Meet Lansing's next generation of black leaders

The Rev. Joseph Graves Sr. spearheaded the campaign to rename Logan Street after Martin Luther King Jr. His name was left out of an earlier version of this story.

LANSING - The Rev. Michael Murphy founded St. Stephen's Community Church in 1987, while he was working as an adviser on children's services to Gov. James Blanchard.

He was elected to the Lansing City Council a decade later and to the state Legislature after that.

Rev. Lester Stone led community members out into the streets to protest the death of a man named Edward Swans in Lansing police custody.

Stone also led Friendship Baptist Church out of the center of the city and into a massive new building on the south side.

The Rev. Joseph Graves Sr. spearheaded the effort to rename Logan Street after the Rev. Martin Luther King in the early 1990s.

The three men embodied a certain style of black leadership, working at the intersections of politics and religion and community uplift. The three have passed away, Graves in 1994, Stone in 2010 and and Murphy in 2014.

The new generation of black leaders looks different. Their messages are keyed to new politics, though issues of fairness, equity and justice still hold center stage. Their outreach is as likely to be a gesture of protest at a football game as a march.

It's an exciting time for aspiring black leaders in the region, said Clarence Underwood, 84, Michigan State University's former athletic director and a pioneer in his own right. He came from the segregated south to become an educator at MSU. He paid his dues in the athletic department, starting as an assistant ticket manager.

“We’ve heard for a long time that the world is shrinking," Underwood said. "It is shrinking, not in terms of geography, but in terms of relationships and being involved with other people."

He is hopeful this new generation of black leaders, with an abundance of resources, will broaden their social circles, seek wider audiences.

"If you see someone that looks different than you and talks different than you, get involved," Underwood often tells students. "Don’t stay away."

Below are thoughts from nine Lansing-area residents on black leadership, what it means to them and how it can continue to thrive. Each agreed there isn't one single way to lead, but plenty of opportunities for people in the black community to make a difference.

LaShawn Erby, 49, Black Lives Matter

LaShawn Erby wants to set the record straight.

Black Lives Matter is organized. She added it's a global movement with a focused mission, and it doesn't promote aggression.

"We’re just not a fly-by-night kind of thing," Erby said. "We’re not terrorists. We don’t all hate the police. We promote self-love."

Erby, who lives in Lansing, is a co-chapter leader for Black Lives Matter Lansing and executive director of Action of Greater Lansing, a non-profit that focuses on social justice issues.

Originally from Waco, Texas, Erby moved to the area a few years ago to work for a political campaign and decided to stay because she liked the people and felt more work needed to be done.

And she is eager to help redefine black leadership in the city.

Black Lives Matter's Lansing chapter is involved in a project called Election 20XX that's aimed to vet candidates and increase voter turnout.

“No matter how old or young you are, you have the capacity to lead and to learn," Erby said.

To date, the chapter has approximately 1,300 members who each underwent a two-hour orientation program and is working with about 35 organizations that aren't necessarily considered black groups, Erby said.

Phiwa Langeni, 37, Salus Center

Phiwa Langeni is a spiritual leader at the Salus Center on East Michigan Avenue in Lansing.

Langeni created the center, intending it to be a safe place for worship and social activities for those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender and for allies. Langeni identifies as "trans-masculine genderqueer."

Langeni, who has a 19-year-old daughter, saw a need that other institutions, including religious ones, couldn't meet.

"I spent a lot of my life begging these institutions to take me seriously," Langeni said.

Born in South Africa, Langeni came to the U.S. with family at age 9. Langeni is energized by black leadership in the city because it's taken on several forms.

There are advocates for a variety of causes who aren't fixated on race, a single location or media attention, Langeni said.

"If you are looking for the actual leaders in the community," Langeni said, "look where there are no cameras.”

Tashmica Torok, 37, Firecracker Foundation

Tashmica Torok, a sexual assault survivor, believes the next generation of black leadership must be "boldly and unapologetically pro-black, pro-equity and pro-justice."

She is the founder of the Firecracker Foundation, which provides child survivors of sexual trauma and their families mental health therapy, support groups and even yoga.

And she is encouraged by where black leadership stands in Lansing because groups such as Black Lives Matter and the Lansing Association for Human Rights are organized and engaged.

“We decide who our leaders are," Torok said.

The Firecracker Foundation's mission is to "honor the bravery of children who have survived sexual trauma by building a community invested in the healing of their whole being," according to its website.

Torok takes pride in outreach to all, regardless of race or class. She stresses the importance of institutions like churches "going outward" to provide help instead of being "inward."

“As we start to create community that’s not within one single idea of space," Torok said, "it’s going to become more important to reach out in ways that are more inclusive in the entire community.”

Brian T. Jackson, 33, Lansing City Council

Elected to City Council in November, Brian T. Jackson said he's benefited from black mentors who explained and, most importantly, showed the importance of serving others.

They were men such as the Rev. Edward Thomas; the Rev. Melvin Jones; and Dan Boggan, former Sexton High School football coach.

Jackson already feels an obligation to give back, especially for black youth.

“I just want to showcase our people and let them see me in office and get them interested, just like I was," Jackson said.

