Tune in to WOL 1450 AM, 95.9 FM and WOL Livestream on Thursday, April 4 at 10:30 am EDT for Everything Co-op, hosted by Vernon Oakes. This week, Vernon interviews Lanay Gilbert-Williams, board president of the Detroit People’s Food Co-op; and Malik Kenyatta Yakini, executive director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network. Vernon and his guests will discuss the food sovereignty movement in Detroit.
Malik Kenyatta Yakini is an activist and educator committed to freedom and justice for African people and humanity in general. Yakini is a co-founder and executive director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, which operates a seven-acre farm in Detroit and spearheaded efforts to establish the Detroit Food Policy Council. He served as a Michigan Food Policy Council member from 2008-2010. From 2011-2013, he served on the steering committee of Uprooting Racism Planting Justice. He is a co-founder and on the leadership team of the National Black Food and Justice Alliance.
Lanay Gilbert-Williams is a native Detroiter who serves as board president of the Detroit People’s Food Co-op. She founded Detroit’s Brown Moms Sisterhood Circle, a system of support for African-American mothers, especially those whose children are in the foster care system. She is also president of the Wildemere Park Neighborhood Association and the Youth Program Coordinator for Know Allegiance Nation. As a proud Mom of six, she is dedicated to assisting in developing solutions that model nation and community-building for Black young people.