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Honoring Charity Hicks

July 17, 2014



Charity Hicks - a clearing house of knowledge and passionate warrior for justice - joined the ancestors on Tuesday July 8, 2014.  She joined EMEAC's staff as a Fellow for the EAT4Health initiative of the Jesse Smith Noyes Foundation in August 2012. During her tenure, she was a force behind a number of efforts throughout the city, nationally and globally, particularly in the area of food sovereignty and more recently, around water rights. Charity shared with folks around the world the struggles children and families in Detroit faced.  She challenged power structures and institutions for their complicity in conditions that led to disproportionately high health challenges.  And she called on all of us to walk the talk.

Charity brought so much passion, fire and knowledge to her work; many referred to her as a walking encyclopedia.  Further, she brought so much of herself into all the spaces of which she was a part.  She gave of herself selflessly.  Charity's work and powerful spirit remains alive in our hearts and continues to inspire us in ways far beyond words. At EMEAC, we are so grateful to have shared time and space with her during this lifetime.

Detroit Women Speak: Charity Hicks

In this video, Charity gives 3 critical pieces of advice that she would want young people to take with them.  It appears in the Detroit Women Speak footage captured by EMEAC Co-Director Diana Copland.  The three key points include:  
  1. Pay attention to your place and environment
  2. Become wealthy in relationship
  3. Lean into being uncomfortable and being challenged to grow

Staff Reflections

I will always remember Charity as a person who tried to practice what she preached. We had many conversations about how important it is to be a role model - Kim Sherobbi
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I really enjoyed filming Charity, for one, the camera loves her, and I have always enjoyed watching her whenever she’s been interviewed or speaking in front of a group of people because of her candidness and sincerity.  She always says something that makes me laugh, makes me cry, shocks me a little and something that I have never thought of before but changes a little of my world view.  In this interview it was what she said around female emotional intelligence that changed me a little: the power of being vulnerable, emotional and unapologetically woman-ly!

It is hard being in the Cass Corridor Commons without her, not only because I never have been in this space without her, but she was such a presence in the space.  She was always there to welcome everyone that came into the space and made sure everyone was taken care of under the Commons roof.  She took her stewardship of the Commons very seriously. - Diana Copeland
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Charity had an uncanny way of seeing what was important to new people and connecting with them to build a bridge to communion. She was a woman of great depth socially and spiritually.  We often talked about religions,  different cultural traditions and the metaphysical aspect of activism.   She and I shared conversations about Mother Earth and the ecopsychological need for  transformation and activisim.

She was very generous with her perspective and knowledge and offered it with a motherly touch.  I admired her strong African centered stance. I chuckle as I hear provocative statement, "let's get naked " Or let's be real with each other so we can connect as community.   She embodied the concept of community by being present as the quintessential Commons representative.  Sometimes I didn't want to be seen,  but she saw everyone and invited  them to community. I am just realizing how much she me impacted me and how much I will miss her. - Sanaa Green
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It is hard to put into words how much of a great person chatity was, always willing to help. She would always help me with building security,  i loved the way she engaged the youth. I miss her presence very much.- Dee Collins
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It is hard to believe that someone with such strength and determination - who seemed to always be at EMEAC, working, protecting, watching over, nurturing, fussing, pushing for better - will no longer grace us with her physical presence.  I value and appreciate Charity in all her nuances and contradictions. Wow. There is much i could say, but words simply don't come. I am deeply saddened and will miss her. - Ife Kilimanjaro

