Sen. Sarah Anthony recognized with Michigan Civil Rights Commission award

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 13 — In its 60th anniversary breakfast reception this morning, the Michigan Civil Rights Commission recognized Sen. Sarah Anthony, a self-described “daughter of Lansing,” for her service.

Anthony, 40, was named this year’s recipient of the Elliott-Larsen Award for Public Service Leadership. She was first elected to represent Michigan’s 68th House District in 2018, succeeding current Lansing Mayor Andy Schor. She served through the end of last year, taking her oath of office for the 21st Senate District seat in January.

In introducing Anthony, the commission’s deputy executive director, Kimberly Woolridge, cited Anthony’s status as “mid-Michigan’s first African American women to be elected to the Michigan House of Representatives and Michigan Senate and the first Black women to chair the Senate Appropriations Committee.”

“This is such an honor,” Anthony said after taking the podium. “Thank you to the department and the commissioners who thought enough, not about me, but the work we’ve been championing to highlight it this morning.”

“This work matters. Sixty years of this department taking on the fights that often are hard and require tenacity. Undoing long suffering is not a small feat. That does not happen by accident,” she added.

Anthony dedicated the award to Nanette Reynolds, a former director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, whom she described as “a dear mentor of mine that gave me the language to pair with my rage around the persistent gaps in education and opportunity.”

She also applauded “the historic level of funding that we were able to secure,” referring, in part, to a $10.1 million boost to the Michigan Department of Civil Rights budget that will allow the department to hire dozens of new employees to assist addressing a backlog of complaints that still need to be properly investigated.

“I hope that we’re able to sustain it in the years to come, because we know that this work requires resources as well as courage,” Anthony said.

The Everett High School graduate praised the passage of the CROWN Act, a bill she co-sponsored this year that was designed to eliminate hair discrimination in the workplace. It was signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in June.

Anthony also touched on other avenues for progress, including the ongoing need to better address housing discrimination and end any lingering redlining or restrictive covenants statewide. She said she understands the importance of continuing to ensure that the Michigan Department of Civil Rights has enough resources to tackle these issues.

In his closing remarks, John Johnson Jr., executive director of Michigan's Department of Civil Rights, issued a “special shout out” to Anthony, “an NAACP baby.”

“She was raised within the NAACP, so she certainly knows the significance of civil rights and has shown that in the work that she’s done in the legislature,” Johnson said. He thanked both Whitmer and the state legislature for “giving us a significant boost in our ongoing funding,” but added that it was “still not enough.”

“We’re the smallest department in the state, with the smallest staff in the state and the biggest burden. We thank you, Senator Anthony, for what you did, but certainly know that our hands are still out, we’re still begging” he said to some laughs from the crowd.

Johnson also noted some progress made for Michigan’s LGBTQ communities.

“Thurgood Marshall said that ‘you do what you think is right, and you let the law catch up.’ That’s what this commission signifies and has done over its 60 years of existence, culminating in the past year with the codification of the fact that sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression is a civil right,” Johnson said.

“This commission took up that fight years ago, and in fact issued an interpretive statement in 2018, which was upheld by the Supreme Court, indicating that we thought that was a civil right. Finally, it’s been recognized and codified by our legislature,” he added.

He also touched on “emerging issues,” particularly the “existing threat” that artificial intelligence technology poses for marginalized groups.

“In financial services, in housing and employment, it’s causing a number of discriminatory actions by these companies when they’re depending on these programs established by these vendors, we need to look at that, too,” Johnson said.

Like Anthony, Johnson stressed the importance of fair housing practices. He said the department has launched a new fair housing initiative, for which they’ve already held one public hearing. Three more are planned for next year, leading up to a fair housing summit that will be held in Detroit next June.

“Fair housing affects everybody, your sex, your gender, your temporary ability. We want to make sure we take a look at that in terms of policies that we could be addressing through the department and through the commission,” Johnson said.

Held at the Heritage Hall Capitol Visitor’s Center, 323 W. Ottawa St, in Lansing, the event featured the presentation of five annual awards. In addition to Anthony, disability rights advocate Duncan Wyeth, Michelle Crockett of Miller Canfield, Jamie Junior of the Disability Network of Wayne County, and the NAACP’s Detroit branch were also recognized for their work and activism.

“We hope that you stay in the fight, keep the faith, because, still, there’s a lot of work to do,” Johnson said as the gathering concluded. “We intend to be in the forefront to make sure that we continue to lead this battle against discrimination and for our civil rights here in Michigan.”