The Queer Theatre Kalamazoo (QTK), and the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership presents:
Before the Shooting by Denise Miller
Date & Time: Thursday, May 1 at 6:30 p.m. ET
Location: ACSJL, 205 Monroe Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49006
Fee: No cost to attend | Public event
Discussion and Reception to Follow
Please RSVP as space is limited
Date & Time: Tuesday, May 6 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Location: ACSJL, 205 Monroe Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49006
Fee: No cost to attend | Public event
Workshop and Reception to Follow
Please RSVP as space is limited
How do we live together amid difference, struggle and change?
Dr. Stephanie Hicks will lead a conversation about how we confront conflict and work towards collective healing and coexistence in our current and political climate.
Dr. Stephanie Hicks is a Lecturer IV with, The Program on Intergroup Relations, Faculty Affiliate, Institute for Research on Women & Gender, University of Michigan
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Date & Time: Thursday, April 24 at 6:30 p.m.
Location: ACSJL, 205 Monroe Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49006
Fee: No Fee – Free to all
Reception to Follow
Please RSVP as space is limited
The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership (ACSJL) is excited to welcome an international gender studies & feminist geography scholar. Our guest will lead a discussion regarding the relationship between masculinity and climate coloniality at the hemispheric scale by drawing on decolonial feminist geography, critical geographies of translation, and Latin American feminist political ecology literature.
To learn more about the Arcus Center’s work and values, please visit our website where you can join our newsletter and learn about our podcast, Beyond Voting.
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You’re Invited!
We are excited to invite everyone to our Black History Month public program: Rootead Youth Drum and Dance Ensemble (RYDDE).
Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership welcomes the Rootead Youth Drum and Dance Ensemble to celebrate black artistic culture. It combines the art of traditional West African dance and drum, Afro Fusion, and Afro Beats. The student dancers are led by Rootead Co-Founder Heather Mitchell, who believes collective healing across cultures and generations can be achieved. This is an opportunity to reaffirm black resistance through rhythm and movement. The African diaspora uplifted by Rootead’s grass-roots efforts bridges the Kalamazoo community during this month of celebration, honor, and empowerment.
Community reception begins at 5:00 p.m.
Date & Time of program:
Friday, Feb. 28, 2025 at 6:00 p.m.
Location: ACSJL, 205 Monroe Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49006
Fee: No Fee – public event with dinner provided
Please RSVP as space is limited
Date: Friday, March 7 – Sunday, March 9
Location: ACSJL, 205 Monroe Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49006
Cost: No cost, but donations are accepted
Please RSVP as space is limited
A new administration has taken office in the United States, and communities around the world are already feeling its impact. Marginalized groups—including immigrants, LGBTQIA+, trans and nonbinary people, women, femmes, non-dominant masculinities, disabled people, and Indigenous communities—are facing renewed threats, while democracy itself nears collapse, accelerating environmental destruction and global instability.
At the same time, we recognize that these political systems, especially capitalism, are functioning exactly as designed: to uphold an elite, white, male, able-bodied heteropatriarchy. At this moment, how do we come together to resist further harm to people and the planet? How do we build new models for our communities and societies where everyone—and the Earth—can truly thrive?
Join Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership (ACSJL) for a 2.5-day gathering as we unpack and strategize around the urgent threats posed by rising fascism and the rollbacks on hard-won rights. Through interactive sessions, global and local activists, organizers, and thought leaders will address key social justice issues, including labor rights, reproductive justice, LGBTQIA+ and trans liberation, and the devastating consequences of war and genocide.
Together, we will explore alternative models of governance and coexistence that challenge patriarchal, individualistic systems and foster collective liberation. This is more than a conference—it is a call to action, a space for radical imagination, and a step toward building
the just and equitable world we deserve.
Date & Time: Thursday, February 20 at 6:30 p.m.
Location: ACSJL, 205 Monroe Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49006
Fee: No Fee – Free to all
Reception to Follow
Please RSVP as space is limited
The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership welcomes Comedian, Actor, and Director Dame Grant as he performs sketches of his narrative about growing up in a small midwestern town as a black person. He addresses common microaggressions and misconceptions often projected onto Black folks, and the resilience we must cultivate to maintain our identities and thrive in small towns.
His work across different mediums allows the social justice message to reach many audiences.
This is an opportunity to reaffirm black identity in small towns like Kalamazoo. Though it is presented through comedy, the truth about the struggles of being Black will bring viewers of intersecting identities closer to collective solidarity.
