GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — "How would you address the level of racial equity in Grand Rapids right now?" was the first question I asked Samika Douglas during our interview on Thursday.
"There's none," was her response. "If there was, we wouldn't be going through the things that we're going through.”
Douglas is the Senior Community Liaison with LINC UP, a local group that's been working to address that issue in Grand Rapids for 20 years.
"I won't say it's broken, but it's not fixed for everyone," Douglas said. "We all start off at the same race. But during that race, we don't have the same barriers or the same roadblocks. At LINC UP, that's our job, is to help remove those barriers and roadblocks."
When trying to find the root cause of this problem, Douglas points to stereotypes and common misconceptions, especially when it comes to "at-risk youth."
For example, people might assume "at-risk" refers to children growing up in low-income areas with uneducated parents.
However, that's not always the case. Douglas can attest to that firsthand.
"I have a 16-year-old son," she said. "For the first 14 years of his life, he was just the perfect little boy. But then, because of everything else that's going around in the community, that he's seen on social media, he decided he wanted to be out here, as well doing some of the things that other young men are doing that's not appropriate, such as being part of the 'Kia Boys.'"
"I am a single mother," she continued, "but I am also a mother in the community that's also here helping everyone else. I'm there for him just as well as anyone else in the community. So he was not 'at-risk.'"
As far as how to keep improving for the future, Douglas said it's all about one thing.
"It's all about love," she said. "You treat everyone — the Golden Rule — how we like to be treated. A lot of things will start changing for us around here — not saying that everything is going to go, 'Oh, good,' and everybody's going to be in the circle singing Kumbaya. No. But it'd be a lot better for one another because we're still we're brothers or sisters regardless.”
If you want to learn more about LINC UP's mission, you can visit its website.
There are also two community events coming up: A food distribution event happening on April 1, and a Rock the Block street festival on June 10.
LINC UP is looking for sponsors and volunteers for both, so reach out if you're interested!