Diverse GP Hosts Workshop to Bridge Racial Gap

Residents of the Grosse Pointes, Detroit, and neighboring communities will gather at a Detroit church at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13, to participate in a workshop on the topic of racial diversity.

Shirley Stancato, president and CEO of New Detroit Inc., will keynote the event, and Sandra Svoboda of radio station WDET will moderate.

Three workshops on schools, government, and communities will invite participants to identify positive models of racial diversity and suggest action that can be taken.

The event is the second public forum on racial diversity sponsored by Diverse GP, a group of residents in the Grosse Pointes and nearby communities seeking to bridge divisions of race, socioeconomic status, and culture.

Diverse GP grew out of publicized concerns last winter about police treatment of an African-American man.

The widespread attention eventually led to a U.S. Department of Justice consent decree in which Grosse Pointe Park agreed to reform police practices. More recently, area residents have vocally objected to Grosse Pointe Park’s street closure and physical barrier on Kercheval Avenue near the Detroit border.

Related:

• Pointes Confront Racial Past in Journey to Inclusion and Harmony

“The Dec. 13 workshop will provide a forum for people to speak their minds and organize for positive change,” said Maria Catalfio of Grosse Pointe Farms, a member of Diverse GP’s leadership circle.

All interested persons are invited to the community workshop, which will be held at Salem Memorial Lutheran Church, 21230 Moross at Chester, just south of I-94, in Detroit. Admission is free. More information is available at the Diverse GP Facebook page or email: gpdiverse@gmail.com