Transformations Supports "Kalamazoo Matters"

The third Generous Promise of the Congregation of St Joseph states, “We the Congregation of St. Joseph, promise to network with others across the world to bring about a shift in the global culture from institutionalized power and privilege to a culture of inclusivity and mutuality.”

Toward this goal, the Transformations Spirituality Center in Nazareth, MI worked with two major educational institutions to organize and host the launch of a major initiative to explore issues of economic and environmental justice. Entitled “Kalamazoo Matters”, the first talk of the discussion series was held on April 1 featuring two speakers: Dr. Brian Smedley, Vice President and Director of the Health Policy Institute at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, D.C. and Dr. Arthur James, MD of Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Dr. Smedley explored the roots of significant health disparities between people of color and white people. His research concludes that of a combination of race, class and place – place is the core causal factor. Race and class tend to congregate in “place” in segregated societies. These geographic clusters tend to have less access to healthy options, and must travel further to find them – which takes both time and money. Fewer grocery stores mean less access to fresh produce to meet the “five a day” recommendation for a healthy diet. Fewer high-paying jobs mean less access to insurance and less discretionary income with which to make healthy choices. Often these are neighborhoods with greater exposure to environmental toxins too. In health disparities, he stated, ‘zip code is more important than genetic code.”

Dr. James shared statistics showing alarming differences in measures of long-term health in Kalamazoo the areas of infant mortality, teen pregnancy, and teen STD infections. For instance, for every 1,000 babies born to white mothers in Kalamazoo County, about five babies died on average, according to 2004-08 infant mortality statistics compiled by Kalamazoo County Community and Health Services. During the same time period, the mortality rate for babies born to black mothers was nearly four times greater — 17.7 per 1,000 births.

“What we’d like to do is to point out that these disparities exist and it’s necessary for us to address these health disparities and enable citizens from all backgrounds to live in a healthier way,” said Tim Ready, director of Western Michigan University’s Lewis Walker Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnic Relations. This Institute, along with Kalamazoo College’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership are sponsors of “Kalamazoo Matters.”

Transformation staff continues to be part of the conversation with the organizing group as the ‘Kalamazoo Matters’ initiative looks toward addressing two additional and related topics: education, in the fall of 2010; work/jobs in the winter of 2011.