Blog
From Bonfires to Belonging: How Kalamazoo Keeps Global Connections Burning Bright
A few winters ago, a backyard bonfire in Kalamazoo sparked hope. At Sarkozy’s Bakery, co-owner Alec Wells welcomed a cohort of international visitors from Lithuania. “That bonfire,” Alec remembers, “was the start of something much deeper.”
Why visit Kalamazoo?
Human and Civil Rights • Youth Empowerment • Transboundary Water Issues • American Pluralism • Renewable Energy • Disinformation in Media • Transparency & Accountability in Government • Women in Entrepreneurship • Engagement in the Arts • Higher Education and Study Abroad • Social Services
Land Acknowledgement
At Global Ties Kalamazoo, we live and work on the land of the Council of the Three Fires—the Ojibwe, the Odawa, and the Potawatomi. The city name Kalamazoo is anglicized from various indigenous references to its namesake river, and is located in southwestern Michigan—the Michigamme, “the place where food grows on water,” a reference to the abundant wild rice in our state. Indigenous nations of the Great Lakes region are also known as the Anishinaabe (original people) and their language is Anishinaabemowin.