CRU: Christians for Racial Understanding

04/19/2026

THIS WEDNESDAY!

April 22, 6:30-8:00 p.m. CT
at the Dickinson County Library Main Branch, Iron Mountain

PLEASE JOIN THE CONVERSATION!

“To a Fuller Joy: Teaching Our Children about America's Rich Multi-Cultural Heritage”

A FREE COMMMUNITY FORUM

A special invitation for parents, teachers, school administrators, and members of the community to participate in a discussion about how we can better help our children to know, respect and appreciate people of different ethnic, racial and cultural groups for “a fuller truth, of a fuller humanity, for a fuller joy.”

Keynote speaker: Leigh Ann Erickson, noted Iowa educator, author and entrepreneur

Panelists: Kristin Novara – 2nd grade teacher, Breitung Twp.
Kaye Miziniak – 6th grade teacher, Iron Mountain
Dawn Kranz – former K-12 music teacher, Norway-Vulcan

Open discussion and refreshments following the presentations.

Sponsored by Christians for Racial Understanding: Community for All
This is not a faith-based event; all are welcome.
For more information, contact CRU:CA at [email protected] or (319) 594-2621.

04/19/2026

01/20/2026

https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/2026/01/18/iron-mountain-group-hosts-4th-annual-mlk-celebration/?fbclid=IwZnRzaAPcZ8BleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeI99SDnhdC4xB4EyiGzqKeZ16oY2F-3WlHndR4Yc1Gpdj8gx1rlD1ubbV_vk_aem_jjfYfMEvcKeXeGGrgtx0dQ

Christians for Racial Understanding: Community for All invited the community to learn and share MLK's goals.

01/19/2026

4th Annual Martin Luther King Community Celebration
"Building the Beloved Community"
Sunday, January 18, 2026

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

01/13/2026

4TH ANNUAL MARTIN LUTHER KING
COMMUNITY CELEBRATION
“Building the Beloved Community”

Sunday, January 18, 2026
2:00 - 3:00 p.m. CT
First Presbyterian Church
395 Hamilton Avenue, Kingsford, Michigan

Free to the public! All are invited!

• Inspiring music
• Children's art
• Video of Rev. Dr. King speaking
• A dramatization
• Refreshments
• Nursery provided

For more information contact Ed Laarman at
[email protected] or 319-594-2621.

08/19/2025

Please share and join us this Sunday! See posted flyer for details.

02/11/2025

A Virtual Tour of the Jim Crow Musem
(Ferris State)

Below please see information about the free online virtual tour of the Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State University. Note that it is 11:15 a.m. to 12:00 noon Central Time, Tuesday, Feb. 18. That means it will be over before our CRU:CA book discussion that day at 1:00 and our meeting at 2:00. The tour is sponsored, I believe, by the UP Episcopal Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Note that you must register to receive the link for the tour. Thanks to Anda for sharing this information!

Join us for a virtual Tour of the Jim Crow Museum Feb 18th at 12:15-1:00pm online.

Join us in honor of Black History Month to learn from the Jim Crow Museum, the nation's largest publicly accessible collection of artifacts of intolerance. The Museum contextualizes the dreadful impact of Jim Crow laws and customs through the use of objects of intolerance to teach tolerance and promote a more just society.

The museum is located on the campus of Ferris State University in Big Rapids, MI. Our virtual tour will be February 18th at 12:15-1 EST.

Please register by emailing us at [email protected].

A link will be sent once you register!

02/06/2025

Book Discussion on “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”

She never knew it, but Henrietta Lacks changed the world of medicine and saved millions of lives—and is still doing it. A poor black to***co farmer, she died in 1951, but her cells live on by the trillions in labs around the world. The bestselling book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot tells a riveting story of the intersection of ethics, race, class, and medicine.

The local group Christians for Racial Understanding: Community for All (CRU:CA) invites any interested person to discuss the book over the course of three months. There are two options on each of those dates for joining the discussion:
• 1-2 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 395 Hamilton Ave., Kingsford. Come in person or join us
by Zoom. Tuesdays, February 18, March 18, and April 15.
• 7 to 8 p.m. at the Dickinson County Library, 401 Iron Mountain St., Iron Mountain. Wednesdays,
February 19, March 19, and April 16.

Please order or borrow your own book. We will not be rigid, but we plan to review the book on the following schedule:
• February: Prologue through Part 1, “Life,” Chapters 1-11 (pp. 1-86 in the paperback edition)
• March 19: Part 2, “Death,” Chapters 12-22 (pp. 89-176 in the paperback edition)
• April 16: Part 3, “Immortality,” Chapters 23 through the Afterword (pp. 179-328 in the paperback edition)

For more information contact CRU:CA at [email protected], or call Ed Laarman at 319-594-2621. We hope you will join us!