The Sexton High School graduate earned a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in criminology at Indiana State University.

He graduated from Howard University's School of Law. He worked as a prosecutor in the Eaton County Prosecutor's Office and then became an assistant city attorney in Lansing.

Lansing is a city that welcomes all kinds of people, he said, but is in need of more services and programs that address divides among economic classes.

“When there’s a class issue, it’s also a black and brown issue," Jackson said.

Rina Risper, 51, neighborhood advocate

Risper is president and publisher of the New Citizens Press, which bills itself as a multicultural community newspaper.

She's also a mother of two and a Walnut Neighborhood advocate who helps counsel residents who are victims of violence.

To Risper, Lansing doesn't lack leadership within any particular group but, rather, lacks social interaction between various types of people.

That must change, she said.

"It's really amazing now that I think about it," Risper said, "how much we don't collaborate with each other. It's all races. We could do a lot more together than we can do apart."

Risper wants to see more of an effort to get black residents out to vote and feel a part of the political process.

There are too many people in the city who feel there's no need to follow what their elected officials do or don't do, she said.

"Just being involved in different things doesn't mean you will lose sight of who you are as an individual," Risper said. "You might learn more about yourself.”

Fred Porter, 82, community activist

When asked about the state of black leadership in Lansing, Porter didn't mince words.

“The problem is that people don’t want to be disliked," Porter said.

Porter is a longtime civil rights activist. He recalls a time when leaders were organized, always active and successful in recruiting others.

Porter praises Rudy Wilson for showing him the way.

Wilson, a longtime community leader who fought against housing discrimination blacks faced in East Lansing, passed away in 2015 at the age of 90.

It's tough to find leaders like Wilson these days, Porter said, but he hasn't given up.

Porter is part of a group that, each year, takes about 40 Lansing-area high school students on tours of historically black colleges.

Last year, the tour included 14 boys, the most he can remember in at least 27 years, Porter said.

“I’ve been bragging about it since it happened," he said.

Rachel Lewis, 29, Lansing School District

Rachel Lewis is the Lansing School District Board of Education's president.

Her mother, Robin Lewis, is a former board member who stressed the importance of public service at an early age.

As a black woman, Rachel Lewis said, it's exciting to be in a leadership role at a time in Lansing when others like her are making history.

She said she doesn't see the city's welcoming environment for diversity at the top changing.

“I definitely see minority leaders having an equal seat at the table in all leadership capacities," Lewis said.

Lewis graduated from Everett High School as its valedictorian in 2006 and is branch director for Bethany Christian Services.

She points to two other black women in the city who have inspired her: At-Large City Council Member Patrica Spitzley, last year's council president, and Ingham County Commissioner Sarah Anthony.

Lewis's advice to others who want to make an impact: Be the squeaky wheel.

“Sometimes you just sort of name it to let people know there’s a gap that needs to be filled," Lewis said.

Undra M. Brown III, 19, Lansing City Clerk's Office

Undra M. Brown III was a senior at Eastern High School when he ran for a seat on the Lansing School District Board of Education in 2016.

He lost but said he gained a valuable perspective on public service.

“I was one kid who went a little further," Brown said.

Brown, who is an accounting major at Lansing Community College, wants to see an improved black leadership structure in Lansing that does more to help children learn how to uplift their hometown.

He also wants more done to show immigrants and refugees, especially those who may be deemed "black," that they can and should hold their elected officials accountable.

As an intern in the Lansing City Clerk's Office, Brown is working on what he calls "a leisure project" aimed to inspire high school students to learn about the importance of voting and local government.

"It's just reaching one person at a time, planting a seed to create growth within the community," said Brown, who has five classes this semester.

Ashlee Willis, 29, Lansing Mosaic

Ashlee Willis wants to do her part to help black-owned businesses succeed.

The Lansing native and graduate of Grand Ledge High School founded Lansing Mosaic, a media company that spotlights small businesses and minority entrepreneurs.

She also has an event planning business that hosts about 50 functions a year. It started a few years ago as a side job creating floral arrangements.

This mother of two envisions the future of black leadership in Lansing as one that is all-encompassing and promotes a local entrepreneurial spirit.

“Being a leader is helping other people to be leaders," Willis said, "because, when your time is up, you get to see a legacy you created that other people are moving forward with.”

Michigan State University, Lansing Community College, the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Lansing Black Chamber of Commerce have made strides to help convince young entrepreneurs of color to stay in the area, Willis said.

She's noticed more Detroit-area minority business owners paying attention to what's going on in the capital city.

“We come together to form that Lansing experience," Willis said of her mission.

More on black leadership, history:

Breaking Barriers: Black history firsts in Lansing

Lansing Catholic football kneeling leads to diversity effort

A memoir of MLK, MSU and East Lansing discrimination

Contact Eric Lacy at 517-377-1206 or elacy@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @EricLacy.

Martin Luther King Jr. luncheon

The 33rd annual event will be held 11 a.m. Monday at the Lansing Center. It's considered the largest event of its kind in the state. This year's theme is "We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope." Dr. Diane Nash, known as the mother of the Freedom Riders Movement, will be the keynote speaker. Tickets are $40. For information call (517) 483-4121.