Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT), will be the topic of this year’s King Day at the Flint Public Library. The Library, located at 1026 E. Kearsley Steet, will be open for full service on King Day, Monday, January 21, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Children and families are invited to make a “Peace” craft at 1p.m. The Library’s 34thCommunity Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day will begin at 2pm.
This year’s guest speaker, sponsored by the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, is Dr. Gail C. Christopher, the driving force behind the Kellogg Foundation’s America Healing initiative and the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation effort. Several TRHT visioning sessions were held throughout our community this past fall. TRHT seeks to unearth and jettison the deeply held, and often unconscious, beliefs created by racism – the main one being the belief in a “hierarchy of human value.”
Dr. Christopher is an award-winning social change agent with expertise in the social determinants of health and well-being and in related public policies. She is known for her pioneering work to infuse holistic health and diversity concepts into public sector programs and policy discourse. She recently retired from her role as Senior Advisor and Vice President at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation where she also served as Vice President for Program Strategy. She is also the founder of The Ntianu Center for Nature and Healing.
This year’s emcee is Matt Franklin, anchor at ABC12. Musical guests include, K & A, musician Katai Harris, and vocalist Adam Baker. There will be a dance presentation by the Creative Expressions Dance Studio and a salute to Dr. King by the Gamma Delta Kudos sponsored by the National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa.
Afterwards, the community is invited to visit the Flint Institute of Arts for open galleries and more. For more information, call the Library at 810.232-7111. Admission is free.
