Facilitating Change: Education Justice and Unharmonius Organizing with kyle lim

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“We can create a society that serves the interest of everybody. That takes good care of everybody. Like, it’s possible. And we just have to do the work to figure that out.”

“..doing that is incredibly unharmonious, right? If anything, it’s downright taking a position of being antagonistic at times towards systems…but like this antagonism is rooted in a deep love, a deep desire for them to function in different ways, but the end product here is very contentious. It’s not this peace, love vision of multicultural society kind of thing.”

–kyle lim

In this episode of Social Justice Origin Stories, Relando talks with kyle lim, a passionate racial justice advocate and community organizer. Originally from Singapore, kyle shares some of his experiences navigating complex racial identities and confronting systemic inequities in the U.S., particularly in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

In his storytelling about the education justice work at the Urban Core Collective, kyle speaks to the necessity of building community power, addressing systemic flaws, and prioritizing material redistribution for genuine social transformation. His storytelling also honors the critical role of youth in driving meaningful change.

“Are we doing what we need to do if we’re not meaningfully transforming our social systems, right? And by that I mean hierarchies, power distributions, wealth, right? To me that is key. And I’ll be frank, I’ll give you my answer. I don’t think we are.”

–kyle lim

Meet Kyle

kyle is deeply passionate about supporting communities of color organizing for social change. He has experience in building organizational coalitions to support grassroots movements against gentrification, police violence and for education justice. He strongly believes in the power of radical imaginations that allow communities and organizations to find solutions to problems outside of dominant ways of thinking and doing. A native Singaporean, kyle has spent the last fifteen years living in Grand Rapids MI and Oakland CA.

“The Urban Core Collective is dedicated to supporting the self-determination and agency of historically marginalized communities. Through advocacy, community organizing, and leadership cultivation, we strive to transform living conditions and the distribution of power in the Greater Grand Rapids area. We believe that those impacted by injustice possess essential wisdom for disrupting the status quo. By building power and acting collectively, we can achieve racial justice.

Our current focus areas are: Democracy, Emerging Leaders, Education Justice, and Climate Justice.”

Learn more about the focus areas of The UrbanCore Collective

Name Drops, References, and Resources from kyle

Article: Leigh Patel-Article: The Origins, Potential, and Limitations of Racial Justice

Book: Holding Change and Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown

Book: Redistribution or Recognition Nancy Frasier and Alex Connell

Movimento Cosecha in Grand Rapids, MI and Gema Lowe

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Social Justice Origin Stories is produced, edited, and hosted by Relando Thompkins-Jones