Reflections by Friends and Allies


"Charity taught me a lot about Black Nationalism and its history in Detroit.  She helped me develop my ideals, my culture, and my politics.  Of course she was a constant presence in the Commons and did so much to make it a stable and safe place. She was at the same time a die-hard East Side Detroiter AND a citizen of the world.  She is being honored and remembered in various cities, states, and countries." - William Copeland, Our Power Detroit Coordinator
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Charity transitioned just a short time after we met, however she had a profound impact on my work and on my life.  What started as a brief conversation transformed into an exploration of politics, policy, human behavior, compassion, and power structures (among other things!)  In just those few conversations I had with her, I received an education beyond what I could have gotten from anyone else, and for this I am eternally grateful.  I hope to learn more from all the others that Charity has impacted and contribute to her ongoing work. - Todd Ziegler, EMEAC Intern
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It is with extreme sadness and rage that our compañera has left us too damn early.  I first met Charity in the us social forum process in Detroit, where she was in charge of setting up water stations for the opening march and was pivotal in introducing so many of us in the movement to no plastic water bottles at major events.  We got to work with her closely in the lead up to the first CJA leadership meeting in Detroit in September 2012, and also through her participation in GGJ national and international delegations, in particular the key role she played in the climate space in the WSF-Tunisia last year.  She presented powerfully on a panel on the role of faith communities/spirituality, the fight against militarism, and climate change.  Charity was fierce revolutionary, a determined fighter for basic human rights, generous, opinionated, grounded, visionary, brilliant woman.  We are sending our heartfelt condolences to Louis, her family, her colleagues and extended political family.   - Cindy Wiesner, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance

 

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Updates and Actions - July 2014


Reflections from OP Coordinator William Copeland 

Submitted by Will Copeland
Our Power Detroit Coordinator
 
Directors Diana Copeland and Ife Kilimajaro joined the Young Educators Alliance to set the tone with a profound opening ceremony.  Fifty-seven people representing CJA member organizations and other environmental justice allies joined with local Detroit activists, artists, and community change agents. We are happy to announce that over ⅔ of Gathering participants were 25 and younger.  Khafre Sims-Bey at the YEA debrief remarked "I have a feeling that I will be seeing them over and over again"  One of our objectives was to host a significant gathering of youth activists in the climate justice and environmental justice movements that would help build relationships and deepen a generational analysis of organizing. [Continue reading...]

Voices of Our Power Detroit Participants

Submitted by Brittany Anstead
University of Michigan, Arts and Citizenship Intern
 
Interviewing Our Power Detroit participants and documenting their testimonies was quite uplifting and rewarding. Many, both native and non-native Detroiters, shared a fluid commonality among their testimonies, a conscious passion to change our planet's current trajectory through a just transition.  One testament, by Ms. Dorian Willams of the Better Future Project, left a lasting impression on me.  Ms. Williams articulated a testimony not only embellished with raw, beautiful empathy for Detroit, but an affinity with the meaning of "Our Power". [Continue reading...]

Preliminary Reflections on the Venezuelan Social Pre-COP

Submitted by Ife Kilimanjaro
Co-Director, EMEAC
As one of GGJ's three delegates to the social pre-COP on climate change sponsored by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, i am glad to be part of the process of shaping, with others, the country's official statement on climate change going into the 2015 negotiations.  Venezuela invited civil society organizations and movements from around the world to engage in this process as a way of inviting the voice of the people into what has become a very closed and corporate-led UN space. Though there are some questions circulating about the underlying intentions of the Venezuelan government and caution by people who know what it is like to be tokenized or have their work/ideas appropriated by larger bodies and institutions (be spoken for by them), one thing is clear; that this is a huge (though not unprecedented) undertaking deserving of note. Why? [Continue reading...]

WHAT WE HAVE OUR EYES ON

Within EMEAC we've been having conversations about Just Transition from an economic system that exploits human labor and natural resources, while damaging both, to one that is based upon community led and implemented solutions that value health of people and the planet. In these exploratory conversations, we've been discussing what a Just Transition means, what it can look like and how to get there, particularly in a place such as Detroit, with a long history of corporate and industrial led environmental degradation and resulting community health challenges.  The Our Power Detroit gathering provided a space for us to have these and other important conversations with and among youth.  As we continue to sharpen what the work looks like on the ground in Detroit, we will further these conversations and deepen the work at the National Gathering in Richmond, California.  Stay tuned for more in August. 

In addition to this long term work, we continue to fight many struggles in Detroit around water, transportation, environmental injustices and more.  EMEAC staff wages these battles while also in mourning for our dear sister, comrade and friend Charity Hicks. Continue to send prayers for her family and friends in this moment. May the struggle continue towards real, fundamental change!

