabron, president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, about racial healing circles. "As we process what hurts and the pain and trauma that may be associated with our experiences, together through our conversation, we developed empathy for the other person's perspective... that shared empathy and trust creates an environment where we can then talk about how we want to change our future."

Last month, a racial healing circle was held in response to the shooting of Xavier West in downtown Battle Creek. Other groups also have hosted racial healing conversations, such as the vigil held last year by local students against anti-Asian racism.

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"Racial healing circles can be a venue for people who are experiencing grief in different stages as well as people who are just curious about opening up to reflecting on their own experiences of pain and joy," Linares said. "It's not experts coming to facilitate a space, but it's peers who are on their own individual journeys for their own racial healing."

Applications for the program can be found through the Battle Creek Coalition for Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation website and are open through Jan. 31.

In-person celebrations for the National Day of Racial Healing kick off on Monday, with drumming, dancing and a vaccine clinic at the Black Expo and MLK Celebration from at Kellogg Arena. The event will be held from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. and is being hosted in partnership with the African American Collaborative.

"It's still very intentional around the moment that we're in, which is a global pandemic," Linares said about the event.

Cultural drumming performances by the Kuungana Drum and Dance Company and the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi will be held at 6 p.m.

The annual 'Hearts in the Streets' campaign will begin on Tuesday. Battle Creek residents are invited to join the movement by filling out a commitment card, which can be found online or at Willard Library. People can also pick up a yard sign at Willard Library in support of the movement. Volunteers will be carrying large hearts around the community, and people are invited to take a picture with the heart and upload it to social media with the hashtag #BCRaceToHeal.

People also are invited to join the national celebration through the W.K. Kellogg Foundation at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Those interested in participating or learning more about the event should visit dayofracialhealing.org.

"This is how you come together and erase the types of divisions that exist in our nation," Montgomery Tabron said. "The Kellogg Foundation is honored to be able to support conversation because we know it's how you get to equity."

The City of Battle Creek will also acknowledge the sixth annual National Day of Racial Healing during its Tuesday City Commission meeting.

The Southwestern Michigan Urban League, the Battle Creek Area Association of Realtors and TRHT will host a seminar on Black homeownership in person and online on Thursday, Jan. 20 at 6 p.m. The in-person event will be held at New Level Sports, and food will be served at 5:30 p.m. People interested in participating virtually can do so through Zoom or Facebook Live.

At 7 p.m. Jan. 25, the coalition is inviting community members to celebrate the launch of its book "How We Heal: An Anthology of Personal Testimonies about Racial Healing in Battle Creek."

The book launch will take place on TRHT's Facebook page and community members will read excerpts from the book.

Community partnerships and conversations such as the National Day of Racial Healing and the work being done by TRHT and other partners are what is driving transformation in Battle Creek, Montgomery Tabron said.

"We can build a level of trust and mutual respect where we can actually change systems," she said. "At the end of the day, these systems are created by people, and they can be improved and transformed by people as well."

Contact reporter Elena Durnbaugh at (517) 231-9501 or edurnbaugh@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ElenaDurnbaugh.

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Battle Creek celebrates sixth National Day of Racial Healing