Anti-hate museum honors three metro Detroit leaders for courageousness
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On a federal holiday to honor a bold civil rights leader, an unusual museum lauded three Detroiters for their own courageousness.
The New York-based Museum of the Courageous on Monday announced its new award winners, including locals Kym Worthy, Kim Trent and Helen Zia, to "celebrate historical and contemporary courageous acts that have stood up to hate and shifted our country towards justice." The announcement coincided with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a national day of remembrance for the slain civil rights icon.
The online-only museum started in 2019 and now releases an annual list of those behind inspiring stories who have taken public stands against hate, according to organizers.
“After the tremendous response to last year’s inaugural Courageous Class, we know that these profound stories of courage bear the potential to change hearts and minds,” Teresa Vazquez, executive director and founding trustee of the museum, said in a statement. “As we wade toward the two-year mark on the pandemic, this year’s honorees remind us that humanity is at its strongest when it is united against injustice and discrimination.”
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Among this year's seven recipients — six people and one newspaper — were Worthy and Trent. Worthy serves as Wayne County prosecutor and Trent was appointed as the deputy director for prosperity for the state's Labor and Economic Opportunity Department.
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The museum cited their earlier work in 2015 after the city of Detroit found thousands of untested rape kits in police storage. It credited Worthy and Trent for mobilizing "Black women and men to demand justice for the survivors," according to the news release.
Another local honored was Zia. In 1983, after a race-motivated attack killed Vincent Chin in Highland Park, Zia and other Detroit activists worked in a pan-Asian American movement to seek justice, according to the museum.
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"The 2022 Courageous Class illuminates the powerful American cultural narrative that individuals have the agency to change the future for the better,” David Neil, board chair and founding museum trustee, said in a statement. “The intention behind the museum and celebrating these stories of courage is to inspire others to stand up to hate.”
Contact Matthew Dolan: 313-223-4743 or msdolan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @matthewsdolan
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kym Worthy, Kim Trent, Helen Zia earn honors for courage