 

Voices from Our Power Detroit Participants

July 16, 2014


Interviewing Our Power Detroit participants and documenting their testimonies was quite uplifting and rewarding. Many, both native and non-native Detroiters, shared a fluid commonality among their testimonies, a conscious passion to change our planet’s current trajectory through a just transition.  One testament, by Ms. Dorian Willams of the Better Future Project, left a lasting impression on me.  Ms. Williams articulated a testimony not only embellished with raw, beautiful empathy for Detroit, but an affinity with the meaning of “Our Power”. She captured the essence of grassroots empowerment, expressing her experience as such:

“I came out here because I felt called to be here… There’s such incredible work being done in Detroit…. I felt drawn here by the people who invited me….from EMEAC and I believe in the power of the work that they are doing.

…to be here today… seeing what almost one hundred hands can do to revitalize this building, that can provide something as simple as water; I mean, it’s insane to me and horrifying that a city would turn...or the emergency manager, would turn its back on hundreds of thousands of people and deny them the basic rights to life like water. And so it’s inspiring and beautiful for me to witness people taking that back and reclaiming the ability to meet our own needs from the communities and not from corporations and not from governments, but from ourselves; and I guess that’s what our power means to me as well. The ability to take power away from those that abused it and got us into this mess, and to remember that by replacing it in the hands of people, who have had to struggle under this system, are the ones that are going be able to get us out.

I think the atomization and the undermining of people and communities…is exactly what got us here; and it’s only going to be the reclaiming of community and reaching back and connecting with each other, that we are ever gonna get out of it. And so I feel really honored and grateful and inspired to be here.”

Submitted by Brittany Anstead, EMEAC Intern sho served as documentarian of the Our Power Detroit gathering

 

Reflections from OP Detroit Coordinator Will Copeland


I was honored to serve as Coordinator for the Our Power Detroit Gathering, June 2014.

Directors Diana Copeland and Ife Kilimajaro joined the Young Educators Alliance to set the tone with a profound opening ceremony.  Fifty-seven people representing CJA member organizations and other environmental justice allies joined with local Detroit activists, artists, and community change agents. We are happy to announce that over ⅔ of Gathering participants were 25 and younger.  Khafre Sims-Bey at the YEA debrief remarked “I have a feeling that I will be seeing them over and over again”  One of our objectives was to host a significant gathering of youth activists in the climate justice and environmental justice movements that would help build relationships and deepen a generational analysis of organizing.

EMEAC and Our Power Detroit collaborated with the People’s Water Board, We The People of Detroit, and others to organize the Water Is Life Community Action.  This action was inspired and spirited by Charity Hicks who transitioned after the gathering (July 8, 2014).  We cleaned and replenished the Dexter-Elmhurst Community Center and canvassed throughout the surrounding neighborhoods to let people know where they could get water supplies.  Now, this building is not only home to the city’s first People Relief Station, but also to vital neighborhood programs such as Children’s Free Lunch, Senior Activities, a Swap/ Re-Sale store, excersice classes, and youth recreation. Queen Mother Helen Moore said “I have not ever seen that many youth and adult leaders work in conjunction with each other to get the job done.  You did not know this, but I was at my wits end and was concerned that we would not get the job done.” (full letter below)

There were significant lessons we learned from the organizing and hosting experience.  First, we learned the value of our organizing style and made a commitment to doing the theoretical and intellectual work to describe the theory of change that we embody.  At its root, we are engage the development of skills, resources, and analysis of our people via cultural organizing.  Also, we exhibit a spirit of radical hospitality that was first exhibited on an (inter-)national level in the 2010 US Social Forum process.  We have been developing this practice of space-making, caring detail, emotional-political connection, local resourcing, and hospitality in the last 4 years.  As Bryce Detroit summarizes, “we are creating a new culture.” One challenging lesson that we learned is that we need to put intentional attention to our relationship building in the US South and Great Lakes.  We conflicted schedules with the Freedom Summer events and these regions were underrepresented in our national participation.  The Our Power Detroit was an unmitigated success, pulled off under duress and stress that planted powerful seeds of culture and youthful energy.