To: Board of County Commissioners
From: Jerome Threlkeld, Organizational Development Coordinator
title
RE: Approval of a resolution recognizing January 20, 2026 as the National Day of Racial Healing in Genesee County
recommendation
BOARD ACTION REQUESTED:
Approval of a resolution recognizing January 20, 2026 as the National Day of Racial Healing in Genesee County
BACKGROUND:
From the establishing resolution (RES-2025-279) four goals of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Commission are to: (1) increase awareness of social injustices and its effects, (2) to improve fair and equal treatment for all, (3) to enhance the county’s reputation as being welcoming to all, and (4) to equip and empower people to resolve social justice issues
DISCUSSION:
Members of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Commission met with local Truth & Racial Healing Practitioners along with Lynn Wiilliams of the Community Foundation of Greater Flint. This resolution was presented and voted to propose to the Genesee County Board of Commissioners at their meeting, November 18, 2025.
IMPACT ON HUMAN RESOURCES:
IMPACT ON BUDGET:
IMPACT ON FACILITIES:
IMPACT ON TECHNOLOGY:
CONFORMITY TO COUNTY PRIORITIES:
Inclusive, Collaborative Culture - Members of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Commission met with local Truth & Racial Healing Practitioners along with Lynn Williams of the Community Foundation of Greater Flint. This resolution was presented and voted to propose to the Genesee County Board of Commissioners at their meeting, November 18, 2025.
resolution
TO THE HONORABLE CHAIRPERSON AND MEMBERS OF THE GENESEE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
WHEREAS, the National Day of Racial Healing is observed annually on the Tuesday following Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a time for individuals, organizations and communities to come together around shared values of equity and inclusion and to address the present-day consequences of racism and racial inequities; and
WHEREAS, racial healing involves acknowledgement of the ways racism has wounded individuals, communities, and institutions and invitation to engage in the “people work” of building authentic relationships, trust, and partnerships across difference; and
WHEREAS, this observance builds on the efforts of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) initiative, which is a comprehensive, community-driven approach to confronting the historic and contemporary effects of racism and eliminating the false belief in a hierarchy of human value; and
WHEREAS, Genesee County has been home to the local Flint TRHT initiative since 2019, which has trained teams of local racial healing practitioners that have facilitated racial healing circles designed to deepen relationships between people through sharing stories and finding connecting threads for nearly 20 community partners, including providing racial healing circles for staff and appointees of Genesee County; and
WHEREAS, the work of racial healing is evident in Genesee County through efforts such as the St. John Historic Neighborhood Memorial and Documentary, which capture memories of former residents of Flint’s historic African American neighborhood in the context of residential segregation and urban renewal, which resulted in the St. John neighborhood being dismantled to make way for the construction of I-475, and the redesign of exhibits at the renovated Sloan Museum to more accurately tell the stories of race and indigenous history in Genesee County:
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Genesee County Board of Commissioners hereby recognizes January 20, 2026 as the National Day of Racial Healing in Genesee County and encourages all county departments to engage in appropriate recognitions such as participation in community events including acts of volunteer service and the local National Day of Racial Healing breakfast program, which will be held on January 20, 2026 at 9:00 am at the Genesee County Administration Building,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Genesee County Clerk/Register is directed to provide one copy of this Resolution to each city, village, and township within Genesee County and to each County Clerk in the State of Michigan.